To include a listing in the Arts calendar, e-mail weekend@timesfreepress.com or call Clint Cooper at 423-757-6497.
THEATER
ARTS CENTER OF CANNON COUNTY – 1424 John Bragg Highway, Woodbury, Tenn. 615-563-2787 or 800-235-9073, www.artscenterofcc.com. “Sanders Family Christmas,” saga of singing family from “Smoke on the Mountain” and their return engagement at the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church shortly after the start of World War II, today-Sunday. $25 (dinner and show).
BUTTONWILLOW CHURCH CIVIL WAR DINNER THEATER – 1060 Main St., Whitwell, Tenn. 423-658-7478, www.buttonwillowchurch.com. “Grandaddy’s Watch,” dinner and two-hour live show based on events during the “real War Between the States,” 5:15 p.m. CST Fridays and Saturdays year-round and other days for groups.
CHATTANOOGA STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE – Humanities Auditorium, 4501 Amnicola Highway. 697-3246. “The Nutcracker Christmas Carol,” original family musical comedy is spoof of familiar holiday stories, 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday. $10 adults, $5 children.
CHATTANOOGA THEATRE CENTRE – 400 River St. Box office: 267-8534, www.theatre centre.com.
* “Times Square Angel,” CircleStage production of campy holiday melodrama that is satire of Hollywood fantasy films of the 1940s, 8 p.m. today and Saturday. $18.
* “A Christmas Story,” comedy salute to old-fashioned Christmas centers around Ralphie’s desire for a Red Ryder BB gun and his parents’ fear that he’ll shoot his eye out, 8 p.m. today and Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday, 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday. $10-$25.
COLONNADE – 264 Catoosa Circle, Ringgold, Ga. 706-935-9000, www.colonnadecenter.org.
* “It’s a Wonderful Life,” Hilger Players presentation of musical based on Frank Capra film focusing on lesson one man must learn at Christmas on what would happen had he not been born, 7 p.m. today and Saturday. 870-4951.
* Auditions for “Father of the Bride,” 6:30 p.m. Monday and Tuesday (show dates, Feb. 18-26).
CUMBERLAND COUNTY PLAYHOUSE – Crossville, Tenn. All times Central. 931-484-5000, www.ccplayhouse.com.
* “She Loves Me,” romantic Christmastime musical comedy set in Paris in the 1930s follows anonymous pen pals who are feuding employees in a gift shop, through Saturday. $13-$26.
* “A Sanders Family Christmas,” stars of “Smoke on the Mountain” reunite at Mount Pleasant Baptist shortly after the start of World War II, through Sunday. $12-$26.
* “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” holiday tale focuses on the church Christmas pageant and what happens when the “worst kids in the entire history of the world” get involved,” through Sunday. $12-$26.
ENSEMBLE THEATRE – St. Andrews Center, 1918 Union Ave. 987-5141, www.ensembletheatreofchattanooga.com. “A Silent Christmas,” original theatrical experiment combining pantomime and sacred and secular music around six stranded guests at a truck-stop diner outside Bethlehem, Pa., 7:30 p.m. today, 2 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday. $10.
VAUDEVILLE CAFE – 138 Market St. 517-1839. www.funnydinner.com. All shows feature Italian dinner plus audience-interactive comedy-mysteries. Prices vary, but 10 percent cheaper by phone or website.
* “Mystery of the Nightmare Office Party,” 6 p.m. today and Saturday.
* “Mystery of Flight 138,” 8:30 p.m. today.
* “Mystery at the Redneck-Italian Wedding,” 8:30 p.m. Saturday.
* “Mystery at the TV Talk Show,” 7 p.m. Thursday.
ARTISTS/EXHIBITS
ATHENS ARTS CENTER – 320 N. White St., Athens, Tenn. Free admission. 423-745-8781, www.athensartscouncil.org. “The Art of the Portrait,” juried art competition and exhibit of two- and three-dimensional depictions of animate objects in high school, college, open and photography categories, through Dec. 31.
AVA GALLERY – 30 Frazier Ave. 265-5233, www.avarts.org. All-Member Salon Show, nonjuried, salon-style exhibition featuring work of AVA members, through Sunday.
BESSIE SMITH CULTURAL CENTER – 200 E. M.L. King Blvd. Admission: $7 adults, $3 children 6-12, $5 seniors and students. 266-8658. Permanent exhibit: a look back at black history through African artifacts, oral histories, documents, photographs, art and personal effects. “Beyond Baseball: The Life of Roberto Clemente,” Smithsonian traveling bilingual panel exhibit is tribute to life of the former Pittsburgh Pirate great, through Jan. 30.
BOOTH WESTERN ART MUSEUM – 501 Museum Drive, Cartersville, Ga. 770-387-1300, www.boothmuseum.org. “Ansel Adams: A Legacy,” exhibit showcases more than 100 photographs by the 20th-century landscape photographer, through March 13.
CIVIC ARTS LEAGUE – Catoosa County Colonnade, 264 Catoosa Circle, Ringgold, Ga. 991-7533 or e-mail sherryh592 @charter.net. “Bold and Beautiful,” juried exhibit of original works by Civic Arts League members, through today.
CREATIVE ARTS GUILD – Dalton, Ga. 520 W. Waugh St. 706-278-0168, www.creativeartsguild.org. “Small Works,” Gallery 111 exhibit, through Dec. 31.
EXUM GALLERY & MEMORIAL GARDEN – St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 305 W. Seventh St. 266-8195. Exhibit of watercolor paintings by Alan Shuptrine depicting landscapes, beachscapes and figures displayed in water gilded frames designed and handcrafted by the artist and grouping of handcrafted crosses, through Jan. 9.
HOUSTON MUSEUM OF DECORATIVE ARTS – 201 High St. Admission: $9 nonmembers, $3.50 children. 267-7176. www.thehoustonmuseum.com. “Happy Holidays,” exhibit of glass pitchers, goblets, tumblers, lamps, decanters and miniature lamps from the museum’s permanent collection in reds, greens and golds of Christmas, through Tuesday.
HUNTER MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART – 10 Bluff View. $9.95 adults, $4.95 children, free to younger visitors and to members. 267-0968. www.huntermuseum.org. “Hunter Invitational 2010,” exhibition by regional artists Daud Akhriev, Michael Aurbach, Pradip Malde, Lin C. Parker, Amy Pleasant, Billy Weeks and Sunkoo Yuh, through Jan.16.
IN-TOWN GALLERY – 26A Frazier Ave. Free admission. 267-9214. www.intowngallery.com. “Different Strokes,” collection of new acrylic paintings on canvas and board with a tree theme by Peggy Huffstutler, through Dec. 31.
JEWISH CULTURAL CENTER – 5461 N. Terrace. 493-0270, ext. 13. “Spirituality of Light,” exhibit highlights the use of light as a metaphor and as a compositional element, through Jan. 21.
MEDAL OF HONOR EXHIBIT – Northgate Mall, next to Piccadilly Cafeteria, 5000 Hixson Pike. The National Medal of Honor Museum of Military History, exhibit that examines exploits of America’s heroes through pictures, narratives, uniforms and artifacts from Revolutionary War through Iraqi Freedom. Free admission. 394-0710. www.mohm.org.
MUSEUM CENTER AT FIVE POINTS – 200 E. Inman St., Cleveland, Tenn. Admission: $5 adults, $4 students and seniors, free for members and children younger than 5. 423-339-5745, www.museumcenter.org. “Home for the Holidays: Turn-of-the-Century Entertaining and the Chastain Glass Collection,” exhibit highlights selections from the more than 1,200 pieces of late 19th-century and early 20th-century American glass pattern donated by the Chastain family of Cleveland, through Jan. 8.
RIVER GALLERY – Bluff View Art District, 400 E. Second St. Free. 265-5033, ext. 5. www.river-gallery.com. “Triple Whipple,” exhibit includes work of wearable sculpture and jewelry made of found objects by Marty Whipple, surreal figurative characters by painter John Whipple and collages of old photographs, sketches and found objects by mixed media artist Lynn Whipple. through Dec. 31.
SHUPTRINE FINE ART GROUP – 2646 Broad St. 266-4453, www.ShuptrineFineArtGroup.com. “A Vested Interest,” through Dec. 31.
SMART FURNITURE STUDIO – 310 Manufacturers Road, Suite 107. 643-0025, www.smartfurniture.com. Displays of modern and contemporary art, 6-8 p.m. Thursday.
THE ART CENTER – 420 W. Main St., Blue Ridge, Ga. 706-632-2144, www.blueridgearts.net. 2010 Holiday Show and Sale, exhibit of paintings, prints, pottery, sculpture, woodturning, jewelry, quilts and more from artists across the Southeast, through Thursday.