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‘Tis the season and there’s no shortage of holiday cheer. On Saturday, the Los Angeles Master Chorale will light up the season with a program of Christmas favorites at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Organist John West joins Music Director Grant Gershon and his talented singers and soloists for traditional ditties like “Silent Night” and “Come All Ye Faithful.” On Dec. 12 they’ll “Rejoice!” with Handel’s “Messiah,” including the “Hallelujah Chorus,” while on Dec. 19 you can get in on the act with the Chorale’s annual “Messiah Sing-Along.” The event has become a holiday tradition delighting audiences for 30 years.
When the Chorale is not on stage, there’ll be a full slate of other entertainment. On Dec. 15, Chanticleer, the Grammy Award-winning group considered to be among the world’s finest top male choruses, kicks off the “Deck the Hall” holiday concert series. Billed as a captivating orchestra of voices, Chanticleer is sure to make the season bright. Later in the week, it will be a classical gas with the Holiday Organ Spectacular featuring David Higgs and soprano Lisa Vroman. The program begins with Bach’s crowd-pleasing classic “Prelude and Fugue in D major” and wraps up with “Joy to the World,” “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” and “O Holy Night.”
If you like your holidays on the jazzy and snazzy side, don’t miss Manhattan Transfer. The famed vocal group will show off their pipes on Dec. 21-adding a little pop-bop to the holiday season. Ho! Ho! Ho!
COOL CHRISTMAS FLICKS
If cinema is more your style, look for some famous local faces to appear in a spate of upcoming movies.
Tomorrow Halle Berry makes a dramatic comeback in “Frankie and Alice.” The Malibu beauty plays a woman suffering from multiple personality disorder and her performance is already generating an Oscar buzz.
Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman join Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller playing one of America’s funniest families in “Little Fockers.” If you love the beauty of Venice, be sure to check out Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp in the sexy action thriller “The Tourist.” The two spent months filming in Italy with Depp playing an American who gets caught up in a game of cat and mouse after he hooks up with a seductive Interpol agent. Josh Brolin, Matt Damon and Jeff Bridges team up in the remake of the John Wayne western “True Grit.” Also on tap, Gwyneth Paltrow tries to hit a high note as a country crooner in “Country Strong.” For family fun, Yogi Bear makes his big screen debut and, finally, Jack Black goes for big laughs in “Gulliver’s Travels.” But whether it’s movies or music there’s plenty of holiday fun for kids of all ages.