For most small theater companies, the level of acting necessary for John Steinbeck’s "Of Mice and Men" would be prohibitive. But undaunted by the difficult text, the 2-year-old Charlie Pineapple Theatre Company has chosen this drama for its fourth production. Comment.

Aqua restaurant on Smith Street is all washed up. Comment.

The ebullient owner of the newly opened Les Babouches, in Bay Ridge, may look familiar. He is Bouabid "Bou" Gassimi, the former proprietor of La Maison du Couscous, a beloved Moroccan eatery on 77th Street that is still going strong - but under new management. Comments (2).

This Thursday, Dec. 16, the Kane Street Synagogue’s first "Israel Film Festival" will kick off with an 8 pm screening of Asher Tlalim’s 1998 film "Hitchhikers." The screening will be preceded by a 7:15 pm reception. Comment.

When a director says, "The tragedy of theater is the applause," it’s a pretty sure bet his staging will be far from ordinary. In Jan Lauwers’ latest work, "Isabella’s Room," which his Needcompany will perform at BAM’s Harvey Theatre this week, the playwright-director once again demonstrates his iconoclastic tendencies. Comment.

"Glissando," an indie feature by Park Slope filmmaker Chip Hourihan, has been traveling the festival circuit for a couple of years, but it will be screened a bit closer to home on Dec. 18 at Manhattan’s Pioneer Theater. Comment.

In the midst of the holidays, it’s nearly impossible not to get caught up in the stress of entertaining, shopping and decorating. Comment.

The Beauty of the Bump and Grind," playing at Boudoir Bar until Dec. 19, starts with an interesting premise - repressed women can bump, grind and strip their way to spiritual freedom. But somewhere in the middle, playwright Garrett McConnell (she also produced, directed and composed the music and wrote the lyrics for the songs) forgets a few major points. Comment.

Although "Anything Goes" was originally conceived as a vehicle for Ethel Merman, William Gaxton and Victor Moore, the two-act musical comedy has proven to be remarkably durable. Upon opening in 1934, it ran for 420 performances and was revised and revived on Broadway in 1962 and 1987. Comment.

Atlantic Yards: Brooklynites, who have proven with the Cyclones single-A baseball team that they can support professional sports, could be front and center for high-scoring, fast-paced, action-packed basketball. Comment.

Atlantic Yards: Five months after a city fiscal watchdog announced that it would analyze the cost to taxpayers of developer Bruce Ratner’s proposed $2.5 billion Atlantic Yards project work has yet to begin on the study. Comment.

Atlantic Yards: Simon Liu has made a name for himself by producing high-end stretchers — the wood frames upon which painting canvases are stretched — for world-renowned painters. Comment.