'Tis the season for holiday theatrics

YOU MAY still be munching on Halloween candy, but like it or not, the holiday season is here.

Certainly retailers are already on the case, and so is the region's theater community, which has a diverse menu of offerings ready for serving.

As always, the fare includes both the season-specific (the annual staging of "A Christmas Carol" at Princeton University's McCarter Theatre) and the family-friendly ("Mary Poppins" at the Walnut Street Theatre; "Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella" at the Academy of Music). And why not? As we all know, theater tickets make great stocking stuffers!

Once again, the Walnut is lead reindeer, already offering previews of its production of the Sir Cameron Mackintosh-produced version of the 50-year-old Disney film musical about a magical nanny in late-Victorian-era London (it officially opens Wednesday). If this is half as good as "Elf," last year's holiday extravaganza at the venerable theater, it's a must-see - and it should be, anyway, if only for the amazing Sherman Brothers score that includes "Chim-Chim Cher-ee," "Feed the Birds," "Let's Go Fly a Kite" and "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" (there are a couple of new tunes as well).

Tropicana Atlantic City again programs a song-and-dance-athon featuring sectarian and non-sectarian seasonal songs.

Those involved with this presentation are going to great pains to ensure that it is not confused with the Disney-ized version of the fairy tale that is a modern pop-culture touchstone. The synopsis reads: "In this retelling of the classic fairy tale, two sisters leave London to start a new life after the loss of their family fortune. One is eager and outgoing. The other, Belle, is afraid and shy. When Belle meets the Beast, she begins an adventure unlike any she could have imagined."

This one-night-only comedy is described as "Bethlehem CSI," as the title nun attempts to solve the millennia-old mystery of what happened to the gold that was part of the gift package the Three Wise Men presented to the Baby Jesus.

What would the holidays be without a drag-cabaret act whose set list includes such traditional favorites as "I'm Dreaming Of A Betty White Christmas" and "God Blee Ye Femmy Lescians"?

Old Ebenezer Scrooge continues to spend Christmas Eve in the company of three wraiths whose efforts result in his spiritual transformation from hateful curmudgeon to good-hearted soul in this annual version of the beloved Charles Dickens story.

The annual "Mice on Ice" tour (which has kept the 76ers and Flyers on the road over the holidays for decades) returns with a skating spectacular based on the blockbuster animated movie, "Frozen."

Wednesday, West Philly's Curio Theatre Company begins previews of a world premiere of what is definitely not a holiday extravaganza.

"The Matter of Frank Schaefer" is based on the story of the United Methodist Church reverend who was defrocked for conducting a same-sex marriage for his son - and just last week reinstated after he appealed his removal to the church's Judicial Council.

A well deserved vacation kept me off the theater beat last week, but I didn't want any more time to pass without congratulating all of those involved with last week's Barrymore Awards ceremony at the Merriam Theater.

Produced by Theatre Philadelphia, the recently chartered organization that conducts the competition, the affair was by turns lighthearted, engaging and moving - never more so than when actress, teacher and Philadelphia Theatre Company co-founder Carla Belver (who is currently starring in "The Glass Menagerie" at Ambler's Act II Playhouse) accepted her Lifetime Achievement Award.

Belver's humble, moving and gracious speech should be distributed to everyone, regardless of age, who aspires to a career in theater. Judging from her remarks, it's easy to figure why she has been an inspiration for a couple of generation's worth of local theater types.

The ceremony also was made enjoyable by the brevity of the winners' acceptance speeches and the brisk pace of the show, which clocked in at under two-and-a-half hours.

Congrats to all! For a complete list of honorees, go to theatrephiladelphia.org/barrymore-awards/2014.