Weekly Events Calendar, December 6-12, 2021

Each week, Oklahoma Today staffers comb through their calendars to find a handful of great events happening across the state. Get out! See Oklahoma! And be sure to let us know what you find, either here or on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @oklahomatoday.

It's wintertime and the listening is easy for audiences at the jazzy Grady Nichols Christmas Show. Photo courtesy Mabee Center

Smooth as Snow

The holidays can be a bumpy time. Dealing with family, traveling across the country, trying to find a gift that will trick your children into loving you—it’s a lot. So it’s awfully kind of the Mabee Center in Tulsa to book the Grady Nichols Christmas Show, featuring silky smooth renditions of songs from your favorite holiday movies. With Nichols on the sax and help from Andy Chrisman, Kelly For, Mary Cogan, and Tony Mason, audiences will be grooving to tunes from Home Alone, Scrooged, and Elf, among others. Even better, the show will benefit ALS Patient Services Outreach. December 7. Tickets, $31-$64. https://mabeecenter.com/event/gradynicholschristmasshow2021/

Into the ’Wood

Hot cocoa, advent calendars full of chocolate, stockings stuffed with Pez—seems like the Christmas season is all about sweets. Thank goodness then for Wynnewood, home of Christmas in the ’Wood, which starts with an extremely savory chili cook-off at 5:30 p.m., followed by a parade through downtown at 6:30 p.m., carols sung by students, and a prize drawing sponsored by local businesses. Okay, kids singing Christmas tunes and the possibility of winning a prize is pretty sweet too. December 8. Admission, Free. https://www.facebook.com/events/890911154942601

Enjoy a chili cook-off, Christmas parade, and giveaways at Christmas in the 'Wood in Wynnewood this week. Photo courtesy Wynnewood Chamber of Commerce

Rocking the Holidays

Apologies, once again, to the people of Siberia. We don’t know much about their daily lives, but we assume 2021 will be another letdown for them as the Trans-Siberian Orchestra returns to Oklahoma City for a concert at the Paycom Center. How frustrating it must be to watch from afar as we revel in the holiday-tinged rock operatics of TSO’s Christmas Eve and Other Stories in the very same building where Oklahomans routinely enjoy watching the Thunder dunk over other, lesser basketball teams. Wait…TSO is from Florida? Sorry for bothering you, Siberia. December 8. Tickets, $46.50-$86.50. https://www.paycomcenter.com/events/detail/trans-siberian-orchestra

Head of the Class

Generally when people talk about a live Christmas tree, they mean it was grown somewhere before it was chopped down and sold. Lawton’s First Baptist Church goes another way with their fortieth annual Living Christmas Tree featuring thirteen tiers of human heads (still attached to bodies, it’s okay) along with thousands of lights, a massive choir, full orchestra, and drama cast for an unforgettable holiday experience. December 10-12. Admission, Free. https://fbclawton.org/livingchristmastree

Heads up! Lawton's First Baptist Church celebrates 40 years of its Living Christmas Tree this year. Photo courtesy First Baptist Church of Lawton

Wonderful Timing

Upon its release in 1946, It’s a Wonderful Life was not so much a classic as it was a flop. The break-even point for its theatrical release was $6.3 million and it didn’t even come close, despite being nominated for five Academy Awards. It was only after it entered the public domain and was therefore free to broadcast that it became a Christmas classic. But now that the film is firmly entrenched as a must-see each year, Miami’s Coleman Theatre is wisely putting George, Clarence, and the whole gang back up on the big screen with a matinee showing that will have audiences hearing bells. December 12. Tickets, $7. https://thecolemantheatre.org/classic-movie-its-a-wonderful-life/

Written By

Greg Elwell

Greg Elwell served as research editor and web editor of Oklahoma Today from 2018-2023. He also has worked for newspapers, medical research organizations, and government institutions.