CONCERT “Retirement” isn’t in Tony Bennett’s vocabulary. At 85, he became the oldest living artist to crack the Billboard 100 with his duet with Amy Winehouse, which was reportedly her final recording. Hear him croon at the Paramount. Dec 17.

Jay-Z and Kanye West, two of hip-hop’s biggest egos, have joined forces as new supergroup the Throne. Imagine the sheer tonnage of bling at the Tacoma Dome this weekend. Dec 16.

FILM Straight from the Criterion Collection vault: Enjoy new 35mm prints of Michelangelo Antonioni’s exquisite first color film, Red Desert (1964), and Luchino Visconti’s slow-cooking drama The Leopard (1963), starring Burt Lancaster as an aging Italian prince, during SIFF’s Masters of Italian Cinema Double Feature. Dec 16–22.

Just in time for Woody Allen’s jazz night at the Paramount: His uber-popular Midnight in Paris has been rereleased at SIFF (Dec 16–22) and Varsity Theatre. Don’t miss it.

THEATER Find out what sugarplum fairies do on their days off in the Triple Door’s Land of the Sweets: The Burlesque Nutcracker It’s a blur of skin, ballet, and swing—with Waxie Moon as the Rat King—in this racy rendition of the wintertime show. Thru Dec 24.

During irreverent storytelling session Short Stories Live! A Rogue Christmas at Town Hall, ACT thespians play well-intentioned hoodlums in Damon Runyon’s “Dancing Dan’s Christmas” and expose Santa’s false identity in John Mortimer’s “Rumpole and Father Christmas.” Dec 18.

The lovable schmendriks behind Tractor Tavern’s annual Holiday Bizarre: A Jewish Christmas! have turned their unholy Christmas parody into a fully formed musical this year. Now at ACT, Wisemen follows three lawyers—Goldberg, Frankenstein, and Murray—hired to represent Joseph in a paternity trial over Mary’s pregnancy. Thru Dec 22.

CLASSICAL & MORE The chorus sings “Hallelujah!” under the baton of Columbus Symphony director Jean-Marie Zeitouni for the annual performance of Handel’s Messiah at Benaroya Hall. Dec 16–18.

Several members of the defunct Bellevue Philharmonic have joined the newly formed Candlelight Concerts Orchestra, which makes its debut this weekend with holiday concerts in Mercer Island and Bellevue. Dec 15 & 17.

VISUAL ART In the new multimedia exhibit Time, Wasted at Nepo House, Shaun Scott’s documentary Waste of Time attacks American consumerism over the decades, using vintage ads and lingering shots of our recession-plagued, postindustrial country (backed by Seattle music). The film screens in conjunction with a photography exhibit by Virginia Wilcox that also captures a desolate American landscape. Dec 17.