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The Monterey area has a long tradition of inspiring visual artists, so it makes sense that performing artists have found some beautiful havens here as well. For the visitor, a concert or play in one of its distinctive venues can be the perfect way to cap a day spent enjoying the area’s natural scenery.

This striking cultural compound just two blocks from busy Ocean Avenue began life in 1925 as an elementary school designed in Tudor Revival style by Oakland architect John J. Donovan with a Gothic Revival auditorium added by Monterey architect C. J. Ryland in 1931.

The nonprofit Sunset Cultural Center has managed the 718-seat venue since 2003, presenting a range of performing artists throughout the year through its Sunset Presents series, organizing free arts education programs and hosting the Carmel Bach Festival, the Monterey Symphony and other resident arts groups.

“Monterey Peninsula Ballet Theatre do their ‘Nutcracker’ here every year, and we love having them,” noted Annelise Nussbacher, the center’s development and marketing coordinator. 

The ballet company will stage the yuletide classic at Sunset Center on Dec. 8-10, while San Francisco’s Smuin Contemporary Ballet performs its sassy “Smuin’s The Christmas Ballet” on Dec. 1-2.

Other holiday-themed shows include the return of ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro’s “Christmas in Hawaii” concert on Dec. 17 and matinee and evening performances by instrumentalists Mannheim Steamroller on Dec. 30. The latter concerts are part of a tour celebrating the 35th anniversary of the band’s first Christmas album.

“After that big holiday rush, people are looking for something to do to fill the time between Christmas and New Year’s, and this is ideal,” Nussbacher said.

There’s another reason to check out the center, according to Nussbacher.

“We just did some theater renovations, and it’s better than ever,” she said.

While its vintage Golden Bough Playhouse and Circle Theater in downtown Carmel are expected to remain closed due to renovations through spring 2024, Pacific Repertory Theatre has branched out, literally and figuratively, to Carmel’s outdoor Forest Theater. Built in 1910 under lofty pine trees, the roughly 540-seat venue with bench seating hosts the company’s annual family musicals and Shakespeare festival.

Tickets are on sale now for “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” an all-ages musical based on the 1964 TV classic, first presented at the Forest Theater last year.

“It was very popular and sold much better than we thought,” said John Newkirk, Pacific Repertory’s development and marketing executive, who played Santa Claus in 2022 and will direct this year’s production from Nov. 25 to Dec. 17.

Winter weather wasn’t a deterrent to the largely family audiences last year, he noted.

“It is just as likely for a December day to be 70 degrees as a June day to be 70. You have to wear more layers than the summer, but it was not a bundle-in-your-parka situation,” Newkirk explained.

Returning to the 290-seat Golden Bough, whose current building dates to 1952 and includes the 120-seat Circle Theatre, remains a priority, according to Newkirk, who said the company hopes to present the musical ‘9 to 5’ with music and lyrics by Dolly Parton in June.

“We have dedicated our blood, sweat and tears to getting back to our home,” Newkirk noted. “Next summer when we do our family musical, we’re thinking of doing ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ because of the theme of ‘there’s no place like home.’ ”

Built in 1926 by the prominent San Francisco firm Reid & Reid, this 1,300-seat theater in the center of Monterey deserves star billing for its style, inspired by medieval Spanish castles.

Reflective of a trend called “atmospheric theater,” which simulated elements of the outdoors as well as historic architecture, the former movie palace was considered the grandest between San Francisco and Los Angeles when it opened. It remains an eye-catching auditorium, thanks to restored interior details, such as painted balcony niches and heraldic shields on the high stuccoed walls.

Among headlining performers in November and December are comedians Jim Breuer on Nov. 29 and Felipe Esparza on Dec. 1 and musicians Macy Gray on Dec. 2, A Flock of Seagulls on Dec. 15 and Parliament Funkadelic featuring George Clinton on Dec. 22.

This cozy supper club on the corner of Monterey’s Cannery Row and Prescott Avenue tailors its menu to match the entertainment, which can include theater, comedy, live music and karaoke, according to event manager Amanda Shugart.

For its recent production of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” dishes included curry, meatloaf and apple pie — a wink to the stars of the movie version, Tim Curry and Meat Loaf, and a lyric referring to the all-American character of Janet.

“Typically for karaoke events, we have special $2 street tacos, corn dogs, cheeseburgers, churros and jalapeño poppers — comfort bar food,” Shugart said. “Our double cheeseburger with buns made in-house is fantastic.”

The venue seats 100 for theatrical shows and 150 for other performances. The next scheduled event is a singer-songwriter showcase on Nov. 18.