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Holiday Theater Preview

"Santaland Diaries" plays at Sycamore Rouge.

• Holiday Guide
• More performing arts coverage

The holiday season is upon us and that means numerous theater performances of various holiday classics and entertainment to get you in the holiday mood.

Here's a rundown of what's coming this season:

• The Richmond Triangle Players are presenting “Scrooge in Rouge,” a Victorian-era music hall version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, in which members of the Royal Music Hall Variety Players have taken ill, leaving only three characters to play and sing all the parts in the show. The show is running now until Dec. 19 at Theatre Gym in the Empire Theatre.

Watch video of the performance below.

• Richmond Shakespeare presents “A Christmas Carol for Two Actors” on Monday, Dec. 7, Dec. 14 and Dec. 21 at Gottwald Playhouse at Richmond CenterStage. For the 12th consecutive year, Artistic Director Grant Mudge performs the role of Ebenezer Scrooge. In a brisk 70-minute show, two actors craft a heartfelt feeling of celebration in the holiday season.
• Down in Petersburg, Sycamore Rouge is presenting “Santaland Diaries and Season’s Greetings” from award-winning humorist, playwright and NPR contributor David Sedaris. “Santaland Diaries” is a pair of comic monologues bursting with unconventional holiday humor adapted by the author from his best-selling book, Holidays on Ice. The show runs Dec. 5 – 27 at the Sycamore Rouge theatre.
• The children of Theatre IV present the classic version of “A Christmas Carol” at the Empire Theatre Dec. 4 – 20. Geared toward a younger audience, all the characters from Tiny Tim to Mr. Scrooge come to life in this lively musical.
• Randolph-Macon College will also be performing “A Christmas Carol” at the school’s Cobb Theatre Dec. 4 – 10.
• Theatre IV On Tour takes a heartwarming, holiday spin on a classic Brothers' Grimm fairy tale with “The Shoemaker and the Christmas Elves.” Delight in the magical story of a poor Shoemaker and the magical elves that show him the true meaning of Christmas. The performance is Saturday, Dec. 19 at the Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen.
• The Firehouse Theatre presents “Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge,” a musical parody of A Christmas Carol that shows Mrs. Cratchit as an angry, stressed-out modern-day American woman who wants out of her harsh London 1840s life. This show is a stage reading as part of the Firehouse’s Readers’ Theatre. Performances are Monday, Dec. 21 and Tuesday, Dec. 22.
• Richmond’s Ballet Petite presents the classic “Night Before Christmas” at the Landmark Theater on Dec. 4.
• The Barksdale Theatre teams up with the African American Repertory Theatre for two productions of “Black Nativity.” Based on the Gospel of St. Luke and combined with the poetry of Langston Hughes, “Black Nativity” tells the original story of the Nativity in scripture, verse, music and dance. The show runs Dec. 4 – 20 at the Gottwald Playhouse at CenterStage and at the Empire Theatre Dec. 26 - Jan. 3, 2010.
• HATTheatre presents the family musical "Holiday Joys," Dec. 4 - 6 that features a group of New York chimney sweepers discovering holiday traditions. HATTheatre is also hosting comedy improv troupe Random Acts for their holiday show, "Kringle’s Shingles" on Dec. 18 and 19.
• Swift Creek Mill presents “Greetings,” running now until Jan. 2, 2010. “Greetings” is a funny and touching holiday show about a man coming home to his Catholic family for Christmas and bringing along his atheist Jewish fiancé.
• Also at Swift Creek Mill is the kid-friendly “Santa's Candy Cane Christmas” running now until Dec. 22. Miss Candy Cane has come to the North Pole to deliver Santa’s supply of sweet stocking stuffers and finds that a Three-Eyed-Stripe-Swiper has eaten all the stripes off of her candy canes.
• The Rockettes are coming to the Richmond Coliseum on Dec. 23 and 24 for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular.
• Finally, no holiday theater season would be complete without the famous masterpiece "The Nutcracker." This year, the Richmond Ballet brings the story of Clara and her Nutcracker Prince to the Carpenter Theatre at Richmond CenterStage. The show runs Dec. 11 – 23.
• And if you’re not in the holiday mood, the Barksdale Theatre has an alternative holiday show with “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” running now through Jan. 17, 2010.