America may be a bit late to the game as far as Beijing’s international culture goes, but Beijing Playhouse’s next production, Oklahoma!, will be the next duck lined up in their efforts to make it up to us.   

The epitome of Americana, Oklahoma! is laden with cowboys, farmers, square dances and shotgun weddings. It also launched the one-two punch of musical-penning masters, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II – and paved the way for a golden era of musicals that prioritized story without sacrificing entertainment value.   

We’re still waiting for things to get back into full swing around here, but that means you have some time to: 1) take some photos to try and win a month or two’s rent money, 2) catch up on web news like the accusations of Han Han not being a real writer and China getting snubbed at the Oscars, and 3) sleep. If you don’t like those ideas, you can get your fill of more movie screenings, and aspiring thespians: don’t miss a workshop teaching you how to audition for the stage.

It’s never easy to charm your in-laws, but imagine having to woo and subdue them with kung fu dance moves. This is the fate that befalls one man in Jump, the comic martial arts performance that reimagines a traditional Korean story – about a boy courting an entire family to win their daughter’s hand – with the help of thumping music, peppy fighting and manic break-dancing. These fast-paced elements take the place of dialogue, making the show fit for audiences of all languages and backgrounds.

It’s awards season in the movie world, and apparently that means everyone’s in the mood to get a tan – from (cinema, TV and computer) screens, that is. At least, the sudden upsurge in film screenings in Beijing would support this notion. Also this week: crazy Koreans making you laugh with high-strung family drama played out with martial arts and bodies flying around, and of course the annual Burns Supper at The Bookworm.

Have you all heard, Hu Jintao's declared a culture war on the West? There's a signed essay circulating that cites the invasion of cultural exports like Harry Potter and Lady Gaga, and the Chinese have to fight back – with "the advanced culture of socialism" guiding the way. Um, good luck going viral on Youtube with that one.

Unfortunately, even Uncle Hu can't do anything about the black hole of sorts we experience in Beijing at this point in the year, especially where new art exhibits are concerned. (All the workers they need to help install the crazy contraptions are getting ready to blow dodge for chunjie.) There is one exception to the rule, and quite an exciting one at that. Luckily, you've got a great set of choices for film screenings coming up, including the next in Krzysztof Kieślowski's "Three Colors Trilogy", a couple gems at the UCCA's Indie Film Forum Series, and a campy 1960s "Secret Agents Series" kicking off at new hipster joint Modernista (quick, here's your chance to be an early adopter). Read on for the details.

We know 2011 was the year of Weibo, the year of more debt crisis all over the world, the year of campus scandals, more natural disasters and Occupying everything possible. So how frivolous does it seem to talk about the biggest news in Beijing’s arts landscape? Not as frivolous as you might think.

China says “Ho, ho, ho” to some of its arty citizens for being on the nice list, giving 23 artists from greater China a big pat on the back for cultural services rendered. Who won awards? Read on to find out about that and other warm, holiday fun you can have this week.

It’s as if he’s pressing arteries instead of fingering keys – looking not for a melody but a pulse that drives the song. As Lang Lang flails and practically pants at the piano to resuscitate old concertos, fans say the Shenyang born virtuoso makes classical music look as compelling as it’s ever sounded – a sight that hundreds of fans will get a chance to glimpse during his Christmas Eve performance at the MasterCard Center. But in a telephone interview with The Beijinger Lang said his energetic performing isn’t meant to revive aged symphonies or make them fit for modern times. Below he answers our questions and reveals, among other things, why he couldn’t care less whether or not you care for classical music.

It’s a little early, but in America, halls were being decked before Thanksgiving, so I think we’re OK getting a peek at the gifts tucked away in the closet. Just yesterday The Bookworm had their Christmas Carol reading, and this week we’ve got more to look forward to: a solar Christmas tree installation at the Opposite House, a screening of It’s a Wonderful Life complete with mulled wine, and the unwrapping of tons of new exhibits.

Remember that scene in She’s All That, when Lani (the cute girl they try to disguise as a nerd using a pair of big glasses) does this performance art thing and she and a bunch of little people end up cowed under a dropsheet chanting, “Be silent, be still,” and then Freddie Prinze, Jr. comes onstage and does dramatic poetry with his hacky sack? Yeah, I try not to either.

Luckily, Zero Hour is not that kind of modern dance/multimedia performance. Yes, it explores a young immigrant mother’s cultural identity, but instead of doing it with “weird stuff,” it combines hip-hop, taichi, wushu, modern dance and ballet – a style choreographer Philein Wang has trademarked Tiger Hip-Hop Motion – as its form of expression.