Open & close: Magic of the theater

In the annual rite of January closings, more than a dozen Broadway plays and musicals are either dark or getting dimmer this month in NYC.

Rather than mourn their passing (for there are others on the horizon to fill their stages and their seats), let The New York Times celebrate not that they are leaving, but that they were alive in the first place.

"Live theater has a built-in bittersweetness born of its ephemeral nature. The magic is here and now, it's gone forever ... or at least until its next revival. ... That's why being present when a work of achieved art passes into history (or even earlier during its run -- MK) can be inordinately moving, a reminder that beauty itself is mostly an evanescent thing in life."

Here at TBPAC, we just waved good-bye to the last of the energetic cast of "Spring Awakening," who jump-started our 2009. Now we look ahead to "Riverdance," "Spamalot" and "Rent" over the next months, along with a host of smaller, more intimate, productions in our other four theaters.

If your new year's resolution is to have more memories than regrets, consider starting here. -- MichaelK