Onstage

The Pied Piper Children’s Theatre of NYC presents The Adventures of Dr. Doolittle, featuring music and dance, Dec. 19 and 26 at 3 and 7 p.m. and Dec. 26 and 27 at 4 p.m., at Holy Trinity Church, 20 Cumming St. in upper Manhattan. Tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for seniors and children under 16. For more information and travel directions, call (212) 544-2976.

Events

 The Metropolitan Opera will air a live broadcast of Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann, free, at Lehman College’s Lovinger Theatre, located at 250 Bedford Pk. Blvd. W., Dec. 19 at 1 p.m. Tickets are required and may be reserved at (718) 960-8025. For more information, call (718) 960-8211.

 Wave Hill, located at West 249th Street and Independence Avenue, offers two family art projects: Sparkle and Shine, to make gifts and decorations out of foil, beads, cones and spices, Dec. 19 and 20; and Calendar Creations, to paint a favorite view into your own calendar for the new year, Dec. 26 and 27, both in the Kerlin Learning Center from 1 to 4 p.m. For more information, call (718) 549-3200 or visit www.wavehill.org.

 The New York Botanical Garden presents several events: A complementary program to the Holiday Train Show, in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden, Gingerbread Adventures, featuring a display of gingerbread houses, is a hands-on activity for children, including grinding and examining ingredients under a microscope, decorating pots with faces, and planting wheat seeds to take home. The entire family can enjoy a gingerbread jazz band, ice skaters, and farmer in the Discovery Center. The Little Engine That Could Puppet Show, presented by puppet master Ralph Lee, will take place weekends through Dec. 20 at 2 and 3 p.m., and daily from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1 at 1, 2 and 3 p.m. in the Arthur and Janet Ross Lecture Hall. For more information and a detailed schedule, call (718) 817-8700 or visit nybg.org.

 The Bronx River Art Center, together with the NYC Department of Transportation, present an abstract wooden art sculpture, Aurora, 14 feet tall, 11 feet wide and 11 feet deep, to be on view for 11 months at the center of West Farms Square Plaza located at the base of the West Farms Square/East Tremont Avenue subway station on the corner of East Tremont Avenue and Boston Road, one block away from BRAC which is located at 1087 E. Tremont Ave. For more information, visit www.nyc.gov/urbanart.

Exhibits

 The New York Botanical Garden presents Ex Libris: Treasures From the LuEsther T. Mertz Library, highlighting some rarely seen items demonstrating botany and horticulture from the 12th century to the present, through Jan. 10, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and The Presence of Trees, photographs of trees in all seasons, by Larry Lederman, in the Ross Gallery (ongoing exhibit). For more information, call (718) 817-8700 or visit nybg.org.

 The Museum of Bronx History, located at 3266 Bainbridge Ave. (at 208th Street), presents The Bronx: Then and Now, a comparison of the Bronx of today with that of the 19th century, via prints and photographs; and Edgar Allan Poe – A Bicentennial Celebration,.to learn about Poe, his life and his time spent in the Bronx; both through April 15. For more information, call the Bronx County Historical Society at (718) 881-8900.

 The Bronx Museum of the Arts, 1040 Grand Concourse at 165th Street, presents an exhibition series commemorating the Grand Concourse’s centennial, through Jan. 4, featuring The Grand Concourse Commissions and The Grand Concourse Beyond 100. Originally called the Grand Boulevard, the Grand Concourse celebrates its 100th year in 2009. For more information, call (718) 681-6000 ext. 120, or visit www.bronxmuseum.org.

 Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., in partnership with The Bronx Tourism Council, invites the public to the free opening wine and cheese art reception for Robert Seyffert’s Water Paintings, Dec. 17 at 6 p.m. at the BP’s Art Gallery, Bronx County Building, 851 Grand Concourse. The free exhibit will run through the end of March 2010. For more information and to confirm your attendance, call (718) 590-3989.

Library Events

 The Bronx Library Center, located at 310 E. Kingsbridge Rd. off Fordham Road, presents Preschool Story Time, Dec. 17 at 11 a.m.; and films, Dec.23 and 30 at 4 p.m.; both for children and preschoolers. For more information, call (718) 579-4244/46 or visit www.nypl.org.

 The Mosholu Library, located at 285 E. 205th St., hosts Arts & Crafts for school-aged children, Dec. 18 at 3:30 p.m. For more information, call (718) 882-8239.

 The Jerome Park Library, at 118 Eames Place, presents Toddler Story Time, Dec. 18 at 11 a.m.; and Reading Aloud, Fridays at 4 p.m.; for children. For more information, call (718) 549-5200.
 
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OUR READERS!
                                                                                                     
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