Holiday plays spreading cheer through E. Iowa

Area stages are getting ready to light up the holiday season with these family-friendly musicals, plays, ballets and magic.

The Illusionists: Magic of the Holidays

Nov. 15, Paramount Theatre, 123 Third Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids. Celebrate the holidays with a family-friendly mix of outrageous and astonishing acts. Time: 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $60 to $90; creventslive.com/events/2023/the-illusionists

The Wizard of Oz

Nov. 17 to Dec. 17, Theatre Cedar Rapids, 102 Third St. SE, Cedar Rapids. Follow The Scarecrow, The Tinman, The Cowardly Lion, Dorothy and Toto, too, as they meet the Wicked Witch, the Wizard, and others as they find their true hearts’ desires. Features all of the Oscar-winning songs from the movie — including “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “We’re Off To See The Wizard” — as well as favorite movie moments, plus a few surprises. Times: 7:30 p.m. Thursday to Saturday; 2:30 p.m. Sunday and Saturday matinees. Tickets: $18 to $68, TCR Box Office, (319) 366-8591 or theatrecr.org/event/the-wizard-of-oz/2023-11-17/

Cirque Musica Holiday Wonderland

Nov. 22, Paramount Theatre, 123 Third Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids. This family-friendly event features acrobats, aerialists, high jinks and holiday cheer. The show blends the grace and daredevil athleticism of circus performers with a musical mix of seasonal favorites. Time: 7 p.m. Tickets: $38.50 to $78.50, creventslive.com/events/2023/cirque-musica

Away in the Basement: A Church Basement Ladies Christmas Tour

Nov. 24, Amana Performing Arts Center, 39 38th Ave., Amana. This national touring production turns back the clock to 1959 and the day of the Sunday school Christmas program. In the midst of holiday preparations and sprinklings of love in the air, the ladies are creating their own memories from Christmases past and present. Content to do things the way they have always been done — yet pondering new ideas — the reality of everyday life hits home as they plan the Christmas program. While the children rehearse up in the sanctuary, several of the ladies of the kitchen are finishing up the treat bags filled with apples, peanuts and ribbon candy, while the others put the final touches on the Nativity pieces. As they mend old bathrobe costumes, discuss the politics of who’s going to play the various roles, little do the ladies know what surprises are in store for them. Times: 2 and 7 p.m. Tickets: $34; tkmtheatricalproductions.com/courses

Nutcracker ballets

Nolte Academy: Dec. 1 to 3, Englert Theatre, 221 E. Washington St., Iowa City. This holiday classic comes to life with performances by dancers from Nolte Academy and a live orchestra conducted by Carey Bostian, with singers from the Iowa City Youth Choir. Times: 7:30 p.m. Friday; 1 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: $23 to $48, englert.org/events/

Orchestra Iowa and Ballet Quad Cities: Dec. 2, Paramount Theatre, 123 Third Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids. Be swept away to the Land of Sweets, enjoy the dazzling costumes of the twirling and leaping ballerinas, and be captivated by the masterful music of this Tchaikovsky jewel. Times: 2 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $18 to $49, artsiowa.com/tickets/concerts/the-nutcracker-ballet/

The Game’s Afoot or Holmes for the Holidays

Dec. 1 to 10, Starlighters II, 200 E. Main St., Anamosa. It’s December 1936, and Broadway star William Gillette, admired the world over for his leading role in the play “Sherlock Holmes,” has invited his fellow cast members to his Connecticut castle for a weekend of revelry. But when one of the guests is stabbed to death, the festivities in this isolated house of tricks and mirrors quickly turn dangerous. It is then up to Gillette himself, as he assumes the persona of his beloved Holmes, to track down the killer before the next victim appears. Times: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday; Box Office opens Nov. 20. For details, watch starlighters.org/thegamesafoot

It’s a Wonderful Life

Dec. 1 to 10, Amana Performing Arts Center, 39 38th Ave., Amana. This American holiday classic comes to life as a live 1940s radio broadcast. With the help of an ensemble that brings a few dozen characters to the stage, the story of idealistic George Bailey unfolds as he considers ending his life one fateful Christmas Eve. Times: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: $25, tkmtheatricalproductions.com/courses

A Christmas Story

Dec. 1 to 17, Giving Tree Theater, 752 10th St., Marion. Jean Shepherd’s memoir of growing up in the Midwest in the 1940s follows 9-year-old Ralphie Parker in his quest to get a genuine Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. Ralphie pleads his case before his mother, his teacher and even Santa Claus himself at Higbee’s Department Store. The consistent response: “You'll shoot your eye out!” All the elements from the movie are here, including the family’s temperamental exploding furnace; Scut Farkas, the school bully; the boys’ experiment with a wet tongue on a cold lamppost; the Little Orphan Annie decoder pin; Ralphie’s father winning a lamp shaped like a woman’s leg in a fishnet stocking; Ralphie’s fantasy scenarios and more. Times: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: $28, givingtreetheater.com/shop/shows/2

Mary Poppins

Dec. 8 to 17, City Circle Theatre Company at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts, 1301 Fifth St, Coralville. This family musical classic stars a practically perfect nanny as she leads Bert, Jane and Michael on adventures packed full of special effects and more heart than you can shake an umbrella at. Times: 7:30 p.m. Friday; 2 p.m. Saturday, Sunday. Tickets: $26 adults, $22 ages 65 and up, $18 students, $32 premium seating, $10 student rush Dec. 9; coralvillearts.org/247/Mary-Poppins

The Wiz

Dec. 12 to 17, Des Moines Civic Center, 221 Walnut St., Des Moines. This all-new Broadway-bound tour is the show’s first one in 40 years. The groundbreaking twist on “The Wizard of Oz” changed the face of Broadway — from its iconic score packed with soul, gospel, rock and finger-snapping ’70s funk to its tale of Dorothy’s journey to find her place in a contemporary world. Times: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday to Friday; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: $40 to $150, desmoinesperformingarts.org/events/the-wiz/

Small Miracles

Dec. 14 and 15, Riverside Theatre, 119 E. College St., Iowa City. Riverside co-founder Ron Clark shares his recollections of growing up in a small Iowa town, including a mayor/street cleaner who doubled as Santa, a courageous dog, a 10-cent silver bell that became a family heirloom, and an audition for the fifth-grade Christmas pageant. An evening for the whole family, featuring music performed by Tara McGovern. Where: West Family Lobby, Riverside Theatre. When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Tickets: general admission $20 adults, $18 seniors, $10 students and children, riversidetheatre.org/special-events/

A Very Electric Christmas

Dec. 15, Sondheim Center for Performing Arts, 200 N. Main St., Fairfield. From Lightwire Theater comes a tale of family, friendship and hope set to timeless holiday hits, as told through the technological innovations of moving light characters that magically appear out of the darkness. In this story, Santa’s helpers are putting the final touches on presents as a young bird named Max and his family head south for the winter. Poor Max gets blown off course during a snowstorm, and ends up alone and lost at the North Pole. As he tries to make his way home, his adventure begins when he encounters caroling worms, dancing poinsettias, Nutcracker soldiers, mischievous mice and an evil Rat King. Time: 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $10 to $39, fairfieldacc.com/event/a-very-electric-christmas/

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Musical

Dec. 21, Des Moines Civic Center, 221 Walnut St., Des Moines. Rescheduled from 2022, the TV classic flies onto the stage, with Santa and Mrs. Claus, Hermey the Elf, the Abominable Snow Monster, Clarice, Yukon Cornelius and, of course, Rudolph. It’s an adventure teaching that what makes you different can be what makes you special. Times: 2 and 7 p.m. Tickets: $29 to $65, desmoinesperformingarts.org/events/rudolph-2022/

Comments: (319) 368-8508; diana.nollen@thegazette.com