As the 2012-2013 theater season winds down, there are still several good productions worth seeing: You can still be entertained by the froth of The Marvelous Wonderettes: Caps and Gowns at Ensemble Theatre (which runs through June 1), intrigued by the dark comedy Measure for Measure at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company (through May 26; CityBeat review here) or titillated by the noir tale of lust and murder, Double Indemnity, at the Cincinnati Playhouse (wrapping up on Saturday; CityBeat review here).But if you're looking for other options, you'll find them. Slightly more off the beaten path is Sunset Boulevard, the Andrew Lloyd Webber about a faded silent film star living in her grandiose memory of her glory days rather than in the cynical present of the 1940s. Cincinnati Music Theatre has assembled a fine production of the show at the Aronoff Center's Jarson-Kaplan Theater, onstage through Saturday evening. This is a big show in terms of cast, choreography, scenery and more, but CMT, a community theater, has the personnel to pull it off. Tickets: 513-621-2787. Another tale of a film legend contemplating a return to the screen — but on a decidedly smaller scale — is offered in Krisit, a new play by local playwright Y York. Veteran actress Dale Hodges plays the title character in a show characterized by director Mark Lutwak as a funny play about a serious subject. York and Hodges have a history that goes back to New York City many years ago. It's onstage (through June 2) at Clifton Performance Theatre (the space once occupied by Sitwell's Coffee House, 404 Ludlow Ave.). Tickets: 513-861-7469. Speaking of legends, at the Aronoff tonight (Friday) you'll find Hal Holbrook in Mark Twain Tonight! He's been presenting the humor, satirical wit and timeless observations of one of America's most iconic literary figures for more than a half-century. Holbrook is now 88, more than a decade older than Twain when he passed away in 1910. But he keeps his performances fresh and timely with constant edits and changes about politics, culture and the world, carefully attuned to the moment. (He has more than 16 hours of Twain material in his repertoire!) His performance is in the Procter & Gamble Hall at the Aronoff Center. Tickets: 513-621-2787. If you've already enjoyed the Wonderettes at ETC, you might want to attend Forever Plaid, which just opened the 2013 summer season on board the Showboat Majestic. It's a similar story, a quartet of singers aspiring for their big musical break. They get it, but at a high (and highly comic) price. Lots of great tunes from the ’50s, surrounded by nostalgic humor. It's onstage through June 2. Tickets: 513-241-6550. Finally, if you're a regular theatergoer in Cincinnati, you might want to attend the League of Cincinnati's awards program on Monday evening, 7 p.m. at Know Theatre. Details here.

Nothing new onstage this week, but lots of good work continues as we head toward the summer when theater gets scarce. Now's the time to stock up. This is the final weekend for Cock at Know Theatre. (Some publications call it The Cockfight Play, but Cock is Mike Bartlett's actual title for his play.) It's the story of a man who thought he was gay but now finds himself powerfully drawn to a woman. (CityBeat review here.) His former lover and his new passion both push him to make a choice, and he's torn. It's a great piece of theater, fueled by strong acting and interesting staging. Tickets: 513-300-5669. Ensemble Theatre's production of The Marvelous Wonderettes: Caps and Gowns is off and running — and on its way to being another box-office hit for ETC. It's the same four spunky gals who audiences loved back in 2010 (in ETC's best-selling show ever), with new tuneful glimpses into their high school graduation in 1958 and a wedding reception in 1968. Talented singers, individually and as a quartet, make this a fine evening's entertainment. If you've seen it before, you know the drill — and you're probably ready for more. Tickets: 513-421-3555 James M. Cain's novel of crime and deception, Double Indemnity, continues at the Cincinnati Playhouse. (CityBeat review here.) If you think you know this show from Billy Wilder's 1944 film (one that defined the noir genre), you're in for a treat: While this production adopts the elements of terse narration, tough guys and sexy dames, the playwrights tell the story differently for the stage. And the Playhouse stages it inventively — one might even say cinematically. Tickets: 513-421-3888. Shakespeare's Measure for Measure is a strange piece, a comedy with a deeply disturbing story about hypocrisy. (CityBeat review here.) A judgmental official condemns men for their licentious behavior, then turns around and propositions a virtuous woman pleading to spare her brother. This troublesome tale is interspersed with comic moments as minor characters wend their way through a time of sordid behavior — in Cincinnati Shakespeare's production it's been moved to Prohibition-era America. If you're a Shakespeare buff, this one is worth seeing, since it's not often staged. (It's been 18 years since it's been presented locally.) Tickets: 513-381-2273 x.1. The musical Sister Act, based on the Whoopi Goldberg film from 1992, continues at the Aronoff. (CityBeat review here.) It's an evening of silly fluff, but the touring production, onstage through Sunday, is polished and entertaining. The plot is implausible, but it's a framework for some great singing and an eye-popping series of set pieces. Tickets: 800-982-2787.  If you prefer a musical with a little more grit, head to Dayton where the Human Race Theatre Company is presenting next to normal at the Victoria Theater. This Rock musical about a paranoid schizophrenic mom and the damage her affliction imposes on her family is a powerful show, one that Cincinnati's Ensemble Theatre gave a well received production in 2011 that was revived a year ago. The show was an unusual winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for drama. It's onstage in Dayton through May 19. Tickets: 937-228-9360.

Cincinnati Shakespeare Company opens its production of the infrequently staged Measure for Measure tonight. Director Brian Isaac Phillips says, “We have discovered a lot of satire and wit as we explore the biting social criticism in this play. The behavior of these characters … is like a dark comic mirror, held up to nature. Shakespeare has written a play that begs us to examine modern day decadence and hypocrisy.” Phillips has set the production in the corrupt and hypocritical Prohibition Era, to "give modern audiences a context for the actions and the characters' deeply held opinions." It's onstage through May 26. Tickets: 513-381-2273 x.1. The Marvelous Wonderettes are back at Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati with another sequel to the 2010 show that set box-office records. This time the theme is "Caps and Gowns" — which means graduation (in 1958) and a wedding (in 1968). The quartet of girl singers are lively and sometimes harmonious, although each one has her quirks and pet peeves. The spread of a decade allows a range through two distinct periods of Rock & Roll, one innocent, the other a bit more knowing. ETC has reunited three of the four actresses who've played these parts before, and the fourth slot – filled by Leslie Goddard — is a petite stick of dynamite in cats' eye glasses. The show opened on Wednesday, and it will surely be a hot ticket again — ETC has already extended it by two weeks beyond its original closing date. Tickets: 513-421-3555. I went to see Sister Act, based on the Whoopi Goldberg film from 1992 about nuns and disco, with low expectations. I was pleasantly surprised: This is a solid production of a very silly show, with some genuine talent in the leading roles, and plenty of energy in the ensemble. The music (by composer Alan Menken, who also wrote Little Shop of Horrors, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Newsies and many more) is entertaining, the production looks great — lots of glitter and sequins — and some moments of touching emotion (cliched, but moving nonetheless). Don't expect anything profound and you'll have a good time. It's onstage at the Aronoff Center. Tickets: 800-982-2782. If you're in a darker mood, check out Double Indemnity at the Cincinnati Playhouse. It's a stage version of a noir classic, a pair of lovers plot to murder her husband and score a big insurance take (boyfriend is an insurance salesman). But things don't quite work out as planned. Very stylish imagery and actors who get the hard-boiled tough-guy style of story-telling from the 1940s. Paul Shortt's cleverly designed set moves the action quickly from scene to scene using two turntables, so it's almost like a movie with "wipes" from once setting to the next. Tickets: 513-421-3888.

I'm off to the Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville this weekend, where I'll be checking out plays that could well be on their way to theaters across America in future seasons. For those of you staying here in Greater Cincinnati, there's lots of good stuff to get out and see onstage:War Horse completes its Cincinnati stop on Sunday. I heard a rumor that it's not selling well, which strikes me as mystifying. It's one of the best pieces of theater I've seen on tour in ages. (Review here.) Of course, it's not a musical (which is what people who go to the Broadway Series at the Aronoff have come to expect) and it was made into a moderately successful movie by Steven Spielberg. But the stage production is a miraculous piece of theater artistry, especially the onstage creation of living breathing horses, life-sized puppets that are manipulated (by three performers) that you'll be convinced you're watching the real thing. The silver lining to poor attendance, I suppose, is that tickets are readily available. You should get yours right away for the chance to see this Tony Award-winning production: Final performance is on Sunday. Box office: 800-987-2787 Last evening I made time to see Cincinnati Shakespeare's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. It's going to be around for several more weeks, and it's definitely an entertaining — and unusual — rendition of the tale of mixed-up lovers. (Review here.) Director Jeremy Dubin has transported it from the mythical Athens that Shakespeare envisioned and landed it in a swampy Southeastern U.S. in the 1940s, complete with a few guys with drawls in uniform and a clown in a loud plaid sports coat. The latter is CSC Nick Rose, and watching him overact as Nick Bottom, the weaver who imagines himself to be a brilliant performer, is hilarious. MND's mix of magic and humor is always fun, even if it doesn't make much sense, especially in this setting.  Box office: 513-381-2273, x1. Also worth checking out is the Cincinnati Playhouse's entertaining production of The Book Club Play. It's good in the same way as a well-done TV sitcom: Familiar characters pushed to comic extremes, funny situations that you can identify with, story twists that surprise and amuse. (Review here.) Because book clubs are a big deal these days, lots of people are flocking to see this show (it's been extended to May 5), so you should call now to get your tickets. I can assure you that you'll leave the theater with a smile on your face. Box office: 513-421-3888. Smiles cannot be predicted with the staging of Jason Robert Brown's very serious musical, Parade, at the Carnegie. But a piece of great drama and fine music is certainly in store if you head to Covington for this one, staged by Ed Cohen and Dee Ann Bryll. It's actually a studio production from UC's College-Conservatory of Music, featuring some outstanding talent from one of America's best training programs for Broadway talent. The story of a falsely accused factor manager, railroaded into a murder conviction mainly because of anti-Semitic attitudes, is heart-rending. But it makes for powerful theater. It opens tonight and runs through April 21. Box office: 859-957-1940.

My schedule hasn't afforded me the time to see the production of Don't Cross the Streams: The Cease and Desist Musical, a show that began its life in the Cincinnati Fringe Festival back in June. (It also was a festival highlight at the IndyFringe in Indianapolis in August.) But the very tongue-in-cheek piece inspired by the film Ghostbusters (but not allowed to say that) has now been expanded into a full-fledged musical that's onstage at Newport's Monmouth Theatre, presented by Falcon Theatre and Hugo West Theatricals. The League of Cincinnati Theatres has termed the show a "recommended production," so it's evident that their judging panel enjoyed it. One panelist called it "a lively, enthusiastic spoof," and another said that the show is "an evening of theater that doesn't take itself too seriously. The show just had a two-weekend run, so it's final performance is Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets: 513-479-6783. Ensemble Theatre's production of Black Pearl Sings! features one of the finest performances by a local actor that I've seen this season. Torie Wiggins plays a woman in the 1930s who translates her memory of songs from her African ancestors into a ticket out of prison and to some notoriety in New York City. Wiggins nuanced performance is complemented by veteran Annie Fitzpatrick as the folk music researcher who sees Pearl as her own ticket to success. Their tentative relationship becomes a delicately balanced friendship, while both explore issues of racism, sexism and getting ahead. Definitely worth seeing. Through March 31. Box office: 513-421-3555. Lizan Mitchell is at the other end of the career spectrum from Wiggins, but she too plays Carrie Watts, a sprightly, elderly African-Amerian woman whose powerful sense of home takes her on an impromptu journey back to her roots in A Trip to Bountiful at the Cincinnati Playhouse. It's laced with sadness, since what she remembers no longer exists, but her memories and her joyful take on life make it all worthwhile, not only for her but for others in her life, including her browbeaten son and his selfish wife as well as a sweet young woman who is Carrie's companion on a long bus ride. Through April 7. Box office: 513-421-3888. This weekend Cincinnati Shakespeare is opening a production of the much-loved Shakespearean romantic comedy, A Midsummer Night's Dream. It's been transported to 1940s America and set in a Jazz-inspired magical forest, with original musica composed by resident sound designer Doug Borntrager; there's also original choreography by Brittany Kugler. The production is staged by Jeremy Dubin, and features veteran actor Nick Rose in the role of Nick Bottom the Weaver, the guy who makes an ass of himself — literally. It's a tangled, funny story that all works out perfectly in the end. A great show to kick off springtime. Through April 21. Box office: 513-381-2273 x1. 

Can you hear the clock ticking? That's not just because this weekend marks the "spring forward" to Daylight Savings Time early on Sunday. It's also because several theater productions are just about over: If you want to see them, you only have a few days left. Leveling Up, the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park's show about video gamers, is as contemporary as can be. One of its characters is recruited by the NSA to fly drones into war zones — activity that totally blurs the boundary between the real world and cyberspace, not to mention the moral boundaries between killing video villains and actual living people. (Review here.) The show is also about taking charge of your life in a world of maturity and responsibility, rather than retreating into simulated space. Deborah Zoe Laufer's script uses four characters, all twentysomethings, who will seem like people you know — their language, their actions, their concerns are the stuff of contemporary life. Box office: 513-421-3888. If you want something that's quite intentionally removed from everyday life, you need to check out the wry and ironic musical theater piece at UC's College-Conservatory of Music, Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's The Threepenny Opera. (Review here.) It's an allegory and critique of corrupt capitalism, told with dark humor in a production by CCM Opera chair Robin Guarino (who has staged productions at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City). She knows how to present the stark humor and cynical attitudes in Brecht's script, and the talented CCM musical theater performers (accompanied by a small onstage orchestra dominated by woodwinds and brass) provide great renderings of Weill's score. This is a rarely produced work, definitely worth seeing. Box office: 513-556-4183. Perhaps you prefer your cynicism in an 18th century mode: That's what you'll get with Cincinnati Shakespeare Company's production of Dangerous Liaisons, a story of the idle rich who entertain themselves by seducing and manipulating their naive colleagues — or their innocent offspring. (Review here.) It's not a pretty story, in that the central characters are scheming and out for their own entertainment and pleasure, often for revenge. But if you like nasty behavior, this production has it in spades. Two of CSC's best veterans, Corinne Mohlenhoff and Giles Davies, play the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont, a pair of arch schemers who relish making a mess of others' lives. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but it's a literate, cleverly plotted piece of theater. Box office: 513-381-2273 x.1. The previous three shows finish their runs this weekend. When the Rain Stops Falling at Know Theatre has one more week (it closes on March 16), but you should order your tickets now: I expect the final performances will be hard to get into on short notice. (Review here.) This is one of the best shows that Know has staged in several seasons, a fine, complex script performed by a talented cast of nine, directed by Cincy Shakes Brian Isaac Phillips. (Four of the cast members are CSC regulars.) They play four generations of two families, strangely and fatefully intertwined. The story weaves back and forth between 1959 and 2039; at first it seems to be disjointed, then things suddenly beging to fall into place. By the time it's over — with several shocking moments along the way — you'll see how it all fits together. If you haven't seen this one yet, this is the ticket you need to get. Box office: 513-300-5669.

It might be hard to imagine that a show like Legally Blonde: The Musical could stir up controversy, which it did last fall at Loveland High School. But that's not stopping other theaters from putting it onstage, including Northern Kentucky University, which opened a campus production on Thursday (and continues through March 3). It's the familiar story of Elle Woods, spurned by her fiancé, off to Harvard Law School in pursuit of him, only to discover that she's got the smarts to be more than just a girlfriend. Not profound, but certainly entertaining. Tickets: 859-572-5464 On Wednesday evening, I attended the first performance of Slow Descent from Heaven, a world premiere play by local writer Catie O'Keefe. Presented by New Edgecliff Theatre (O'Keefe is their playwright-in-residence), it's an ambitious work, presented in a converted classroom at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center (3711 Clifton Ave.) in a production directed by Ed Cohen. The central character, Molly (Elizabeth A. Harris), is a NASA scientist whose story is bookended by space shuttle disasters in 1986 and 2003. She's an angry, tense character, and her involvement with men has affected her career and her attitude. The story has a reverse chronology, so we peel backward in time to learn more about why she's the way she is. I'm glad to have seen this, but I think the script needs more work in delving into Molly's psyche. Right now, her angst is all on the surface, and her interface with the two men in her life (plus the funny mother of one of them) is too predictable. Nevertheless, it's great to see a group like NET encouraging the development of new work. Tickets: 513-399-6638 Another group producing new work is Thompson House Newport (the venue formerly known as Southgate House). They are staging a new Rock musical, Variables, the comic story of five friends out for a night on the town. Their evening takes a serious turn when it's interrupted by disturbing news. It's the work of composer Jered S. Ryan and lyricist Mark D. Motz. Performances are on Feb. 23, 28 and March 2. I haven't seen it, so I can't offer an assessment, but it's another example of our fertile local theater scene. Tickets: www.thompsonhousenewport.com Cincinnati Shakespeare Company's production of Dangerous Liaisons (review here) is a listless interpretation of a show that should be deliciously (dare I say "dangerously") nasty. There are some fine actors onstage — notably Giles Davies and Corinne Mohlenhoff, both longtime favorites at CSC — and moments when the chemistry works, but not enough of them. Tickets: 513-381-2273, x1. Several Cincy Shakes actors are doing a fine job on another stage, in Know Theatre's production of When the Rain Stops Falling, a compelling story of multiple, intersecting generations of two families. (review here) It's a fascinating piece of writing by Andrew Bovell, and a taut, engaging 100-minute production, staged by CSC's Brian Phillips. If you're looking for the one show to see this weekend, this is the one I'd point you to. Tickets: 513-300-5669