Face to Face. Photography has never been more accessible. Just about anyone can pick up a digital camera and shoot away, but the craft still honors the dark-room finesse and well versed camera skills it takes to create a powerful portrait, an unflinchingly honest expression captured for eternity. Celebrity portraits in particular have a way of transforming us all into voyeurs. To see someone like Marilyn Monroe pictured in a natural setting, away from the spotlights, perhaps with less makeup than she typically wore any time that you’ve ever seen her before is to gain an all-too-rare glimpse at the actual person behind the myth. An exhibition of portraits from the collection Robert Infarinato that opens at the Michener Museum November 15 features a number of intriguing perspectives on some of our greatest celebrities, each photographed by icons in their own right, such as Ansel Adams and Robert Capa. “Saving Face: Portraits from the Collection of Robert Infarinato,” continues through March 15, 2009, James A. Michener Art Museum, 138 South Pine Street, Doylestown; 215-340-9800; www.michenermuseum.org.

Cartoon Anarchy. Sure, today, it is commonplace for cartoons to be active participants in pop culture. There would be no Simpsons, no Family Guy, no South Park, to name a very select few, if that was not the case. Forty years ago, though, it was hardly mainstream to discuss sex, racism and feminism in comical ways, let alone to do so in an actual comic. But Robert Crumb, a Philadelphia cartoonist, helped change those rules when he arrived in San Francisco in 1967 and helped spur the “Comix” movement. His characters, cast in the form of funny animals and misguided souls, writhed with outrageous libidos and mocked subjects that were considered too sensitive in almost all other mediums. The Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia pays homage to Crumb through a show that spans his groundbreaking career and delves into specific themes and ideologies that inspired much of his work, including social satire, mind-altering substances and autobiography. “R. Crumb’s Underground,” continues through December  7, the Institute of Contemporary Art, 118 South 36th Street, Philadelphia; 215-898-7108; www.icaphila.org.
 

Behind the Curtain. One of the most intriguing aspects of art is the creative process — and how wildly it can vary from one artist to another. Quiet, contemplative and methodical versus loud, spontaneous and messy. There’s no wrong way because art, at its essence, is an individual process. It’s about what inspires the artist, and the artist alone. And it’s about what speaks to each of us. In this regard, “Artists in Action,” a special event that kicks off the winter season at the Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ, is art as it should be exhibited — one on one, artist and observer. Throughout the day, artists in a range of media and scales will be stationed throughout the picturesque park deeply immersed in their respective creative processes — and completely accessible to curious onlookers. In a unique arrangement such as this, the finished piece is almost secondary. “Artists in Action,” November 1, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Grounds for Sculpture, 18 Farigrounds Road, Hamilton, NJ; 609-586-0616; www.groundsforsculpture.org. 

Beautifully Mundane. Sometimes the most inspired art is a perfect reflection of life and the everyday items that are completely taken for granted. A light bulb, for example, may be just another thing to get during your next run to Wegman’s, but for contemporary American artist Jasper Johns, it was an endless resource for creativity. The Princeton University Art Museum presents an exhibition that focuses on Johns’s first sculpture, Light Bulb I, and, for the first time, puts it in the complete context, surrounding the landmark piece with all of his other light bulb sculptures and related drawings and prints, some of which are from Johns’s own collection and have never before been exhibited. “Jasper Johns: Light Bulb,” continues through January 4, 2009, the Princeton University Art Museum, McCormick Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ; 609-258-3788; www.artmuseum.princeton.edu.

Attack Mode. Not all art is meant to be beautiful or, for that matter, completely understood. For many artists, the finished product is merely a single step in the creative process. Surreal art is the perfect example of good art gone bad — with a purpose. Many of the most acclaimed pieces are undeniably ugly. For Joan Miro, the “anti-painter,” art was just another way to attack the traditionalist’s perspective of beauty — and art for that matter. Miro, who used acidic color and antic disfigurement to create his undeniably unique, surreal paintings, is credited with invigorating the very medium he was attacking. The Museum of Modern Art hosts the first major museum exhibition to explore the tactics Miro used to carry out his ambitious plan during a particularly transformative decade, 1927 to 1937, within his career. “Joan Miro: Painting and Anti-Painting 1927-1937,” November 2 through January 12, 2009, the Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53d Street, New York, NY; 212-708-9400; www.moma.org. 

By Design. For those who enjoy strolling down a random street and uncovering a city’s identity through the different styles of the buildings, it’s not at all a stretch to consider an architect as an artist. Each building is an expression of some sort and a significant step in a city’s evolution, which is something that Frank O. Gehry has never considered lightly, even though at times during his illustrious and sometimes controversial career it appears as though he has. An exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art delves into the project that allowed one of the most influential architects of our time to gain his footing. During a 10-year residential commission in Ohio between 1985 and 1995, Gehry was encouraged to experiment. Ultimately, the project went unrealized, but Gehry made a number of breakthroughs that successfully translated to future projects. “Frank O. Gehry: Design Process and the Lewis House,” November 8 through April 5, 2009, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 26th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia; 215-763-8100; www.philamuseum.org.

The Fab Four. It’s to be expected of a group that calls itself The Lascivious Biddies that the performance be offbeat. But it’s the good kind of offbeat, the kind that feels like a wonderfully refreshing respite from the mundane mainstream. The Biddies are an all-female quartet from New York City that touches upon jazz, rock, country, classical and practically every other remaining genre to create a unique blend they refer to as cocktail pop. They’ve been described as sexy and intelligent, but what they are above all else are divine singers who make four-part harmony sound like the next great frontier. Bucks native Karen Gross will be a special guest of the Biddies when they perform songs from their new holiday album at the Sellersville Theater. The Lascivious Biddies, December 12, 8:30 p.m., the Sellersville Theater, Main and Temple streets, Sellersville; 215-257-5808; www.st94.com.
 

Worlds Apart. Christmas long ago became a secular occasion. It was right around the first Christmas-specific sale at Macy’s that the holiday went mainstream. But there was a time when the traditions tied to the day were deeply religious — read sacred — in nature. Thankfully, some of that, mostly in the way of music inspired by the season, endures today. In a concert that will delve into both forms of the day, with excerpts from Handel’s “Messiah” and more contemporary “classics,” the Riverside Symphonia illustrates how Christ may have been dropped from the equation, but the essence of the holiday — generosity toward fellow man, a renewed appreciation of family and close friends — remains very much intact, making the performance very much a necessary stop on your way home from a chaotic day at the mall. Sacred and Secular —a Musical Celebration of Christmas by the Riverside Symphonia, 8 p.m., December 5 through Dec. 7, and 3 p.m., Dec. 7, the Church of St. John the Evangelist, 44 Bridge Street, Lambertville, NJ; 609-397-7300; www.riversidesymphonia.org.
 

Blonde Exposed. For the sake of maintaining appearances, we’re going to pretend like we need to talk you into seeing Legally Blonde: The Musical when it arrives at the Academy of Music in December. As though the original movie and its sequel, both starring the undeniably adorable Reese Witherspoon, are not the cornerstone of your DVD collection. (Listen, they caught us by surprise, too.) And that you didn’t lose the better part of your summer to MTV’s annoying but amusing The Search Elle Woods in which the next star of the Broadway smash hit was appointed. We say all of this with a wink and a nod, but you should know that it’s okay to come out from hiding. The musical is a bona fide hit. (Time magazine said so.) Elle has officially gone mainstream. Actually, she went mainstream years ago, right after the movie, which should have been hint number one that you weren’t the only closeted fan. Legally Blonde: The Musical, Dec. 2 through Dec. 7, the Academy of Music, 240 South Broad Street, Philadelphia; 215-893-1999; www.kimmelcenter.org.
 

Dose of Reality. The onset of Holiday Cheer seems to occur earlier with each new year. Trying to sustain it through the arrival of the new year can leave many of us feeling a bit strung out. For those looking for a return to normalcy, if only temporary, we suggest Alan Ayckbourn’s play Absurd Person Singular, which opens November 11 at the Bristol Riverside Theatre. It’s dark. It’s hilarious. It’s delicious. Performed in three acts, APS shares scenes from the lives of three married couples on Christmas Eve, with all three unfolding in the kitchen, not out under a tree with family or around the dinner table with friends. As we all know, behind the scenes is where the true fun lurks, and Ayckbourn does not disappoint. After several misguided suicide attempts you’ll be ready to re-enter the world with a big ol’ smile, prepared to spread some freaking cheer. Absurd Person Singular, Nov. 11 through Nov. 30, Bristol Riverside Theatre, 120 Radcliffe Street, Bristol; 215-785-0100; www.brtstage.org.
 

Surreal Reality. Playwright Edward Albee is known for dissecting personal relationships and discussing their universal but intricate dynamics as few others have ever been able to. Seascape, which won Albee his second Pulitzer Prize, is one of his more intense studies — in more ways than the profound places the characters journey. There is this couple, sitting on a beach, contemplating the next phase of their lives — retirement — while trying to figure out how to get around the troubles that plague them in the current one when another couple arrives on the scene. The other couple are human-size lizards who speak and act as normal people, but, of course, they are lizards. Don’t let the lizards throw you. This is Albee at his best — a deeply personal story rife with metaphor, obviously — but as endearing as theater gets. Seascape by the Actors’ NET of Bucks County, December 5 through Dec. 21, the Heritage Center, 635 North Delmorr Avenue, Morrisville; 215-295-3694; www.actorsnetbucks.org.
 

Get Crackin’. Whether you’re a fan of ballet or not, taking in a performance of The Nutcracker is as essential to the traditional holiday experience as trimming a Christmas tree — or slicing your way through frantic crowds before dawn on Black Friday. So if you’re going to see it, you might as well take in a performance by one the region’s most renowned companies, the New Jersey-based American Repertory Ballet, which, along with students from its Princeton Ballet School, will recreate the classic tale of a young girl’s magical Christmas Eve experience against breathtaking scenery at the McCarter Theatre Center. The Nutcracker, November 22 through Nov. 30, the McCarter Theatre Center, 91 University Place, Princeton, NJ; 609-258-2787; www.mccarter.org.