A Special Holiday Stage Session with Bill Holm

Who better to host a holiday show than a man who looks like Santa? The bearded and barrel-chested Bill Holm explores holiday phenomena with MPR’s Heather McElhatton and a collection of other guests, including musician Charlie Parr and writer R. D. Zimmerman. From the small town of Minneota, Minnesota, Holm is all homegrown wholesomeness, except for those stints in China, Africa, and Iceland, and that tenure at a historically black college. And then there are those radical leftist rants … but politics aside, Holm’s writings, such as The Heart Can Be Filled Anywhere on Earth and Coming Home Crazy: An Alphabet of China Essays, explore the themes of place and heritage, telling his ancestors’ stories and reflecting on different cultures. His cosmopolitan bent and deep sense of tradition should make Holm’s commentary more than the usual tree-and-menorah nostalgia. 651-290-1200; www.fitzgeraldtheater.org