Bells will be ringing

Young Chang

Santa proves he can groove to more than just standard classics like

“White Christmas” and “Jingle Bells” this holiday season.

Bringing Newport-Mesans everyone from Linda Ronstadt to French pianist

Pascal Roge, variety seems to be the spice of St. Nick’s entertainment

life. The result is something like a musical fondue.

Or pudding, as the Balboa Performing Arts Theater would put it. Called

“A Christmas Pudding,” their variety production to be held Dec. 15 at St.

Mark Presbyterian Church will feature music by The Christmas Consort,

carols including “Past Three O’Clock,” “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” a

French carol titled “Il Est Ne” and some Celtic as well as British

pieces.

The music will be scattered throughout literary readings from

“Angela’s Ashes,” “A Christmas Carol” and other books. Playwright A.J.

Carothers will present a reading of the ever tear-jerking “A Christmas

Memory,” by Truman Capote and other performers will read poems.

“A Christmas pudding is a British dessert traditionally had on

Christmas,” said Michele Roberge, executive director of the Balboa

Theater foundation. “You cook it for 10 hours. There are different

ingredients like raisins and nuts and cherries. All kinds of different

tastes. [Our show] has all kinds of different pieces.”

Actor David Birney, most known for his TV work, created the Pudding

seven years ago.

“To try to communicate something about the spirit of Christmas, the

grace of Christmas,” Birney said.

The show will start at 8 p.m. at 2100 Mar Vista Drive, Newport Beach.

Tickets are $15 or $10. Call (949) 673-0895.

The Philharmonic Society of Orange County will also showcase a medley

of acts -- theirs being an international mix.

Tonight, the society will present French baroque ensemble Les Arts

Florissants in a performance of Christmas music by composer Marc-Antoine

Charpentier at the Irvine Barclay Theatre. The show will begin at 8 p.m.

at 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine. Tickets are $55 and $49. Call (949)

854-4646.

Grammy Award-winning vocalist Linda Ronstadt will perform with the

Mariachi Los Camperos for the Philharmonic Society’s eighth annual Fiesta

Navidad concert at the Orange County Performing Arts Center at 8 p.m.

Dec. 11. Ronstadt had previously worked with Natividad “Nati” Cano,

bandleader of the mariachi group, during the making of her “Canciones de

Mi Padre” album.

The Center is at 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Tickets are

$20-$65. Call (949) 553-2422.

The Pacific Symphony Orchestra will take a French approach with their

“Holiday Romance” concert. French pianist Pascal Roge will perform

classic pieces including Saint-Saens’ Concerto No. 2 on Wednesday and

Thursday at the Center. The symphony has partnered with all four

locations of Pascal restaurants (no relation to Pascal Roge, the

restaurants are named for owner-chef Pascal Olhats) to offer

two-for-the-price-of-one ticket vouchers. Diners at Pascal’s can pick up

these vouchers at any of his locations.

On the evening of the concerts, Pascal will offer a preconcert menu

with a complimentary glass of champagne. Single price tickets for the

show, which begins at 8 p.m. both nights, are $21-$56.

The symphony will also present a performance of Handel’s Messiah with

the Pacific Chorale at 3 p.m. Dec. 22. The concert will be held at the

Center, with tickets ranging from $18-$52. The Pacific Symphony Pops

Orchestra will present Eileen Ivers on Dec. 21 and 22 at the Center.

Ivers, a star of the “Riverdance” and a seven-time fiddle champion, will

give a Celtic performance of Christmas songs, Irish jigs, rock and even

jazz. Both shows will begin at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25-$77. Information

for all symphony shows can be obtained by calling (714) 755-5799.

For a more traditional holiday show, catch the Pacific Chorale’s

performance of “Tis the Season,” an all-in-one night with the Pacific

Chorale, the Pacific Symphony Orchestra and the Pacific Chorale

Children’s Chorus on Dec. 16 at the Center.

Featured pieces include Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Fantasia on Christmas

Carols,” composer-in-residence Eric Whitacre’s “Lux Aurumque” and

standards like “Joy to the World!” and “Silent Night.”

The show will begin at 7 p.m. Tickets are $18-$55. Call (714)

662-2345.

Local colleges are also getting into the musical spirit of things.

Vanguard University will present a “Christmas Fantasia,” a treasury of

holiday musical classics and carols, at 2 p.m. Sunday at St. Andrews

Presbyterian Church, 600 St. Andrews Road, Newport Beach. The

university’s women’s chorus, Vanguard Singers, jazz band and concert

choir and orchestra, which performed at Carnegie Hall last spring, will

perform.

Tickets are $12 and $10. Call (714) 556-3610.

Finally, the Orange Coast College Chorale and Orchestra will present

“Handel’s Messiah, A Ceremony of Carols” at 8 p.m. Dec. 15 in the Fine

Arts building, Room 119, at 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa. Tickets are

$5 or $7. Call (714) 432-5880, Ext. 1.

FYI

* Balboa Performing Arts Theater: (949) 673-0895

* Orange Coast College: (714) 432-5880, Ext. 1

* Pacific Chorale: (714) 662-2345

* Pacific Symphony Orchestra and Pacific Symphony Pops: (714) 755-5799

* Philharmonic Society of Orange County: (949) 553-2422

* Vanguard University: (714) 556-3610