You’re not dreaming! Our mischievous gorilla and his zoo pals are tiptoeing out of their cages once again to follow the zookeeper home for the night.

Following another successful run in 2018, A.C.T. welcomes back the Bay Area’s favorite holiday tradition, A Christmas Carol. Featuring a lively cast of dozens, delightful music, gorgeous costumes, and deliciously spooky ghosts, this version of A Christmas Carol, adapted by Paul Walsh and Carey Perloff, stays true to the heart of Dickens’s timeless story of redemption and brings a playful sensibility to his rich language.

Brimming with with, festive costumes, madcap characters and the perfect amount of holiday cheer, ODC/Dance enlivens Margery Williams’ classic tale of a well-worn nursery rabbit that becomes real. ybca.org/event/odc-the-velveteen-rabbit

The Great Dickens Christmas Fair is a one-of-a-kind holiday adventure into Victorian London - an elaborate party with hundreds of costumed players performing and interacting with patrons in over 120,000 square feet of theatrically-lit music halls, pubs, dance floors, and Christmas shops.

A musical adventure awaits you this holiday season when the acclaimed PigPen Theatre Co. brings its inventive and imaginative retelling of the beloved, Newbery Medal-winning modern fable to Berkeley Rep. The courageous Despereaux, shunned by his community for his love of stories and humans, shows a forlorn kingdom that even the smallest voice can change the world—and that it only takes a little light to reveal the truth.

Down in the big construction site, Bulldozer, Excavator, Cement Mixer, Dump Truck and Crane Truck are giving their all to build a big new home for the fire trucks before Christmas. Will they make it? And what surprises are in store before they bid each other goodnight once more?

Tyler Null’s Little Red Cries Wolf explores how to face your mistakes and what to do when you’re confronted with the consequences of your actions. Featuring all the magical characters we know and love with some added humor, heart and catchy pop songs, this show is guaranteed to be an audience and cast favorite.

Charles Dickens’ famous novel is brought to life as orphaned Oliver Twist navigates the mean streets of London in search of family and love. 6thstreetplayhouse.com

Enter a magical forest where the trees are older than time fairies lurk in the shadows and a house of candy sits alone amidst the trees. Experience this cherished musical fairy tale in a charming new co-production with London’s Royal Opera

Set in turn-of-the century New York City, Newsies is the rousing tale of Jack Kelly, a charismatic newsboy and leader of a band of teenaged "newsies."

Families will delight in this heartwarming, jazzy-rhythmed tale of friendship, as cheerful Frog and his more reserved pal Toad swim, sled, bake cookies and otherwise romp through a year of comic adventures, accompanied by their woodland animal friends, like Snail, who, by golly, will deliver the mail.

Roald Dahl’s MATILDA THE MUSICAL tells the story of an extraordinary girl who, armed with a vivid imagination and a sharp mind, dares to take a stand and change her own destiny.

CJ hankers after a car, a new bike and headphones. But he can’t afford them. Ride with him and his loving Nana on the Dragon Bus as he meets fascinating fellow passengers and learns to use his eyes, heart and imagination to find beauty and wonder in unexpected places.