HOLIDAY HAPPENINGS

o7 The holiday season is here and there are plenty of ways to

celebrate. Here is a list of events in Costa Mesa and Newport Beach that

even the Grinch would have a hard time spoiling.

f7

* A Teddy Bear Holiday Village will be open for viewing through Dec.

24 at Sutton Place Hotel, 4500 MacArthur Blvd., Newport Beach. The bears

will be delivered to the Orangewood Children’s Home during the holiday

season. Free. (949) 476-2001.

* “A Christmas Carol” will run through Dec. 24. The play takes the

stage 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays,

and noon and 4 p.m. Sundays at South Coast Repertory’s Mainstage, 655

Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. $17-$41. (714) 708-5569.

* Festival Ballet Theatre will present “The Nutcracker” at Orange

Coast College’s Robert B. Moore Theatre, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa.

Show times will be 2 and 7 tonight, and 2 p.m. Sunday. $15-$19. (714)

432-5880.

* Trilogy Playhouse will present a musical production of A.A. Milne’s

“A Winnie-The-Pooh Christmas Tail” through Dec. 23. Performance times are

7 p.m. Fridays, and 3 and 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. The playhouse is

at 2930 Bristol St., Building C-106, Costa Mesa. $10-12. (714) 957-3347,

Ext. 1.

* Christmas concerts will be held at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church,

600 St. Andrews Road, Newport Beach, at 4 and 7 p.m. Sunday and Dec. 17.

The concert will feature carols by Alfred Burt, a congregation sing-along

and other Christmas selections. $8. (949) 574-2283.

* South Coast Repertory’s “La Posada Magica,” a contemporary Latino

Christmas play written by Octavio Solis with songs by Marcos Loya, opens

its seventh annual production on the Second Stage at 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

The show runs through Dec. 24 at 600 Town Center Drive. $18-$32.

Discounted previews will be 12:30 p.m. today and Sunday for $13-$21.

(714) 708-5555.

* The Philharmonic Society of Orange County will present “Fiesta

Navidad,” a mariachi concert celebrating the Mexican fiesta of La Posada

with music director Natividad Cano, at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Orange

County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa.

$18-$38. (949) 553-2422.

* Gustaf Anders restaurant at the South Coast Plaza Village will host

a Santa Lucia pageant from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at 3851 S. Bear

St, Costa Mesa. The pageant honors St. Lucia, who brought food to the

persecuted Christians in Sweden. (714) 668-1737.

* Newport Christian School will perform its Christmas play, “6th Grade

Scrooge,” at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The school, a ministry of Liberty Baptist

Church, is at 1000 Bison Ave., Newport Beach. Free. (949) 760-5444.

* Newport Harbor High School’s Sailor Concert Band and Midshipmen Jazz

Band will perform holiday music as the first part of Sounds of the Season

at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Norman Loats Performing Arts Center, Newport

Harbor High School, 600 Irvine Ave. $5-$3. Free for children 5 and

younger. The concert’s second part will be held Friday with choral music.

Same ticket prices and time. (949) 548-6393.

* Rosemary Clooney’s “White Christmas Party” will come to the Orange

County Performing Arts Center at 8 p.m. Thursday at Segerstrom Hall, 600

Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Clooney will be joined by a full

orchestra, including members of the Pacific Symphony Orchestra and two

choirs. $36-$76. (714) 746-7878.

* Musica Angelica will return 8 p.m. Thursday to the Orange County

Performing Arts Center with its annual “Renaissance of the Spirit: A

Christmas Concert.” The Center is at 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa.

$40. (714) 740-7878.

* Judy Collins will sing Christmas songs at 8 p.m. Friday at Orange

Coast College’s Robert B. Moore Theatre, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa.

$27-$33. (714) 432-5880.

* The Newport Beach Community Services department will hold a “Winter

Wonderland,” with 20 tons of snow, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 16 at

Grant Howald Park, at 5th and Iris avenues in Corona del Mar. An

appearance by Santa, holiday crafts and snowman building contest are

included. Guests are encouraged to bring building tools such as carrots

and sticks for their snow creations. Free. (949) 644-3151.

* Pacific Symphony Orchestra will perform Handel’s Messiah at 3 p.m.

Dec. 16 at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center

Drive, Costa Mesa. $18-$52. (714) 755-5799.

* The Orange County Women’s Chorus will present a holiday concert

titled “In Natali Domini: Three Unbelievable Things About Christmas” at 4

p.m. Dec. 17 at Newport Harbor Lutheran Church, 798 Dover Drive, Newport

Beach. Suggested donation is $10. (949) 856-3181.

* The 92nd annual Newport Harbor Christmas Boat Parade will return at

6:30 p.m. Dec. 17-23 with more than 100 boats decorated for the holidays.

There are dozens of viewing locations, including the Fun Zone on Balboa

Island. $25 for participants. Free for spectators. (949) 729-4400.

* Pacific Chorale will present “Tis the Season!” at 7 p.m. Dec. 17 in

Segerstrom Hall, at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town

Center Drive, Costa Mesa. John Alexander will conduct the Pacific

Chorale, Pacific Symphony Orchestra and Pacific Chorale Children’s Chorus

in a performance featuring favorite carols and seasonal classics. The

concert will include the world premiere of composer-in-residence Eric

Whitacre’s first commission for Pacific Chorale. $17-$54. (714) 662-2345.

* American Ballet Theatre’s production of “Cinderella” will cap the

Orange County Performing Arts Center’s 2000 Classic Dance Series with a

holiday engagement Dec. 19-23 in Segerstrom Hall, 600 Town Center Drive,

Costa Mesa. Performances will be at 8 p.m., with 2 p.m. matinees on

Friday and Saturday. $12-$70. (714) 740-7878.

* Chabad of Irvine will hold a Grand Hanukkah celebration at 4 p.m.

Dec. 21 at Fashion Island in Newport Beach in the Bloomingdale’s

courtyard, 905 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach. The celebration will

include Fashion Island’s annual Menorah-lighting. (949) 786-5000.

* Hunger Artists Theater Company will team up with the children of St.

John the Divine Episcopal Church to present “Home for Christmas” 10:30

a.m. Dec. 24. The play tells the story of two orphans who find a home in

the most unlikely of places. The performance will take place at the

church, 183 E. Bay St., Costa Mesa. Free, but donations for Court

Appointed Special Advocates are appreciated. (714) 547-9100.