Family 1. “Junie B. in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells!”: It’s holiday time in Room One and that means drama! Tattletale May keeps picking on Junie B., and things get even worse when Junie B. draws May’s name for Secret Santa. She hatches a plan to give May a lump of coal, but will Junie have a last-minute change of heart and show her true holiday spirit?
Where: Imagination Stage, 4908 Auburn Ave., Bethesda
When: See Web site for dates and times; through Jan. 9
Info: $10 to $22; 301-280-1660; imaginationstage.org
2. “Seasons of Light”: This seasonal favorite recalls the warmth of many holidays filled with light in a fun-filled interactive celebration. Explore the history and customs of Devali, Ramadan, Santa Lucia, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Las Posadas, Christmas and a First Nations tradition of the Winter Solstice.
Where: Imagination Stage, Ripley Center, 1100 Jefferson Drive SW
When: 10:15 and 11:30 a.m. Monday to Friday, some 1 p.m. performances; through Dec. 22
Info: $3 to $10; 202-633-800; discoverytheater.org
3. Visit with Santa. Tired of the shopping mall scene? Come to the Gulf Branch for a visit with Santa in the old log house.
Where: Gulf Branch Nature Center, 3608 Military Road, Arlington
When: 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday
Info: $7 per child; registration required at 703-228-4747; program 622820-B
4. “A Christmas Carol”: An interactive adventure presents Charles Dickens’ evergreen holiday tale of Tiny Tim Crachit and the hard-hearted Ebenezer Scrooge. The old miser’s redemption from ill humor and grumpy greed is brought vividly to life by the gifted storyteller Chris Davis.
Where: The National Theatre, 1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
When: 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. Saturday
Info: Free; 202-628-6161; nationaltheatre.org
5. Snow Globes: Study the favorite precipitation of children of all ages. Learn about the properties of water, how snow forms and make your own snow globe.
Where: Meet at Long Branch Nature Center, 625 S. Carlin Springs Road, Arlington
When: 4 to 5 p.m. Wednesday
Info: $5; registration necessary at 703-228-4747; program 622920-C
Galleries
1. The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps, 1942-1946: Translated from the Japanese, “Gaman” means to bear privation with dignity. These 120-plus objects by Japanese Americans interned after the attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II offer a haunting, graceful manifestation of this idea.
Where: Renwick Gallery, 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW
When: Through Jan. 30, 2011
Info: Free; 202-633-7970; americanart.si.edu
2. Directions: Cyprien Gaillard & Mario Garcia Torres: Former Hirshhorn staffer Kristen Hileman curated this joint exhibition of two conceptualists who mine the architectural ruins of the recent past for clues about our future.
Where: Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Seventh Street and Independence Avenue SW
When: To March 27, 2011
Info: Free; 202-633-4674; hmsg.si.edu
3. Claudia DeMonte: Everyday Matters: Multimedia artist DeMonte explores the definition of strength, beauty and resilience through a global, feminist lens in this traveling retrospective.
Where: The Katzen Museum of American University, 4400 Massachusetts Ave.
When: Through Dec. 12
Info: Free; 202-885-1300; american.edu/cas/katzen/museum
4. Elena Volkova: Proofs & Renee Van Der Stelt: Recordings: Volkova and Van Der Stelt’s site drawings share a site-specific practice but offer contrast in their conclusions about the nature of perception.
Where: Hamiltonian Gallery, 1353 U St. NW
When: CLOSING SATURDAY
Info: Free; 202-332-1116; hamiltoniangallery.com
5. Party Crashers: Comic Book Artists Invade the Art World: This ambitious two-venue exhibit features underground comics artists’ work in the Arlington Arts Center, while the Artisphere half boasts work by “fine” artists who have appropriated the style of sequential art.
Where: Arlington Arts Center, 3550 Wilson Blvd.; Artisphere, 1101 Wilson Blvd.
When: To Jan. 16, 2011
Info: Free; 703-248-6800; arlingtonartscenter.org/exhibitions.htm
Gatherings
1. Holiday Wreath Workshop: Create some decorative crafts using all-natural items to spruce up your home or to give as special gifts. There will be music, refreshments, basic instruction and enough materials for each participant to make at least two wreaths.
Where: Long Branch Nature Center, 625 S. Carlin Springs Road, Arlington
When: 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday
Info: $30; registration required at 703-228-4747; program 612940-E
2. Back to Brazil Fundraiser and Party: Join the Zoukalma Brazilian Dance Company as it celebrates its one-year anniversary with the Back to Brazil event. Never heard of Brazilian-style Zouk? This hot dance is sweeping the globe, so come early and take part in the free 30-minute dance lesson and then dance the night away.
Where: Guapo’s, 4515 Wisconsin Ave. NW
When: 9 to 11:30 p.m. Friday
Info: $15 in advance; $20 on site; thingstododc.com
3. Del Ray Holiday on the Avenue: A photo session is the finale of this neighborhood event with a small-town feel. Families gather to sing carols and wait for Santa — who arrives in a police car — to light the tree at Oxford Street. Join him in a procession along the sidewalk, lined with luminarias and a specially decorated tree on each block. The children will sit on his lap at the Alexandria Hyundai at East Duncan Street.
Where: Mount Vernon Avenue between East Oxford and East Duncan streets, Alexandria
When: 6 to 9 p.m. Friday
Info: Free; 703-683-2570; visitdelray.com
4. Holiday Exhibit: This year, the U.S. Botanic Garden’s annual holiday exhibit, Seasons Greenings, celebrates the plant world and how humans use plants in holiday traditions. Join the USBG as it brightens the long, dark nights of winter by commemorating the season. This popular exhibit includes Washington landmark buildings all created with plant materials set amid pathways and pools of blooming poinsettias and other holiday plants.
Where: United States Botanic Gardens Conservatory Classroom, 100 Maryland Ave. SW
When: Through Jan. 2
Info: 202-225-1116; usbg.gov
5. Winter Wishing Tree: Write a winter wish on a piece of foil origami paper then fold it into an ornament to hang on the tree.
Where: Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW
When: 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday
Info: Free; 202-633-1000; americanart.si.edu .
Music
1. National Symphony Orchestra: Emmanuel Krivine conducts the NSO in Beethoven’s “Egmont Overture,” Liszt’s “Les Preludes” and “Don Juan” by R. Strauss. Canadian pianist Louis Lortie performs Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2.
Where: Kennedy Center Concert Hall
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Info: $20 to $85; 202-467-4600; kennedy-center.org
2. A Celtic Christmas: The 25th Anniversary of a Washington tradition features the Linn Barnes & Allison Hampton Celtic Consort with Robert Aubry Davis in music and readings including “People Look East,” “A Child’s Christmas in Wales,” “The Abbott’s Bromley Horn Dance” and much more.
Where: Georgetown’s Historic Dumbarton Church
When: 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and Dec. 12, and 4 and 8 p.m. Dec. 11
Info: $33 adult, $29 seniors, $16 youths 18 and under; 202-965-2000; dumbartonconcerts.org.
3. WPAS: The Washington Performing Arts Society presents pianist Croatian pianist/composer Dejan Lazic, winner of the 2009 ECHO Classic Award for his recording of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, performing works by Chopin and Schubert.
Where: Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
When: 4 p.m. Saturday
Info: $38 at 202-785-9727 orwpas.org.
4. Roberta Gambarini: The Grammy-nominated vocalist, named a “true successor to Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae,” performs with her quartet and National Endowment for the Arts jazz master and Kennedy Center living jazz legend James Moody.
Where: Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
When: 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Friday
Info: $38; 202-467-4600; kennedy-center.org
5. Danu: The lively band from County Waterford performs “Christmas in Ireland: An Nollaig in Eirinn.”
Where: Merchant Hall, Hylton Performing Arts Center
When: 4 p.m. Sunday
Info: $26 to $42; 888-945-2468; hyltoncenter.org
Also worth noting:
6. Cantate Chamber Singers: A Bach Family Holiday conducted by music director Gisele Becker with the period instruments of Modern Musick.
Where: St. John’s Norwood Parish, 6701 Wisconsin Ave., Chevy Chase
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Info: $30 adult, $15 students with ID at door.
Theatre
1. “Mojo”: Underground rock ‘n’ roll meets the London underworld in this hip new comedy by Jez Butterworth. With music reminiscent of the 1950s, “Mojo” has won England’s Olivier Award for Best New Comedy. Directed by Christopher Gallu.
Where: Studio Theatre, 1501 14th St. NW
When: Through Dec. 26
Info: $30 to $35; 202-232-7267; studiotheatre.org
2. “Swingtime”: A tribute to the fabulous ’40s, in a musical about showbiz, war and discrimination. Six characters reunite in New York and face career and identity dilemmas as American swing deconstructs into bebop and rock ‘n’ roll.
Where: The Atlas Theatre, 1333 H St. NE
When: Through Dec. 12
Info: $20 to $39; 202-399-7993; atlasarts.org
3. “A Wrinkle in Time”: Before Harry Potter or Percy Jackson, there was Madeleine L’Engle’s “A Wrinkle in Time,” the original youth sci-fi classic. On a dark and stormy night, the eccentric Mrs. Whatsit arrives at the home of Meg Murry, a tomboy who doesn’t fit in at her New England high school. Meg’s scientist father vanished over two years ago, under mysterious circumstances. Aided by Mrs. Whatsit and her friends, Meg, her gifted brother Charles Wallace, and her friend Calvin are transported through time and space on a mission to rescue their father from the evil forces that hold him prisoner on another planet. John Glore’s adaptation brings this acclaimed story magically to life.
Where: Round House Theatre, 455 East-West Highway, Bethesda
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday, 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Info: $25 to $60; 240-644-1100; roundhousetheatre.org
4. “Walter Cronkite is Dead”: In a world that seems to be spinning beyond their control, two women find themselves sharing a table, stuck in an airport by a storm. Representing two sides of the culture wars — one red state, the other blue state — Margaret and Patty reluctantly strike up a conversation that encourages them to open up, challenge their preconceived notions and find common ground.
Where: Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington
When: Through Dec. 26
Info: $56 to $83; 703-820-9771; signature-theatre.org
5. “The Master and Margarita”: Synetic Theater’s presentation of Mikhail Bulgakov’s masterpiece about the devil’s visit to Stalin’s Moscow, this is a powerful tale about the juxtaposition of good and evil, sacrificing for love and artistic struggles in a repressive society. A supernatural, exotic fusion of text with startling visuals, physicality and humor, this metaphorical play is reimagined and redesigned by Synetic’s award-winning artistic team.
Where: Lansburgh Theatre, 450 Seventh St. NW
When: Through Dec. 12; see Web site for dates and times
Info: $40 to $55, discounts available; 202-547-1122; shakespearetheatre.org
