[naviga:h3]Hobnob opens vaudeville ‘Carol’[/naviga:h3]

Hobnob Theatre presents “The Vaudeville Christmas Carol Extravaganza,” part variety show and part carnival act but with all of the iconic moments of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.”

Curtain is at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday with a matinee at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Succop Theater at Butler County Community College.

In this version, the miserly manager of the Lyric Vaudeville Theater in Butler is in dire straits when his scheduled performers are delayed due to railroad closures. The replacement acts are plagued with misfortune and misdirection, so the theater manager’s underpaid assistant suggests that they produce “A Christmas Carol” in lieu of the missing acts.

The cast features David Skeele, Casey Bowser, Heidi Nicholls, Greg Crawford, Elizabeth Smith, Sarah Altomari and Stefan Lingenfelter.

Tickets are $10.50 for adults and $5.50 for children age 12 and younger. Visit www.hobnobtheatre.com.

[naviga:h3]Harmony hosts New Year’s Eve[/naviga:h3]

Harmony’s annual New Year’s Eve and German heritage celebration, Silvester, will start at 3:30 p.m. Dec. 31.

The countdown into the New Year will kick off around 6 p.m. — or midnight in Germany.

By celebrating the beginning of the New Year at the same time as people in Germany, which is six hours ahead of Harmony, families can have the fun of ringing in a new year without staying out late.

Most of the festivities wrap up by 7 p.m.

Attractions will include self-guided museum tours, a dinner, the comedic short film “Dinner for One,” and the annual Christmas tree toss for adults and wreath toss for children.

Music and fireworks are also planned.

Call Call 724-452-7341 for more information.

[naviga:h3]MessFest kicks off New Year[/naviga:h3]

MessFest, Carnegie Science Center’s tradition to kick off the New Year, is free with general admission on Jan. 1.

From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., visitors get hands-on with a gooey substances, share their creative side with finger painting, and enjoy a pudding “Pi” eating contest. The egg drop invites visitors to engineer a package for raw eggs that will protect them on a two-story drop. Visitors are advised to dress for a mess.

Call 412-237-3400.