For some it's the anti-Nutcracker; for others it's one gifted dancer's spirited take on a holiday tradition. Either way, it's "The Hard Nut," the Mark Morris Dance Group's unique and joyful interpretation of the Nutcracker ballet, which they'll perform Dec. 9-18 in Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley.

The reigning patriarch of a whole generation of jazz, Ellis Marsalis, performs with his Quartet at the Napa Valley Opera House, Dec. 3 at 8 p.m. Marsalis will be joined by son Jason on drums, Derek Douget on saxophone and Bill Huntington on bass.

The Napa Valley Symphony presents its 2005 Holiday Concert with the Voices of London on Dec, 4, at 3 p.m. at the newly refurbished Lincoln Theater in Yountville. The program includes selections from Handel's "Messiah," "Los Reyes Siguen l'Estrella," "Nio Dios d'Amor Herido," and "Todo Quanto Pudo Dar" by Guerrero, followed by Bennett's "Five Carols" and Rutter's "Sans Day Carol" and "Noel Nouvelet."

The valley's Improvisator David Auerbach will launch the 20th season of Carols in the Caves and the first Drums of Peace Dec. 3.

The eyes have it in this show. Whether it's the Flattened Musk Turtle, the Florida Key Deer or the Northeastern Beach Tiger Beetle, they are all looking into a camera with an unwavering, penetrating gaze that seems -- at least to this writer -- to be asking, "What are you doing?"

On the march

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- Hollywood star Angelina Jolie has received a Cambodian passport after being made a citizen of the impoverished Southeast Asian country, an associate said Tuesday.

NEW YORK -- The Ted Koppel era on ABC's "Nightline" ends with his farewell Tuesday night after 25 years of offering a serious alternative to late-night laughs.