arts

Who is the real Dick Cheney (Christian Bale) and how did he become the most powerful vice president in U.S. history? Those are the fundamental questions explored by “Vice,” an alternately hilarious and sobering biopic written and directed by Adam McKay.

On Dec. 22, Dan Zanes, Claudia Eliaza and Pauline Jean performed their first annual Sensory Friendly Holiday Sing Along at City Winery in Boston. The music was child-friendly, and the performance was constructed to be accessible to adults and children of all abilities. The group arranged the space, lighting and sound with special-needs kids in mind.

Central Square Theater’s “A Christmas Carol” presented Dickens like you’ve never seen him before.

Barry Jenkins, director of 2017's Oscar-winning Best Picture “Moonlight,” has brought a faithful adaptation of “If Beale Street Could Talk” to the big screen. The poignant coming-of-age tale co-stars Kiki Layne as 19-year-old Tish Rivers and Stephan James as her 23-year-old fiancé, Fonny Hunt.

Born from an abundance of talent and inspired by the desire to pool this talent into celebrating the sacred music of the African American gospel tradition, the Millennium Gospel Choir held its 18th annual holiday performance at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston last weekend.

Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced Porsha Olayiwola has been appointed as the City of Boston's new Poet Laureate, a role she will formally begin on January 1, 2019.

Now, Academy Award-winning director Steve McQueen (for “12 Years a Slave”) has brought a much more faithful adaptation of “Widows” to the screen, although the setting has been shifted from London to Chicago. The crime caper revolves around a trio of widows who opt to follow in their late husbands’ felonious footsteps in the wake of a botched bank heist.

For the first year in its history, “The Urban Nutcracker,” created and produced by Tony Williams, will be presented at the Shubert Theatre. This venue change has led to a number of other new additions to create a bigger, grander version of the Boston-centric show. The endearing production, which runs Dec. 20 through Dec. 30, takes the classic “Nutcracker” story and grounds it in the streets of Boston’s South End, with diverse dancers and musical styles representing the city.

When John Adams, played by Benjamin Evett, appears on stage in New Repertory Theatre’s production of “1776,” he’s trying to convince the Continental Congress to secede from the British – and he’s wearing leather pants. The 1960s musical about the creation of the United States gets a “Hamilton”-era makeover, with diverse and gender-bending casting, avant-garde costumes and contemporary undertones.

For 15 years, ArtsBoston has partnered with the Mayor’s Office to provide the Mayor’s Holiday Special, a series of discounts on theater tickets and dining during December and January. As the tradition continues, the goal becomes not only to provide accessibility to the arts, but also to highlight all the multicultural talent Boston has to offer. This year, Catherine Peterson, executive director of ArtsBoston, says it’s their most diverse lineup yet.

Between January and May 1979, 11 black women were murdered in Roxbury within several miles of one another. Now, Kendra Hicks, a Roxbury native and community organizer, is turning this painful piece of the neighborhood’s history into public art installations called The Estuary Projects.

Big business and shiny skyscrapers aren’t the only newcomers to Boston’s rapidly developing Seaport district. “Air Sea Land,” a sculpture installation by Spanish artist Okuda San Miguel now lines Seaport Boulevard, bringing bright colors and organic forms to the neighborhood. Through seven large-scale sculptures, San Miguel explores the themes of evolution, the environment and human influence on the animal world.