Regional arts and entertainment events

Sunday

The melancholy Dane One of Shakespeare's greatest plays, Hamlet, also has what is arguably his greatest role for an actor. The indecisive prince has been played by thespians ranging from Laurence Olivier to Jack Benny to Mel Gibson. Rory Kinnear assayed the role in Nicholas Hytner's version for London's National Theatre. A film of the production screens at 12:30 p.m. Sunday and 7 p.m. Tuesday at the County Theater, 20 E. State St., Doylestown. Tickets are $18. Call 215-345-6789. The film also screens at 12:30 p.m. Sunday and 7 p.m. Thursday at the Ambler Theater, 108 E. Butler Ave., Ambler. Tickets are $18.

Call 215-646-2550.

Season's swing Singer Mary Ellen Desmond and her quartet present their seventh annual Comfort and Joy jazz concert at

4 p.m. at Church of St. Luke & the Epiphany, 330 S. 13th St. Tickets are $20; $10 for seniors and students; benefits the St. Luke's Hospitality Center and the Fikelela AIDS Project of Cape Town, South Africa. Call 215-732-9346.

Holiday shows Have yourself a merry: Based on the beloved 1954 film, the musical White Christmas tells the tale of a couple of song-and- dance men, two singing sisters, and a Vermont lodge owned by an ex-general. The show goes on at 2 and 8 p.m. Sunday at the Walnut Street Theatre, 825 Walnut St., and continues on a Tuesday-through-Sunday schedule to Jan. 9 (added shows Dec. 20 and 27; no shows Dec. 24 and 25 and Jan. 1). Tickets are $10 to $95. Call 215-574-3550. . . . A change of pace: The Amaryllis Theatre Company presents Irish playwright Conor McPherson's downbeat Dublin Carol, about a recovering- alcoholic undertaker and his assistant working on a rainy Christmas Eve, at

2 p.m. Sunday at the Playground at the Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St., and continuing with shows at

8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday and next Sunday. Tickets are $10. Call 215-717-2173. . . . For the family: The Bristol Riverside Theatre performs Home for Holidays, a revue including traditional carols, popular classics, contemporary arrangements, and original songs, at 3 p.m. Sunday at the company's theater, 120 Radcliffe St., Bristol, and continuing with shows Wednesdays, and Fridays through Sundays to Dec. 22. Tickets are $31 and $36. Call 215-785-0100.

World beat Percussionist Xande Cruz plays his mix of traditional Afro- Brazilian rhythms and homemade electronic samples at 8 p.m. at

World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St. Tickets are $16. Call 215-222-1400.

Monday

With strings The electrifying, emotive cellist Alisa Weilerstein plays works by Beethoven, Britten, Stravinksy, and Rachmaninoff at 8 p.m.

at the Kimmel Center's Perelman Theater, 300 S. Broad St. Tickets are $23. Call 1-888-617-6743.

Tuesday

Looking back To mark the 10-year anniversary of The Swiss Army Romance, the band's first studio album, Dashboard Confessional (in the guise of front man Chris Carrabba, solo) will play the 2000 indie emo classic in its entirety at 7:30 p.m. at the Note,

142 E. Market St., West Chester. Tickets are $29. Call 484-947-5713.

Wednesday

Chamber pop Best known as the drummer for Bon Iver, S. Carey has stepped out on his own with the sensational solo album All We Grow. He plays his intricate, dreamy songs at 7 p.m. at the First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St. Tickets are $10. Call 215-821-7575.

Thursday

Shape of things

The Swiss troupe Mummenschanz is renowned for its mix of mime, illusion, and dance. It performs at the Annenberg Center's Zellerbach Theater, 3680 Walnut St., at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday,

2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 2 p.m. next Sunday. Tickets are $24 to $48. Call 215-898-3900.

Buy, buy love Edward Rushton and Dagny Gioulami's surreal buffa

The Shops

examines the gamut of consumers

from shopaholics to kleptomaniacs. The Center City Opera presents the work in a site-specific performance at the Market & Shops at Comcast Center, 1701 JFK Blvd., at 8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 5 p.m. next Sunday. Tickets are $29 and $39; $20 for students. Call 215-238-1555.

Lift every voice

The Philadelphia Singers perform works by Britten, Ingram Marshall, and David Shapiro, plus holiday favorites, in Christmas on Logan Square at St. Clement's Church, 20th and Cherry Streets, at 5 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $20 to $43. Call 215-751-9494.

Modern-day composer It's good to be reminded now and then

of the genius of Frank Zappa. Though he adopted the guise of outrageous rock-and-roller, he was truly an avant-garde artist and a gifted satirist. Dweezil Zappa, a fine guitarist in his own right, plays a complete version of his father's 1974 absurdist masterpiece Apostrophe(') at the Keswick Theatre, Easton Road and Keswick Avenue, Glenside, at

8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $29.50 to $59.50.

Call 215-572-7650.