The holidays are rarely so high-flying or reality-defying as they are in A Magical Cirque Christmas. In this wintry performance, incredible feats of acrobatics meet jaw-dropping magic, all set to a yuletide soundtrack that arrives just in time for the end of the holidays. Twirling rope and hoop performers, tumbling gymnasts and trapeze artists and bell-shaking Christmas music—it’s like the Sugar Plum Fairy ran away from home to join a French circus. Hosted by the critically boasted hostess Lucy Darling, this magical show is here for one night only.

A Magical Cirque Christmas
Thu, 7:30pm, $48+
Center for the Performing Arts, San Jose

Nollaig shona! (That’s ‘Merry Christmas’ in Irish.) This Wednesday, Tomáseen Foley’s A Celtic Christmas—now in its 25th season—comes to the South Bay a day after the winter solstice. Celebrating the light to come after the longest nights of the year, A Celtic Christmas shares Irish tradition through story, dance and song. The multi-talented company includes Grammy Award-winning guitarist and ethnomusicologist William Coulter, Brian Bigley on Irish flute and Uilleann pipes (and more!), plus the ethereal singing of vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Eimar Arkins.

A Celtic Christmas
Wed, 7pm, $53+
Center for the Performing Arts, Mt View

Over the last 18 months, a generation of young cooks entered the kitchen as novices and began perfecting skills in bread-making, baking and cooking. For one celebrity chef, the at-home DIY spirit was just the start of what’s to come—and the main reason he’s getting back on the road now.

Almost as soon as quarantine went into effect, Food Network star Alton Brown and his wife Elizabeth Ingram began connecting with fans virtually, going live on YouTube once per week while making dinner. That weekly dinner turned into the show Quarantine Quitchen (also known as “QQ”), which quickly gathered a fanbase all its own.

On Monday, Brown brings his 30+ years of experience to San Jose’s Center for the Performing Arts for “Alton Brown Live: Beyond the Eats.” The show is one of Brown’s specialties: a live culinary variety show, bringing the science, heat and satisfaction of the kitchen to novice cooks and expert chefs alike—now with the additional spice of his and Ingram’s work on Quarantine Quitchen.

According to Brown, the show that has become a “sleeper hit” was originally only meant to be a joyful time with his wife. Now, however, he looks forward to translating that joy live on tour.

“I think some of [QQ’s popularity] will be coming with us because Elizabeth is in the show,” he said, noting his wife plays bass live in the show. “She’s garnered quite a few fans who will no doubt be in the front few rows. That’s a new and unexpected development.”

After nearly two years off the road, Brown is happy to be back creating a flavorful blend of science, comedy and creativity on stage in a show he was busy working on from his home-base in Marietta, GA throughout the pandemic.

Another thing that kept him busy the last year and half, and helped him to prepare for tour? Two words:

“Gin martinis.”

Beyond simply being a classic drink, the martinis might have been a somewhat necessary preparation for the road ahead, as Brown shared with Metro that he’s both terrified and exhilarated by the chance to be back on the road again. Prior to the pandemic, Brown had become known for his live culinary reality show tours, including “Eat Your Science” and “Edible Inevitable.” While touring may look slightly different now, he says he’s desperate to reconnect with the people that helped make him a household name—all while being as safe as can be.

“It is a not-so-brave new world out there and dealing with Covid responsibly is going to be a full-time job,” he says, cautiously. “That said, I can’t wait.”

Though the couple didn’t have much time off during the pandemic, Brown is excited by what he learned at home, including one fact he had previously overlooked: that his wife is a great cook. He admits it was “kinda embarrassing” not to have realized that prior to quarantine, but believes everyone has been learning a lot in their own homes lately.

“I think more people are cooking than ever before, and I think a lot of people have discovered online sources for great ingredients, like frozen, sustainable seafood from Alaska,” Brown said. “People are cooking more ‘staged’ dishes that require multiple steps taken over a longer chunk of time—sourdough baking being a prime example.”

While many new chefs focused on perfecting their own culinary prowess during quarantine, Brown is sure that fans will still enjoy experiencing his expert balance of culinary creativity and live entertainment on his tour. And though he isn’t giving away any surprises, he does hint that this year he’ll have “something completely new that…I can’t talk about.”

Nonetheless, fans at CPA can expect everything Brown has become known for: “goofy food songs, storytelling, and strange and often large food demonstrations.”

And, of course, after a year and a half of quarantine, this cook already has the oven on, warming up for what’s to come next.

“I’m carving some twists and turns into the road ahead,” he says.

Alton Brown Live: Beyond the Eats
Mon, 7:30pm, $43+
Center for the Performing Arts, San Jose

Perhaps best known for his famous essay The Santaland Diaries—which chronicles his young adulthood travails as a Christmas Elf at a Macy’s—David Sedaris has earned a reputation as a curmudgeon for the underdog, sardonically taking down the little indignities that the common person faces every day. Sedaris’ latest collection Calypso takes an occasionally dark look into the humorist’s experiences of middle age and increasing awareness of his own mortality. Sedaris will be reading stories from the collection, signing copies and taking questions from the audience for an intimate evening at the Center for the Performing Arts.

David Sedaris
Mon, 7:30pm, $55+
CPA, San Jose

How much is there left to be said about Hamilton? At this point, it is easily the most culturally salient Broadway show of this writer’s lifetime, the hip hop tale of the orphan Alexander Hamilton, who rises from poverty to become one of America’s founding fathers. Back when it was brand new, the greatest sign of wealth one could display was getting Hamilton tickets. Now more financially accessible than ever, San Jose Broadway brings a three week run of Hamilton to the South Bay for the first time, ready to light things up like its 2015 all over again! As King George says, “You’ll Be Back.”

Hamilton
Opens Tue, 7:30pm, $50+
CPA, San Jose

The print edition of this story incorrectly listed Alexander Hamilton’s historical role. The editor would like to apologize to his high school history teacher, Mr. Hicks, for the error.

The rise of Filipino singer Arnel Pineda is one of the most inspiring underdog stories in rock. Since the early ‘80s, the musician had entertained locals around the Philippines and Hong Kong in a variety of popular bands—though his immense vocal talents went overlooked by the rest of the world. That is, until the band Journey found his covers on YouTube and asked him to become their new lead singer. Since, Pineda has been a joy to watch, finally provided with canvas large enough for his soaring voice. At the CPA he’s joined by none other than Bamboo Mañalac, singer of both Rivermaya and Bamboo.

Arnel Pineda + Bamboo
Sat, 8pm, $58+
CPA, San Jose

Few artists get to have a career spanning 60 years, but Persian pop star Googoosh has earned each of them. In the 1970s, the iconic singer was like the Iranian Edith Piaf, a romantic and ever-present voice in the popular consciousness, inspiring love letters, women’s hairstyles and fashion shoots. Before that, she was a child star, acting in more than two dozen movies. She stopped singing for years after the revolution, but since 2000, she’s reemerged as the international star she always was, releasing 8 albums, including this year’s 21. There’s only one Googoosh.

Googoosh
Sat, 8:30pm, $59+
Center for the Performing Arts, San Jose

Singer and songwriter Sara Bareilles is the musical talent behind this winning theatrical production that is still running both on Broadway and in London’s West End theater district. It tells the story of Jenna, a waitress and supernaturally talented pie-maker who is also pregnant and stuck in a bad marriage. Her salvation comes by way of a pie contest. Bareilles wrote the score of the musical and released her own version of the songs, which became a big hit back in 2015. The show runs for eight performances in six days through Dec. 22 at the Center for the Performing Arts.

Waitress
Tue, 7:30pm, $43+
Center for the Performing Arts, San Jose

Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil—the duo behind Les Misérables—take on Puccini with their musical theater adaptation of Madama Butterfly. Set to the backdrop of the Vietnam War, Miss Saigon unfolds to the staccato sound of helicopters and the brutalities of armed conflict. Will the American soldier do right by the woman he meets or will their wartime love affair end in tragedy? Odds are the whole thing will end in tears. This Broadway San Jose production, featuring well-known numbers like, “The Heat is On in Saigon” and “The Movie in My Mind,” runs through Nov. 17.

Miss Saigon
Tue-Sun, $38+
Center for the Performing Arts, San Jose

The times they are a-changin’—indeed. One wonders what Teve the Dairyman would think of this oft-quoted Robert Zimmerman lyric. He’d probably roll his eyes. After all, The Wisdom Books teach us there is nothing new under the sun, including perpetual change. Teve, the central figure of Broadway classic Fiddler on the Roof, is dealing with serious generational shifts as he seeks to reconcile his old-school Jewish convictions with his thoroughly modern daughters’ insistence that they should marry for love. “Tradition,” “If I Were a Rich Man” and “Matchmaker Matchmaker” are among this production’s best-known tunes. Runs through May 26.

Fiddler on the Roof
Wed, 7:30pm, $43+
Center for the Performing Arts, San Jose