Shows To Behold
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The next few weeks are full of performances that audiences can enjoy only at this time of year. These are the shows that will remain in children’s memories — and family lore — for generations. On stages uptown, downtown, and just outside of the city’s borders are stage events for every budget and taste.
For the 75th incarnation of Radio City’s Christmas Spectacular, the Rockettes have taken the stage with new costumes, choreography, and sets that ignite the magic of Christmas onstage. For this year’s anniversary edition, fireworks light up the New York City skyline, Santa flies across the stage, a 25-foot-high warehouse of Christmas toys occupies the North Pole, and the Rockettes dance through Times Square. Though the show began in 1933 as a small holiday treat performed between movie screenings, it has since become a leading extravaganza. (Through December 30; Radio City Music Hall, 1260 Avenue of the Americas, at 50th Street, 212-307-1000.)
Another Christmas classic, “The Nutcracker,” is coming to city stages in multiple versions. Each production has its own special spice and flavor. All are loosely based on E.T.A. Hoffman’s 1816 fairy tale, “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” in which a young girl’s Christmas gift — a nutcracker — comes to life in her dreams after a Christmas party. “George Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker” is performed by 150 dancers and musicians of New York City Ballet. Balanchine first choreographed this version for the company in 1954, rapidly making it an American holiday favorite with annual performances at Christmastime. The cast includes 50 children from the School of American Ballet, a Christmas tree that grows from 12 to 40 feet tall, and a meltingly beautiful Sugar Plum Fairy. (Through December 30; New York State Theater, 20 Lincoln Center, 212-870-5570.)
The New York Theatre Ballet’s one-hour, family-friendly version of the classic is geared toward children as young as 2. Choreographed by Keith Michael more than 20 years ago, the weekend-only performances blend the technical abilities of 13 professional adult dancers with 30 amateur child dancers as young as 6. The children, who are all from the Ballet School New York, star in some of the key roles. (December 14–30; French Institute/Florence Gould Hall, 55 E. 59th St., between Park and Madison avenues, 212-355-6160.)
For a stronger local flavor, “The Yorkville Nutcracker” is set in New York City on Christmas Eve of 1895. Hosted by newly elected mayor William L. Strong, this version’s party takes place at Gracie Mansion and travels via sleigh ride to Central Park’s frozen lake and the Bronx Botanical Garden’s Crystal Palace. Created by Dances Patrelle, this two-act version is in its ninth season and mixes music, drama, dance, and history. Each year, Dances Patrelle invites principal dancers from the city’s leading companies to dance the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier. This year’s stars are Stephen Hanna and Abi Stafford, both of New York City Ballet. (December 6–9; the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College, 68th Street, between Park and Lexington avenues, 212-722-7933.)
From the Dance Theatre in Westchester comes another family-friendly, hour-long version of the ballet. “The Colonial Nutcracker” is set in 18th-century Yorktown and here the nutcracker takes on an army of mice who appear in the guise of redcoats from the British army. A narrator illuminates the developments onstage and helps explain the story. (December 9; Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts, Brooklyn College, 2900 Campus Road, 718-951-4500.)
The Dicapo Opera Theatre commemorates the holiday season with a staged version of the nutcracker story. Its children’s chorus and resident artists perform the roles of Marie and “The Nutcracker” along with another Christmas classic “T’was the Night Before Christmas.” Two versions of the double bill run in one night. The first, geared toward families at 5 p.m., runs just one hour and includes classic Christmas carols. Later the same evening, the company performs a longer version that adds arias from “Hansel and Gretel,” “Werther,” and “La Bohème.” (December 15; Dicapo Opera Theatre, 184 E. 76th St., between Third and Lexington avenues, 212-759-7652.)
Charles Dickens’s fable comes to the stage at the Theatre at St. Michael’s Church in “A Victorian Christmas Carol,” staged by Underworld Productions. This one-hour show, designed to delight children, includes songs and carols — and a cast that includes students from P.S. 145. (December 1–2; 225 W. 99th St., between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, underworldprod@gmail.com.)
Carnegie Hall brings an array of Christmas concerts to its Stern Auditorium, ranging from the popular to the international to the religious. The New York Pops play holiday tunes to please the public (December 14–15). The Young People’s Chorus of New York City raise their voices in the traditions of Japan, Israel, Argentina, and Mexico for a globally inspired afternoon concert that is ideal for children (December 15). On Christmas Eve, 60 young musicians from across America, all under age 23, perform an all-Mozart concert as the New York String Orchestra takes the stage for its annual Carnegie Hall concert, with pianist Yefim Bronfman. Four days later, the same orchestra, with André Watts on piano, presents a seasonal concert of works by Beethoven, Dvorák, and contemporary American composer Richard Danielpour. (Carnegie Hall, 57th Street at Seventh Avenue, 212-247-7800.)
The New York Philharmonic plays its share of holiday concerts, starting with a concert that joins the New York Philharmonic Brass with the Canadian Brass (December 9). Handel’s “Messiah” has long been a musical climax of the holiday season. Composed in just three weeks in 1741, the “Messiah” has a libretto based on texts from the Christian and Hebrew Bibles. In four pre-Christmas concerts the British-born conductor Nicholas McGegan leads the New York Philharmonic as they bring this sacred oratorio to Lincoln Center (December 19–22). And for New Year’s Eve the Philharmonic’s music director, Lorin Maazel, leads as violinist Joshua Bell plays a romantic violin concert to end the year. (Avery Fisher Hall, 10 Lincoln Center Plaza, 212-875-5656.)
For a more spiritual ambience, throughout December major churches set the stage for their own annual holiday concerts. An inspired Christmas concert at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine has the versatile trio, Three Mo’ Tenors, joining the cathedral choristers in carols and holiday music. (December 8; 1047 Amsterdam Ave. at West 111th Street, 212-316-7540.) At Riverside Church, the choir presents an Advent concert that includes Holst and Rachmaninoff’s “Ave Maria,” Mendelssohn’s “Gloria,” and Britten’s “Ceremony of Carols” (December 2), and an annual Christmas concert (December 16) including Riverside Church’s children’s choir and a candlelight festival of Christmas carols (490 Riverside Dr., between 120th and 121st streets, 212-870-6784). A flutist-and-keyboard duo bring Johann Pachelbel’s Canon and numerous lesser-known French baroque noëls to St. Bartholomew’s Church. (December 20; Park Avenue at 50th Street, 212-378-0248.) And St. Patrick’s Cathedral presents “A City Singing at Christmas,” wherein the Young People’s Chorus of New York and others lead the public in a free concert of traditional and contemporary hymns and carols. (December 20; 460 Madison Ave., between 50th and 51st streets, 212-753-2261.)