With all the Christmas musicals and plays produced this holiday season — most depicting Jesus as a fair-skinned, blue-eyed babe — Langston Hughes' Black Nativity brings a bit of diversity to the holiday lineup. Based on Hughes' 1961 gospel song-play, the musical celebrates the Christmas story with poetry, scripture, testimonials, and, of course, gospel music. More than 50 local singers, dancers and musicians, including actor/singer Sharon Scott, grace the stage in "the African-American community's holiday card to the world." Dec. 2-3, 7:30 p.m. Sat.-Sun., Palladium Theater, 253 Fifth Ave. N., St. Petersburg, free admission, 727-822-3590, palladiumtheater.com.
