Music makes everything better—and what better way to learn about the first celebration of Chanukah than through a musical? This Sunday, 3Below hosts its final showing of the G-rated musical The MeshugaNutcracker!, a wild family-friendly comedy that provides viewers young and old a history lesson along with delightful orchestration. The masterful story interweaves Judah Maccabee’s saga with the Jewish experience during the Holocaust and the celebration of the first Chanukah, all set in the fictional town of Chelm. A fun holiday lesson—complete with sing-alongs.

MeshugaNutcracker!
Sun, 2pm, $12.50
3Below Theaters & Cafe, San Jose

The influence of South Bay drag queen Woo Woo Monroe can be felt all throughout the area’s drag community. As drag mother for the House of Woo, Monroe has put her beauty mark on numerous notable queens, like both Pam Cakes and Lemon Skweezy, who competed for glamorous kitchen supremacy earlier this year in SV Pride’s Drag Queen Cooking Showdown. At 3Below’s drag brunch—officially titled “Wigs, Waffles and Wine”—Monroe brings the show to the garish light of day with a morning full of music, dance, drink and breakfast favorites in an event that’s sure to be both sweet and savory.

Drag Brunch
Sun, 11am, $25
3Below, San Jose

For those depraved souls whose holiday tradition includes adult beverages and Bad Santa, there is a live theater show just for you. Who’s Holiday is a decidedly raunchy, not-for-kids take on the Dr. Seuss classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas. This one-woman show stars Shannon Guggenheim as the all-grown-up Cindy Lou Who—now a boozy bottle blonde living in a trailer. Cindy Lou has some memories about the Grinch that, uh, didn’t quite make the original manuscript. The tale is told entirely in verse. But again, for God’s sake, leave the children at home! Fridays and Saturdays through Dec. 22.

Who’s Holiday
Fri-Sat, 7:30pm, $45
3Below Theaters & Lounge, San Jose

Naturally, South Bay denizens love sharks, but they might want to make an exception for Rosita (Romina Bentancur), the main character in the Uruguayan film Los Tiburones. She’s a sullen 14-ish girl at a faraway southern beach closed by shark activity, and she shares a shark’s ruthlessness and voraciousness: As director Lucia Garibaldi told the Hollywood Reporter, “some call her a psychopath, but I like her.” Winner of the World Cinema Directing Award at this year’s Sundance, Los Tiburones is the first in a series of Latin American films that will be screened at 3Below under the auspices of MACLA and the Cinema Club Silicon Valley.

Los Tiburones
Sun, 1:30pm, $13
3Below Theaters & Lounge, San Jose

Cast those conceptions of the prim and proper fairytale princesses aside. These women don’t need to be saved, and they are certainly capable of doing more than cooking and cleaning. This critically acclaimed musical shines a spotlight on a number of iconic Disney heroines, allowing them to tell their own stories. Uncensored, occasionally profane and free from the men who drew them and literally put words in their mouths, these audacious leading ladies—including Snow White, Princess Ariel of The Little Mermaid and Cinderella—paint a distinctly different picture of their lives. Runs Thursday through Sunday until Jul. 21.

Disenchanted!
Thu, 7:30pm, $54+
3Below Theaters and Lounge, San Jose

Hailed by the New York Times as the “greatest living interpreter of Groucho Marx’s material,” Frank Ferrante portrays the young Groucho of stage and film, while reacquainting the audience with brothers Harpo and Chico as well as the much-maligned Zeppo and the rarely seen Gummo. Ferrante also invokes his peers Charlie Chaplin, W.C. Fields, Greta Garbo and Margaret Dumont, who was Groucho’s comic foil in many movies. In addition to Groucho’s comic timing, Ferrante also has his song-and-dance patter down; the show features songs like “Hooray for Captain Spaulding” and “Lydia, the Tattooed Lady.” Audiences should come prepared for some “You Bet Your Life”-style interaction.

An Evening with Groucho
Fri- Sat, 7:30pm, $36+
3Below Theaters & Lounge, San Jose

Leo Tolstoy’s novel, first published as a serial from 1875-1877, has inspired more than 30 screen adaptations, a play and a ballet, but it is only recently that the tragic love story has been set to music. The Moscow Operetta Theatre’s version of Anna Karenina opened in October 2016, and 3Below is screening a performance of the production, which was filmed before a live audience. The operetta’s lush sets and costuming are a backdrop for the story of doomed lovers Anna and Vronsky, reflecting the glitter and luxury of the Russian nobility in the second half of the 19th century. The film has multiple screenings through Sunday.

Anna Karenina
Thu, 7pm, $15+
3Below Theaters & Lounge, San Jose

For those depraved souls whose holiday tradition includes adult beverages and Bad Santa, there is a live theater show just for you. Who’s Holiday is a decidedly raunchy, not-for-kids take on the Dr. Seuss classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas. This one-woman show stars Shannon Guggenheim as the all-grown-up Cindy Lou Who—now a boozy bottle blonde living in a trailer. Cindy Lou has some memories about the Grinch that, uh, didn’t quite make the original manuscript. The tale is told entirely in verse. But, again, for God’s sake, leave the children at home! Fridays and Saturdays through Dec. 22.

Who’s Holiday
Fri, 7:30pm, $45
3Below Theaters & Lounge, San Jose

When Charles Dickens gave up the ghost in 1870, he left more than a literary legacy in his wake. He also left an unfinished novel. The Mystery of Edwin Drood tells the story of a suspicious death and the ensuing investigation. But there’s a hitch: Dickens died before he had a chance to write the ending. Several writers have since wrapped up Drood’s mystery. This weekend, 3Below stages one of the most interesting continuations; The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Rupert Holmes is a musical comedy in which the audience gets to choose Drood’s killer. It was the first Broadway musical to have multiple endings.

Edwin Drood
Thu, 7:30pm, $36+
3Below Theatres & Lounge

This year marks the 40th anniversary of longtime San Jose denizen Henry Mollicone’s opera. Based upon a famous poem about a Manhattan urban legend from the 19th century, it’s the story of two love triangles, separated by 100 years and revolving around a cryptic painting on a barroom floor. The entire tale is told in about half an hour—with just three instruments, three singers and a simple barroom set. After the opera, the theater will play clips from “The Face on the Barroom Floor: The Poem, the Place, the Opera” by Lawrence Kraman.

The Face on the Barroom Floor
Fri, 7:30pm, $40
3Below Theatres & Lounge, San Jose