We know, we know, the holiday arts calendar is overwhelming. Twelve choral concerts, 11 Santa-stuffed theater productions, nine different Nutcrackers, and a rogue taxidermy partridge in a pear tree. Figuring out which show to see doesn’t have to be as painful as fighting over the last Talking Elmo at the mall on Christmas Eve, though, thanks to our handy Christmas Decision Tree!

Get more details for your chosen show:

• Oregon Ballet Theatre’s The Nutcracker, Dec 13–27
• Portland Playhouse’s musical adaptation A Christmas Carol, Dec 4–28 
• Portland Baroque Orchestra and Cappella Romana’s Handel’s Messiah, Dec 12–15
• A John Waters Christmas, Dec 8
• Ruldolph! On Stage, thru Dec 20
• Portland Gay Men’s Chorus’s A Holiday Celebration, Dec 5–7
• The Oregon Symphony’s Gospel Christmas, Dec 12–14
• The Second City’s A Christmas Carol: Twist Your Dickens at Portland Center Stage, thru Dec 24
• Bag&Baggage’s Miracle on 43rd Street: A 1940s Holiday Radio Massacre, thru Dec 23