A+E INSIDE: < REVIEW: A hapless floral-shop assistant looks for love in ‘Little Shop of Horrors’. 3
BLACK
TIE INSIDE:
FOR KIDS: Florida Center for Early Childhood hosts winter gala. 8 >
ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT DECEMBER 7, 2023
YOUROBSERVER.COM
HOLIDAY STOCKING STUFFERS In a season filled with festivities and holiday shows, it’s easy to overlook smaller venues. MONICA ROMAN GAGNIER ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
I
won’t sugarcoat my sentiments about sugar plum fairies. My Scrooge attitude started when I worked in New York’s Rockefeller Center in the 1990s and early 2000s. Down in the lobby drugstore, a bobbing Santa Claus doll would croon Burl Ives’ “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas” from Thanksgiving until New Year’s. Ives had played the snowman narrator in the 1960s TV special “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” a show I had fond memories of as a child. But now I was tortured by Ives’ holiday ditty every time I took the elevator down from the 43rd floor to buy a pack of gum or a tube of toothpaste. I couldn’t get the song out of my head. But what really stuck in my craw was the line, “It’s the best time of the year.” Who were they kidding? For me, Christmas was the worst time of the year. Salvation Army sidewalk Santas incessantly rang their bells as tourists on their way to see “The Tree” blocked my way to work. (This was before telecommuting
became widely accepted.) Fast forward a decade or so. I’m covering arts and entertainment in a land of shimmering beaches, palm trees with twinkling lights and Santas wearing Hawaiian shirts. There’s a reason why Sarasota’s new soccer team named itself the “Paradise.” Now, I’ve got “Champagne Problems,” as Taylor Swift sings. During the “Season,” there are so many concerts, cabaret shows, live theater and dance performances, museum lectures and other events, it’s hard to decide what to see. As Hanukkah and Christmas approach, the dilemma is compounded by a flurry of holidaythemed productions. It’s easy to overlook smaller shows when you’re trying to score “Hamilton” tickets for the hip-hop musical’s run at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall this spring. Help is on the way. Here is a list of five unique holiday events —I call them “stocking stuffers” — that are bound to make you agree with Burl Ives: It is the best time of the year. SEE STOCKING, PAGE 2
Ilustration by Luke Reasoner