"Art Beat" With Stephanie Kaye - Wednesday, December 16, 2009

(December 18) TAKE JOY Strathmore's post-modern pageant Take Joy is a seasonal celebration taking place this Friday at 8 p.m. at the Music Center in North Bethesda, Maryland. Bringing along his good-natured humor from the movies Best In Show and A Mighty Wind, host John Michael Higgins leads audiences through favorite holiday songs, from Beethoven to rock-and-roll, and readings of poems by Dylan Thomas, Emily Dickinson and Langston Hughes.

(December 16) PLEASE PLEASE ME During Avalon Theatre's French Dinematheque, the season of giving is turned on its ear with Please Please Me, a slapstick-heavy comedy tonight at 8 p.m., at the community-run theater in D.C.'s Chevy Chase. Part Woody Allen, part Buster Keaton and 100 percent certified French, as a woman tries to convince her partner to have an affair with the daughter of the President.

(Through December 23) MIRACLE ON OGLETHORPE STREET The Washington Animal Rescue League is winding up its 95th year of service with a few miracles on Oglethorpe Street. The League's Presents for Paws program provides holiday cheer to needy dogs and cats, as well as the owners who love them. Donations of pet food and toys are being accepted at the League's headquarters on Oglethorpe Street and at various businesses throughout the D.C. area.

You can find Presents for Paws drop-off spots here.