Stepping Out

Ooh La La!

Hofstra Opera Theater stages 'La Vie Parisienne'

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At the Opera

‘La Vie Parisienne’
The glory of the Belle Époque comes alive in Hofstra Opera Theater’s staging of Jacques Offenbach’s acclaimed comic operetta. This amusing musical portrayal of life in the French capital at the time of Napoleon III, is renowned for its exuberance, effervescent tunes and hilarious social satire. Composed by one of France’s most celebrated geniuses of comedy, with a libretto by writers of the masterpiece “Carmen,” this parody of high-society in Paris pokes fun at the rich and revels in the wit of their servants. Offenbach uses the backdrop of a city giddy with excitement at the arrival of one of the first world’s fairs to portray the folly we have come to associate with the decadent ‘gay paree’ of our imaginations.
Friday and Saturday, Jan. 29-30, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, Jan. 31, 3 p.m. $10, $8 seniors and students. Hofstra University’s John Cranford Adams Playhouse, South Campus, Hempstead. (516) 463-6644 or www.hofstratickets.com.


On Stage

Zooman and the Sign
Settle in for a provocative, ripped-from-the headlines look at urban America in Charles Fuller’s drama “Zooman and the Sign,” presented by Nassau Community College’s Departments of Theatre and Dance and Africana Studies. Set in Philadelphia, a 12-year old black girl is murdered by Zooman, a black teen. Witnesses are too terrified to come forward and identify the killer. The girl’s outraged father posts a sign that rips the community apart. This arresting play has been called as shocking as today’s and tomorrow’s headlines.
Thursday through Saturday, Jan. 28-30, 8 p.m.; Sunday, Jan. 31, 3 p.m. $9, $7 seniors. Nassau Community College’s Little Theatre, Garden City. (516) 572-7676.