Skip the gift card and give the gift of live entertainment

You have less than a week to wrap up the holiday season and we are pretty sure that you’re reading this and your mind is exploding.

How did Christmas and Hanukkah — both on Wednesday, Dec. 25 — come so fast?

Before you go to your gift card fallback, might we recommend the gift of live entertainment.

We found a dozen possibilities from classical and pop concerts, to standup comedy and live theater. Trust us, it was hard not to go crazy and recommend you get tickets to everything going on from now through the spring.

We’d offer to gift-wrap it for you but that’s a little excessive, dontchathink?

For the music fan

Itzhak Perlman with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Jan. 16, Linda Ronstadt Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave. The Israeli-American Perlman is arguably the world’s greatest living violinist — Joshua Bell comes in a close second — and seeing him live checks that thrill-of-a-lifetime box for classical music fans. He joins Music Director José Luis Gomez and the TSO for “An Evening At the Movies,” featuring some of the most iconic music written for film by John Williams, Ennio Morricone and John Barry. Tickets are $77-$300 through tucsonsymphony.org.

Andy Grammer: Monster Tour, March 7, Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St. The last time we saw the “Honey, I’m Good” singer-songwriter on a Tucson stage was at the other end of Congress for his Fox Tucson Theatre show in summer 2022. He and his band had the audience at the Fox on its feet throughout the 90-minute, nearly sold-out show. He returns to us with his latest record “Monster,” released in October. Tickets are $49.50-$95 through rialtotheatre.com.

TobyMac “Hits Deep Tour,” March 26, Tucson Arena, 260 S. Church Ave. The Christian singer-rapper is bringing fellow Christian pop acts Crowder, CAIN, Ryan Stevenson and Terrian along for the ride. Christian pop music is one of the fastest growing and biggest-selling genres today, largely because young audiences like the music and moms and dads like the message. TobyMac (aka Kevin Michael McKeehan) has been active in the contemporary Christian music space since 1987 as a member of the rock and rap trio DC Talk before going solo in 2000. Tickets are $15-$119 through tucsonconventioncenter.com.

Dwight Yoakam with The Mavericks, May 17, Tucson Arena. Here’s a country music pairing that wasn’t on our bingo card: The legendary Bakersfield crooner sharing the stage with Raul Malo and his Grammy winning Americana band The Mavericks. As of early this month, Tucson was one of only 31 cities (so far; the tour may grow) to get the show. Tickets start at $43 through tucsonconventioncenter.com.

For the theater fan

“The Playboy of the Western World,” Jan. 10-Feb. 2, Rogue Theatre, 300 E. University Blvd. Riots broke out in Dublin when John Millington Synge’s play, set in an Irish pub in the early 1900s, premiered. It’s understandable; it’s a story about a roguish young man who boasts in the bar about killing his father. Irish nationalists and republicans saw it as an offense to public morals and a slap in the face to Ireland. Today, theaters including the Rogue see its value as one of the “great masterpieces of modern drama.” Tickets are $47 with discounts available through theroguetheatre.org.

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“La Bohéme,” Feb. 1, Linda Ronstadt Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave. Playwright Jonathan Larson loosely based his 1996 musical “Rent” on Giacomo Puccini’s opera, written 100 years earlier. In “Rent,” the struggling New York City artists are dealing with the AIDS crisis; in the opera, which Arizona Opera is presenting, the struggling artists are coping with their friend’s terminal tuberculosis. The show is part of the 2025 Tucson Desert Song Festival, which kicks off Jan. 10. Tickets are $30-$184 through azopera.org.

“Blues in the Night,” Jan. 26-Feb. 15, Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. Revisit the music of jazz and blues icons from Johnny Mercer and Bessie Smith to Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and Harold Arlen in Sheldon Epps’ toe-tapping revue that weaves the stories of three women and a man navigating love, heartbreak and rebirth through the music of Chicago’s 1930s blues and jazz scene. The show, which Epps conceived and directed, is part of the 2025 Tucson Desert Song Festival. Tickets are $33-$98 through atc.org.

“Shucked,” Aug. 5-10, Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd. In the world of musical theater, this new show by Grammy-winning country music songwriters Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally is arguably one of the most unique. The musical comedy follows a small corn-loving town’s fight to save their dying corn production. Broadway In Tucson promises this will be the corniest musical you’ll see this year. Tickets are $30-$140 through broadwayintucson.com.

For the comedy fan

“Vicki Lawrence & Mama: A Two Woman Show,“ Jan. 11, Fox Tucson Theatre, 17 W. Congress St. The actress who created those wonderfully funny and relatable characters on “The Carol Burnett Show” in the late 1960s-early ‘70s is sharing the stage with the most famous among them, Thelma Harper — aka the housecoat-wearing Southern-speaking grandma that Lawrence played in the sitcom “Mama’s Family” that aired on NBC from 1983-90. Lawrence will do some standup (she’s pretty funny, btw) and sing including her signature song “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia”; her first husband wrote the song and she recorded it long before Reba. Then she’ll turn the stage over to Mama, who will likely take a few potshots at her family and bemoan this thing or that about today’s society. Tickets are $20-$72.50 through foxtucson.com.

K-von, Feb. 8, The Outlaw Bar & Grill, 1302 W. Roger Road. Kevan Moezzi refers to himself as the world’s most famous half-Persian comedian. His resume includes appearing on “Last Comic Standing,” MTV’s “Disaster Date” and a number of indie films and shorts. But K-von is most passionate about standup. His millennial-centric comedy leans into conservative politics, and he often jokes about women’s and LGBTQ+ issues. Tickets for his 21-and-older show are $20 through eventbrite.com.

Jeff Dunham “Artificial Intelligence,” March 7, Tucson Arena. We’re not entirely sure what angle Dunham is taking on AI in his new show, but we think it might have something to do with encouraging his cast of puppets (Walter, Peanut, Achmed the Dead Terrorist, Bubba Jay and Little Jeff) that it’s time to ditch the jammies and yoga pants and get back to the office. Floor seats are already gone. Remaining arena seats start at $61 through ticketmaster.com.

Jessica Kirson, March 14, Rialto Theatre. If you happen to be in the front row for her show, be forewarned: Kirson loves to interact with her audience. She’ll ask you what you do and delve into your personal life. Nothing is out-of-bounds, from your home and 9-to-5 life to your sexual exploits. Kirson honed her act on the New York City comedy club circuit, from the famed Carolines to the Laugh Factory and Gotham Comedy Club. Her Rialto show is all-ages, although her material tends to lean more into 21-and-older with sexually explicit language and topics. Tickets are $29-$59 through rialtotheatre.com.