Fennelly: Flurry of holiday entertainment in the midstate

Well, dear reader, if you haven't yet ventured out into our avalanche of holiday entertainment, now's the time. I hope you'll allow me that snow metaphor, since it's as close as we'll likely get to a white Christmas. After Sunday, the figurative blizzard will diminish to flurries, but for the next few days, we are pleasantly buried under.

We have three more days to see the "Nutcracker" ballet. This is an iconic event that everyone ought to see at least once. You've already missed another one, the two live performances of "Nine Lessons & Carols" by Mercer University music students, but this traditional event will be broadcast from King College Cambridge on Dec. 24 on PBS.

Another musical event, one with even longer lineage, will be presented Friday night at St. Joseph Catholic Church when the Mercer Choir and the Choral Society of Middle Georgia team up for Handel's "Messiah." If you're seeing another of the holiday events tonight, "Messiah" also will be presented Sunday at Martha Bowman Methodist Church, accompanied by organ and strings.

Several holiday productions are on local stages. Macon Little Theatre is presenting a musical version of "Little Women," while Theatre Macon's doing "A Christmas Story." On Saturday at Warner Robins Civic Center, children are invited to attend "Saving Christmas" in their princess and superhero costumes. Warner Robins Little Theatre and the Fine Art Society of Middle Georgia are producing this benefit for the children of first responders.

Speaking of children, the Mercer children's choir will be performing in Warner Robins on Saturday and in Macon on Sunday. Led by Richard Kosowski, this group is sure to delight.

By the weekend of Dec. 18-20, alas, our options will have diminished. Theatre Macon will present "A Christmas Cabaret," featuring a live band and an array popular of local singers. Macon Little Theatre also has a treat for us that weekend, as the Academy of the Performing Arts will join forces for "Twas the Night Before Christmas," with more than 30 young actors in the cast.

For those whose heart is set on seeing "A Christmas Carol" this year, a trip to Atlanta's Alliance Theatre may be in order. The Dickens classic runs through Dec. 27, including Christmas Eve. A more intimate version is at the Atlanta Shakespeare Tavern through Dec. 23.

Contact Larry Fennelly at LarryFennelly@avantguild.com.

This story was originally published December 10, 2015 at 5:58 PM with the headline "Fennelly: Flurry of holiday entertainment in the midstate ."