How do you know you’re in L.A.? Where else can you get Chinatown Christmas carols, Yiddish labor songs, Irish tenors, Emmylou Harris and the Los Angeles Master Chorale, all in one week?FRIDAY, December 9 Some enchanted evening… you may see some boats… you may see some boats…
float down a crowded sea… especially if you go to the Marina del Rey Holiday
Boat Parade, a truly spectacular cavalcade of seafaring vessels wreathed in
colorful lights and strutting the main channel like beauty-queen contestants vying
for the crown. Which is what this is — a beauty pageant for boats, complete with
prizes and fireworks. Burton W. Chace Park or Fisherman’s Village, Marina del
Rey; preview parade Fri., Dec. 9, 7-9 p.m.; main parade Sat., Dec. 10, 6-8 p.m.,
preceded by fireworks at 5:55 p.m. Free. (310) 670-7130, www.mdrboatparade.org.
Go to Red Lobster for all-you-can-eat shrimp. Go to LACE for all-you-can-view
Shrimps Hack, an hourlong performance event that reunites members of Shrimps,
the L.A.-based artist collective, in “tableaux of accumulation, excess, destruction
and repair.” Shrimps members will actually be wearing furniture and, as half-humans/half-objects,
will fumble and bumble their way through the gallery spaces, trying to do everything
from simple tasks, to stripteases, to hacking away at their own wooden limbs.
Add Mark Wheaton’s out-there music, and you’ve got a full-fledged happenin’. At
LACE, 6522 Hollywood Blvd., Hlywd.; Fri.-Sat., Dec. 9-10, 8 p.m.; $15. (323) 957-1777,
www.artleak.org.


SATURDAY, December 10
Yingele Bells, Yingele Bells: The Mit Gezang Yiddish Chorus sings Frederick Rzewski’s
24 variations on the classic Yiddish song “Mayn Yingele,” along with other Yiddish
labor anthems, in conjunction with the Workmen’s Circle’s “Workers of the World”
exhibition. The program, The Worker Variations, also features classical
pianist Eliane Lust performing labor-related works by Mendelssohn, Grieg, Schumann,
Liszt, Joplin and others. Sounds like a real piece of work. 1525 S. Robertson
Blvd.; Sat., Dec. 10, 8 p.m.; $20. (310) 552-2007, www.circlesocal.org.

Water chestnuts roasting on an open fire? Chinatown presents its first-ever Christmas Carol Contest and Show. Groups of eight or more are invited to sing two Christmas songs, and there’ll be prizes for best singing, best costumes and most charming. And bundle up, because Jack Frost will be nipping at your nose. According to Pedro Chan, event organizer and Chinatown “weatherman,” it will be snowing in Chinatown: “Come to see to believe it!” Bamboo Plaza, 988 N. Hill St., Chinatown; Sat.-Sun., Dec. 10-11, noon-5 p.m. Free. (323) 721-0774.

SUNDAY, December 11
Banning Residence Museum hosts A Victorian Family Christmas, a candlelit,
guided living-history tour that will take you back 100 years. Enjoy the turn-of-the-century
décor, Christmas trees with authentic Victorian ornaments, and holiday refreshments
and entertainment. 401 E. “M” St., Wilmington; Sun., Dec. 11, 6-8 p.m.; $20,
children 12 & under free. (310) 548-7777, www.laparks.org.
And here’s another Victorian Christmas possibility: the Workman and Temple Family
Homestead Museum’s Southern California Christmas, an afternoon fair of
historic-house tours, Victorian music by the Fleet Street Band and Strolling Carolers,
holiday arts and crafts, and a bilingual performance of Las Posadas by
the Escuela de Bellas Artes de Pomona. Santa’ll be there too. 15415 E. Don
Julian Road, City of Industry; Sun., Dec. 11, 1-5 p.m.; free. (626) 968-8492,
www.homesteadmuseum.org.

MONDAY, December 12
Lost your soul? Looked for it everywhere? Bet you haven’t tried Disney Hall, where:
“Lost souls will be found at this evening of seasonal and spiritual music.” Hosted
by Benny Hinn? Nope, Emmylou Harris. The country/folk legend, a.k.a. “The Diva
of Loss,” brings us Light of the Stable: Christmas with Emmylou Harris,
a night of “hymnlike and majestic” music with guitarist Buddy Miller. If she sings
“Wayfaring Stranger,” “Orphan Girl” or any more of her heartbreak-hotel classics,
you just might find yourself having a teary little Christmas. Walt Disney Concert
Hall, 111 N. Grand Ave., dwntwn.; Mon., Dec. 12, 8 p.m. $26-$66. (323) 850-2000,
www.laphil.com. See Music Pick.
Joseph Cornell, the legendary experimental filmmaker, pioneered the technique
of found footage and was a major influence on future generations, including Jack
Smith and Ken Jacobs. Tonight, REDCAT presents Joseph Cornell: Film Constructions
and Fantasies, an overview of rare Cornell works, some screening for the first
time in L.A. — and that includes recently discovered collage films as well as
pieces shot by Stan Brakhage, Rudy Burckhardt and Larry Jordan under Cornell’s
direction. REDCAT Theater, Walt Disney Concert Hall Complex, W. Second & S.
Hope streets, dwntwn.; Mon., Dec. 12, 8 p.m.; $6-$8. (213) 237-2800, www.redcat.org.

TUESDAY, December 13
Oh come, all ye faithful Los Angeles Master Chorale fans to Rejoice, this
year’s annual holiday concert. The top-notch choral ensemble and soloists will
launch into the beloved Cantata No. 5 from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, along
with carols medieval and contemporary; popular Christmas favorites; Jason Robert
Brown’s Chanukah Suite; Stephen Paulus’s Christmas Tidings; and
a sing-along. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., dwntwn.; Tues.,
Dec. 13, 7:30 p.m.; $19-$79, public rush seats available two hours before curtain.
(213) 972-7282, (800) 787-5262, www.lamc.org.
WEDNESDAY, December 14
Since human beings never seem to tire of “Danny Boy” being shoved down their throats,
how could the Irish Tenors be anything but a hit from day one? The masters of
Celtic schmaltz routinely play to sold-out houses throughout the world — that’s
because they’re just plain good. The warblers three — Anthony Kearns, John McDermott
and Finbar Wright — have won every major vocal award in their native land, and
you’ll get to see why at The Irish Tenors Holiday Show. Performing their
traditional repertoire of Irish music from medieval times onward, along with spirituals
and holiday favorites, the ultracharming boyos just can’t disappoint. Cerritos
Center for the Performing Arts, 12700 Center Court Dr.; Wed., Dec. 14, 8 p.m.;
$24-$45. (800) 300-4345, www.cerritoscenter.com.

THURSDAY, December 15
Did Abe Lincoln ever get a hankering for gefilte fish? He might have, because
there were at least half a dozen kosher restaurants in Washington, D.C., in 1862.
Yes, Jews were a big part of American and Civil War life, as the Skirball Cultural
Center reveals in Jews and the Civil War. On Thursdays, you get a slide-illustrated
talk and tour of the exhibit, where you might find out how Jewish Union and Confederate
soldiers celebrated Passover, and learn about Judah P. Benjamin, “The Brains of
the Confederacy”; Hebrew Confederate hero Isaac J. Levy; Yankee hero Col. Max
Einstein; and Rosina Osterman, the Saint of Galveston, Texas, who volunteered
her services to tend to the wounded on both sides of the bitter conflict. Was
there a Rebel Rebbe? Ya never know. 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Sepulveda Pass;
Thurs., Dec. 15, 12:30 p.m.; free admission Thurs., noon-9 p.m. (310) 440-4500,
www.skirball.org.