The shortest month is almost always the biggest in regional theater. Nearly every local organization or group launches a major play, and this year may offer the most impressive array of all.

Five award-winning plays - Two Pulitzers, two Tonys, and a couple of Obies - will be on display in Attleboro, Foxboro, Providence, Pawtucket and Walpole. Mansfield Music & Arts and The Gamm in Pawtucket will also be staging some fascinating one-acts for the avant garde and those seeking something completely different.

There is something for everyone somewhere. If you love good acting, this is the month to find it.

Just consider:

Attleboro Community Theatre, Attleboro Tom Griffin's "The Boys Next Door"

ACT is proud to announce the third production of its 50th Season, "The Boys Next Door," written by Tom Griffin and directed by Beverly Darling, of Attleboro. Two actors and actresses in the play won the Drama Desk and Actors' Equity Clarence Derwent Awards during its off-Broadway run in 1986.

Darling, who underwent major surgery this month, is determined to put on this heartfelt show. "I have an absolutely perfect cast," said Darling. "I HAVE to do this show. The reason I chose it is I was looking for a show that had the same balance of humor and poignancy as 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,' my favorite show that I've directed. When I read the script, the ideas just flew in my head and I said, 'This is the one.' "

This funny and touching story focuses on four men with various mental challenges who try to carve out lives for themselves as they share a home under the guidance of a well-intended, but burned out, social worker.

Mingled with scenes from the daily lives of these four, where "little things" sometimes become momentous (and often very funny), are moments of great poignancy when, with touching effectiveness, we are reminded that those with handicaps, like the rest of us, want only to love and laugh and find some meaning and purpose in the brief time allotted on this earth.

Performances will be held at the Ezekiel Bates Masonic Lodge, 71 North Main St., Attleboro on Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m., Feb. 16 and 17, 23 and 24, March 2 and 3 and Sunday, 2 p.m. March 4. Admission is $15 adults; $13 students and seniors. Sunday, March 4 will once again be Senior Sunday and all senior admissions will be only $5. For reservations, call the ACT box office at 508-226-8100 or visit our website at www.myspace.com/attleborocommunitytheatre or send an email to ACTinfo@comcast.net.

Orpheum Theare
Bay Colony, Foxboro

Meredith Willson's "The Music Man"

Has there ever been a more homey or homespun, lovely or more positive musical than "The Music Man?" Well, Tony voters thought so, too, in 1958, when, incredibly, it beat out "West Side Story" as best musical that year. And why not? It's unforgettably tuneful score, it's broad comedy, perfectly-written characters and its brassy effects make it among the top six musicals ever staged.

Director Jim Sullivan could find 100 things to focus on, but he's centering on character changes. "I am really trying to focus on the romantic aspects of the production. On the surface the 'Music Man' is an 'All American' musical comedy with all the singing and dancing. It contains a lot of hilarity and action," said Sullivan. "However, it is also the story of transformation. The moment young Winthrop receives his cornet, he becomes excited for the first time in years. I want the audience to see this moment through Marian's eyes. Her eyes are opened as she witnesses not only her brother's joy, but the way the townfolk have blossomed under Harold's spell.

"Finally, the largest transformation of all is Harold Hill himself as he falls under the charms of Marian, and decides to give up the salesman's life. The lesson here is that you can not fool a truly happy person, and even though Harold Hill came to River City to swindle their money, Marian points out to the town the joy that Harold has brought them, and he instantly becomes the community's newest citizen," added Sullivan.

Choreographer Dori Bryan has to stage steps that match those transformations. "The challenge of 'Music Man' has been in designing choreography that reflects the impact Harold Hill has on the folks of 19th century Iowa," said Bryan.

Musical director Rob Goldman added, " 'Music Man' is one of the largest and most technical shows we have done on our stage. Fortunately, we have one of the greatest technical staffs in the area who can make a lot happen on a small stage."

Bay Colony Productions production of "The Music Man," Orpheum Theatre, 1 School St., Foxboro. Performances are Friday, Feb. 2 and 9 at 8 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 3 and 10 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 4 and 11 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $24 adults, $22 senior/student and $18 children under 12. For ticket information, call 508-543-2787,ext 4. or go to www.orpheum.org.

Trinity Repertory Company, Providence

Thorton Wilder's "Our Town"

A beautifully poetic portrait of humanity, seen through the lens of the small town of Grover's Corners, New Hampshire. First produced in 1938, the Pulitzer-Prize winning "Our Town" stands today as Wilder's most well known and frequently performed play.

Helmed by director Brian McEleney, the production features the talents of the resident company celebrating the compelling connection between actors and audience.

"The play is pretty much perfect the way it is...Wilder essentially shows us the least interesting people he can find, and makes us see them as fascinating," said director McEleney. "They're just like us. We all have daily lives, birth and death, love and marriage. He redefines history as a story of millennia of people living lives, as opposed to a story of wars and politics and elections."

McEleney added that he and his design team have been eagerly attacking what McEleney calls the "real challenge" of the play - Wilder's deconstructed style.

"In 1938 it was revolutionary to say that costumes, sets and props get in the way of us seeing the play in a new way. So that was my big question: How can we present the removal of theatrical conventions in a way that will be startling and fresh?" asked McEleney. "The idea I came up with, with the help of our set designer Michael McGarty, was to take Wilder to the next level. We won't just see the daily life of people in Grover's Corners but the two-story set will reveal much of the theater's daily life as well.'

The cast is led by Trinity Rep resident acting company member Barbara Meek as the Stage Manager, narrating Wilder's immortal tale of love, marriage and death and daily life. The production features fellow company members Stephen Berenson, Fred Sullivan, Jr., Phyllis Kay, Mauro Hantman, Stephen Thorne, Rachael Warren and Joe Wilson, Jr., along with Brown/Trinity Consortium (class of 2007) students Eric Murdoch and Susannah Flood as George and Emily, and Heather Wood.

"Our Town" runs Jan. 26-March 4 at Trinity Repertory Co., 201 Washington St., Providence. Regular ticket prices: $20-60. Discounted and rush tickets are also available. Tickets are available by calling 401-351-4242 or online at www.trinityrep.com.

Community Players
Pawtucket

Brian Friel's "Dancing at Lughnasa"

Rhode Island's oldest community theater, The Community Players - currently celebrating their 86th season - will tackle Brian Friel's Tony Award-winning masterpiece, "Dancing at Lughnasa."

Set in Ireland in 1936, this lively, poignant play is a portrait of five unmarried sisters, who live in a modest home just outside the village of Ballybeg. Like a fading family photograph, this memory play, told through the eyes of the illegitimate son of one of the sisters, is a reflection on a summer when the introduction of a radio ruptures a family's isolation, providing a portal to the modern world and all of its challenges.

"I find that it is a wonderfully constructed memory play and is rich and multi-layered," said director Vincent Lupino. "The play is really a family story - that is to say the story of a family - their joys, sorrows, challenges, changes, etc. This adds to the universality of the play. You don't have to be of Irish descent to appreciate, enjoy or empathize with the characters and the situations. We've all been there."

As an only child himself, Lupino identifies with the character of the lone son Michael.

"One of the biggest challenges is the fact that Michael tells the story many years later and never directly interacts with the other characters as they exist only in his memories," said Lupino. "My image for the opening (and the entire play) is that the adult Michael has gone back many years later to his childhood home which is now just an empty shell of the house it once was. As he speaks to us, the past 'comes to life' and a stylized semblance of what the house - and indeed his life - once was now returns. I think it will be both visually and viscerally interesting."

Adding to this change is the return of the elder brother, after 25 years of missionary service in Africa. As the pagan harvest festival of Lughnasa commences, so does the whirlwind of change that will forever alter the once mundane lives of the Mundy sisters. This timeless play reminds us that even in the face of desperation and despair - there can be laughter.

The cast includes Kate Arthur, Marg Cappelli, Elizabeth Kirk, David Champagne, Janette Gregorian, Karen Gail Kessler, Kevin Martin and Brian Mulvey.

"Dancing at Lughnasa" to be presented at Jenks Junior High School, Division Street, Pawtucket (behind McCoy Stadium), Feb. 2, 2, 4, 9, 10 and 11. For tickets and reservations, call 401-726-6860. Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students. Discount rates are also available for all performances for groups of 20 or more. Also go to www.thecommunityplayers.org.

Walpole Footlighters

William Inge's "Picnic"

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1953, Inge based the play on three female boarders he knew and liked as a child.