The Christmas stocking is often overstuffed with stuff. How about a gift of the arts, a way to celebrate without accumlating anything but memories.
The entertainment calendar is packed with seasonal goodies, including traditional holiday favorites such as “Messiah,” Christmas concerts, “Nutcracker” and that couvetous old sinner Ebenezer Scrooge.
Plan your 30-days to Christmas with our list of holiday shows and consider putting some of these presents under the tree.
Dance
Pacific Northwest Ballet’s “Nutcracker” is more than two decades old but showing no signs of age. The region’s biggest holiday spectacle, with Maurice Sendak’s lush sets, the lavish costumes and Kent Stowell’s imaginative choreography, opens today for performances through Dec. 28 at McCaw Hall; 206-441-2424, www.pnb.org.
“The Nutcracker Ballet” hosted by the Everett Symphony is another long-standing holiday tradition. This year the orchestra is joined by Ballet Bellevue for performances Dec. 10 and 11 at the Everett Civic Auditorium; 425-258-1605, www.everettsymphony.org.
Olympic Ballet returns to Everett with its acclaimed production of “The Nutcracker,” a show that has grown over the years to become one of the region’s top “Nutcrackers.” This year the company is bringing in former artists with New York City Ballet to dance some of the lead roles. Performances are Dec. 18 at the Everett Civic Auditorium; 425-774-7570.
“A Child’s Storybook The Nutcracker” is a festive production of Everett Dance Theatre aimed at young children and presented Dec. 8 to 11 at the PUD Auditorium in Everett; 425-348-5955.
Music
From the sacred to the secular, Christmas music defines the season and musical groups have the bases covered.
A Traditional Holiday Celebration is the theme of the Everett Chorale’s holiday show. This large choral group produces a rich, full sound and is proficient in music from the classical repertoire to pops. This year they are joined by the Snohomish Children’s Choir for concerts Dec. 3 and 4 at the Everett Performing Arts Center; 425-257-8600 www.everettchorale.org.
The Seattle Men’s Chorus, among the finest choral groups in the country, returns to Everett for its annual holiday show. Holly Jolly Holiday is a deft blend of traditional and pop songs and some musical merrymaking. They perform Dec. 3 at the Everett Civic Auditorium; 877-388-7464, www.seattlemenschorus.org.
The Seattle Children’s Choir presents Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day holiday concert Dec. 4 at the Everett Civic Auditorium (206-542-5998), and the Northwest Boychoir returns for the beautiful A Festival of Lesson &Carols on Dec. 11 at Everett’s Trinity Episcopal Church; 206-528-0250, 206-524-3234, www.nwchoirs.org.
December usually brings some big-name entertainers to Seattle, but this year Everett gets the big names, the Christmas concert by Christian superstars Steven Curtis Chapman and MercyMe on Dec. 7 at Everett Events Center; 866-332-8499, www.everetteventscenter.com.
On a more intimate scale, there’s the annual Christmas performances by harpist Bronn Journey, set for Dec. 15 and 16 at the Everett Performing Arts Center; 866-959-9699.
And the lighter side brings the Snohomish County Windjammers Barbershop Chorus, which celebrates the beauty of four-part harmony with their That’s North-Pole-tainment concert Dec. 17 at Everett’s First Presbyterian Church.
“Messiah” makes Christmas for many people, and the Everett Symphony offers a “Messiah” Sing-a-Long on Dec. 18 at First Presbyterian Church in Everett. This annual fundraiser (the symphony plays Carnegie Hall in June) gives the audience an opportunity to sing some of the oratorio’s great chorus accompanied by the orchestra; 425-258-1605, www.everettsymphony.org.
The Seattle Symphony has the biggest “Messiah” production of the season with soloists and the Seattle Symphony Chorale performing Handel’s masterpiece in six concerts Dec. 15 to 18 at Benaroya Hall. The symphony is also bringing a couple of big-name entertainers to town for some Christmas cheer. Louis Gossett Jr. narrates a review of beloved seasonal music, from “Nutcracker” to “Swan Lake,” in concerts Dec. 1 to 3. And gospel legend CeCe Winans makes her Benaroya Hall debut with a holiday gospel show Dec. 12 and 13; 206-215-4747, 866-833-4747, www.seattlesymphony.org.
Bring the season to a rousing close with the Everett Symphony at the annual Night Before New Year’s Eve concert Dec. 30 at the Everett Symphony Headquarters on Colby Avenue. Tony Ventrella narrates this nostalgic review of five decades of music, joined by pianist and singer Murl Allen Sanders; 425-258-1605, www.everettsymphony.org.
Stage
Nearly anything can be a Christmas tradition; even Scrooge. He’s back along with some other favorite holiday shows.
“A Christmas Story” (a boy, a BB gun, a 1940’s Indiana Christmas) plays through Dec. 11 at the historic Everett Theatre; 425-258-6766, www.everetttheatre.org.
“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” Driftwood Players alternative stage production Dec. 3 to 13, revisits the Barbara Robinson holiday classic about a family Christmas pageant gone wrong. Performances are at the Wade James Theater in Edmonds; 425-774-9600, www.driftwoodplayers.com.
On Seattle stages, ACT Theatre is hosting its atmospheric production of “A Christmas Carol” through Dec. 15 at ACT Theatre in downtown Seattle. This ghostly story of redemption at Christmas is a three-hankie tradition; 206-292-7676, www.acttheatre.org.
Intiman Theatre is raising the roof with “Black Nativity: A Gospel Song Play,” a hand-clapping production by Langston Hughes that plays Dec. 2 to 24 at Intiman Theatre, Seattle Center; 206-269-1900, www.intiman.org.
And Ebenezer Scrooge turns the tables in “The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge,” playing through Dec. 30 at Taproot Theatre in north Seattle. This twist on the Dickens’ classic has Scrooge suing Marley and the Christmas ghosts for kidnapping; 206-781-9707.
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