A quirky take on a classic, the annual holiday show by Ballet of the Dolls is in its 20th year and shows no signs of slowing. The basic premise: Life-sized, stiff-limbed living dolls Barbie and Ken stand in for young Marie and the Nutcracker, and rats dance to hip-hop. But what keeps fans coming back year after year is how choreographer Myron Johnson changes it up. This year, they're riffing on the economy, via Marie's bawdy mother Flo in the form of a Jewish lady from the Bronx in drag, while Barbie celebrates her 50th birthday. It's alternately risqué, campy and sometimes touching, with gorgeous costumes, choreography and dancing. You'll never view "The Nutcracker" the same way again.

If you like your Nativity story less on the traditional side, the ever-inventive Heart of the Beast's annual production is the most eclectic out there. The show, a partnership with St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church and Mercado Central in Minneapolis, combines HOTB's trademark life-sized puppets with elements of street theater and a procession based on the Mexican tradition of Las Posadas. The audience gets into the act, following Maria and José from the theater through the streets as they look for refuge. The torch-lit procession winds through several blocks and ends with a fiesta, music and food.