SATURDAY, DEC. 11, 2011 >>>
1. The magical, wonderous world of the Nutcracker we see today is a far cry from the bleak, unhappy place imagined by the story's original author, E.T.A. Hoffman. Clara is Marie, a child in an unhappy home whose closest companion is a Nutcracker doll. The mouse king has seven heads and while it features a happy ending, the tale as a whole was so dark it was never intended for children. Then Alexander Dumas nice-ified the text and Tchaikovsky was commissioned to write a ballet score. And the far kinder version that Tacoma City Ballet presents at 3 p.m. inside the Pantages Theater. Representatives from the Marine Corps Toys for Tots Foundation will be on hand to accept donations for needy children in our community. Yet another reason why we should all love ballet.
2. Duck The Malls sounds fun on paper. If nothing else, this holiday sale to benefit the Olympia Film Society cuts out so much of the guesswork and crap of going to a regular flea market: With just the freaks on board selling their Yaz CDs, hipster bicycles and Ronald McDonald drinking glasses, you're sure to be steering clear of screaming babies and the scary men selling kicker boxes and enormous knives. Meanwhile, you may finally pick up that home-tattooing manual you've always wanted, along with that Boss phaser pedal whatshisname uses. You know there's going to be that moment where somebody runs into her ex, who's behind a table selling everything she ever gave him. Check it our from 1-4 p.m. inside the Capitol Theater. For the complete story on the event, click here.
3. We love the holidays, but let's face it: shopping at this time of year can suck. Snagging your nails in a catfight over a cashmere scarf, ruining your skin in the moisture-sucking mall air, and growing monster knots of tension just to cross each gift off your list makes for a stressful season. Enter the Mad Hat Tea Company, whose Cash Flow Show featuring local artists you know and love, slinging a bounty of artistic goodness priced at $25 or less, from 7-11 p.m. Santa has all the details here.
4. Who better to lean about Himalayan Sherpas than from someone whose last name is Sherpa. After traveling around the world in 1991, Caryl Sherpa returned with a story to tell and a desire to write. Her passion is for Nepal, most especially the Sherpa people, after she met and married her trekking guide, Nima Sherpa. Caryl will enter Orca Books with a backpack full of her new book, I Taste Fire, Earth, Rain: Elements of Life With A Sherpa at 7 p.m.
5. Yet another chance to enjoy seasonal music, this time provided by Rich Wetzel's expanded million-piece Groovin' Higher Jazz Orchestra. Wetzel will lead his big band through both traditional and non-traditional holiday music, with many of the arrangements taken directly from the great Stan Kenton. Wetzel will also orchestrate hallowed stuff in the jazz world and some big band arrangements of bygone holiday swingers, as well as some of Groovin' Higher's regular jazz book. The music begins at 7:30 p.m. inside Tacoma Community College's Building 2 Auditorium.
PLUS: Today's Santarchy, Beautiful Angle Holiday Party and Dickens Fest are previewed in our Weekend Hustle.
LINK: More arts and entertainment events in the South Sound
LINK: 2011 South Sound Holiday Happenings
LINK: Happy hours!