Remember past Christmases when, despite your parents' orders, you squirmed beneath the tree to peel back the wrapping paper and see what gifts you were getting?
You're grown up now so we're giving you an early peek at some convenient and reasonably priced holiday season treats that should entertain you and the whole family.
You won't have to fight Boston traffic, stalk shoppers through parking lots to get their space or pay big bucks to have your kid photographed in the lap of a fat guy with a paste-on Santa beard.
Take a peek. Warm up your inner Grinch. There's a gift out there with your name on it.
Sing like the angels
At The Center for Arts in Natick, Director David Lavalley is hoping folks get festive this afternoon at 3 p.m. when Conductor Jon Ceander Mitchell, featured soloists and an instrumental ensemble perform George F. Handel's "Messiah." The conductor for University of Massachusetts and Neopolitan Chamber Orchestras, he'll be inviting audiences to join in the famous "Hallelujah" chorus. TCAN is located at 14 Summer St., Natick. Tickets are $10, and children under 12 get in free.
On Sunday, Dec. 21, at 2 p.m. self-described "Standup Chameleon" Jackson Gillman will perform "Chanukah Songs and Stories," yarns that put his own twist on stories about schlemiels, latkes and dreidels. LaValle said Gillman is known for a "warm, inimitable style" that combines storytelling, song, dance, vaudeville, mime and sign language. Tickets are $9 for adults and $6 for children. For information about tickets, call 508-647-0097 or visit www.Natickarts.org.
The good old holidays
Looking to experience the Yuletide spirit of 19th century New England? For six December evenings, Old Sturbridge Village is hosting "Christmas by Candlelight Celebrations." On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 12, 13 and 14 and 19, 20 and 21, visitors can ride a horse-drawn sleigh (snow permitting) or a horse-drawn wagon, sip cider and watch chestnuts roasting over an open fire. From 5 to 9 p.m., costumed historic interpreters will explain the origins of Father Christmas, sugarplums, mistletoe and more. Soothe your spirit listening to carols and holiday songs or fill your belly with a three-course prime rib dinner in the Bullard Tavern. Reservations are recommended. Call 508-347-0363 for prices and details or visit www.OSV.org.
The magic of dancing
If you like artistic traditions with a contemporary twist, you'll enjoy "The Nutcracker" as performed by the Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre at the Spingold Theatre at Brandeis University. Broadly experienced as a performer and teacher, Mateo trains his dancers to perform "classical ballet in a way that appeals to traditional audiences" by eliminating the "old-fashioned, stilted and a little exaggerated" style often associated with Tchaikovsky's masterpiece.
Mateo's Cambridge-based company will perform "The Nutcracker" today at 2 and 6 p.m. and next weekend on Dec. 12, 13 and 14 at the theater in Brandeis' Waltham campus. Ticket prices range from $15 to $50 depending on seating. For times and details, call 617-354-7467 or visit www.ballettheatre.org.
Grin and bear it
Chances are you won't visiting Santa at the North Pole but you can help celebrate the 25th birthday of Kendra, the first polar bear born in the Bay State, at the EcoTarium. Born in December 1983 in the Worcester environmental museum, she's now a ladylike 650 pounds and 7 feet tall when standing on her hind legs. After meeting Santa, young visitors can board the Explorer Express Train for "A Polar Bear's Journey" and see Kendra's North Pole digs and later warm up with hot cocoa and cookies. "A Polar Bear's Journey" is scheduled for today and Dec. 13 and 14 at 12:30, 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. Tickets for the hour-long program are $6 for non-members plus museum admission. A month later, the EcoTarium is celebrating "Kendra's Birthday Bash" on Saturday, Jan. 13, from 7:30 to 10 p.m. Visitors can enjoy dances, deserts and a cash bar. Tickets are $18 and $15 for members. For information, call 508-929-2703 or visit www.ecotarium.org.
Seek a sanctuary
Photographer Fred Martins greets and then captures in gorgeous color images the changing seasons at Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary in Sharon. For four years, the Winchendon resident's award-winning photos have been used to illustrate the Sharon sanctuary's calendar. This year Martins' photographs are the centerpiece of a lovely exhibit, "Serenity," which runs through Jan. 31.
Shooting with a realist's sharp eye and an impressionist's sensitivity for nature's nuances, Martins captures the ephemeral splendor of the 2,000-acre sanctuary which includes thick forests, wooded slopes and panoramic views past the Blue Hills all the way to Gillette Stadium. To buy the sanctuary's calendar or learn about its 25 miles of trails, call 781-784-5691 or visit www.massaudubon.org.
Have a blue Christmas
For anyone tired of hearing "Jingle Bells" for the zillionth time, Michael Moran is bringing next weekend to Amazing Things Art Center a fiddler who sings cowboy ballads and a down-home bluesman with a funky name. On Friday, Dec. 12, at 8 p.m., Skip Gorman, who's performed in Ken Burns' baseball documentary and on Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion," will sing songs from the old West. On Saturday, Dec. 13, Vietnam veteran and truck driver turned blues master Watermelon Slim, aka Bill Homans, will appear at the arts center at 160 Hollis St.
"Skip Gorman has been doing it forever. He knows what real cowboys sing," said Moran. "Watermelon Slim is known nationally for his mastery of roots blues. With a name like that he should fit right into Amazing Things." Tickets for Gorman and Watermelon Slim are $18. Students and seniors are $17 and members are $15.
And for something completely different, spend an evening with three "human bagpipes" from the tiny Republic of Tuva, between Siberia and Mongolia, who create multiple sounds simultaneously in their throats that sounds like a mixed chorus of birds, the wind and bubbling water.
The Alash-Tuvan Throat Singers will appear Saturday, Dec. 20, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $22 and $19 for members. For more information on other acts, call 508-405-2787 or visit www.amazingthings.org.
Picture yourself at the Danforth
If you don't like eggnog and candy canes, how about tea and cookies today from noon until 5 p.m. at the Danforth Museum of Art. Visitors to the Framingham museum's "Holiday Sale and Tea" can browse hundreds of handcrafted gifts made by students and faculty from the Danforth's Museum School or regional artisans. Teenage docents will lead tours and hands-on activities for the whole family.
For a heartwarming Christmas tale that doesn't involve Snoopy or the little drummer boy, try "Santa Claus in Baghdad," a movie made in Framingham with background shots in Egypt by Holliston resident Raouf Zaki. It will be shown in the Danforth Dec. 19 and 20 at 4 p.m. and Dec. 29 and 30 at 3:15 p.m.
Dance the night away
Do you really want to drive all the way to Boston for "First Night" when you could greet the New Year with a champagne toast at Framingham's Village Hall? Dance all night and snack on appetizers and dessert catered by Currier & Chives. Running from 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. with music by radio DJ David O'Leary. The best part adults only and don't forget the "classy attire." Tickets are $100, $80 for members of the Framingham Historical Society. For tickets and information, call 508-626-9091 or visit http://framinghamhistory.org.
A holiday reprieve
Especially during the holidays, it's better to give than receive. And at Natick's Morse Institute Library and many other local libraries outstanding fines on overdue books will be forgiven if you donate food or "personal items," which are sent through local charities to the needy. Publicist Marie Nardi said the Morse Institute Library's "Food for Fines" program is looking for unopened food like tuna, soups, cereals and macaroni as well as toilet paper and Natick trash bags which the town requires for pickups. As a yardstick, Nardi suggested people bring in one food item for every outstanding $2 fine. In Natick and many other libraries, she said, donations are not accepted in lieu of lost or damaged books.
Plays with spirit
Can it be Christmas unless Jacob Marley's ghost scares Ebenezer Scrooge into becoming Mr. Rogers? If you can't stomach another holiday special with Donny and Marie, or even if you've got all their albums, check out the New Repertory Theatre's production of Charles Dickens' classic "A Christmas Carol" at the 380-seat Charles Mosesian Theater at the Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown. Directed by Rick Lombardo, it opens on Friday, Dec. 19, at 8 p.m. and runs through Dec. 28. On Saturday, Dec. 20 and 27, performance are scheduled for 3 and 8 p.m. and on Sunday, Dec. 21 and 28, at 1 and 6 p.m. Other performances are Tuesday, Dec. 23, at 7 p.m.; Wednesday, Dec. 24, at 3 p.m.; and Friday, Dec. 26, at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $35 to $54 with some discounts for children and students. For tickets and information, call 617-923-8487 or visit www.newrep.org.
New Repertory Theatre is staging David Sederis' subversive "The Santaland Diaries" from Dec. 17 through Jan. 4 in the Black Box Theatre at the Arsenal Centre for the Arts. Call for details.
