Regional arts and entertainment events

Sunday

Happy day The annual Being Jewish at Christmas celebration this year features musician Jon Nelson, science entertainers Wondergy, screenings of episodes of the 1950s TV hit The Goldbergs, and Mel Brooks' 1981 comedy History of the World: Part I, plus activities, games, and more. Events run from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the National Museum of American Jewish History, Fifth and Market Streets. Tickets are $12; $11 for seniors and students; $5 for ages 12 and under (includes museum admission). Call 215-923-3811.

Monday

Local hero You could label the delicate, dreamy songs of multi-instrumentalist Chelsea Sue Allen "chamber pop" and you wouldn't be wrong, exactly. But there's far more to the Downington singer-songwriter's method, as shown on her sensational new album, Tiny Prizes. She shares a bill with sometime colleagues Vilebred at 8 p.m. at the North Star, 2639 Poplar St. Admission is free. Call 215-787-0488.

Topical yuks The invaluable theatrical troupe 1812 Productions manages to find the funny in the news in This Is the Week That Is, an ever-changing revue at Plays & Players Theater, 1714 Delancey St., at 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, and 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Tickets are $32. Call 215-592-9560.

Tuesday

Two classics Not just for children: Joseph Robinette's adaptation of E.B. White's wonderful barnyard allegory Charlotte's Web goes on at noon Tuesday at the Arden Theatre, 40 N. Second St., and continues Tuesdays through Sundays until Feb. 10. Tickets are $16 to $32. Call 215-922-1122. . . . Based on the L. Frank Baum tale and the great 1939 film, NETworks Productions' presentation of The Wizard of Oz has something for every age. The musical goes on at the Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St., at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday. Tickets are $20 to $85. Call 215-731-3333.

Sophisticated love Quite scandalous in its time, Noël Coward's comedy Private Lives follows a divorced couple who find themselves honeymooning in France with their respective new spouses in the same hotel, and discover that the embers have not cooled. The Lantern Theater production goes on at St. Stephen's Theater, 10th and Ludlow Streets, at 7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Tickets are $10 to $36. Call 215-829-0395.

Space opera The local prog-rock outfit Igor's Egg spins an orchestral, unfolding sci-fi epic about a planet divided between darkness and light in which the musicians not only play the soundtrack but also perform roles in the story. The quintet opens for the Zappa tribute band Project Object at 7 p.m. at World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St. Tickets are $21. Call 215-222-1400.

Wednesday

Rawhide rock The Tennessee cowpunk outfit Lucero plays at 8:30 p.m. at Union Transfer, 1024 Spring Garden St. Tickets are $20. Call 215-232-2100.

Thursday

A day in the jail Nobel Prize-winner Dario Fo is acclaimed for his slapstick satires skewering those in charge. His 1970 work, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, is a manic comedy in which a buffoon detained by police succeeds in getting the authorities to incriminate themselves. The show goes on at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Curio Theatre, 4740 Baltimore Ave., and continues Thursdays through Fridays until Jan. 7. Tickets are $15 to $20. Call 215-525-1350.

Bombs away The day they stopped producing new episodes of

Mystery Science Theater 3000

was a sad day indeed. But though they're no longer on the tube, the cast (

Joel Hodgson

,

J. Elvis Weinstein

,

Frank Conniff

,

Trace Beaulieu

, and

Mary Jo Pehl

) still performs on stage in

Cinematic Titanic

, screening bad movies while making good jokes. The gang takes on a double bill - the 1974 exploitation flick

Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks

, in which the mad scientist compounds his twisted mistake by reviving a caveman, and

The Astral Factor

from 1976, in which a convicted killer finds a way to make himself an invisible man (that title was already taken, though) - at

the Keswick Theatre

, Easton Road and Keswick Avenue, Glenside, at 8 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $39.50 and $58.50. Call 215-572-7650.

What are you doing . . . New Year's Eve? How about a trip to Clubland: The fine alt-country trio Good Old War and the jammy town-band collective River City Extension team up at the Theatre of the Living Arts, 334 South St., at 9 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $23. Call 215-922-1011. . . . Delaware thrashers Plow United headline a four-band bill with the Crash, Third Year Freshman, and Jake & the Stiffs at the Note, 142 E. Market St., West Chester, at 9 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $22. Call 484-947-5713. . . . The funk-metal quartet Clutch headlines a four-band bill with Corrosion of Conformity, Kyng, and Earthride at the Trocadero, 10th and Arch Streets, at 9 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $25. Call 215-922-6888.