Three family shows are coming to Mercer Community College’s Kelsey Theater to add to the festive holiday season. The month kicks off with a Kelsey holiday tradition. “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” embraces the joy of the long-awaited midnight visit by none other than Santa. Family audiences will delight in the Kelsey Players’ musical adaptation of the famous poem by Clement Moore.
Performance dates and times are Friday, December 4, at 7 p.m.; Saturday, December 5 at 11 a.m., 2 and 4 p.m.; and Sunday, December 6, at 2 and 4 p.m. Tickets are $12. The theater is an official drop-off site for the Marines’ Toys for Tots holiday drive.
The “Twas” cast includes siblings Isabel, Tobias, and Zackary Urban of West Windsor. They all attend St. Paul’s School in Princeton. Zach is in sixth grade, Tobias is in fifth, and Isabel in second.
Next up, for two shows only, is “A Very Kelsey Christmas,” a premiere performance presented by Forte Dramatic Productions, on Saturday, December 12, at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, December 13, at 2 p.m. The musical performance, in the style of a 1950s television variety show, is a mix of traditional, Broadway, and pop favorites, skits, and more. Tickets are $18.
Capping off the season is the New Jersey Youth Ballet’s original hour-long, narrated adaptation of “The Nutcracker” on Friday, December 18, at 7 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, December 19 and 20, at 1 and 4 p.m. Dancers in full costume will perform to Tchaikovsky’s score as they transport audiences to the Land of the Sweets. Tickets are $16.
Kelsey Theater, Old Trenton Road, West Windsor. 609-570-3333 or www.kelseytheatre.net.
