'Tis the season for theater productions.

Within the next week you can find a show to get you into the holiday spirits ("Winter Wonderettes" Manoa Valley Theatre) and make you laugh ("Quip[0xad]tease," Hawaii Pacific University, and "I Hate Hamlet" as well as two one-act comedies, Chaminade University).

You can also gain some cultural perspective ("Voices From Okinawa," Kumu Kahua Theatre) and some knowledge about the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution ("We The People," Tenney Theatre).

A handful of high school productions are also starting. (See the TGIF calendar, back of the section).

The following is a little bit about the non-high school shows opening this week:

'WINTER WONDERETTES'

Call this one a much-needed feel-good story most everyone can relate to nowadays.

Never mind that the musical is set in a small town in 1968; the storyline still rings loud and clear today.

It's the holiday season, and four friends (The Marvelous Wonderettes: Pomai Lopez as Suzy, Aubrey Lee Glover as Betty Jean, Alex Lanning as Cindy Lou and Becky Maltby as Missy) are charged with putting on the holiday bash for Harper's Hardware when news of impending job layoffs circulate. Their task quickly switches to trying to keep the town's spirits up.

The key to the musical is its silver lining and happy ending.

"It's very uplifting and it shows there is hope out there even at times like this," Lopez said. "I know a bunch of people right now who are in fear of losing their jobs and some who have already lost them, so this is a perfect show for them to see and enjoy. It's funny and uplifting."

The production is suitable for audiences ages 8 and up and features songs like "Mister Santa," "Jingle Bell Rock," "Mele Kalikimaka," "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town," and "Winter Wonderland."

Dwight Martin, producing director, said MVT chose the production partly because MVT's Artistic Planning Committee was looking for a holiday-themed storyline that would resonate with local audiences.

'QUIPTEASE'

Written by Yokanaan Kearns, award-winning author of "Pidg Latin," "Dis/Troy," and "Maui vs. Hercules," the comedy features a woman who moves to Los Angeles after graduating from college and looks forward to starting a new life, but her plans unravel when her mom returns from Hawai'i with a boyfriend, and her father reveals her secret desire to live the life of a poet.

'VOICES FROM OKINAWA'

"Voices From Okinawa" tells the story of an American of Okinawan ancestry who teaches English to local Okinawans. Instead of traditional teaching methods, he uses techniques his students can relate to.

Along the way, the students reveal their attitude toward American soldiers based in Okinawa and the teacher learns more of his own heritage.

Playwright Jon Shirota pulled from family history to put the piece together. His father left Okinawa in 1907, along with three brothers, and became a pineapple grower on Maui.

The brothers eventually returned to Okinawa, but Shirota's family remained in Hawai'i.

FALL DRAMA AT CHAMINADE

Chaminade opens its fall theater season today with Paul Rudnick's 1991 dramatic comedy "I Hate Hamlet." Chaminade will also put on two one-act plays ("For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls" and "The Actor's Nightmare") starting tomorrow night. Bob Bouffier directs "I Hate Hamlet" and Gary Morris will direct the one-act plays, each using using a "play within play" motif.

'WE THE PEOPLE'

The production is billed as a series of Norman Rockwell-esque vignettes organized phrase by phrase from the preamble.

The entire play is based on the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted.