From Dickens to Pink Panther : Holiday Events: Programs range from classical to comical, from musical to dramatic, from traditional to pop.

Try as it might to finally overtake the holiday season completely, pop culture is still dominated this year in the San Fernando Valley by more traditional arts and entertainment events. Contemporary music and even some cartoon characters join in the celebration, but it’s such vintage standbys as “The Nutcracker” and Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” that set the tone.

The holiday-themed events this month are scattered across a wide spectrum, including the re-creation of a Christmas dinner in the court of a 17th-Century English monarch at Cal State Northridge, assorted plays and carolers, and an all-star “Country Christmas” at the Universal Amphitheater.

* Headlined by mother-and-daughter country music duo the Judds, the “Country Christmas” concert Saturday will benefit the Love Is Feeding Everyone charity. Also on the bill are Charley Pride, Garth Brooks, Hoyt Axton, Jim Stafford and others. On Dec. 19 and 20 at the Amphitheater, Mannheim Steamroller performs “A Fresh Aire Christmas.” For information on both programs, call (818) 980-9421.

* At CSUN, the 11th annual “Madrigal Dinner” transforms visitors into the dinner guests of a medieval queen. While seated in a room decorated with banners, shields, candles and Christmas holly, visitors are fed and entertained by a costumed cast of 30, all acting out parts of the royal entourage, including jesters, musicians and other entertainers.

Presented in and by the University Student Union, the dinner is open to as many as 240 guests for each of its six nights. Visitors are encouraged to dress in period costume, particularly on “Costume Night” on Dec. 22.

“Basically, it took me out of the time period where I was,” program director Sharon McKenzie said of her first “Madrigal Dinner.” “I thought, ‘How strange to be back in the 17th Century.’ It took me out of modern times to another time and place.”

The program will be presented Dec. 15, 16, 18, 19, 21 and 22. Doors open at 7 p.m. for the 7:30 p.m. show. Tickets are $26.50 and $30.50, $20 and $22 for students. For ticket information, call (818) 885-2488.

* Another tradition is continued at the Glendale Centre Theatre, which is offering its long-running production of “A Christmas Carol” through Dec. 22. The two-hour, theater-in-the-round presentation features a 30-member cast, many wearing vintage costumes of Dickens’ late-1800s.

This three-decade-old version of “A Christmas Carol” was originally adapted by Ted Lehmann, a former director-actor at the theater, who filled the role of Scrooge until the mid-1970s. The program begins with a group of carolers singing traditional holiday songs, and they return during set changes in the play, theater spokeswoman Robyn Sunshine said.

“We are very close to being sold out,” she said. “It’s because of the longevity of the show. We have been putting it on for so long, people know it is always going to be here.

“The audiences love it. They call as early as June to get tickets. It provides a good Christmas atmosphere during the hectic holidays.”

The Glendale Centre Theatre is at 324 N. Orange St. For information, call (818) 244-8481.

* “Humbug!” is a musical adaptation of the Dickens classic at the Actors Alley Repertory Theatre in North Hollywood. Featuring music by Barry Fasman, Arthur Hamilton and Robert Caine, the play is being performed through Dec. 16 at the theater, 12135 Riverside Drive. Show times are 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. Admission is $15. For information, call (818) 508-4200.

* The Valley College stage presentation of “A Christmas Carol” offers the same Dickens story, but with a twist. Using an adaptation by Pete Parkin, the tale unfolds in a contemporary alley on Christmas Eve with a group of homeless people who have found the Dickens book. They decide to act out the story rather than burn the book for warmth. The play is performed at 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays through Dec. 15 in the Little Theater on the Van Nuys campus, 5800 Fulton Ave. Admission is $5, $3 for students and seniors. At Thursday performances, a can of food will be accepted for use by the North Hollywood Food Pantry to feed the homeless during the holiday season. For information, call (818) 781-1200, Ext. 353.

* At the Granada Theater, “A Christmas Carol” is presented as if being told in the home of Dickens in 1843. Performances of the Michael Paller adaptation begin Saturday and continue through Dec. 23 at the theater, 10648 Balboa Blvd., Granada Hills. Show times are 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 7 p.m. Saturdays, 1 and 5:30 p.m. Sundays. Admission is $8 and $10, and includes refreshments at intermission. For information, call (818) 363-6887.

* Meanwhile, it’s “A Pink Panther Christmas” at the Shinbone Alley Gallery in Studio City, where animation cels on display through January have the sly cartoon character dressed as Santa Claus and in other disguises. There are so many Pink Panther cels, gallery owner Celeste Wilson said, that a good portion of her animation and fine art gallery is smothered by them.

“I have Christmas panthers, and panthers taking baths, and skiing panthers and panthers with real long tails because dogs have pulled on them,” she said, laughing. “I have all kinds of panthers.”

Nonetheless, this pink-hued monument to American pop culture has done little to diminish her fascination with the gallery’s other featured exhibit, a show of Ukrainian animation cels.

Shinbone Alley came into possession of the works after the gallery owner’s husband, animator John David Wilson, traveled to Kiev to aid Soviet animators in their work for Fox Television’s daytime cartoon show “Peter Pan and the Pirates.” What he brought back were cels displaying a rare intricacy little seen in modern Western animation.

“When you look at it, you know it’s not from here,” Wilson said. “It doesn’t look Western, it looks sort of eastern European. Also, they don’t have any of the modern technologies to make cels like we have. So every single thing, from a shadow or special effect, is painted right on the cel, which makes for beautiful, beautiful work.”

A total of 25 Soviet cels from an original cache of about 60 remain on the gallery’s walls, accompanied by a small display of Ukrainian folk art also brought back by Wilson’s husband. Among those are miniature watercolor paintings, hand-painted eggs and ceramic figures, and wall hangings.

“The animation is what strikes me the most,” Wilson said. “It’s what is beautiful and exciting. It’s fine art, and it’s not just for the animation collector. There are some of these animation works that would be wonderful hanging in someone’s home.”

In addition, the gallery is presenting a small display of oil and watercolor paintings by John David Wilson depicting mostly urban scenes of Los Angeles.

The show opens today with what the gallery owner is calling a “Panther Party,” highlighted with a free drawing for a Pink Panther cel, from 7 to 9 p.m. Shinbone Alley is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, and is at 4350 Tujunga Ave. Admission is free. For information, call (818) 506-0095.

* The Westside Ballet brings its 17th annual production of Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” to Burbank for two performances Saturday. The classic holiday story is directed by Yvonne Mounsey, the company’s artistic director and a former ballerina with Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and the New York City Ballet. Rotating in the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy this year are 15-year-old dancers Christina Gibbs and Romanian-born Anna Liceica.

The Westside Ballet is the training company for the Westside School of Ballet in Santa Monica. It will appear at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday at John Burroughs Auditorium, 1920 Clark Ave. Performances will continue Dec. 15 and 16 in Santa Monica’s Lincoln Auditorium. Admission is $10 adults, $5 children. Parking is free. For information, call (213) 828-6211.

* The Santa Clarita Dixieland Jazz Club celebrates its Christmas party on Sunday with six live sets of jazz music from the 1920s, ‘30s and ‘40s. The jazz concert-dance at the San Fernando Elks Lodge, 804 Pico St., will be presented from 1 to 5:30 p.m., with food available. Admission is $3 club members, $5 non-members. Organizers request that those attending bring a child’s gift for the Elks’ children’s Christmas party the next week. Parking is free. For information, call (213) 256-5828.

* Also Sunday is the seventh annual Christmas concert by the Granada Hills Chorale at Granada Hills High School. Accompanied by harpist Elaine Litster, the 35-voice chorale will perform classical and international holiday carols, director Maryann Mendenhall said.

Among those is Randall Thompson’s “Alleluia,” the traditional Spanish carol “ Ya Viene la Vieja “ and a Sioux tribal song titled “Stars Lead Us Ever On.”

“I built a chorale that would have some diversity,” Mendenhall said. “I think it’s culturally sound to present music from various ethnic backgrounds to our people to promote understanding.”

The Granada Hills Chorale was founded in 1984 when the retirement of local high school vocal teacher Jean Chamberlain left a musical void in the community, Mendenhall said. Chamberlain was then urged by former students, parents and local music lovers to organize the new group. And in its first six years, the chorale has performed at the Hollywood Bowl and Los Angeles Music Center. In July, the chorale will perform at New York’s Carnegie Hall as part of an event marking the venue’s 100th anniversary.

The Christmas concert begins at 6 p.m. in the school’s Highlander Hall, 10535 Zelzah Ave. Admission and parking are free. For information, call (818) 360-2209.

* “The Advent Concert” presents the Santa Clarita Symphony Orchestra and Community Chorus on Sunday at St. Clare Catholic Church, 19606 Calla Way, Canyon Country. Conducted by Kenneth Knight, the program includes Rutter’s “Gloria,” Mendelssohn’s “Psalms 42” and Bach’s “Christmas Cantata.” The chorus comprises singers from several area church choirs and the Santa Clarita Chamber Singers. The program begins at 7:30 p.m., with a suggested donation for admission of $7.50, $5 seniors and students. For information, call (805) 296-1188 or (213) 656-7343.

* St. Mel Catholic Church in Woodland Hills presents “Rejoice” at 8 p.m. Dec. 20 at the church, 20870 Ventura Blvd. The 90-minute program, conducted by Sheldon Cohen, assistant music director for “The Tonight Show” on NBC-TV, features 200 voices in the church’s combined adult and children’s choirs and a 25-piece orchestra. The program is a parish tradition--the church’s choirs have presented a holiday concert for 15 years.

“We get a capacity crowd, believe me,” said Cora Neely, church secretary. “The concert has been here a long time and people like the music.” Tickets are $8 adults, $6 children and seniors. For information, call (818) 887-9326 or (818) 340-6020.

* The Pierce College Premiere Chorale and Orchestra, directed by Terry Danne, presents a “Messiah Sing-Along” at 8 p.m. Tuesday, with a suggested donation of $8. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, “The Festival of Carols” will be performed by the Pierce College Choirs and the California Brass Ensemble. Admission is $3, $2.50 students and seniors. Both concerts are in the Performing Arts Building Mainstage on campus, 6201 Winnetka Ave., Woodland Hills. For information, call (818) 719-6476.

* At the First Baptist Church of Reseda, the musical “Come, Let Us Adore Him” will be performed by the 50-member Sanctuary Choir and Prism, the church’s choir of high school students. The program, which will be presented Dec. 16 at 8:15 and 11 a.m., will feature accompaniment by an orchestra and multimedia visuals. At 6 p.m., vocal duo Tony and Shelley Exler perform a concert of sacred Christmas music. At 6 p.m. Sunday, two children’s choirs with members ages 4 to 12, will sing in a concert titled “Christmas Around the World.” Admission to the concerts, all directed by Pastor Jim Jansen, is free. The church is at 18644 Sherman Way, Reseda. For information, call (818) 881-3651.