“A Christmas Memory”
December 1-18 at Park Theater
The Whale Theater, in association with Tectonic Theater (Moisés Kaufman, artistic director); will present Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory” as a live radio play at the intimate Park Theater in Hudson featuring Broadway veterans Marceline Hugot and Jeffrey Binder. Joining the actors will be a cellist performing original underscoring and a Foley artist helping to bring the story to life with sound effects. The performance will be followed by a second act featuring a cabaret of beloved holiday classics. Get your tickets.“Miracle on South Division Street”
December 2-18 at Shadowland Stages
Meet the Nowaks, a Polish-American and very Catholic clan living amidst the urban rubble of Buffalo’s East Side in the 1960s. The neighborhood is depressed, but Clara, the family matriarch, happily runs her soup kitchen and tends to the family heirloom—a shrine to the Blessed Mother, which adjoins the house. This neighborhood beacon of faith commemorates the day when the Blessed Virgin Mary materialized in Clara’s father’s barber-shop. As the play opens, a family meeting—run by daughter Ruth—has been called to divulge her plans to go public with the family miracle by creating a one-woman play about the sacred event. During the course of the meeting, the family’s faith is shaken to the very core when a deathbed confession causes the family legend to unravel.
Rubblebucket
December 3 at Bearsville Theater
Brooklyn art/dance pop band Rubblebucket will hold much appeal for fans of similar indie units like Vampire Weekend, the Dirty Projectors, Brazilian Girls, Gang Gang Dance, tUneE-YarDs, and Passion Pit. Anchored around the founding core of Alex Toth (trumpet, band leader) and Kalmia Traver (vocals, saxophone), the group has long been popular on the festival circuit thanks to their upbeat, foot-moving, ska/reggae-inspired rhythms. On the high-jumping heels of their 2021 album Earth Worship, they’ll shake up the Bearsville Theater in early December. (Zero zips through November 2; Lissie lands November 5.) 8pm. $25. Bearsville.
Winter Walk
December 3 in Hudson
Hudson’s favorite street festival Winter Walk turns 26 this year and it’s bigger than ever. Take a stroll down Warren Street and experience performances, art installations, family-friendly attractions, local food and drinks, holiday shopping, fireworks and festive cheer. Plus: Twinkling lights, decorated shops, horse-drawn wagons, carolers, and fireworks.
Sinterklaas
December 3 in Rhinebeck
It’s an old Dutch tradition that’s become a beloved tradition in Rhinebeck as well: the annual Sinterklaas Festival, produced by celebration artist Jeanne Fleming. In honor of its rich Dutch heritage on the first Saturday of each December the town hosts this magical holiday event, which recreates many of the customs brought to the area by settlers from the Netherlands more than 300 years ago. Every year Rhinebeck residents (and thousands of others!) come together for this day-long family celebration, which finds the town center festively decorated with paintings made by local school children and includes live music and street performers, storytelling, animals, craft fairs, magic shows, ornament making, traditional Dutch food and pastries, and a parade.
Meshell Ndegeocello
December 4 at Levon Helm Studios
“I’ve always trusted that [music] is my path,” said Meshell Ndegeocello when she was profiled in the June 2014 issue of Chronogram. Here, that musical path will lead the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, rapper, bassist, and erstwhile Hudson Valley resident to Levon Helm Studios for a rare and overdue regional performance. Ndegeocello debuted with 1993’s profound Plantation Lullabies and hit number three on the Billboard charts the following year via her duet with John Mellencamp on a version of Van Morrison’s “Wild Night.” Her 12th and most recent album is 2018’s Ventriloquism. (Charlie Parr pops by December 2; the Hot Sardines swing December 18.) 7:30pm. $45, $65. Woodstock.
Delicate Steve
December 4 at No Fun
In addition to creating waves with his own music, quirky indie-pop guitarist Delicate Steve has collaborated with the likes of Paul Simon, the Black Keys, Tame Impala, Amen Dunes, Built to Spill, Lee Ranaldo, the Dirty Projectors, Nicole Atkins, Tune-Yards, Dr. Dog, and others. His 2011 debut album, Wondervisions, was released to instant acclaim on David Byrne’s Luaka Bop label and even inspired author Chuck Klosterman to pen a fictional biography of the singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He brings it to No Fun for this upstate hit. (Rump State and Decimus get noisy December 2; Pony in the Pancake plays December 17.) 7pm. $10, $14. Troy.
