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What to watch this weekend: 10 picks including Oprah, Whoopi and Celine

Oprah Winfrey; Jefferson Mays
Oprah Winfrey and Jefferson Mays are featured in virtual events this holiday weekend.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times; Chris Whitaker)
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A star-studded salute to nurses and a hit one-man “Christmas Carol” lead our weekly list of online concerts, streaming theater productions, virtual art exhibitions and other culture for your viewing consideration this weekend. Here’s our latest rundown, all times Pacific.

“Nurse Heroes Live!”
Andrea Bocelli, Carole King, Stevie Wonder and Céline Dion are among the performers slated for this benefit concert hosted by Whoopi Goldberg and featuring appearances by Billy Crystal and Oprah Winfrey. 4 p.m. Thursday. Free; donations accepted for the Nurse Heroes Foundation. live.nurseheroes.org

“Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol”
Tony winner Jefferson Mays stars in a filmed version of his hit one-man 2018 staging of the beloved holiday fable. In his review of the production at the Geffen Playhouse, Times critic Charles McNulty wrote: “The poverty of the world is what really freezes the blood in ‘A Christmas Carol,’ and Mays wrings from each word in the narrative the sorrow of economic injustice.” Available on demand for 24 hours from Saturday to Jan. 3. $50 per household, with proceeds going to benefit arts institutions including the Geffen Playhouse, Boston Court Pasadena, International City Theatre, South Coast Repertory and La Jolla Playhouse.

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Charles Dickens has become so yawningly familiar through adaptations that it can be jolting to experience his storytelling genius directly from the fictional works themselves.

Nov. 10, 2018

“Measuring the Sky”
L.A.-based Heidi Duckler Dance presents this site-specific work, filmed at the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Center, as part of “UnLocked Souls: The Bogusław Schaeffer Livestream Project” celebrating the Polish composer. Available anytime. Free. howlround.com

Shakespeare’s Sonnets
Patrick Stewart, Kim Cattrall, Ruth Negga and “Doctor Who” actor David Tennant are among the famous faces giving voice to all 154 of the Bard’s sonnets in a virtual fundraiser. Available anytime through Sunday. Free; donations accepted for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. youtube.com

“Charles Phoenix: Holiday Jubilee!”
The humorist and pop culture historian celebrates the season in this nostalgia-fueled livestream event. 6 p.m. Saturday. $25, $40. eventbrite.com

“Maria Tallchief: America’s Prima Ballerina”
The trailblazing Native American dance artist who died in 2013 is celebrated in this virtual exhibit presented by the National Women’s History Museum in Washington, D.C. Available anytime. Free. womenshistory.org

Maria Tallchief dies at 88; American prima ballerina

April 12, 2013

“Holiday on Strings!”
Puppets from Bob Baker Marionette Theater frolic in this family-friendly variety show streaming as a pay-per-view offering on Pasadena Playhouse’s PlayhouseLive platform. Available anytime. $14.99. playhouselive.org

“Tuesdays With Morrie”
The Group Rep in North Hollywood streams a filmed version of this drama based on the Mitch Albom memoir about reconnecting with a former mentor who’s battling ALS. Available on demand Thursday through Sunday. $20. thegrouprep.com

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“Nutcracker Rouge at Home”
Company XIV, a Brooklyn-based purveyor of burlesque, reimagines its saucy take on the holiday favorite as a virtual series of eight newly recorded performances, with a new film dropping weekly. Thursday through Dec. 31. $150 and up. companyxiv.com

“Sherlock Holmes: The Blue Carbuncle”
Arthur Conan Doyle’s famed sleuth is on the case in a filmed production of Long Beach Shakespeare Company’s family-friendly holiday mystery. Available on demand Thursday through Dec. 31. $35 per household. LBShakespeare.org

Our recurring coronavirus-era viewing recommendations are indexed in the same place arts event listings (sigh) used to post.

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