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<p>Christmas careens like a bobsled descending an icy Giants Despair, but the pressure of &#8220;must do&#8221; should never squeeze out the many joyful local options for live entertainment.</p><p>&#8216;Tis the season for Charlie Brown&#8217;s sagging little Christmas tree, Clara&#8217;s pirouette into the land of the Sugar Plum Fairy, and the ghosts of Christmas morphing miserly Scrooge into philanthropist <em>non pariel</em>.</p><p>While modern media move us to screens big, small and handheld, it pays to remember the region remains rich with those who yearn to perform for you in person.</p><p>Wednesday surely wasn&#8217;t the official launch of the annual end-of-year offerings, but unofficially it made a terrific first act if you attended &#8220;A Charlie Brown Christmas&#8221; at the F. M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts in Wilkes-Barre. The traveling troupe re-crafted the classic, 1965 cartoon with extra music and dance, staying true to the script but opting to echo, rather than mimic, every motion and vocal inflection.</p><p>Adults and children nearly filled the great art-deco theater, roaring with laughter at the exaggerated antics of Snoopy and drinking in the &#8220;true meaning of Christmas&#8221; poured out under a sole spotlight by Linus. Then, as a bonus, the audience got to see a vision of something central to the original show but never shown: The Christmas play Charlie Brown directed. The cast performed a string of charmingly rendered seasonal songs staged to melt even Lucy Van Pelt&#8217;s calculating commercialist heart.</p><p>That chance is gone, but there&#8217;s plenty of entertainment coming up, a sleighful of offerings seasonal, religious, secular or just plain diverting. A sampling:</p><p>&#8226; &#8220;It&#8217;s so nice to have you back where you belong!&#8221; Hello Dolly is at the Music Box Dinner Playhouse in Swoyersville. &#8220;There&#8217;s no place like home!&#8221; The Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble takes you to see the Wizard of Oz. And of course, the annual battle of soldiers and mice unfolds at the Kirby Center in Moscow Ballet&#8217;s Great Russian Nutcracker.</p><p>&#8226; Upcoming Kirby Center concerts include Christian artist Chris Tomlin Dec. 7, violinist Lindsey Stirling Dec. 17, and bluegrass musician Billy Strings Dec. 18.</p><p>&#8226; Looking for a more personal venue? Consider singing Christmas hymns by candlelight near the nativity scene outside the Luzerne County Courthouse in the 10th annual &#8220;Keeping Christ in Christmas&#8221; Dec. 6, followed by a tree lighting in the courthouse rotunda (always an impressive holiday sight). That same night Misericordia University hosts the Community Choir with international holiday music. Wilkes University presents &#8220;A Night at the Opera&#8221; Dec. 8. The next day there&#8217;s a carol singalong at First Welsh Presbyterian in Edwardsville, or Carols by Candlelight at Shavertown United Methodist Church, or the Advent Taize service at St. Nicholas Church in Wilkes-Barre, or &#8212; for the <em>a capellist</em> in us all &#8212; the Wyoming Valley Barbershop Harmony Chorus &#8220;Love at Christmas&#8221; in Ss. Peter &amp; Paul Church in Plains Township.</p><p>Look around. Check this paper&#8217;s listings in &#8220;The Guide.&#8221; Call a favorite venue or browse local options on the Internet.</p><p>Put some live entertainment back in your life.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Sarah Hoffman plays Clara during a performance of &#8216;The Nutcracker&#8217; last year at the Wilkes University Dorothy Dickson Darte Center. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_TTL121617Nutcracker2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Sarah Hoffman plays Clara during a performance of &#8216;The Nutcracker&#8217; last year at the Wilkes University Dorothy Dickson Darte Center. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>

Our View: Holiday time is right time for a live show