We’ve reached the time of year when Scrooges will be scroogin’. But that isn’t the only holiday game in town. If you’re looking for a new take on Dickens’ classic or a little alternative theater fare outside of traditional holiday pageantry, here are 11 productions to catch around the Bay Area this winter.
“A Christmas Carol”: Center Repertory Company has presented this show for years and years, but 2025 finds the company serving up a new take on the classic by Harrison David Rivers. This “Carol,” a West Coast premiere, is described as faithful to the original tale yet “refreshed” and a production that “combines humor, heart and a touch of horror.” Jared Mezzocchi directs.
Details: Dec. 10-21; Lesher Center for the Arts; $36-$88; https://www.centerrep.org.
“Into the Woods”: The twists and turns of life, with plenty of pain and joy dabbed in, make up the scintillating fairy tales in Stephen Sondheim’s classic, playing at San Francisco Playhouse. Go for the beautiful score of an American master, stay for the phenomenal local cast and Heather Kenyon’s lush and mysterious scenic design. Artistic director Susi Damilano directs.
Details: Through Jan. 17; SF Playhouse; $52-$79; www.sfplayhouse.org.
“Cabaret”: A timely production of this Kander and Ebb classic comes to Oakland. “Cabaret” centers the famed Kit Kat Klub in Berlin during the 1930s, when the Nazi party was in an accelerated ascent to power. Oakland Theater Project has built a reputation as one of the boldest practitioners of classic plays and musicals in the region, and this one has plenty to say about our modern times, with plenty of sharp edges the company can exploit mightily. Erika Chong Shuch is doing double duty, handling both the direction and choreography.
Details: Through Dec. 14, Flax Art & Design building, Oakland; $10-$60; oaklandtheaterproject.org.
“Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley”: Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon have created quite the genre with the popular Pemberley series, and the coming of age comedy of manners series has found a home at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. This year’s offering features Georgiana’s skepticism regarding affairs of the heart, as she and her best friend Kitty navigate admirers and a secret crush. Artistic director Giovanna Sardelli tackles the direction for this yuletide charmer.
Details: Dec. 3-28; Lucie Stern Theatre, Palo Alto; $39-$79; theatreworks.org.
“Sunday in the Park with George”: One of Sondheim’s most universe-revealing masterpieces is getting a fresh coat of paint with Shotgun Players in Berkeley. The musical tells the fictionalized story of artist George Seurat as he obsesses over his classic opus painting “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.” One of the great interpretations of the sacrifices of making art, Sondheim is at the top of his game with songs such as “Finishing the Hat,” “Color and Light,” and “Children and Art.” Susannah Martin directs.
Details: Through Jan. 25; Ashby Stage, Berkeley; tickets range from pay what you to $90; shotgunplayers.org.
“Over the River and Through the Woods”: Sunday dinners with the grandparents are everything for single Italian American Nick of New Jersey. But when a dream job across the country pops up, the schemes to keep Nick close go into overdrive, including using the lovely Caitlin O’Hare as the dangling carrot. The show, a slice of nostalgia written by Joe DiPietro (“Memphis”) and presented by City Lights Theater Company, is a reminder for everyone to call their grandparents and set up a Sunday dinner date, then show up with a mountain of spaghetti. Jeffrey Bracco directs.
Details: Through Dec. 21; City Lights Theater, San Jose; $30-$68; cltc.org.
“Million Dollar Quartet””: A chance meeting between rock-legends-in-the-making Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash at Memphis’ Sun Record Studio in 1956 becomes one of the greatest nights in music history in this play with music by San Jose Stage Company. There’s never a wrong time for the terrific vintage soundtrack, including entirely live hits such as “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Great Balls of Fire” and “Folsom Prison Blues.” Artistic director Randall King directs.
Details: Trough Dec. 14; San Jose Stage, San Jose; $49-$74; thestage.org.
“The Golden Girls Live: The Christmas Episodes”: The beloved sitcom ended in 1992, but fans can always catch the blue-haired bosom buddies at BroadwaySF’s annual delight, where four drag queens at the top of their game — D’Arcy Drollinger, Miss Coco Peru, Matthew Martin and Holotta Tymes — re-enact episodes of the classic television show. “What a Difference a Date Makes” and “The Artist” are this year’s episodes that combine Christmas cheer with the magic of skilled and joyous drag performances.
Details: Dec. 4-21; Curran Theatre, San Francisco; $37.44-$141.57; broadwaysf.com.
“The Infinite Wrench”: There are four companies nationwide that make up the experimental theater troupe The Neo-Futurists, and fortunately, one is housed in San Francisco. No company does world premieres like the SF Neo-Futurists, whose “The Infinite Wrench” features original plays that might be as short as 20 seconds, and range from funny and silly, to sad and poignant. A special best of 2025 show takes place on Dec. 13 with two performances. Plus, at a time when small theaters everywhere are under threat, you can support this joyful and necessary company.
Details: Open-ended run; Shows Friday and Saturday nights at the Dempster Building, San Francisco; $12.24-$28.16; sfneofuturists.org.
“La Pastorela”: In the charming mission town of San Juan Bautista, one of the region’s most transcendent theater traditions takes place at the famed El Teatro Campesino, founded by stage and screen icon Luis Valdez. In odd years, the company produces the story of a group of pastores making a perilous trek to Bethlehem to pay their respects to the Holy Manger while fighting devils and their powerful leader Luzbel. Yet the pastores have Archangel San Miguel to illuminate and protect their path. The charm of San Juan Bautista and the 59-year-old teatro’s longest-running tradition makes this production a worthwhile drive south on Highway 101. Kinan Valdez directs.
Details: Through Dec. 21; El Teatro Campesino playhouse, San Juan Bautista; $17.85-$39.19; elteatrocampesino.com
“A Christmas Story”: While Benj Pasek and Justin Paul are known for setting music to the story of a lonely, anxiety riddled teenager in “Dear Evan Hansen,” they also set out to musicalize the classic 1983 film “A Christmas Story.” All of the elements that made the movie a holiday must-watch tradition are making their way to Santa Rosa — the illuminated leg, bars of soap in the mouth, Ovaltine, and of course, the Red Ryder BB gun; Laura Downing-Lee directs.
Details: The show runs through Dec. 21 in Santa Rosa. Prices range from $35 – $55.95; 6thstreetplayhouse.com
David John Chávez is chair of the American Theatre Critics/Journalists Association and a two-time juror for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (‘22-‘23); @davidjchavez.bsky.social.