A whole lot of holiday classics tend to return this time of year, and Bay Ares stages are more than ready to deliver. The diverse breadth and high quality of Bay Area theater is always a gift, and in December that means a whole lot of very different seasonal offerings.
What’s great about holiday shows on local stages is that they can be pretty much anything. They might be fairy tales like Presidio Theatre’s panto “Sleeping Beauty” or Berkeley Playhouse and African-American Shakespeare Company’s different takes on “Cinderella.”
They could be concerts like Lorraine Hansberry Theatre’s “Soulful Christmas” or the Christmas Revels in Berkeley. They can be circus shows like “Dear San Francisco” at Club Fugazi, Circus Bella in its San Francisco big top or Unique Derique at the Marsh Berkeley. They could even be Jewish comedy in a Chinese restaurant a la Kung Pao Kosher Comedy. Or they could simply be popular musicals and comedies with no particular holiday theme, such as “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley or “Guys and Dolls” at San Francisco Playhouse.
Here’s a handful (or maybe a stocking full) of some of the more explicitly Yuletide-themed merriment on offer around the Bay during the holiday season.
It’s just not the holiday season without a host of completely different adaptations of Charles Dickens’ Christmas classic. Notably, this will be the last year that American Conservatory Theater stages its current version by Paul Walsh and former artistic director Carey Perloff that it’s been doing since 2005. Next year ACT plans to unveil a new adaptation, just like the current one unseated the one the theater had produced yearly since 1976.
Center Repertory Company’s production in Walnut Creek is a Bay Area tradition in its own right, recurring faithfully since 1979. Meanwhile, Silicon Valley Shakespeare is in its second year of doing an immersive walking production at the Montalvo Arts Center, using the Richard Orlando adaption originally from Northside Theatre Company.
Details: ACT, Dec. 6-24 at Toni Rembe Theater, San Francisco; $25-$130; www.act-sf.org; Silicon Valley Shakespeare, Dec. 4-17 at Montalvo Arts Center, Saratoga; $40-$70; www.svshakespeare.org; Center Repertory, Dec. 7-21 at Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek; $45-$70; www.lesherartscenter.org
The Red Ryder air rifle. The tacky lamp in the shape of a woman’s leg. The tongue stuck to a frozen flagpole. The 1983 movie based on Jean Shepherd’s stories embedded all these images into the popular imagination, and Lafayette’s Town Hall Theatre keeps that tradition alive through Philip Grecian’s 2000 stage play, not to be confused with the 2012 musical.
Details: Dec. 2-17; Town Hall Theatre, Lafayette; $20-$45; www.townhalltheatre.com.
Every generation has its own holiday classics, and for some that means the 2003 Will Ferrell movie “Elf,” about a hapless human raised as one of Santa’s elves. Now Los Altos Stage Company presents the 2010 Broadway musical based on the film, with songs by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin (“The Prom,” “The Wedding Singer).
Details: Dec. 1-23; Bus Barn Theater, Los Altos; $22-$45; www.losaltosstage.org
It wouldn’t be the yuletide season in SF without some drag extravaganzas. (See also “Katya: A Holiday Spectacular” at New Conservatory or “A Drag Queen Christmas” at the Curran.) For years that’s meant casting some drag favorites (Matthew Martin, D’Arcy Drollinger, Holotta Tymes and Coco Peru) in a parody of holiday episodes of beloved sitcom “The Golden Girls.” This year’s edition will be in loving memory of the show’s former star Heklina, who died in April.
Details: Nov. 30- Dec. 23; Victoria Theatre, San Francisco; $35-$75; www.thegoldengirlslive.com.
Predating the 2018 Jim Carrey flick, “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical” is a 2006 Broadway musical based on the beloved Dr. Seuss book. It of course includes a couple of songs from the 1966 TV cartoon version, along with a lot of new ones by Mel Marvin and Timothy Mason. Now a touring production stops through San Jose for a week to steal Christmas anew.
Details: Nov. 28- Dec. 3; Center for the Performing Arts, San Jose; $39-$114; www.broadwaysanjose.com.
George Bailey’s journey through a grim world where he’d never lived has been a heartwarming holiday favorite ever since the 1946 film came out. Joe Landry’s adaptation recreates that magic through staging the script as a 1940s radio play performed onstage, including the low-tech sound effects.
Details: Through Dec. 17; Marin Art and Garden Center, Ross; $20-$35; www.rossvalleyplayers.com.
How do you do a sequel to a jukebox musical about the once-in-a-lifetime 1956 recording session combining Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis? Fill it with Christmas songs and stories, of course! The original session was in early December, after all. This 2021 follow-up to the 2010 Broadway hit is swinging through the Bay Area in a short three-day run.
Details: Dec. 15-17; Curran Theater, San Francisco; $60-$121; www.broadwaysf.com.
What could be more seasonal than short plays inspired by Alfred Hitchcock films? Six local playwrights put a fresh holiday spin on classics from “Strangers on a Train” to “Psycho.”
Details: Dec. 9-17; Potrero Stage, San Francisco; free; www.playground-sf.org.
