We have your holiday playlist

Looking for a soundtrack for your Christmas morning? We mean, of course, besides a chorus of kids screaming out, “Let’s open the presents — NOW!” Here are five songs that would combine for an excellent streaming playlist on Dec. 25. All of these recordings were released this year.

• “Go Tell It on the Mountain” — One of the many great tracks from Jennifer Hudson’s first-ever Christmas album, “The Gift of Love.”

• “Silent Night” — Country star Gabby Barrett, who finished third on the 16th season of American Idol,” does a great job on this Christmas classic from “Carols and Candlelight.”

• “Thorn and Thistle” — Ireland’s We Are Messengers scores a winner with this terrific track from the EP “Rejoice! (A Celtic Christmas).”

• “Do You Hear What I Hear?” — Twenty years after dropping his first holiday album, Clay Aiken returns to the seasonal songbook with “Christmas Bells Are Ringing,” featuring a splendid version of this classic tune.

• Holy Forever” — Phil Wickham keeps putting out great Christmas music — the latest collection being “Hallelujah! It’s Christmas” — which features this stunningly beautiful song.

— Jim Harrington, Staff

Free flicks in Orinda

The holidays are a time of giving, and this year the Orinda Theatre in the East Bay is giving back with six days of free movies. The historic cinema, which dates to 1941 and sports lovely architecture and ceiling murals, is playing 11 “classic” holiday movies from all eras — from 1938’s “ A Christmas Carol” to the 2004 animated Tom Hanks’ vehicle, “The Polar Express.”

The free movies run from today through Dec. 26 and include both afternoon and evening showtimes. To mention a few highlights, Dec. 21 has a sweet double feature with a 1:30 p.m. screening of Ron Howard’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” followed by “It’s a Wonderful Life” at 4 p.m. On Christmas Day, there’s a 1 p.m. screening of the 1971 musical “Fiddler on the Roof” — feel free to quietly hum along to “all day long I’d bidi-bidi-bum.” Other movies include Bill Murray’s “Scrooged,” the World War I drama “Joyeux Noel” and everybody’s comedic favorite, “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.”

While the movies are free, the theatre is in the middle of trying to raise money to replace its main curtain. If you’d like to donate, ask the staff about their ongoing GoFundMe campaign; or go to www.gofundme.com/f/orinda-theatre-needs-your-help

Details: Screenings take place through Dec. 26; 4 Orinda Theatre Square, Orinda; www.orindamovies.com.

— John Metcalfe, Staff

Holiday hits on stage

Stage productions of all kinds area available during the holidays. Here are three to check out.

“The Jewelry Box”: Brian Copeland is a talented performer and writer and this funny and heartwarming tale about how, as a 6-year-old lad, he tried to find and procure a perfect Christmas gift for his mother remains one of his best-loved works. He’s reviving the show for the holiday season. Details: 5 p.m. Saturday; The Marsh, 1062 Valencia St., San Francisco; $25-$100; themarsh.org.

“Truce: A Christmas Wish from the Great War”: It was a decade ago that City Lights Theater Company in San Jose presented the world premiere of the heartfelt play drawn from World War I, when in 1914 the warring factions agreed to lay down their arms in observance of Christmas. Now the hit play is back as City Lights’ holiday production. Details: Through Sunday; City Lights Theater, 529 S. Second St., San Jose; $31-$70; cltc.org.

“Sisters Christmas Catechism”: This installment in the “Catechism” solo stage series created by Maripat Donovan is described as a mixture of comedy, mystery and a sure-to-be offbeat Nativity story. The touring show plays one night only in Livermore. Details: 7:30 pm today; Bankhead Theater, 2400 First St., Livermore; $55-$66; livermorearts.org.

— Randy McMullen, Staff

It’s Paris’ turn to ‘Fall’

An unexpected streaming gift can be found on Hulu, where “Paris Has Fallen,” the latest entry in the political/action thriller franchise (2013’s “Olympus Has Fallen,” 2016’s “London Has Fallen” and 2019’s “Angel Has Fallen”) takes the form of a crackling good eight-episode series set in the City of Light.

Fans, though, should grid themselves to say au revoir to series regulars Gerard Butler and Morgan Freeman and say bonjour to incoming stars Tewfik Jallab and Ritu Arya. I’ve gotten through four episodes and it does get sillier as it progresses, but it also gets more aggressively entertaining as it goes along. There are numerous chases and stunts, a flavoring of sexual tension, outlandish secret relationship reveals and best of all a magnificent villain — former French Foreign Legion member Jacob Pearce, played to the I’m-gonna-wipe-you-all-out hilt by Sean Harris.

What fuels the proceedings is that Jallab, portraying security cop Vincent Taleb, and Arya, playing shrewd and assured MI6 agent Zara Taylor, make a great team and can banter with the best of them. Creator Howard Overman understands that an action film can’t stand on the merits of its thrills alone and needs interesting characters to make it all that more involving.

Details: Available now on Hulu.

— Randy Myers, Correspondent

Here comes Muldaur’s ‘Holiday Swing’

Let’s get one thing straight, famed singer Maria Muldaur doesn’t have a thing against most holiday songs — just the sappy ones.

She created her “Holiday Swing” concert to remind us that all the bland, overly sentimental holiday tunes that belong in elevators don’t have to define our holiday music experiences. So she has assembled a collection of swinging jazz, blues and roots songs she considers an antidote to the usual fare.

What might these songs be? You’ll have to find out for yourself Sunday when Muldaur performs her “Holiday Swing” concert at the Backroom in Berkeley, backed by her Jazzabelle Quintet: Danny Caron on guitar, Ruthie Davies on bass, John R. Burr on piano, Kristin Strom on horns, and drummer Mark Lee.

Muldaur, best known for her 1973 hit “Midnight at the Oasis,” has a long, rich history that has produced more than 30 albums and countless collaborations with artists ranging from Jerry Garcia to Geoff Muldaur (her onetime husband) to Linda Ronstadt.

Details: 3 p.m. Sunday; 1984 Bonita Ave., Berkeley; $30 (kids under 12 free); backroommusic.com.

— Randy McMullen, Staff