Friday's Art Notes

_Christmas lights adorn a house in the Bothasig suburb of Cape Town late on December 23, 2010. Residents of Cape Town neighborhoods are competing to have the most attractive Christmas decorations. Photo by Rodger Bosch/ AFP/ Getty Images_ * It's a merry Christmas at the Charles Dickens Museum in London, via "BBC":http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/london/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_9310000/9310329.stm. * Can we have a new Christmas play, please? New Yorkers appreciate seasonal alternatives to the classics, via "The New York Times' ArtsBeat":http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/22/theater-talkback-a-holiday-wish-for-better-holiday-theater/. * The Atlantic offers two helpful holiday primers: the secrets of "what makes a great Christmas pop song":http://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2010/12/the-secrets-of-great-christmas-pop-music/67583/, and "what you can learn about Christmas from contemporary television dramas":http://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2010/12/christmas-lessons-from-aaron-sorkin-the-office-glee-and-more/68477/. * Having a panic attack over last-minute shopping for the picky aesthete in your life? We offer these conversations with critics about the best under-appreciated "books":http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/2010/12/conversation-best-unsung-books-of-2010.html, "movies":http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/2010/12/conversation-best-unsung-films-of-2010.html and "music":http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/2010/12/conversation-best-unsung-critically-not-literally-music-of-2010.html to you in your eleventh hour of need.