The holidays and families go together like egg nog and cookies. But sitting together in front of the living room fire can sometimes run its course. So gather the brood, make like Santa’s coursers, and take flight for some go-and-do seasonal shenanigans.
“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
Now in its fourth consecutive holiday season, this puppet production starring Santa’s favorite headlight continues solidifying its place as a bona fide Atlanta Christmas tradition. In 2010 Center for Puppetry Arts artistic director Jon Ludwig adapted the time-honored 1964 Rankin/Bass animated holiday TV special of the same name. This found the center’s puppet-building staff churning out 60 spot-on characters for the first licensed stage production of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Although rod puppets make up a majority of the “Rudolph” cast, Bumble the Abominable Snow Monster lives up to his name. The creature rumbles onstage courtesy of a puppeteer inside a monstrous body suit that stands between 7 and 8 feet tall. Not only do the characters look as if they took a break from their reindeer games and sprang right out of the television, the puppeteers vocally channel the original rendition. While manning Sam the Snowman, Dolph Amick proves to be a singing doppelgänger for the late Burl Ives. Just try not singing along to “Holly Jolly Christmas.”
Tuesdays-Sundays through Dec. 29. Closed Nov. 28 and Dec. 25. $16.50-$20.50 nonmembers; $9.25-$13.25 members. Includes admission to performance, Create-a-Puppet Workshop, and all museum exhibits. Center for Puppetry Arts, 1404 Spring St. N.W., Atlanta. 404-873-3391, www.puppet.org.
Stone Mountain Christmas and Snow Mountain
The Crossroads section of the park gets hit with a virtual snowstorm of holiday cheer for this annual celebration. More than 2 million bulbs illuminate the proceedings, which include a nightly Christmas parade. For the first time, Rudolph and Bumble the Abominable Snow Monster from the classic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” TV special take part in the parade. Guests also can catch those North Pole denizens at select times for special meet-and-greet opportunities. Watch “The Polar Express 4-D Experience” movie and hop an actual train for a singalong excursion. Don’t forget to pay a visit to Santa Claus and listen to Mrs. Claus relay holiday stories at the Gingerbread House. Shows and performances include the musical production “Forever Christmas.” A tunnel of lights dubbed the Wonderland Walkway leads to the Snow Angel and her toy soldiers. The evening comes to a close as the Snow Angel soars above Crossroads and commands a fireworks display and faux snowfall. Speaking of which, Snow Mountain, the park’s answer to a ski resort, begins Nov. 25. Each year the Laser Lawn transforms into a snowy bank of tubing slides, with riders, either alone or in family-sized tubes, shooting down the 400-foot hill. At the base lies Snow Zone, a play area where guests can shoot snowballs and frolic in the chilly white stuff. In the adjacent Little Angels section, for kids ages 3 and younger, smaller hills await. You’ll also find the new Snow-Go-Round, a tubing carousel.
Stone Mountain Christmas: Select dates through Jan. 1. Christmas Adventure pass $28; $22 ages 3-11; free ages 2 and younger. Snow Mountain: Select dates Nov. 25-Feb. 17. Snow Mountain pass $28. Snow Mountain and Christmas combo pass $45. $10 parking per vehicle. Stone Mountain Park, 1000 Robert E. Lee Drive, Stone Mountain. 770-498-5690, www.stonemountainpark.com.
Global Winter Wonderland
Merry and bright — and how. A seasonal theme park, heavy on glowing lights, takes over the Turner Field Green Lot through the holidays. More than 70 gargantuan Chinese lanterns glow with LED light bulbs and fluorescent lights, and some get their charge from solar panels. Sure, you’ll see all of the usual yuletide suspects in lantern form. Think Christmas trees, snowmen, Santas and gingerbread men. However, organizers pull out the stops with looming re-creations of the Golden Gate Bridge, Taj Mahal, Eiffel Tower and other international landmarks, several more than 50 feet tall. The Lost in Dinosaurland Maze has both illuminated and more realistic looking prehistoric creatures. Guests can share their lists with Santa, ride an array of carnival rides, and nibble on a variety of global grub. And the spotlight shines on the food, fashion and music of a different culture each Sunday in December.
5-11 p.m. Nov. 21-Jan. 5. $24.99 ages 13-64; $18.99 ages 65 and older; $16.99 ages 5-12; free ages 4 and younger. Turner Field, 755 Hank Aaron Drive S.W., Atlanta. 888-695-0888, www.globalwonderland.com.
Aurora Children’s Playhouse
When it comes to the kiddies, Aurora Theatre has something special beneath its figurative tree. On each of the first three Saturdays in December it plays host to a different puppet company, offering productions spiked with holiday twinkle. All Hands Productions kicks things off on Dec. 7 with “Santa’s Missing Mail.” Written by Atlanta-based puppet master David Stephens — he did some time on “Sesame Street” and has worked with the Jim Henson Co., among others — the tale finds a pair of baddies attempting to ruin Christmas by snatching Santa’s mail. Piccadilly Puppets brings its version of “′Twas the Night Before Christmas,” told from a mouse’s point of view, to Aurora on Dec. 14. The series wraps on Dec. 21 with “Trouble in Toyland.” That Puppet Guy, aka Lee Bryan, spins a yarn about disgruntled elves, an impending blizzard and a stuffy-nosed Rudolph.
10 and 11:30 a.m. Dec. 7, 14 and 21. $7. Aurora Theatre. Free parking at 153 Crogan St., Lawrenceville. 678-226-6222, www.auroratheatre.com.
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