Your 2017 Guide to Hamptons and North Fork Holiday Art & Entertainment

Kick off the holiday season right—and right away—at Riverhead’s historic Suffolk Theater. For one night only—Friday, November 24—travel back in time to the 1980s with Dan’s Papers Homecoming show and The Ronald Reagans. The dance floor will be open for a fun night of ’80s hits. From Madonna to Van Halen and A-Ha to Nena, you’ll be getting ready to change your phone number to 867-5309!

The very next night, Saturday, November 25, get your groove on with the number one Earth, Wind & Fire show. The tribute band features a three-piece horn section and all the funk you can handle. The “most ultimate” rock & roll Christmas show of all comes to Suffolk Sunday, December 3, with the singer who just might be considered the national voice of Christmas, Ronnie Spector—best-known for her iconic Christmas hits “Frosty the Snowman,” “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” and “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.” Suffolk celebrates the birthday of Ol’ Blue Eyes, Frank Sinatra, four days early on Friday, December 8. This show, featuring the 19-piece New Millennium Big Band with vocals by Alex Sonera, returns by popular demand. See what happens when you ask! Billy Joel’s original band, The Lords Of 52nd Street, performing the Billy Joel classics that they themselves recorded in the ’70s and ’80s, returns to the Suffolk Friday, December 15. Looking for a rockin’ way to celebrate the holidays? Suffolk’s Rockin’ Rockabilly Christmas on Saturday, December 16, features Jason D. Williams, Gene Casey and the Lone Sharks and other guests singing rockin’ versions of Christmas carols. Suffolk closes out their holiday season Sunday, December 17 with It’s a Wonderful Life—A Live Radio Play, directed by Cindy Clifford. The show will be performed in the style of the old time radio shows. A holiday favorite, in your favorite historic theater! suffolktheater.org

Step back into the 1940s at Patchogue Theatre on Saturday, November 25 with It’s A Wonderful Life: A Radio Play. You all know the story…. Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang will be in town Sunday, November 26 for two shows to remind us all about what’s most important during this Yuletide season. Niamh Farrell, Séamus Begley, Samantha Harvey and Oisín Mac Diarmada perform Irish Christmas in America Friday, December 8. The Gateway Performing Arts Center presents A Christmas Story: The Musical December 15–27. Once the gifts are all given, head to Patchogue to see the Rat Pack December 30–January 1 with a special New Year’s Eve party and performance. patchoguetheatre.org; thegateway.org

Celebrate the season with Long Island’s own holiday tradition at Theater Three in Port Jefferson for the 34th annual production of A Christmas Carol December 18–30. Follow the miser Ebenezer Scrooge on a journey that teaches him the true meaning of Christmas—past, present and future. Theatre Three’s 2016 production was a winner of the broadwayworld.com award for Best Play. New Years Laughin’ Eve, with two shows on Sunday, December 31, is Long Island’s favorite way to laugh in the New Year, now in its 10th hilarious year! The best part—besides the sidesplitting sets by standup comics Paul Anthony and Rob Falcone and master impressionist John Santo—is that you can be home in time to watch the ball drop! theaterthree.com

Thanksgiving weekend is your last chance to see Bay Street Theater’s production of Death of a Salesman. Arthur Miller’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning play follows Willy Loman, a failing salesman, and his family as they face the harsh reality of their lives that they have been denying. Ultimately, Miller explores themes surrounding the uncertainty of the American Dream and the struggles that families face in the wake of a changing economy, themes that are as contemporary now as they were when the play was written. Death of a Salesman runs Friday and Saturday, November 24 and 25 at 7 p.m., with a 2 p.m. matinee performance on Saturday. Dust off your dancing shoes for Bay Street’s Rockin’ Holiday Dance on Saturday, December 9 at 8 p.m. baystreettheater.org

On view now through December 31 at the Southampton Arts Center is a survey of portraiture by the renowned American photographer Michael Halsband, spanning over four decades of the artist’s work, including the iconic photographs from the 1985 Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat with Boxing Gloves series and 35mm film of The Rolling Stones in performance during their Tattoo You tour. The exhibition will also include other bodies of work focusing on dance and surfing. southamptonartscenter.org

The aroma of cinnamon and spice will be in the air at Guild Hall on Saturday, December 9 at noon during its annual gingerbread house decorating event! Children ages 3-12 are invited to join the merry team of confectionary experts to make their own festive displays using frosting, candy and a fully assembled, freshly baked cookie house. Join the Johansen-Markard Piano Duo on Tuesday, December 12 at 7:30 p.m. as they play a festive holiday program of old and new Christmas classics. Included in the program will be four hand-arrangements of “Silent Night,” the Peanuts cartoon favorite “Christmas Time is Here” and “A Sleigh Ride Fantasy,” as well as excerpts from The Nutcracker Suite. Then join in a rollicking sing-along of Christmas and winter favorites. guildhall.org

Known around the world as “an orchestra of voices” for its seamless blend of 12 male voices, Chanticleer brings their pitch-perfect Grammy award winning sound to the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center on Saturday, December 2 at 8 p.m. These world travelers will be coming straight from their sold-out annual performances at The Metropolitan Museum of Art to perform their original interpretations of holiday classics. whbpac.org

Look for Santa among the stars at the Custer Institute And Observatory in Southold. Weather permitting, the observatory is open to the public every Saturday night from 7 p.m. to midnight and the telescopes will be pointed to planets, nebula, galaxies, star clusters and other wonders of the cosmos. custerobservatory.org

See the historic Suffolk County Historical Society building and galleries come to life in a magnificent display of holiday arts and crafts on Saturday, December 2 from 10 a.m–4:30 p.m. Dozens of vendors will offer ornaments, home decor, candles, baskets, rustic Santas and gnomes, wood carvings, soaps, candles, hats & scarves and other one-of-a-kind, locally made, hand-crafted gifts at the 7th Annual Wooden Wonderland. There’s something for everyone on your list. There will also be live woodcarving and woodworking demonstrations inside the historic galleries and outside on the Great Lawn. Admission if free! suffolkcountyhistoricalsociety.org