HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Here it is 2010 and we are still having difficulty accepting the arrival of 2009. I wonder if we will ever catch up?

As the new year unfolds, things have slowed down a bit as far as concerts and the like are concerned. Before filling you in on the meek offerings, let us finish telling you what rounded out 2009 for us.

We went to four different venues for four different types of shows. Every year Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theater in Claremont, California ends their season with a show called "A Candlelight Christmas." Each year that we have attended the Christmas shows they have had totally different plots.

This year the plot is that Candy Cane, the North Pole’s resident disc jockey, has been notified that the station owner is sending a lawyer to look over the station and see if it should stay on the air or be turned into one of those ubiquitous coffee shops from Seattle. Candy has pulled out all the stops and hired a bunch of performers for the annual Christmas Eve show. However, at the last minute they are snowed-in and the staff (and the lawyer) put on a Dickens’s "Christmas Carol" themselves. As might be expected, it turns into a comedy of errors but they still manage to save the station.

The bubbly Beth Mendoza returns as Candy Cane. Her anxious machinations in trying to get things put together for the broadcast as her staff run around like the Keystone Cops are truly funny.

Jeremy and Jessica Bernard, last seen in "Guys and Dolls," return. Jeremy not only gets to show off his singing and dancing, but shows he is a talented pianist as well. Jessica too has a fine voice.

Jamie Johnson is quite cute as Ursula the Swedish usherette. She waddles around like a wind-up doll looking for cell phones that are not turned off. When she finds one, she turns them off permanently.

Consequently, when they get snowed-in they can not call for help.

Janice Lee returns for the 22nd year. She has a wonderful soprano that she puts to very good use. Candlelight regular Jamie Snyder also returns.

As has always been done, audience members were encouraged to write down Christmas memories that were read from the stage. Santa read toy requests from children in the audience and promised his best.

After the show, audience members are allowed to join Santa and Mama Claus for photos or to meet the cast.

Guitarist Mike Ryan performed selections from his Christmas album during dinner and autographed them for anyone who bought one and asked.

"A Candlelight Christmas" was a great show. Up next is "Always…Patsy Cline" starting January 8th and playing throughout the month. The price of admission (ranging from $48-$75.) includes salad, warm rolls, entrée, the show and sales tax. Appetizers, beverages, desserts and gratuities are extra. Call (909) 626-1254 for ticket information or go to the Web site at www.thecpdt.com.

A place we expect to go every month, at least once a month for the foreseeable future, is the California Theatre of the Performing Arts in San Bernardino. December was no exception. The circus was in town but that has taken up a new meaning with the advent of the Cirqué type shows. The circus has moved from the big top to the theater stage. A good example of this is Cirqué Viaggio, which was recently presented by World Wide Theatricals.

Cirqué Viaggio was created by Il Circo, the same company that creates Cirque De La Mer at SeaWorld every summer. The show opens with a family (mother, father and daughter) walking through the audience to the stage where there are various circus people. (The family plays a recurring role, including performing themselves.)  There is a giant jack-in-the box and other assorted characters. A giant lady lifts up her long skirt to reveal marionettes that put on a show of their own. From then on came a series of performances that were both impressive and familiar.

For example, there were pole acrobats who balanced perpendicular to the ground using only their hands as leverage, an acrobat who rolled around in a metal wheel, trampoline acrobats on a trampoline that covered the width of the stage, aerial ribbon, a Hula Hoop dancer and the living statue.

There was also audience participation. At one point, one of the clowns pretended to be a movie director. He brought three audience members on stage and humorously had them perform certain bits while interacting with each other. The audience got quite a kick out of this.

During intermission one of the actors came out dressed like a baby and walked and climbed over audience members as she interacted with them. When she reached the stage, she brought a male member of the audience with her, who called her Uncle Charley. She pretended to have him teach her how to ride a bicycle and then she proceeded to ride around the stage backwards while catching and stacking cups on her head.

When it was all said and done, the audience rewarded the cast with a standing ovation. As we left the theater, we overheard comments from the audience about how impressive the show was.

January shows at San Bernardino’s California Theatre of the Performing Arts are Art Garfunkel on the 17th, San Bernardino Symphony Musical Fantasies the 24th, Pink Floyd the Experience on the 28th and Latin Legends featuring Tierra on the 29th. For tickets or more information go to www.theatricalarts.com or call (909) 885-5152.

Anyone who has learned how to read in the last 50 years or so is familiar with the work of Theodor Geisel. You may be more familiar with his pen name, Dr. Seuss. "The Cat In The Hat," "Green Eggs And Ham" and the Grinch have all become integral part of our popular culture and lexicon. His stories have been animated for television, turned into full-length feature films and produced for the stage. One such stage production, which has become a holiday tradition on Broadway, is "How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical." Broadway/LA is currently presenting "How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical" through January 3, 2010, at the historic Pantages Theatre in Hollywood.

In the stage adaptation Max the Dog (now old and grey) narrates how when he was a young puppy he belonged to the Grinch. He tells how the Grinch’s heart was "two sizes too small" and how he connived to steal Christmas from the citizens of Whoville.

Performing as Old Max is John Larroquette. Larroquette is best known for his work on the television show "Night Court." He also had his own show, "The John Larroquette Show," which lasted for four years. Larroquette does a good job narrating and gets to sing the most famous song from the show, "You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch." He even had the audience sing it with him as he and Young Max turned over cue cards of the lyrics.

Performing as the Grinch is Stefan Karl, who performed it on Broadway. Karl brings a manic quality to the Grinch that is quite entertaining. He was not afraid to break the fourth wall either. Early in the show he asked someone why they were so late. He then took a boxing pose and said "You want a piece of me lady?" Though covered in pounds of makeup, Karl’s energy and personality could not be restrained. He would also go out into the audience and turn on an unsuspecting youngster and try to scare them by making funny noises and waving his hands in their face.

The scenery looks like it jumped right out of a Dr. Seuss book and the costumes for the Whos looked genuine as well.

As the Grinch finally learns the true meaning of Christmas and his heart grows to three times its size it begins to snow on the audience. The citizens of Whoville walk through the audience singing the last song.

We asked some youngsters if they liked the show and what they liked best. For the kids, it was a unanimous thumbs up. Some of their favorite parts were the Grinch, when things went pop and the snow falling.

Tickets range from $25 - $100. The performance schedule changes so go to www.BroadwayLA.org or call (800) 982-ARTS (2787) for more information. The next show at the Pantages is the farewell performances of "Riverdance" beginning January 12th.

Ray Davies was part of the British Invasion of the 1960s with the band he started with his brother Dave, The Kinks. The Kinks have not performed together for a number of years, but Ray has been touring as a solo act since the group went its separate ways and has put out a number of solo albums and an autobiography. His latest release is "The Kinks Choral Collection," which finds him reinterpreting Kinks and solo material with a full choir. He is currently touring behind this album and we recently caught up with his show.

The show started like many of his recent tours, with Davies on acoustic guitar and Bill Shanley backing him on acoustic and electric guitar. In this laidback setting, Ray talks to the audience a lot more. Shanley is a fine guitarist, but in many cases we found ourselves wishing for Dave Davies' staccato interpretations of Kinks; songs.

Some of the tunes done during this portion of the show included "Apeman," "Where Have All The Good Times Gone" and "Autumn Almanac."

The next phase of the show featured a four-piece band, which included Ian Gibbons, who played keyboards for the Kinks before their break-up. For this portion of the show, some of the songs performed included "Hymn for a New Age," from "Working Man’s Café," "'Til The End of the Day," and "Sunny Afternoon."

Now it was time for the choral songs. For this show the choral backup was provided by the Vox Society. Obvious tunes that would fit themselves to choral arrangement, such as "Celluloid Heroes" and "Waterloo Sunset," were given the treatment, as well as not so obvious choices such as "All Day And All of the Night." There was also a section of songs dedicated to the album "Village Green Preservation Society," which Davies described as the most successful failure of an album ever. Other tunes done during this section included "Working Man’s Café," "Victoria," "Days" and "Shangri-La." "You Really Got Me" was also performed and Davies introduced it by saying: "Anyone who doesn’t know this song doesn’t belong here." Surprisingly, he did not perform the Kinks' most famous song, "Lola."

Davies was in good voice and had plenty of energy. He had the crowd sing the chorus of many of the songs. He used call-and-response, clapping along and any other thing he could do to get the crowd into the show.

The near-capacity crowd was right with him as they rewarded him with many standing ovations.

Ray Davies demonstrated that even though he is into his 60s, he still has much to give an audience and that the Kinks' music can be revitalized as demonstrated on "The Kinks Choral Collection."

Now that we have caught you up on what we have been doing, do you want to know what is coming up this month? We thought so. As usual, they will not be in any particular order. The only venues with more than a half dozen shows for the month are the Ontario Improv and the House of Blues in Anaheim and on the Sunset Strip. At the last of these three venues, the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip, will be Nekromantics on the 2nd, Fear the 8th, Cowboy Mouth the 9th, California Entertainer of the year on the 12th, Between the Buried and Me the 17th, on the 19th is Utada, Genitorturers the 23rd and Jay Sean on the 29th.

The House of Blues in Anaheim is having 10 shows this month. The first five are The Atomic Punks the 2nd, Club Lucky the 6th (and then again later in the month on the 20th), The Expendables on the 7th, the 9th will see members of Thrice, Saves the Day, the Get Up Kids and Bayside take stage and on the 13th and 14th Rebelution. The month is rounded out with Styx on the 15th, Five Finger Death Punch, Shadows Fall and Throwdown the 21st, Anti-Flag the 24th and Wild Child on the 29th.

Over at the Improv in Ontario, these shows will be presented only one night. The 5th is Re-Fried Comedy, the 6th Chris Spencer, Spoken Funk the 19th, on the 20th the Dirty Show, Maronzio Vance the 26th and Spicy Latino Night on the 27th. For two nights, the 12th and 13th is Championship Comedy. Five men are lucky (and talented) enough to be playing more nights. These are Craig Shoemaker the 1st through the 3rd, Sinbad the 7th through the 9th, Rex Navarette the 14th through the 17th, Arnez J the 21st through the 24th and Mitch Fatel from the 28th through the 31st.

It is difficult to believe that we have no review for you this month for a show from San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino, that will definitely change next month. January shows there are Patti LaBelle with the O’Jays on the 7th, Ronnie Milsap the 16th and Jay Mohr and Joe Piscopo the 28th. For more information go to www.sanmanuel.com.

Venues having only one or two shows this month are The Gibson Theatre at Universal CityWalk, The Honda Center of Anaheim, NOKIA Theatre/ LA Live!, Club Nokia, CalTech in Pasadena, and the Grove of Anaheim. Now, this is a small enough grouping that we can fill you in in alphabetic order.

CalTech presents Europa Galante on the 24th while the other "C", Club Nokia, has "The Pee Wee Herman (remember him?) Show" on the 12th through the 30th. Are we cheating? Is this one show or 19? The only show at the Gibson Theatre is INTOCABLE on the 30th. Led Zepagain will be at the Grove in Anaheim on the 9th and Which One’s Pink? will be there on the 23rd while the Professional Bull Riders will perform at the Honda Center on the 22nd through the 24th. The People’s Choice Awards will be given out on the 6th at NOKIA Theatre/LA Live!

The Cerritos Center, Wiltern, Citizens Business Bank in Ontario and the Music Box at the Fonda will all be a bit busier – but not much. The Cerritos Center has the Ying Quartet on the 8th, Surf’s Up featuring Dean Torrence from Jan and Dean on the 10th, Keb’ Mo’ the 16th, the Woody Herman Orchestra the 17th, WMIG? Vivaldi the 27th and Avenue Q on the 29th through the 31st.

Guitar Center’s Drum-Off Finals will be at the Wiltern on the 8th. Sonic Youth will be there the 9th, Cold War Kids the 22nd, Maz Jobrani the 23rd, Nick Jonas (you may know him better as part of the group he has with his siblings – The Jonas Brothers) and the Administration on the 26th through the 29th while KLOS welcomes The Music of Led Zeppelin on the 30th.

The Citizens Business Bank Arena is having a very Disney month. From the 1st through the 3rd is "Disney on Ice: Worlds of Fantasy." In these three days there will be 10 shows. Another four shows will hit Ontario when the interactive "Disney Live" Rockin’ Road Show" on the 15th and 16th.The only other show at the C.B.B.A. this month is Bone Thugs N Harmony on the 23rd.

The first of the four shows at the Music Box is Vampire Weekend the 12th followed by Anti-Flag the 22nd, City and Colour the 23rd and The Residents on the 30th.

Moving concentration to the theatre takes us first to the Lewis Family Playhouse in Rancho Cucamonga. On the 9th is "Dare to Dream – A tribute to MLK." "Peter and the Wolf" will be presented on the 13th, "The Jungle Book" on the 16th and "Cinderella" on the 30th. For information on any of these shows call the box office at 477-2752 or go to the Web site at www.lewisfamilyplayhouse.com.

The Center Theatre Group continues to present "Mary Poppins" at the Ahmanson all month and the Mark Taper has "Palestine, New Mexico" all month. Over at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, "Darwin" will be presented on the 23rd and the 30th.

The Center Stage Theatre in Fontana, as part of their cabaret series, presents the Platters on the 29th and 30th while over on the Queen Mary, a Salsa Expo will take center stage on the 22nd and 23rd.

A couple of our usual venues that defy definition for this month’s column are the National Orange Show in San Bernardino and the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa. They both have outdoor market places and while the Pac Amp has one every Saturday and Sunday the National Orange Show has theirs weekly only on Sundays. The Pac Amp is also having two other events this month. These are the BrideWorld Expo on the 9th and the Tex * US Guitar Shows, Inc. on the 16th and 17th.

You know there are four places that if we do not write about our column will not seem complete. These are Catalina Island, SeaWorld in San Diego, Universal Studios Hollywood and Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. (The last of these, by the way, is where the House of Blues in Anaheim is located.)

Catalina, besides being beautiful, is one healthy place. This month, for example, every Monday, Tuesday and Saturday the Catalina Island Museum conducts a history walk. Also, on the 16th is Avalon’s 28th annual 50 mile benefit run. (Proceeds benefit local island charities.)

SeaWorld San Diego wants you to know that the Annual Silver Pass is still available and still a great deal. Pay for one year and you get a second one free. This pass also includes free general parking and savings on food and merchandise.

Disney seems to be getting more philanthropical by the season. They continue to give you more bang for your buck. For instance, get 2010 off to a magical start with a five-day stay at the Disneyland Resort! Enjoy two more nights FREE when you buy a three-night hotel, five-day ticket package. To qualify, just buy a three-night stay at a Disneyland Resort Hotel or participating Good Neighbor Hotel and a five-Day Disneyland Resort Park Hopper Souvenir Ticket.

As if that were not enough, there are now two ways to get free admission. The first, which started this year, is that you get in free on your birthday. The next is even better. Disney believes in giving back to the community. In this vein they have started a program called give a day – get a Disney Day. For one day of volunteer work you will receive one free ticket to one of the Disney parks. Go to www.disneyparks.com.

Universal Studios is our last stop this month. Besides the usual plethora of ticket discount options, this month you can get a "getaway vacation." For as low as $84 per person per night, your getaway (for which there is a two night minimum) includes a seven-day unlimited ticket for Universal Studios, which can be used repeatedly, free breakfast and parking at your hotel, free roundtrip transportation between your hotel and Universal, tickets to Jon Lovitz’s Comedy Club at CityWalk and, while at CityWalk, free arcade games at Jillian’s Hi Life Lanes.

That does it for another month. Although there may be fewer offerings this month, we are sure we gave you enough options to keep you busy. Have a great 2010 and we will catch up with you again in February.