Diversions: coming attractions

THROUGH Dec. 25
A Show Palace Christmas : Holiday glitz and glamor at the Show Palace Dinner Theatre, 16128 U.S.

19, Hudson. Shows are 8 p.m.

Fridays and Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays, and 1:30 p.

m. and 8 p.m.

some Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Doors open two hours before each show for buffet and cash bar. Dinner and show, $42.

50; show only, $31.45; ages 12 and younger, $24.95 and $19.

95, all plus tax and tip. Call 863-7949 in west Pasco; toll-free elsewhere, 1-888-655-7469.
The 1940s Radio Hour : The musical, set in a 1942 radio station, will be presented at 8 p.

m. today and Saturday and Dec. 15 and 16 and 2 p.

m. Sunday and Dec. 17 at the Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center, 324 Pine St.

, Tarpon Springs. Tickets are $15, reserved seating, $13 members and students. Call 942-5605.

SATURDAY, SUNDAY AND DEC. 23
The Angelus Christmas Pageant will be presented at 6:30 p.m.

at The Angelus, 12413 Hudson Ave., Hudson. A reception will be held at 7 p.

m. in the Activity Center. Admission is free.

Richey Suncoast Theatre auditions: Richey Suncoast Theatre and the Pasco Education Foundation will hold auditions for high school students to perform in the annual Ticket to Broadway show to raise funds for scholarships for students seeking a degree in the performing arts. Pasco high school students who play a musical instrument, sing, dance, or do comedy or acrobatics are eligible to audition. Those who audition should use the material they will do in the show itself.

The show will be at 8 p.m. Feb.

2 and 3 and 2:30 p.m. Feb.

4. Director is Marie Skelton. Call 842-6777 for information.

Wilderness Wonderland will be open at Jay B. Starkey Wilderness from 6 to 9 p.m.

Santa s Snow Blast will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.

m. on Dec. 16.

The park may be reached from DuCubellis Road in New Port Richey.
ArtBiz Workshop: Pasco Arts Council will hold two workshops, ArtBiz: Preparing to Show Your Work, from 10 a.m.

to noon on Dec. 13 and 20 at the art center, 5744 Moog Road, Holiday. The sessions are for adult artists who are preparing their work to enter art shows or sell in a gallery.

They cover selecting work to submit, framing, pricing, ethics, marketing and more. Fee is $22 for PAC members, $32 for non-members. Registration in advance is required.

Call (727) 845-7322. The center is open 9 a.m.

to 4 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, but will be closed Dec.

23 through Jan. 1.
The operas La Scala Di Seta and Maurice Ravel s opera/ballet L Enfant Et Les Sortileges (The Child and the Magic) will be shown at 12:30 p.

m. Dec. 15 at the Centennial Park Library,.

5740 Moog Road, Holiday (1.2 miles east of U.S.

19)
The Nutcracker Ballet : Expressions, the Dance Company, will present the classic Nutcracker Ballet at 7 p.m. Dec.

15 and 2 p.m. Dec.

16 at the Center for the Arts at River Ridge, 11646 Town Center Road, New Port Richey. Tickets are $15. Call (727) 842-8175.

FRIDAY, SATURDAY AND DEC. 23
Center Stage Theatre Dance Academy presents A Whole Lotta Christmas Cheer! an upbeat song and dance show, at 7 p.

m. Dec. 15, 16 and 23.

The 38-member cast will perform traditional and comedy holiday songs. Tickets are $15 in advance, $18 at the door (if available). Snacks are available at extra cost.

The center is at 5201 U.S. 19 (Southgate Shopping Center), New Port Richey.

Call (727) 815-0100.
Nutcracker All Jazzed Up : The modern version of the classic ballet will be performed by students of The Dance Workshop at 7 p.m.

Dec. 16 and 2 p.m.

Dec. 17 at Bishop McLaughlin Catholic High School, 13651 Hays Road (go north off State Road 52 a half-mile west of the Suncoast Parkway), Hudson. Tickets are $15, reserved seating; groups of five or more, $12.

Call (727) 845-3626 after 3 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.

Satchmo Celebrates Christmas: Richey Community Orchestra will feature Louis Armstrong impersonator Bill White at a holiday dinner show at Spartan Manor on Massachusetts Ave. in New Port Richey. Dinner is at 1 p.

m., followed by the show. Dinner and show, $25.

Call (727) 919-3866.
Avenue Players Theatre will hold auditions for the Noel Coward comedy, Blithe Spirit, at 6:30 to 9 p.m.

at Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art auditorium, 600 Klosterman Rd., Tarpon Springs (one-half mile west of U.S.

19). Roles are for two men ages 30 to 50 and four women ages 25 and older. Production dates are March 21-April 1.

Director is Diana Forgione. Call (727) 372-7651 for information or alternate audition date.
Suncoast Harmony Chorus, a chapter of Sweet Adelines International, will hold a weekly program of barbershop style singing and dancing for women ages 18 through 80 at 7 p.

m. Jan. 2, 9, 16 and 23 at the Gulf High School chorus room, 5335 Schol Road, New Port Richey.

The group will give a concert on March 10 at the Center for the Arts at River Ridge. Neither musical training nor ability to read music is required. Carpools are available from many locations.

Call Cathy at (727) 542-7860.
The Joe Piscopo Show: The television, film, theater and nightclub comic will perform at a dinner show at the Show Palace Dinner Theatre, 16128 U.S.

19, Hudson. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

, dinner at 7, show at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $46.

50, plus tax and tip. Call (727) 863-7949 in west Pasco; toll-free 1-888-655-7469.
Chasco Fiesta Talent Search auditions for singers, dancers, musicians, comedians and other entertainers ages 5 through 25 will be held from 8:30 a.

m. to 4 p.m.

at Richey Suncoast Theatre, 6237 Grand Blvd., New Port Richey. For information and application forms, go to SBray Productions at www.

sbray.com. For audition appointment, call (727) 842-7651.

Winners will perform on March 25 at the Chasco Fiesta.
The S S Duo - pianist Sue Bond and organist Sheila Heinrichs - will perform at 4 p.m.

at First United Methodist Church-Hudson, 131123 U.s. 19 (a mile north of State Road 52), Hudson.

Admission is free, but a donation will be accepted.
The Jackie Mason Show: The stand-up comedian will do his unique style of political satire and observations of everyday life at the Palace Grand, 275 Della Court (off U.S.

19 a quarter-mile north of the Pasco-Hernando border). Doors open at 6 p.m.

, dinner at 6:30 p.m., show at 8 p.

m. Dinner and show, $39.95, plus tax and tip.

Call 863-7949 in west Pasco; toll-free elsewhere 1-888-655-7469.
Shakespeare by the River: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) will highlight the second annual Shakespeare by the River festival in Sims Park and at Richey Suncoast Theatre in New Port Richey. The play will be at 4 p.

m. Feb. 17 and 18.

Other events are the movie The Two Gentlemen of Verona shown at the indoor theater, talks on history and music of time, nightly Torchlight Tourneys, food vendors and other era-appropriate activities.
Rockers Sha Na Na: The group that revived 1950s music in the 1970s (Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay) will do dinner shows at 1:30 and 8 p.m.

at the Show Palace Dinner Theatre, 16128 U.S. 19, Hudson.

Doors open two hours before each show for buffet and cash bar. Dinner and show, $49.50, plus tax and tip.

Call 863-7949 in west Pasco; toll-free elsewhere, 1-888-655-7469.
Actor Tony Danza: The television actor (Taxi and Who s the Boss?), dramatic actor on Broadway (The Iceman Cometh), film star (Angels in the Outfield) and host of his own TV talk show will sing, dance, do comedy and commentary at 1:30 and 8 p.

m. at the Show Palace Dinner Theatre, 16128 U.S.

19, Hudson. Doors open two hours before each show for buffet and cash bar. Tickets are $69.

95, plus tax and tip. Call 863-7949 in west Pasco or toll-free elsewhere at 1-888-655-7469.