Here are a selection of brief news items pertaining to arts, entertainment, culture and other fun things to do in your spare time:

Viterbo plans holiday shows for Dec. 6-7

Viterbo University will presents its annual holiday performance, “A Viterbo Christmas” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7, in the Fine Arts Center Main Theatre.

“A Viterbo Christmas” will span the centuries in music. The Viterbo Concert Choir will begin with a cantata written for the Advent season by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1714, “Now Come, the Savior of Mankind.” The cantata, scored for chorus, soloists and chamber orchestra, is based on familiar hymn tunes by Martin Luther and narrates the story of looking forward to Christ’s birth.

It will be followed by Daniel Pinkham’s joyful Christmas cantata for chorus and brass composed in 1957. This three-movement cantata begins with the proclamation of the angel’s voices announcing Christ’s birth. The second movement expresses the mystery of Christ’s birth in the stable. The work ends with a dance-like celebration of the true meaning of the season-peace on Earth and good will to all.

The second half of “A Viterbo Christmas” will feature performances by Viterbo’s Concert Choir and 9th Street Singers performing both sacred and secular Christmas music and an audience singalong.

Tickets are $17 for main floor, $16 for lower balcony, and $13 for upper balcony seating. For more information, call 796-3100 or visit www.viterbo.edu/finearts1.aspx.

Holiday favorites featured at UW-L’s Festival of Carols

Four UW-La Crosse choirs will present their 16th annual Festival of Carols at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Dec. 12-13, in Valhalla, Cartwright Center-Gunning Addition.

The concert will feature the UW-L Women’s Chorus, Männerchor, Chamber Choir and Concert Choir in Yuletide choral arrangements and audience carols.

Selections range from the plainchant “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” through J.S. Bach’s motet “Lobet den Herrn alle Heiden” to Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride.” Highlights include settings by Chamber Choir conductor Terence Kelly with “O Little Town of Bethlehem” and Concert Choir conductor Gary Walth with “Come, Thou Long Foretold Messiah.”

Paul Rusterholz conducts the Women’s Chorus and Walth also conducts Männerchor. UW-L’s Vocal Jazz Ensemble will also make a guest appearance. Catherine Walth will be narrator for the events.

Suggested ticket donations for the concerts are $6 for students, $8 for senior citizens and $10 for others. Tickets may be purchased in advance by calling 785-8415. Ticket proceeds go to scholarship funding for UW-L choral students.

Concert highlights historic holiday tunes

The Rose Ensemble will present a special holiday choral concert, “Christmas in Early America & Baroque Mexico,” on Friday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m. in the Mary of the Angels Chapel at the St. Rose Convent in La Crosse.

The performance begins with a celebration of the ballads that resounded through Mexico’s cathedrals hundreds of years ago. The program features the popular dance rhythms from the 17th century that helped shape modern Latin dances (the xacara, the guaracha, the negrilla, the romance and the villancico).

The second half returns to America’s folk roots with colonial carols, Southern shape-note tunes, Shaker hymns and the traditional harmonies that gave birth to bluegrass.

The Rose Ensemble musicians also bring a variety of folk instruments into the mix, including a wooden flute, an antique gut strung gourd banjo, jaw harp, guitar, fiddle and mandolin with percussion provided by tambourine and stomping feet.

The music featured in this program is available on two recordings, “Celebremos el Niño” and The Rose Ensemble’s newest release, “And Glory Shone Around.” Both discs will be available for purchase at the concert as well as on the group’s Web site.

Tickets are $23 ($20 students/seniors) and are available at the door or in advance through The Rose Ensemble at www.RoseEnsemble.org and (651) 225-4340. Children 10 and younger are free.

Tickets for ‘Yes, Virginia’ on sale Dec. 1

Tickets for the La Crosse Community Theatre production of “Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus” will go on sale to the public on Monday, Dec. 1.

Virginia is an 8-year-old girl who writes a letter to the editor of the New York Sun in 1897 wondering if Santa Claus is real. Based on real events, the play is narrated by the editor of the Sun, who wants people to believe that Santa Claus “exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist.”

Show dates will be Dec. 12-14 and 19-20, at 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 14, 20-21 at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $18.50 on Fridays and Saturdays and $17.50 on Sundays, with a $10 student/military ticket available for any performance. With the purchase of two adult tickets, two student tickets can be purchased for the price of one.

For tickets, call the box office at 784-9292 or stop in at 118 Fifth Ave. N. Box Officeohours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and one hour before curtain time during performances.

LCT ‘Godspell’ auditions set

La Crosse Community Theatre will hold auditions for its production of the musical “Godspell” on Dec. 8-9 by appointment, beginning at 7 p.m. at the theater, 118 Fifth Ave. N.

“Godspell” takes parables, mostly from the Gospel of Matthew, and modernizes them with energetic force and creative twists. Jesus and his disciples sing their way through his life from Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist to the Passion of Christ.

The cast will be made up of 10 to 12 actors, dancers and musicians ages 16 and older.

People auditioning should be prepared to read from the script and should bring 16 bars of music from any Broadway musical to sing. People who can play a musical instrument should bring that as well.

For more information, call 608-784-9292 or log onto www.lacrossecommunitytheatre.org.

Irish group plans Christmas show at UW-L

A legendary Irish group will share the sounds of the season at UW-La Crosse. Teada’s “Irish Christmas in America — The Show” takes the stage at 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7, in Valhalla, Cartwright Center-Gunning Addition.

Teada will give an inspirational presentation of seasonal Irish culture traditions. Produced by Teada member Oisín Mac Diarmada, the show also features a slide show with a narrative providing historical context.

The group uses Irish harp and uilleann pipes to augment Irish dance. The performers mingle ancient traditions with contemporary artistry.

Tickets are $4 for UW-L students, $15 for UW-L employees and $20 for others. For tickets or more information call 785-8877.

WTC party highlights alcohol-free drinks

Western Technical College will host its 18th annual Holiday Food & Drink Sampler on Tuesday, Dec. 9, from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the TC Café in the Kumm Center, 400 Sixth St. N., La Crosse.

This event features festive drinks made from Blanks non-alcoholic liquors. It will also feature a variety of desserts as chosen by student managers Kevin Holcomb and Kathy Cawest, second-year students in Western’s culinary management program.

The Holiday Sampler is open to the public and free for Western Technical College students. Other guests are asked to pay $1. More than 500 people are expected to attend this year’s celebration.

UW-L to stage Shakespeare comedy

The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse will present William Shakespeare’s magical romantic comedy, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” on Dec. 5-6 and 11-13 at 7:30 p.m. Sunday matinee performances are Dec. 7 and 14 at 2 p.m.

All performances will be in the Toland Theatre, Center for the Arts on the corner of 16th and Vine streets.

Shakespeare’s comedy features two pairs of star-crossed lovers, a feuding pair of supernatural sprites and a love potion gone awry all coming together in an enchanted moonlit forest.

The theatrical vision of director Walter Elder, in combination with the surreal scenic design by senior theater major Tim Barbiaux, creates a charming combination of classic and contemporary theater.

Tickets go on sale Monday, Dec. 1, at 1 p.m. The box office is located in the lobby of the Center for the Arts. Tickets are $12, $10 for non-UWL students, senior citizens and children, and $4 for UW-L students with a valid student ID.

For reservations, call the box office at 785-8522.

UW-L prof to lead spring Irish hiking tour

The history, archaeology and nature of Ireland are among the highlights of an eight-day walking tour next spring. University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Professor Emeritus Jim Gallagher leads a hiking tour in the south coast of Ireland from June 10-18.

The tour will feature hikes along coastal cliffs, offshore islands and to shorebird nesting sanctuaries. Highlights of the tour include the Clare Island, the rugged Sheep’s Head Peninsula and the mountains of Gougane Bara. The area where the group will be heading is scenic, rugged and great for hiking and bird watching, said Gallagher, who has led tours to Ireland since 1996.

For a detailed tour itinerary and registration information, log onto www.uwlax.edu/conted/tours/, or call the UW-L Office of Continuing Education and Extension at 785-6506.

Women sought for ‘just for fun’ volleyball

Holmen area women age 30 and older are sought for a free “just for fun” women’s recreational volleyball program.

Games will be played from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays when school is in session at Viking Elementary, 500 E. Wall St. in Holmen.

For more information, call Sally at 788-3047.