Best Bets: Christmas in the Park, “Waitress,” Scrooge, Sock Skating, “Merry-Achi Christmas”

Freebie of the week: San Jose is taking this whole holiday shopping thing pretty darn seriously, with three celebrations and attractions turning downtown into a Christmas hub. The main holiday attraction is Christmas in the Park, which opens Friday at 6 p.m. with the lighting of the 50-foot Community Giving Tree, the annual centerpiece of the festivities. Through January 1, the event at Plaza de Cesar Chavez, 1 Paseo de San Antonio, will feature more than 40 exhibits, live entertainment, a collection of decorated trees, a dazzling drive-in light show and more. The nearby Winter Wonderland attraction, also opening Friday, features an array of fun rides, a glittering carousel and a 60-foot Ferris wheel, as well as numerous food vendors and gift and craft vendors. And if you enjoy ice skating, there is a festive rink at 120 S. Market Street in the Circle of Palms Plaza. Admission to “Christmas in the Park” and “Winter Wonderland” is free, but the rides, drive-in light show and skating are chargeable – the rides are $5 each, the drive-in light show is $25 -$30 and skating is $21 for 2 hours. Visitors can immerse themselves in a variety of leisure activities or simply stroll around the grounds for free and enjoy the glittering spectacle of it all. For more information, visit Christmasinthepark.com, www.winterwonderlandsj.com and www.sjdowntownice.com.

Serve “Waitress”: The 2007 film “Waitress” is often described with terms like “charming” and “adorable,” as if it were a Hallmark Channel romantic comedy that somehow made it to the big screen. Still, there are some serious things at stake in Adrienne Shelly’s story about a waitress who hopes a pie contest can rescue her from an unsatisfying life marked by a loveless, abusive marriage and an unplanned pregnancy. Things change as usual when she meets a new obstetrician in town and falls in love. Overall, it’s actually a charming story, partly because it’s grounded in reality just enough, and because Shelly’s writing is clever and insightful. Tragically, she was murdered in her New York City home three months before the film’s premiere at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. About a decade later, the film became “Waitress: The Musical,” a stage show written by talented singer Sara Bareilles and producer/director/actress/screenwriter Jessie Nelson. The show debuted on Broadway in 2016 and had a successful run in London and a national tour before returning to Broadway in 2021 with Bareilles in the lead role. A film adaptation of the musical was also produced during its second Broadway appearance. Now the San Francisco Playhouse is taking on the musical in a production that runs through Jan. 18 at its theater at 450 Post St., and yes, of course there’s a cake aspect — the Playhouse is turning out cake from San Francisco’s Three Babes Bakeshop Offer to sell. Tickets for the production are $35-$135; www.sfplayhouse.org.

“Carols” gets a new song: What the hell is going on with “A Christmas Carol” in the Bay Area? For years there have been two reliably excellent local productions of the play, based on Charles Dickens’ classic novel about a bitter, miserly old man who receives a ghostly lesson about the joys of income redistribution. One of those two productions at the American Conservatory Theater has disappeared, replaced by a “Carol” comedy called “A Whynot Christmas Carol” written by Obie-winning playwright Craig Lucas. It’s about a small town theater group that stages “A Christmas Carol” and suffers frequent setbacks. The company’s artistic director, Pam MacKinnon, directs the new production, which runs through Dec. 24 at the Toni Rembe Theater, 415 Geary St., San Francisco. Tickets are $25-$130 at www.act-sf.org. Meanwhile, Center Repertory Company in Walnut Creek has announced that this is the final year for its long-running and widely acclaimed “A Christmas Carol.” There will be a different Christmas production next year, although the company has not yet said what it will be like. Center Rep’s “Carol” runs Dec. 12-22 at the Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek. Tickets range from $22 to $79 at www.centerrep.org. And what should we Scrooge fans do next year? Don’t worry, someone somewhere will probably stage the show; and there’s always the excellent animated version starring Mr. Magoo, available on multiple streaming platforms.

Slip-slide off: The Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland is kicking off a “Season of Winter Wonders” this weekend with a slew of fun events starting Friday and running through January 5th. At the top of the list for sheer joy is the Sock Skate, which takes place every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on two different indoor rinks on the top level next to the observatory. The surfaces are made of synthetic ice tiles (not cold!), developed by scientists to allow hockey players to train in the off-season, but now becoming increasingly popular with the general skating public. For the center’s admission price ($24 for adults, $19 for ages 2 to 12 and 65 and older, but free for members), skaters are invited to wear their own comfortable socks or purchase a special pair on site and glide through the center without blades. The 34 x 23 foot ice rink is reserved for children aged 6 and over, the 18 x 15 foot ice rink is reserved for families with children under 5 years old. The area is decorated like an icy planet, with projections and lighting designed to simulate snow, as well as large-scale photo backdrops and glowing planets hanging from the ceiling. There is recorded music to get you moving. (We recommend Paul Simon!) Register in advance for 30-minute time slots when purchasing your admission. The links can be found at https://chabotspace.org/calendar/sock-skate/.

Let the celebrations begin: The San Francisco Symphony Orchestra kicks off three weeks of holiday events Sunday evening at 7:30 p.m. in Davies Hall by bringing back the wildly popular Mariachi Sol de Mexico® by José Hernández for the tongue-in-cheek program titled “A Merry-Achi Christmas. Happy sounds from south of the border will be heard from the band founded by Hernández in 1981, whose roots lie in five generations of mariachi musicians from the La Sierra region del Tigre in Jalisco. Since then, the group has received ten Grammy and Latin Grammy nominations, entertained five American presidents and collaborated with artists such as Jose Feliciano, Willie Nelson and the Beach Boys. Tickets for her performance, whose musical numbers are yet to be announced, range from $99 to $275 and are available at sfsymphony.org or at 415-864-6000.