As much as I love entertainment, I've never been able to figure out why the public bestows on actors, singers and dancers the gift of wisdom. I feel the same way about athletes. Because someone can cry on cue, carry a melody or throw a ball doesn't make them smart. Certainly some smart people do these things, but not all who do these things are smart.

Shirley MacLaine is one of those smart people who can act, sing and dance. Her appearance at Proctors on Friday was remarkable to observe. The first section was a photo show of all the people she's met and interacted with over her career. We are talking almost every world leader during the last quarter of the 20th century. On the show biz side her connections with Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack was also on display.

The thoughts of why these world leaders would want to discuss anything of import with an actress ran through my mind during that part of the event. I wrote it off to the probability that even the powerful are media-whores.

When MacLaine started interacting with the audience. many of those "why" thoughts came into play. Why were all these people lining up to tell her how much she's influenced their lives and why do they think she has the secret to the mysteries of life. I wanted to shout - she's an actress, who in her youth could sing and dance. She's not a guru.

However, as the Q & A went on I began to rethink my stance. Yes, if MacLaine were not a famous movies star she probably wouldn't have met the Kennedy's, the Dali Lama, President Reagan and others. But what I ended up admiring about MacLaine was the way she used her access as an educational tool. It became very clear that she is extremely intelligent, committed to life and is a searcher of truth. She was fortunate enough to meet the smartest and most powerful people in the world. She was wise enough to learn the from them the shortcomings of power and intellignece. Because of this learning, she never fawns and as a result her self-confidence and composure are both calming and reassuring.

Most important, at Proctors, MacLaine never acted as if she had all the answers. What she understands is her devotion to exploring the unknown has put her on a path. She believes that path is right for her and might be right for others. She doesn't lecture and simply talks about what she's learned and what she believes. She leaves it up to you to accept, modify or dismiss he notions.

She doesn't care if you travel with her. For her its the journey that is important and she knows that journey must be made alone. How refreshing it was to hear someone who is convinced about the validity of their own beliefs not insisting that they are the only truths that have to be accepted by all.

If only our politicians would take that same approach.

I've long believed that the community, in general, tends to overlook the cultural advantages of having a college in our midst. The current production of "Great Expectations" at the University of Albany is but one example.

It continues at the Performing Arts Center at the Washington Avenue campus until Saturday. Performances are 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are only $12 and $8 for seniors. A better deal you will not find. Take advantage.

"Great Expectations" is an adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel by Chad Larabee, who also directs the work. He sets the time between 1953-1968 and moves the location to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and in Washington, DC. He eliminates, combines and renames characters but essentially focuses on the story of Pip - here named Hub - and his journey to find his identity and accept himself for who he is rather than what he thinks he should be.

This concentration on Hub/Pip's search for self makes a college campus an ideal location for the world premiere of the work. Not only does it have a special resonance to most of its audience, it has a talent pool appropriate to the age of the characters. Wisely, to fill the roles of two older characters the production goes off campus to enlist the talents of Carol Charniga as the eccentric spinster Victoria Piedmont and Patrick White as the criminal Thomas Summerset.

The students are not only age appropriate they are talent appropriate. The leads, Justin Mancuso as Hub, Kristyn Youngblood as Stella and Cecelia Gray as Sissy/Kim, offer honest performances that display talent and training. The rest of the cast is also very good as they create an array of characters that are fully realized.

The sets appear impressive, but they do not always serve the play. There is a two-tiered set that is rolled back and forth - but since more than 90% of the action is played on one level - why have two? It's a case of because you can doesn't mean you should. The Washington apartment set is also overdone. But being fair, tech students in a theater program need to learn their craft as well, which makes overdone forgivable on a college campus. And truth is - no harm, no foul.

Larabee's adaptation is smart and functional. Because so much has to be condensed even to bring the performance time to the current 2 1/2 hours, the play appears to be as much a work "suggested by" as it is an adaptation. I mostly missed the shadings of character and motive in the supporting cast - especially with the criminal Sommerset who's reasons for helping Hub and his actions at play's end are rushed and lack the important depth of meaning they deserve. Too, Hub's transformations from good to vain and back again seem abrupt and would be helped by some transitional scenes. However, I doubt that anyone would sit through a four hour production.

The thing I most appreciate about "Great Expectations" is that the minor flaws add to the experience. How satisfying to see talented young actors working to bring alive and make contemporary great literature. Sorry to say, you don't get much of that at local community theaters.

Sadder to say, we won't be getting any more of this at the University at Albany as the theater program is being eliminated. If you thought the idea of dropping theater was crazy - go see "Great Expectations" and realize it is a truly insane and destructive plan.

Next to making a New Year's resolution for the upcoming year, there is not a more futile list than deciding what was best in the year just past. Most of my problem with best lists is that being in the business of reviewing theater and arts for a daily newspaper I find comfort in thinking the offering of my opinion has a purpose - to give direction to someone to either see or avoid an event.

Looking back over the year by making a list is more like saying look what I did and you didn't do.

OK, with that in mind let me share my two best theater experiences of 2011, which because they are out of the region can't be placed on any local best list. (which will appear in this space shortly).

One you might have done, the other - no way.

My absolute best theatrical experience of 2011 was attending the production of "Jerusalem" on Broadway. It featured what might be the most awesome stage performance I've ever seen. Mark Rylance was enormously powerful, touching and flamboyant in the lead role. There is hardly a week that goes by that his portrayal doesn't find its way into my head.

If there is a negative with such a strong performance, it is that we tend to remember the performance rather than the material. Too bad because the material is as large in scope as was Rylance's performance, which totally served the work. It's a trite phrase, but this was a "once in a lifetime" portrayal that I treasure.

The other great experience was attending the opera "Tosca" at Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. sitting in the Presidential Box. Oh yeah! Though an excellent production, this wasn't the best "Tosca" I''d ever seen but the surroundings made it one of the best experiences I've had in 2011.

I tend to be jaded. I've attended so many great art events and met and interviewed so many talented, famous artists I am not easily impressed. This experience impressed me. Sitting in the Presidential Box, sipping champagne and eating chocolates all packaged with the presidential seal made me feel like a giddy kid. It gives you the slightest taste of what life in the really fast lane can be like.

In the interest of full disclosure President Obama was not there. However, the president's social secretary and one of his guests did share the box (it seats eight). We engaged in good discussion about the state of the arts and I was impressed with their ability to speak knowingly of the upstate NY region. At one point we were all trying to remember the name of the former artistic director of Glimmerglass Opera and one of them went to his contact list on his smart phone and pulled it out. As I said - impressive.

There are a number of wonderful times provided by the arts. Some are simple - like sitting on the lawn at SPAC listening to Emmanuel Ax or attending the world premiere of a play in the Berkshires believing it will be a future hit on Broadway. And perhaps, just being part of a crowd listening to a great band in downtown Troy at Rockin' on the River.

Another reason I hate best lists is because there are far too many diverse experiences to list.

Indeed, 2011 was a year of great experiences - but two do stand out. I hope they are matched in 2012.

For some reason I turn into a music fan during the holidays. Not all music, mind you. I quickly have my fill with the familiar pop Christmas songs that seem inescapable between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. I don't even like it when carolers come around the neighborhood trying to force good cheer upon me. I care about neither Rudolph or Frosty, though I do agree the best nights are silent.

That said, when attending an event during which the performer encourages the audience to join in a holiday sing-a-long I have to admit I don't hate it as much as I do the rest of the year.

Maybe it has to do with the communal aspect of the singing that makes it acceptable to me. There is something uniting about hundreds of people joining together to sing a familiar and (maybe) even an inspirational song.

Sing-alongs are at the bottom rung of my tolerance for holiday cheer. I prefer things that encourage me to look inward at the holidays.

For me that is mostly accomplished by listening to classical music. I think it is because much of the classical music repertoire has been around for a long time - in many cases hundreds and hundreds of years. I was raised in the Roman Catholic faith in the era of Latin masses and when the Gregorian chants were still in fashion. Obviously that upbringing didn't make me a better, kinder person but it did instill in me a love of ritual.

I love to be involved with any art form that has endured - whether is be a play first performed by the Greeks or Roman or music that originated in the Dark Ages. There is something about the fact that art survives that offers me hope during this holiday season.

And after all, Christmas really is a birthday celebration that's been going on for slightly over tw0-thousand years.

One of the great experiences of being a reviewer is going to a show you are certain you will dislike and having a good time. That happened to me this week with the musical "The Addams Family" that continues at Proctors Theatre in Schenectady through Sunday Were I not reviewing the show there is no way I would have attended the production. Indeed, I've successfully avoided the show in NYC for over a year.

I still don't think the show is great, but as I said in my review it has a great cast who makes average material seem better than it is. Thanks to great comic timing from the cast even lines you can see coming for miles were funny. And, to give credit where credit is due, some lines are extremely witty and unexpected.

The point is that with theater reviewing - as in life - don't prejudge. Always have an open mind and experience things for what they are - not what you want them to be. "The Addams Family" is true to itself and doesn't strive to be great art. It was designed to entertain not to enlighten.

And, it is very entertaining.

Capital Repertory Theatre begins previews of "Man of La Mancha" Friday night and opens the run on Tuesday. It plays the Albany venue through Dec. 17.

That's a long run for Capital Rep, but if any show can draw audiences for that period of time it is "Man of La Mancha." Indeed, in order to build advance ticket sales the company has even been able to invest in television commercials for the show.

I hope it isn't a waste of time and money. Indeed, for my money, the commercial is a waste of time. I said to a theater friend recently, "When did they turn "La Mancha" into "Henry V?" It shows the lead - Kevin McGuire - in close ups speaking in very dramatic tone about the challenge he is about to face. It gives the impression that it is a very serious and drab show. If you listen closely you can hear the song "The Impossible Dream" in the background - but you have to listen very closely. The commercial makes it look more like a Shakespearean drama that a popular Broadway musical.

If you've never seen "Man of La Mancha" you have to believe me, this is a true Broadway musical with great music, a lot of comedy and yes - a serious story. The magic of the show is that it blends all three elements. You should end the show fighting tears and leave remembering the joy that made you care so much about the title character.

Of course, I haven't seen the show, which doesn't officially open until Tuesday. But I saw Kevin McGuire do the show in Hubbard Hall in Cambridge five years ago. He was, and should be again, a terrific Don Quixote. The supporting cast looks good so I'm going with heightened expectations (which is never a good thing for a critic).

I can't guarantee the quality of the production but I can promise you it will be better than what you might expect from seeing the commercial.

In this area most theater runs are about three weeks and that usually means three weekends. There is an exception. Lake George Dinner Theater opens in June and runs to Oct. 29 That's a bit over five months. That is longer than some shows run on Broadway.

A problem can be with a long run there is no urgency to see the show because you think you have plenty of time. If you haven't noticed Oct. 29 is Saturday. It's kind of last call.

"Skin Deep" is a show I can recommend to anyone. It's funny, touching, smart and well performed. It is about people who feel like outsiders who - in this case because of their weight, but it could be any imagined flaw - deny themselves love. The happy ending is well deserved.

"Skin Deep" isn't the only play closing this weekend. "Hair" the 60s rock musical at Home Made Theater in Saratoga closes a three weekend run after the Sunday matinee. I found some problems with the authenticity of most of the performers but the score remains fantastic and the cast sings it well.

This is also the final weekend for "The Great American Trailer Park Musical" playing at the Arts Center in Saratoga. If you are looking for mindless entertainment you have found the right show. It's everything the title suggests. It's silly campy fun. It has a good score that is well sung and at 90-minutes length it doesn't tax your brain in the slightest.

If you prefer a timely show - what could be better on a Halloween weekend than a musical "Zombie Prom" - especially when the show is offered free of charge. Sunday is the final performance. It's at the Shenendahowa HS East in Clifton Park.

Another Sunday losing is perhaps the biggest name of all. It's the national tour of "La Cage Aux Folles" at Proctors Theatre starring George Hamilton. It's a fun show that expresses some important values about love and family. It has a number of great songs and a lot of laughs.

Not every show closes this weekend, nor is every show frivolous fun. At Curtain Call Theatre in Latham their production of"The Diary of Ann Frank" plays until Nov. 9. It's the definitive play about the Holocaust and when seen through the innocent eyes of a young girl the tale remains touching and meaningful

This is the last weekend for a lot of good shows. But if you can't go to something, too bad. But one of the best things about this area for going to theater - you can be sure another good show will be opening soon.