Regional arts and entertainment events

Sunday

Holiday tradition In the annual treat for fans of Balanchine, ballet, and the spirit of the season (that should cover just about everybody), the Pennsylvania Ballet once again performs the master choreographer's version of The Nutcracker at the Academy of Music, Broad and Locust Streets, at noon and 4 p.m. Sunday, 2 p.m. Thursday, noon Friday, noon and 4 p.m. next Sunday, 2 and 7 p.m. Dec. 27, 2 p.m. Dec. 28 through 30, and noon Dec. 31. Tickets are $30 to $139. Call 215-893-1999.

Scrooge & Co. Charles Dickens' tale of holiday cheer reviving a penurious heart gets several permutations: The Bucks County Playhouse presents the musical version of A Christmas Carol in what is, sadly, the venerable theater's final production (after being foreclosed on and put up for auction, in what is far too familiar a fate these days). The show goes on at the playhouse, 70 S. Main St., New Hope, at 2 p.m. Sunday, and 2 and 8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday. Tickets are $22. Call 215-862-2046. . . . The antic B. Someday Productions brings its own, ah, peculiar, vision to the story in A Fractured Christmas Carol. The family-friendly, interactive production goes on at Walking Fish Theatre, 2509 Frankford Ave., at 2 and 4 p.m. Sunday, 7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and 4 p.m. Dec. 28 to 30. Tickets are $8; $5 for children under 12. Call 215-427-9255. . . . In Christopher Durang's comedy Miss Witherspoon, a woman in existential crisis is taken by heavenly guides on a time-traveling voyage through reincarnation in hopes she will learn life lessons, when all she really wants is a nap. OK, she's not a Scroogette exactly, but the basic idea is close enough for us to see it as the next step in the Dickensian evolution. The New City Stage Company presents the work at the Adrienne Theater, 2030 Sansom St., at 3 p.m. Sunday, 8 p.m. Thursday, 3 p.m. next Sunday, 8 p.m. Dec. 30 and 31, 3 p.m. Jan. 2, 8 p.m. Jan. 3 and Jan. 6 through 8, and 3 p.m. Jan. 9. Tickets are $18 to $25. Call 215-563-7500.

Christmas classic Conductor Paul Goodwin leads the Philadelphia Orchestra in Handel's Messiah with an all-star lineup of soloists - soprano Lisa Saffer, mezzo Michelle DeYoung, tenor Gordon Gietz, and baritone Christòpheren Nomura - plus the Philadelphia Singers Chorale, at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Kimmel Center's Verizon Hall, 300 S. Broad St. Tickets are $20 to $130. Call 215-893-1999.

Monday

Presentation of self Actor Crispin Hellion Glover has built a reputation as an unpredictable and archly quirky performer. But wait, there's more: Glover presents his Big Slide Show ("A one-hour dramatic narration of eight different profusely illustrated books he has made over the years"), screens his film It is Fine! EVERYTHING IS FINE! (a romantic horror film written by and starring handicapped actor Steven C. Stewart), and then answers questions about his career and signs books, at 6:30 p.m. at International House, 3701 Chestnut St. Tickets are $20. Call 215-387-5125.

Tuesday

Good pop The South Jersey quartet Case Closed twines an incisive guitar attack and tight harmonies through intense pop anthems. They play on a three-band bill at 8 p.m. at the North Star, 2639 Poplar St. Tickets are $8. Call 215-787-0488.

Wednesday

Blue Christmas It's a natural. In what should become a new holiday tradition, the Blue Man Group performs its percussive, effects-laden stage show at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Merriam Theater, 250 South Broad St., and continues on a Thursday-through-Sunday schedule to Jan. 2. Tickets are $25 to $85. Call 215-731-3333.

Thursday

Fan favorite Pop perfectionist Chris Bruni plays the finely crafted gems from his excellent fan-funded album I've Been Here at 8 p.m. at the Tin Angel, 20 S. Second St. Tickets are $8. Call 215-928-0770.

It's to laugh In the one-man musical comedy

A Jew Grows in Brooklyn

, actor

Jake Ehrenreich

tells of his rise from stickball to stage. The show goes on at

the Kimmel Center's

Perelman Theater, 300 S. Broad St., at 2 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. next Sunday, and 7:30 p.m. Monday and Tuesday. Tickets are $30. Call 215-731-3333. . . .

The Moo Shu Jew Show

features a Chinese banquet, followed by comedians

Cory Kahaney

,

Dan Naturman

,

Jon Fisch

, and

Marion Grodin

.

The Gershman Y

sponsors the show at

Joy Tsin Lau

, 1026 Race St., at 6 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $70. Call 215-545-4400.

Have yourself a merry We can't think of many better ways to celebrate the city at this time of year than with Skating at RiverRink. The rink, at Columbus Boulevard and Market Street, has sessions from 12:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $9; skate rentals are $3. Call 215-925-7465.