With the holidays fast approaching and the new year soon upon us, there’s a lot in the area to keep you entertained.
Here are some of the highlights of the next few weeks:
ART
■ Attend the Bellefonte Art Museum’s Holiday Show and Sale and find a wonderful gift in one of the museum’s five galleries. Artists will be interpreting this year’s theme, “A Magical Time,” in paint, clay, fiber, pastels, metal, jewelry and more.
The museum, located at 133 N. Allegheny St. in Bellefonte, is open noon to 5 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays or by appointment.
The show continues through Sunday, Dec. 27.
■ Also at the Bellefonte Art Museum is the Winter 2015-2016 show in the Print Gallery, which features artists R. Thomas Berner, Lori Fisher, Anju Jolly and Anne Kenyon.
“I delight in painting with bright vibrant oils, adding color where it may not exist,” said Fisher. “The subject matter for my pieces generally come from everyday life, taking photos or still life and recreating them on canvas.”
The show runs through Sunday, Feb. 28.
■ “From Dada to Dali: Surrealist Works on Paper” opens Tuesday, Jan. 12, at Penn State’s Palmer Museum of Art.
The exhibition has been organized in tandem with the April 2016 Center for the Performing Arts presentation of Daniele Finzi Pasca’s “La Verità,” a theatrical examination of the life and work of Salvador Dali. A wide variety of prints and drawings have been selected to represent the many manifestations of surrealism in Europe and America throughout the 20th century.
The exhibit will continue through May 2016.
THEATER
■ Dr. Tony Lentz is in the 38th year of performing his one-man version of “A Christmas Carol.” Those who want to hear the story in Dickens’ own words have two more opportunities to enjoy the show.
At 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 16, Lentz will give a free performance at Webster’s Bookstore Café, 133 E. Beaver Ave., State College. And, at 7 p.m. Friday, Monday, Dec. 21, Lentz will appear at The State Theater, 130 W. College Ave. in State College. Tickets for the Dec. 21 show are $5.
■ The State College Area School District Delta Middle Program presents “The Lion King Jr.” Wednesday, Jan. 13, at The State Theatre.
The African savannah comes to life with Simba, Rafiki and an unforgettable cast of characters as they journey from Pride Rock to the jungle and back again in this inspiring coming-of-age tale.
Tickets for the 10 a.m. performance are $5; tickets for the 7 p.m. performance are $9.
MUSIC
■ For King and Country and Matthew West will headline the Winter Jam 2016 Tour Spectacular, coming to the Bryce Jordan Center Friday, Jan. 8.
Tickets, which are $10, will be available only at the doors on the day of the event on a first-come, first-served basis.
The event starts at 6:45 p.m., but doors will open an hour earlier.
■ The State Theatre’s Met Opera Series will return in the new year with Georges Bizet’s “The Pearl Fishers” at 12:55 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16.
Few operas can match the sheer lyric beauty of this opera. Critics at the time were not in favor of it, but the audience was swept up in the ravishing score, tinged with the allure of a mythical south-Asian setting. The drama itself remains within the conventional standards of the day, with a love triangle complicated by the true friendship of the two men involved in it.
FILM
■ Wake up early and trek down to The State Theatre to spend some quality time with Bugs Bunny, the Roadrunner, Yosemite Sam and the rest of the Warner Brothers gang.
Cartoons will be show on the big screen at 10 a.m. every Saturday in December in memory of former State College mayor Bill Welch, and are sponsored by the Downtown Improvement District.
