This week in theatre rounds up the most noteworthy live theatre playing right now in Toronto. It includes just-opened shows as well as productions that are about to close.

A Christmas Carol / Touring Show - Various locations / 7:00pm / $10-$15
What would the season be without the tale of Scrooge and Tiny Tim? In Humber River's take on A Christmas Carol, five actors present the Victorian tale with the ghosts of present, past, and future. The show is on tour with stops at Montgomery's Inn, St. Paul's Church, and the Sheridan Park Alliance Church. Before you sit down with a bowl of popcorn and catch Bill Murray as 80s Scrooge, consider the classic take.

The Second City's Dysfunctional Holiday Revue / Second City / 8:00pm/2:00pm / $22
Second City's National Touring company presents the not-so-merrymaking side of Christmas: dysfunctionality. Let's face it, to temper all the good will and "every time a bell rings...", there are, inevitably, some awkward moments that come with mixing family and the holidays. With sketches about the season of joy, mirth, and holiday shopping, you're sure to see your Aunt Pearl or Uncle Charlie reflected in the scenes of wackiness.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat / Lower Ossington / 8:00pm/1:00pm / $45-$60
The Lower Ossington Theatre is home to a number of high profile musicals of late — Spring Awakening and the upcoming Avenue Q among them. In the month of December, Joseph and his many brothers take to the stage in the musical about that coat of many colours. If you can remember each and every colour of what must be a very heavy piece of fabric, then maybe it's worth revisiting this mainstay from Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.

The Nutcracker / National Ballet - Four Seasons / 7:00pm/2:00pm / $38+
Ballet lovers have a lot to cheer about this season with the successful launch of the 60th anniversary of the National Ballet of Canada with Romeo and Juliet, followed by the holiday classic, The Nutcracker. The curtain rises on E.T.A. Hoffmann's Christmas tale complete with childhood wonder and fancy and set to the incomparable music of Tchaikovski. A perennial holiday favourite, the old Nutcracker continues to delight Toronto audiences

Red / Canadian Stage - Bluma Appel / 8:00pm/1:30pm / $24-$69
Abstract Expressionist painter Mark Rothko is the subject of Red, the 2010 Tony Award-winning play by John Logan. The Canadian Stage production, directed by Kim Collier and starring Jim Mezon in the title role, is an outstanding portrait of an artist at the breaking point. Red is electric from start to finish. Mezon's Rothko is mesmerizing and a host of designers, working on a play all about sensorial experience, find just the right palette to showcase the artist's work. Check out my full review.