Oh who doesn’t enjoy a hot cuppa as the rains fall?  Head to the Top of the Mark for high tea this shopping season. Want to get away from the madness for a minute, ‘Tis the Season for Science at the Cal Academy of Sciences – science blended with holiday magic is yours for the viewing. Oakland Christmas Revels travels to Wales in the 1920’s for a touch of the Old Christmas and lastly, the old classic with a new twist, CINDERELLA at the Herbst theatre.  Read on to see how this version by the African American Shakespeare company shakes things up. Happy holidaying and Merriest of Christmas’s to all tomatoes and your families!

Holiday Tea

Take a break from the hustle and bustle of the holiday season to enjoy afternoon high tea (and breathtaking skyline views) at Top of the Mark at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins. The Top of the Mark’s annual Holiday High Tea features a choice of fine teas and a delightful three-tier presentation of finger sandwiches, scones, and mini pastries and sweets.

Bring your besties for a pre or post Christmas treat. After all you deserve it. Battling the crowds in Union Square burns a ton of calories. In the spirit of the season, Top of the Mark invites guests to bring a new toy to donate to the Toys for Tots drive. Various dates through December 29^th. 999 California Street. For info and reservations: www.holidaysatthemark.com

‘Tis The Season for Science
If you’re looking for a different perspective on the holidays, find out how reindeer see things—and explore the science behind the holiday season—at the ‘Tis the Season for Science exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences.

Interactive displays allow you to peer through the eyes of a reindeer using UV vision to find food underneath a blanket of snow. Then meet a pair of live reindeer in the Academy’s East Garden, experience indoor snow flurries, step inside a giant “Snowman Theater,” and enjoy a host of holiday-themed programs, including quiz shows and live music performances. The Academy is open every day this holiday season including Christmas Day.  Daily through January 8, 55 Music Concourse Drive (Golden Gate Park).  Click for more info .

Oakland Christmas Revels
Now in its 31st year, Oakland’s beloved Christmas Revels travels to 1920’s Wales and the childhood village of the great Welsh poet Dylan Thomas this holiday season with A Revels Christmas In Wales. There is much about Welsh culture and customs that will feel familiar and comforting to Revelers, as the performers venture from the warmth of the parlor into the chill winter night, following mummers and carolers from house to house through the village.

As always, the children of the village take center stage with their games, songs and dances, and it wouldn’t be a trip to Wales without energetic clogging and  graceful couples dancing the night away. And since this is Wales, there will be – dragons!  Hurry now it ends on the 18^th. Scottish Rite Theater, 1547 Lakeside Drive (Oakland). To find out more: www. californiarevels.org

Cinderella

Ok, I guarantee this is a CINDERELLA unlike any you have witnessed. Directed by two Bay Area gentleman of San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company this production will be performed for the first time at Herbst Theater. Samantha Williams, a young woman of color studying classical voice at Stanford, is the long-lost owner of the glass slipper. Through challenges and difficulties, she’ll make her dreams come true. How? With a little help from a Fairy Godmother, of course.  The Herbst Theater, 401 Van Ness Ave (Civic Center). For tickets: www. sfwmpac.org

White Christmas

Based on my favorite holiday movie with the inimitable Bing Crosby, this stage adabptation tells the story of the song-and=dance men who fall in love with a pair of beautiful sisters while struggling to save the fading Vermont inn owned by their former commanding general. You must suspend disbelief when you enter the theatre! It is a gorgeous Christmas card brought to life and you will have chills when you hear “White Christmas” (the best-selling single of all time!). This will brighten you holiday, and with the magic of the season in full swing, you never know, it may snow! Golden Gate Theatre, now through the 24^th.  For tickets: www.shnsf.com