‘Night Before Christmas’ and Other Tales for the Holidays

Serendipity Theatre Company’s holiday offering, “The Night Before Christmas” at the Burbank Little Theatre, is a slight but cheery double bill featuring the famous Clement C. Moore Christmas poem and “My Favorite Holiday Story,” tales written by children.

In Katy Realista’s adaptation of Moore’s poem, “not a creature was stirring”--except Milford T. Mouse (Rebecca Fresco). Milford helps Moore (Stewart Skelton) and his wife and daughter (Christina Williams and Emily Duncan) write the classic during a visit from Santa Claus (Gregory Wall).

During the last half of the show, the cast of child and adult actors performs staged readings of several young authors’ flights of fancy. The short, lively tales conform to the holiday spirit for the most part, except for one comical Stephen King-like selection. Let’s just say it involves a clogged chimney.

Ken Realista did the cozy period set design. Jenny Ericks and Sam Kuglen directed.

* “The Night Before Christmas,” Burbank Little Theatre, George Izay Park, 1100 W. Clark St., Saturdays, 1 p.m.; Sundays, 1 and 4 p.m. through Dec. 29. $14 per adult; $8 for 17 years old and under.

The Season for Singing: If you’re looking for sounds of the season for young listeners, here are a few audio recordings to consider:

* “Happy Holidays From Meeka and Her Cool Cousins,” Sword in the Stone Records Inc. Cassette: $10; CD: $12. Plus shipping. 70 minutes. Rounder Kids: (800) 443-4727:

A 5 1/2-year-old girl named Meeka and other children, up to age 10, sing a surprisingly engaging collection of mostly original Caribbean pop-style holiday tunes by Art Halperin.

It could have been unbearably cute, but these little performers are as charming as all get out.

* “Rudolph, Frosty and Friends, Favorite Christmas Songs,” Sony Wonder. Cassette: $9.98; CD: $13.98. 26 minutes. Widely available:

Featuring the voices of Burl Ives, Jimmy Durante and Fred Astaire, here are the original songs from those much-loved great old animated TV holiday classics “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Frosty the Snowman,” “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” and “The Little Drummer Boy.”

* “A Christmas Carol and Other Favorites,” Greathall Productions Inc. Cassette: $9.98; CD: $14.95. Plus shipping. (800) 477-6234. 1 hour. Ages 6 and up:

Gifted storyteller Jim Weiss adds to his enjoyable audio repertoire with this absorbing trio of tales, which are told, not read: Dickens’ classic, O. Henry’s touching “The Gift of the Magi” and a comical Bret Harte story set in an 1840s mining town.

* “Holiday Times,” Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Cassette: $8.50. CD: $14. Plus shipping. (800) 410-9815. 35 minutes. Ages 5-11:

With 40 years of recordings to her name, children’s music pioneer Ella Jenkins is still going strong.

This deceptively simple multicultural celebration of music marking a variety of holidays, sung by Jenkins and elementary school children, highlights what this music educator does best: encourage children to expand their horizons through a participatory exploration of rhythm and sound.