Regional arts and entertainment events
Sunday Christmas favorites The Pennsylvania Ballet presents Balanchine's version of The Nutcracker at noon and 4 p.m. at the Academy of Music, Broad and Locust Streets, and continues with shows on a varied schedule to Dec. 31. Tickets are $29 to $150. Call 215-8
Sunday
Christmas favorites The
Pennsylvania Ballet
presents Balanchine's version of
The Nutcracker
at noon and 4 p.m. at
the Academy of Music
, Broad and Locust Streets, and continues with shows on a varied schedule to Dec. 31. Tickets are $29 to $150. Call 215-893-1999. . . . Conductor
Julian Wachner
leads
the Philadelphia Orchestra
in
Handel's Messiah
, with soloists
Sarah Coburn
, soprano,
Laura Vlasak Nolen
, mezzo-soprano,
William Hite
, tenor, and
David Kravitz
, baritone, at 2 p.m. at
the Kimmel Center's
Verizon Hall, Broad and Spruce Streets. Tickets are $49 to $105. Call 215-893-1999. . . .
Valentin Radu
conducts
the Ama Deus Ensemble
in
the 1749 Covent Garden version of Handel's Messiah
at 4 p.m. at
Daylesford Abbey,
220 S. Valley Rd., Paoli. Tickets are $25; $10 for students. Call 610-688-2800.
What's a mother to do?
In her one-woman show
25 Questions for a Jewish Mother
, comedian
Judy Gold
looks at motherhood from her distinctive perspectives as a conservative Jew, a lesbian, and a single mother of two boys. The
Philadelphia Theatre Company
production goes on at 3 p.m. today at
the Suzanne Roberts Theatre
, Broad and Lombard, and continues with shows at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 3 p.m. next Sunday. Tickets are $49. Call 215-985-0420.
Holiday treats
It's the nature of the newspaper business that we often find ourselves working on Christmas Eve, and an annual tradition is a colleague's sojourn around the newsroom reciting George Bailey's back-to-life greetings from
It's a Wonderful Life
("Merry Christmas, movie house! Merry Christmas, Emporium! Merry Christmas, you wonderful old Building and Loan!"). You can see the whole story in Joe Landry's on-stage radio adaptation at 3:30 p.m. today at the
Prince Music Theater
, 1412 Chestnut St., and at 7 p.m. Wednesday, 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and 3:30 p.m. next Sunday. Tickets are $35 and $45. Call 215-569-9700. . . .
A Tuna Christmas
revisits the Texas town where Nativity scenes feature life-size statues of Bing Crosby and Natalie Wood and the local pageant is a disaster area. The show goes on at 7:30 p.m. today at
the Walnut Street Theatre's
Independence Studio on 3, 825 Walnut St., and continues on a Tuesday-through-Sunday schedule to Jan. 4. Tickets are $30. Call 215-574-3550.
Monday
Those old houses
Architect
James Garrison
discusses his book
Houses of Philadelphia - Chestnut Hill and the Wissahickon Valley 1880-1930
at 6 p.m. at
the AIA Center for Architecture
, 1218 Arch St. Admission is free. Call 215-546-1146.
Tuesday
Russian classics
Seventeen soloists from the acclaimed
Academy of Vocal Arts
perform works by Prokofiev, Borodin, Shostakovich, Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky at the
AVA's Warden Theater
, 1920 Spruce St., at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. Tickets are $23; $15 for students. Call 215-735-1685.
Wednesday
A view of the stars
Photographs of artists and celebrities including Pablo Picasso, Miles Davis, Simone de Beauvoir, Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren are among those in
Saving Face: Portraits from the Collection of Robert Infarinato
at the
Michener Art Museum
, 138 S. Pine St., Doylestown, to March 15. Admission is $6.50; $6 for seniors; $4 for students. Call 215-340-9800.
Thursday
Scientific movement
The
Miro Dance Theatre
looks at the intersection of physics and dance in their new work-in-
progress,
Spooky Action
. Members of the company visited Fermilab west of Chicago, where they learned about quantum physics to prepare for the work, in which dancers use the behavior of subatomic particles as the basis for choreography. Miro directors
Tobin Rothlein
and
Amanda Miller
discuss their work at 6:30 p.m. at
Girard College
, Girard and Corinthian Avenues. Admission is free. Call 215-962-4773.
Scrooge, et al
For
the Curio Theatre's
production of
A Christmas Carol
, actor
Jared Reed
draws on accounts of Charles Dickens' public readings to present a one-man performance. The show goes on at 7 p.m. Thursday at
the Sanctuary
, 4740 Baltimore Ave., and continues on a Thursday-to-Saturday schedule to Jan. 4. Tickets are $10 to $22. Call 215-525-1350.
Word and music
The New York-based pianist
Aziza
at one time taught high school (where one of her students was Alicia Keys). These days, she's performing her mix of jazz and poetry, as she will at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. at
the Clef Club
, 738 S. Broad St. Tickets are $15. Call 215-893-9912.
Friday & Saturday
Hoppers redux
The Hopper Brothers, a hit and the Philly Fringe, are at the center of the holiday show presented by short-form improv virtuosos
the N Crowd
at
the Actors Center,
257 N. Third St., at 8 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $10. Call 215-253-4276
Brassy holidays
We love
Tuba Christmas
, the annual gathering of hundreds (well, maybe 50, but it seems like more) of tubists for a concert of holiday tunes. This year's extravaganza is at
the Kimmel Center's
Commonwealth Plaza, Broad and Spruce Streets, at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free. Call 215-893-1999.
Marvin's the man
Composer
Marvin Hamlisch
presents a holiday gala at
Lenape Regional Performing Arts Center
, 130 Tomlinson Mill Rd., Marlton, at 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $65. Call 856-983-3366.