'Night Before Christmas' by Sounds of BlacknessIt'll be a...

'Night Before Christmas' by Sounds of Blackness

It'll be a gospel, blues, rock-and-roll, rap and funk kind of Christmas when the Grammy Award-winning musical ensemble, the Sounds of Blackness, brings its holiday show, "The Night Before Christmas," to the Lyric Opera House for one week beginning Tuesday.

Set in the home of a contemporary middle-class black family, this musical comedy adaptation of the Christmas poem features characters including Rudolph the Rappin' Reindeer, Singin' Stockings and Five Live Mice. Show times are Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 7:30 p.m., with matinees Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets are $18.75-$27.50, with children's discounts available. Call [phone].

@ The Baltimore Opera Company will perform Donizetti's "The Elixir of Love" later this year, but you can get a head start on getting acquainted with the piece by watching it Wednesday at 8 p.m. on Maryland Public Television (channels 22 and 67 in the Baltimore area). This star-studded production, broadcast as part the Texaco-sponsored "Metropolitan Opera Presents" series, features Luciano Pavarotti as the lovesick Nemorino, Kathleen Battle as the coquettish Adina, Enzo Dara as the quack doctor Dulcamar and Juan Pons as the pompous Sergeant Belcore. James Levine conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.

Stephen Wigler Most galleries find it enough of an effort to do one show at a time; School 33 does three. The current lineup includes a three-person show called "Form as Metaphor" in the main gallery, selected by Baltimore painter Trace Miller and featuring works by Jeff Adkins, David Fox and Douglas Hoagg. These three artists work in different styles, but all are related through a sense of place. In the second-floor gallery is a show called "Conversations" that consists of drawings by Washington artist Benita Berman; they are autobiographical and can be thought of individually or collectively as an installation. And in the installation space is "Time Out," by sculptor Steve Reber, who has created a human-size bird cage. The shows run through Jan. 29 at School 33 Art-Center, 1427 Light St. Call [phone].

John Dorsey