LIGHTS
Cantabrigian energy conservationists will probably be appalled, but for the rest of us, the Somerville Arts Council’s sixth annual Illuminations Tour is one of the highlights of the holiday season: a guided journey through the sublime, ridiculous, and awe-inspiring lengths that ordinary homeowners will go to in order to decorate the porch for Christmas. A 45-minute trolley ride past Somerville’s best and brightest, the tour generally sells out well in advance. An extra trolley has been added for this year’s edition, which will take place on Saturday December 14 (snow date: December 18), with tours leaving at 4:30, 5, 5:45, 6:15, 7, 7:30, 8:15, and 8:45 p.m.; all trolleys depart from Somerville City Hall, 93 Highland Avenue, at which location the SAC will be projecting images of local artists’ work onto the building, with a live soundtrack by Birdsongs of the Mesozoic/Revolutionary Snake Ensemble dude Ken Field. Tickets are $10 for adults, and $5 for kids. And even if the trolley tours do sell out, they’ll be offering guided maps at City Hall on the day of the event for $2. Call (617) 625-6600 extension 2985.
THEATER
The last time around, in 1959, Tony Curtis had the easy part in Some Like It Hot: the one where you pose as a member of an all-girl jazz band fleeing the mob and in turn get to chase Marilyn Monroe to Miami. Damn near a half-century later, Curtis is making his musical-stage debut in — yep — an adaptation of Some Like It Hot, this time as the amorously stuffy Osgood Fielding III, who tries to put the make on whoever’s playing the Jack Lemmon role. Based on the film, and on a 1972 musical adaptation entitled Sugar, Some Like It Hot makes its way to the Wang Theatre for eight performances January 14 through 19. Tickets are $28 to $68; call (800) 447-7400.
CLASSICAL
Superstar soprano Dawn Upshaw is much in demand as both a leading lady of the opera and a recitalist, so it’s real nice of her to take time off from her busy schedule for a concert to benefit the Yellow Barn Music School and Festival in Putney, Vermont. What’s lucky for us is that she’s doing so at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy Street in Harvard Square. Her recital on May 15 with pianist Gilbert Kalish — and, we’re told, her only area appearance for the ’02-’03 season — is scheduled to include "Lúa Descolorida," from Osvaldo Golijov’s La Pasión según San Marcos, and songs by Mahler, Debussy, Rachmaninov, Earl Kim, and William Bolcom. Tickets are $32 to $60, or $100 for VIP seats that include a post-concert reception with the performers. Call (617) 496-2222.
THEATER AND MUSIC
We know what’s been keeping you up nights: you’re rolling around in bed asking yourself, "What are the guys from Mission of Burma doing for the holidays?" You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers. Frontman Roger Miller has been composing an original score for the Underground Railway Theater’s slapstick adaptation of the children’s classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, for which we assume he’s been drawing on his experience scoring Chaplin and Keaton films with the Alloy Orchestra. The production is scheduled for December 20 and 27 at 7:30 p.m., with 3 p.m. school-vacation matinees December 21 though 23 and 26 through 29, at the Cambridge YMCA, 820 Mass Ave in Central Square. Tickets are $12.50, $9.50 for kids; call (781) 643-6916. Meanwhile Burma bassist Clint Conley will be picking up the guitar for a gig with his new band Consonant, who headline the First Night festivities at the Orpheum Theatre on New Year’s Eve on a bill with the Damn Personals. That’s at 1 Hamilton Place; the only way in is with a $15 First Night button, and as of last week those were on sale all around town, or you can go to the Web at www.firstnight.org. For more First Night info, call (617) 542-1399.
