“Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes”
The country’s leading precision dance troupe, the leggy Rockettes, strut their stuff once more at Radio City Music Hall. Several times per day, the theatre is engulfed in video projections and torrents of fake snow, and, in one sweet passage, the stage is transformed into a miniature skating rink. (Through Jan. 2.)
Neapolitan Crèche
A spruce tree graces the entrance to the Medieval Sculpture Hall at the Metropolitan Museum. Eighteenth-century terra-cotta angels in silk robes deck its boughs; at the tree’s base is an elaborate tableau of Baroque figurines, representing both the Nativity, in Bethlehem, and the bustle of daily life in the Italian port city of Naples. (Through Jan. 9.)
Holiday Train Show
Santa’s sleigh isn’t the only magical transportation this time of year. At the New York Botanical Garden, model trains chug past some hundred and seventy-five New York City landmarks—from the Statue of Liberty to One World Trade Center—each enchantingly re-created, at Lilliputian scale, out of acorns, pine cones, twigs, and other plant matter. To mark the Holiday Train Show’s thirtieth anniversary, the nearly half-mile-long track will be graced for the first time by a model of the Garden’s own LuEsther T. Mertz Library, a Renaissance Revival building that was completed in 1901. (Through Jan. 23.)
Origami Ornaments
In the nineteen-sixties, Alice Gray, an entomologist at the American Museum of Natural History, and an origami enthusiast, decorated a small tree in her office with folded-paper insects. The festive practice caught on, and, in 1971, it became a formal fixture of the museum’s holiday season. The tree’s theme each year aligns with a concurrent exhibition; to celebrate this year’s golden anniversary, the ornaments include gilt-paper replicas of the geological marvels on view in the recently renovated Halls of Gems and Minerals. (Nov. 24-Jan. 2.)
“A Christmas Carol”
Beginning on Nov. 24, the Morgan Library & Museum continues its long-standing tradition of displaying the original manuscript of Charles Dickens’s holiday classic “A Christmas Carol,” first published in 1843. This year, in a gift for ghost-story fans, the museum turns to page 5, which contains Scrooge’s first mention of his former business partner, Jacob Marley, who will soon haunt the tale: “ ‘Mr. Marley has been dead these seven years,’ Scrooge replied. ‘He died seven years ago, this very night.’ ” A less spooky mood will prevail on Sunday, Dec. 12, when the Morgan hosts its Holiday Family Fair (2-4 p.m.), featuring a screening of “The Muppet Christmas Carol,” among other events. (Nov. 24-Jan. 9.)
“George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker”
New York City Ballet’s “Nutcracker” is back, and so are the battalions of young dancers, all vaccinated, who fill out its ranks. This is the only production in the city in which one can hear Tchaikovsky’s full, sparkling score played live, and see such dancers as Sara Mearns, Tiler Peck, and Megan Fairchild fly through the air as the Sugarplum Fairy and Dewdrop. (David H. Koch Theatre; Nov. 26-Jan. 2.)
“SLEIGH at BAM”
If holiday sweetness has you longing for vinegar, look no further than Kiki and Herb, the ferocious nonagenarian creations of Justin Vivian Bond and Kenny Mellman. Since forming their demented lounge act in San Francisco, in the late eighties, the duo has become an undying fixture of the downtown cabaret scene. At BAM’s Harvey Theatre, the clawed diva Kiki DuRane performs off-brand covers and spiked holiday classics with her devoted accompanist, Herb. (Nov. 30-Dec. 4.)
Jingle Ball 2021
In the past decade, iHeartRadio’s Jingle Ball has become a modern tradition that invites megastars to perform never-before-heard covers of holiday favorites in sold-out arenas. Last year, with COVID still raging, the show could be experienced only online, but the festive extravaganza returns to Madison Square Garden for 2021. Pop music gets merry with performances from the dance-pop diva Dua Lipa, the provocateur Lil Nas X, the multi-hyphenate Doja Cat, the singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, the pop-rock trio the Jonas Brothers, the progressive country star Kane Brown, and more. (Dec. 10.)
“Messy Messiah”
Heartbeat Opera has moved its annual drag show from Halloween to Christmas, and it’s dialling up the audacity with an original pastiche. A veritable smorgasbord of holiday fare, the show serves up bite-size portions of Handel’s beloved oratorio alongside bonbons from Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker” and Strauss’s “Die Fledermaus.” This broad sampling of winter-themed selections extends far enough to include “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” It’s either a skewering of the predictability of classical holiday programming or an embrace of the comfort such productions represent—or perhaps both. (Roulette; Dec. 16-17.)
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
In 1993, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center started a holiday tradition with its presentation of Bach’s dazzling, uplifting Brandenburg Concertos. Proof that absolute music has a place in year-end celebrations, this collection of concerti grossi bursts with moment-to-moment buoyancy, born out of compositional invention and lively solo writing. Bach expounded on the typical form of a concerto grosso—in which a small string contingent share soloist duties against a larger band—by including brass and woodwinds. The result is joyful, effervescent, and, yes, festive. (Alice Tully Hall; Dec. 17, Dec. 19, and Dec. 21.)
“Unsilent Night”
New Yorkers have been gathering for Phil Kline’s “Unsilent Night” since 1992, but his work is uniquely suited to these pandemic times. The free, outdoor event began as a modern-day update to carolling: instead of singing, participants set off from Washington Square Park carrying boom boxes, each blaring one of the composition’s four instrumental parts, which commingle in the winter air as an atmospheric cloud of electronics and samples. Nowadays, most carollers attach speakers to their smartphones, but Kline still loans out his vintage Panasonic stereos to those who are susceptible to nineties nostalgia. (Dec. 19.)
