Season’s Seatings

The good news for parents looking for holiday theater is that there are three separate productions of A Christmas Carol playing throughout Manhattan in December; the bad news is that none of these will be the famous event at Madison Square Garden, which ended its caroling days last year. Still, there are several reasons for cheer this season: The Radio City Christmas Spectacular and the world-famous Rockettes aren’t going anywhere; there will be seasonal events for Hanukkah; and there are plenty of alternatives to the standard Christmas fare Off and Off-Off Broadway.

Perhaps on its way to filling MSG’s shoes, the Beacon Theater’s A Christmas Carol stars Barry Williams (who played Greg on The Brady Bunch) for a one-week engagement from November 30 through December 5. If you want a unique presentation of the story without the celebrity backing, Personal Space Theatrics presents its own adaptation of the musical at Baruch College from December 10 through 19, and 13th Street Repertory Company’s resident acting ensemble will stage Tom Harlan’s nonmusical adaptation of the Dickens novel from December 9 to January 16. (Previews start December 3.)

Other Christmas-themed shows include Santa Meets the Ice Dragon, which pits our North Pole hero against a 21-foot-tall frost-breathing monster. This dance theater production plays the Beacon December 10-28, and features narration by Sesame Street‘s Bob McGrath. StageRight Productions also continues its production of Clara’s Christmas Dreams, a new adaptation of The Nutcracker through December 31 at the Theatre at St. Clement’s.

Bread & Puppet, the famous political theater founded in the 1960s, presents Upside Down World Circus for children ages 5 and up, and its morals are likely to be similar to those taught to Scrooge and company: Don’t be greedy, play nicely with others, and have respect for people’s traditions. Unlike A Christmas Carol, however, this performance will feature an allegory for the War on Terror in addition to its unique blend of traditional folk theater, hand-crafted puppets, a live brass band, and artwork inspired by Goya, Massacio, and Michelangelo. The circus plays at Theater for the New City from December 4 to 19. Then, give your children a history lesson on life during the Great Depression in Ragamuffin, playing at the Riverside Church for one weekend only (December 4 and 5).

The Museum for Jewish Heritage will present The Lights of Hannukah: Stories with Marionettes on December 12 at 2:30pm — the afternoon after the sixth candle has been lit. The one-day event uses century-old puppets found in the city’s old Czechoslovak neighborhood to re-enact new and old stories of the holiday. Children can participate in a 45-minute puppetry workshop two hours before the performance. In addition, Queens Theatre in the Park teaches children of the Diaspora the language of the “old country” in Kids and Yiddish: The Mishegas Continues (through January 2).

So, you’ve celebrated Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the eight nights of Hanukkah. Now, what can you do for the other 21 days of the month? For starters, you can watch three mischievous clowns turn a household cleaning cabinet into a children’s playground — with detergent bottle movie cameras, trash bag beach balls, and toilet paper confetti — in Aga-Boom. Kids, don’t try this at home. It plays at the New Victory Theater from December 3 to January 16. Also: Urban Stages presents adaptations of four Hans Christian Anderson fables that will have you saying Ah, My Dear Andersen (December 4 to January 9), and The Duke on 42nd Street riffs on the Nutcracker tale in a post-holiday, world-music spectacular called The Jazz Nut (December 29 to January 2).