From all sorts of holiday shows to Peter Pan as you’ve never seen him and the last call for a Bay Area jazz mecca, there is a lot to see and do in the Bay Area this week.
Here is a partial rundown.
Holiday shows and concerts await
Have you missed some of this month’s holiday music events? There’s still time to hear live music filled with year-end magic. Here are three concerts and performances that celebrate the season even as we approach the New Year.
Valley Dance Theater: The company’s full-length “Nutcracker,” a decades-long tradition in Livermore, is back at the Bankhead Theater, accompanied by live pit orchestra and featuring the classic choreography, costumes and set designs for which the acclaimed production is known.
Details: 7 p.m. Dec. 19 and 2 and 7 p.m. Dec. 20-21; Bankhead Theater at Livermore Performing Arts Center, Livermore; $39-$59; livermorearts.org. (And here’s a rundown of other Bay Area “Nutcrackers.”)
Holiday Spectacular 25!: If you haven’t yet seen the S.F. Gay Men’s Chorus this year, by all means do so. This fabulous music-making group is set to perform its annual holiday celebration for Cal Performances in Berkeley on Saturday this weekend, and repeat the show with two performances Dec. 24 for the San Francisco Symphony at Davies Symphony Hall. Expect something spectacular: more than a few hundred talented tenors, baritones and basses singing some of the best music of the season.
Details: 2 and 8 p.m. Dec. 20 at Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley; $43-$98; calperformances.org; also 4 and 7 p.m. Dec. 24 at Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco; $30-$105; www.sfsymphony.org.
Kitka: Now in its 45th season, the Bay Area’s all-woman vocal ensemble is touring with a new album titled “Kolo,” a root word from Balkan, Baltic, and Slavic cultures meaning circle, wheel, or a communal line dance. With the group’s lustrous vocal blend, it’s a captivating show — and an excellent learning experience for families.
Details: 8 p.m. Dec. 18-20 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Oakland; 4 p.m. Dec. 21 at Old First Church, San Francisco; $27.50-$55; kitka.org.
— Georgia Rowe, Correspondent
Prime-time Panto plays at the Presidio
The Christmas season is a time to cherish old things. Longtime relationships, roasting chestnuts over the fire — who does that anymore? — and here in the Bay, a merry-old theater style called pantomime or just “panto” for short.
Stretching back at least to 18th-century England, panto is live theater that parodies the tropes of theater in a humorous, often musical way. For several years now, San Francisco has hosted panto productions during the holidays, performed in a former U.S. Army movie house that’s now the charming Presidio Theatre in the city’s vast, northern green space.
To wrap up 2025, the theatre is staging “Peter Pan” with — as always — the directive that the audience get into the shows as much as possible, whether that means booing the villains or singing along to the songs. “The adventure begins in San Francisco before soaring away to the magical world of Neverland, featuring familiar characters such as Peter, Wendy, Captain Hook, Tinkerbell and the Lost Boys,” write the producers. “Panto in the Presidio fans will recognize favorites including Pecker the singing rooster and the wonderfully wacky Dame who narrates the action.”
Aside from all that fun, be sure to brush up on your catching skills, because there’s free candy that the performers hurl out to the audience.
Details: Through Dec. 28; 99 Moraga Ave., San Francisco; $17–$66, presidiotheatre.org.
— John Metcalfe, Staff
Blue Note Napa sets farewell shows
Music fans don’t have many more chances to visit the popular Blue Note club in Napa before it closes its doors at the end of 2025.
So, we highly recommend making your way to Wine Country and catching a gig (or three) before organizers shut the doors and continue on with their plans to hopefully re-open down the line in San Francisco.
Our top pick on the Blue Note calendar is fabulous vocalist Kellie Fuller, who will be joined by the Mike Greensill Trio (featuring Greensill on piano, Mark Lee on drums and Ruth Davies on bass). These four amazing musicians will be performing a special “Cool Yule” Christmas show on Dec. 18.
Showtime is 7 p.m. and tickets start at $25.45.
Other shows remaining on the Blue Note Napa docket include Greg Adams and East Bay Soul performing “Sweet Soul Christmas” on Dec. 20 and Maui reggae/island music artist Anuhea Dec. 26-28.
Brian Culbertson, the chart-topping smooth jazz keyboardist, is the very last name on the Blue Note Napa calendar. He’ll close up the club — for good — with a highly anticipated three-night New Year’s Eve run, Dec. 29-31.
Details: For more information and to purchase tickets, visit bluenotejazz.com/napa.
— Jim Harrington, Staff
Meet the Beatles (sort of)
Shopping for the big Beatles fan in the family this season?
Well, we’ve got a suggestion: Get that loved one (with impeccable musical taste) some tickets to see the acclaimed Beatles tribute act Rain doing its cool holiday show.
Yes, it should be a totally Fab (Four) evening when “Rain — A Beatles Christmas Tribute” hits the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco on Dec. 23.
Some fans might have seen Rain before — maybe even several times before. And that’s very understandable, given that people just rave about the ensemble’s take on all those classic rock tunes from John, Paul, George and Ringo.
But this is a brand-new holiday edition of the Rain show, which gives the Fab Four a colorful Christmastime twist. Think “Magical Mystery Tour,” only dressed up with sleigh bells and Christmas wreaths, and you get the picture.
The setlists that we’ve seen for the show have included such amazing Beatles favorites as “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “Please Please Me,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “A Hard Day’s Night” and “In My Life” as well as such Christmas standards as “Jingle Bell Rock,” “The Christmas Song” and “Run Run Rudolph.”
Again, anyone who’s seen Rain knows that it does a great job conjuring up that classic Beatles magic — from the sound to the look to the vibe. That’s why Rain has been a popular concert attraction for a half century and counting.
Yet, this debut Christmas tour represents a new chapter for Rain, resulting in what promoters are promising to be “a Beatles tribute like you’ve never seen before.”
Details: Showtime is 7:30 p.m.; tickets are $33.93-$146.25; www.broadwaysf.com.
— Jim Harrington, Staff
Here’s our freebie of the week
Yes, we all love the proliferation of holiday music that surrounds pretty much every facet of life this time of year – blaring out of stores, passing autos, televisions and what-not, washing us in merriment and good cheer. But every now and then, we get the most gentle of notions that if we hear one more stupid Christmas song we might choke someone to death!! Ahem, anyway, here’s an idea for cleansing your musical palate – sea shanties! Who doesn’t love sea shanties? (except maybe pirates, who probably feel about them as we do about Christmas carols on Dec. 24)? And sea shanties will be on the musical menu on Thursday night as local band Shipwrecked Shanty will lead a “Shantyoke” (think karaoke with sailing songs!) at Sláinte Pub, a traditional Irish drinking establishment at 131 Broadway, in Oakland. As organizers put it, it’s a night to replace “ho-ho-ho” with “yo-ho-ho,” and who are we to argue with singers wearing sailing caps and eye patches?
Details: 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Dec. 18; Sláinte, 131 Broadway, Oakland; no reservations needed; more information at www.shipwreckedshanty.com.
— Bay City News Foundation
A good time to laugh
Two comedians known for their sharp takes on current events, and who have utilized nonstop touring and hit TV appearances to draw sizable followings, are headed for the Bay Area this weekend. And heaven knows we could all use a laugh or two this time of year.
At San Jose Improv, the A-List comedian and actor D.L. Hughley will take the stage for four shows. Hughley has made his mark in just about every entertainment medium there is. He was one of the four stars in the game-changing “Original Kings of Comedy” in 2000; he was the co-creator, writer and star of the hit TV sitcom “The Hughleys”; his self-titled radio current-events talk show is carried on more than 60 stations; and he has authored several comedy books, including 2020’s “Surrender, White People.” He performs at 7 p.m. Friday, 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday and 6 p.m. Sunday at the Improv. Tickets are $43.19-$113.80, go to improv.com/sanjose.
Meanwhile, Sommore, known as the Diva of Contemporary Comedy, is headed to Tommy T’s comedy club in Pleasanton for five shows. Sommore is known for her sharp, frank and piercing observations about life in 21st-century America, and, like Hughley, she has developed a loyal fan base with appearances in film, TV, radio and through extensive touring. She performs at Tommy T’s 7:30 and 10 p.m. Friday, 7 and 9:45 p.m. Saturday and 7 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $46-$56; go to tommyts.com.
— Bay City News Foundation
From the ‘Peanuts’ gallery
It has been many a decade since “A Charlie Brown Christmas” first aired on CBS on Dec. 9, 1965, (and its benighted executive producers were sure it was going to flop!), but one of the blessed byproducts has been the live production it inspired that pops up on stages everywhere this time of year. The San Francisco Symphony brings four performances to the Davies Hall stage this weekend, with the orchestra, led by guest conductor Ming Luke, playing Vince Guaraldi’s timeless music and the Symphony Chorus joining in for vocal support. Charlie and his snaggly Christmas tree, Lucy, Linus, Snoopy and others in Charles Schulz’s beloved gang are brought to life by live actors and dancers as the endearing and ultimately uplifting story is played out.
Details: Performances are 2 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 21-22; $99.50-$325; sfsymphony.org.
— Bay City News Foundation
Another staple of the season
Chanticleer, the multi-award winning a cappella male chorus that calls the Bay Area home, is back in these parts after traversing the country with its annual holiday concert. The dozen gifted singers, under the guidance of music director Tim Keeler ( a former countertenor with the group), have eight performances remaining on the tour. As is traditional, they open each concert with a candlelit procession into the church or hall, singing a Gregorian chant (This year, it’s “Hodie Christus Natus Est,” or, Today, Christ Is Born.) An early 17th-century motet by Michael Praetorius is next, followed by an outpouring of gorgeous music both sacred and secular from across the ages, including Franz Biebl’s beloved “Ave Maria,” John Jacob Niles’ “I Wonder as I Wander” and the traditional “Ding Dong Merrily on High.” As usual, things wind up with a medley of rousing spirituals inspired by the season, including “Rise up, shepherd, and follow” and, of course, “Go Tell It on the Mountain.”
Details: Performances are 5 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 18 at St. Vincent de Paul in Petaluma; 7 p.m. Dec. 19 in Sacramento’s Fremont Presbyterian; 8 p.m. Dec. 20 in San Francisco’s St. Ignatius; 6 and 8:30 p.m. Dec. 21 in the Carmel Mission; and 4 and 6:30 p.m. Dec. 22 at Mission Santa Clara; $45-$91; chanticleer.org.
— Bay City News Foundation