Chanukah in New Vaudeville!

From the North Pole to the Borscht Belt—One Wild Holiday Show

Thursday, December 3, 2026
Doors & Social Hour: 6:00 pm | Performance: 7:00 pm
Pay what you can
The Gem Theater | 48 Cross Street, Bethel, Maine

This December, the Maine Jewish Museum is heading to Bethel for a holiday celebration unlike anything we’ve done before.

King Kazoo & The Reindeer Band bring Chanukah in New Vaudeville! to The Gem Theater, combining a full band, big theatrical energy, holiday favorites, original music, storytelling, comedy, and a decidedly Jewish twist.

Behind some of America’s most beloved holiday music is a remarkable and often overlooked Jewish story. Irving Berlin wrote “White Christmas.” Johnny Marks gave us “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” Mel Tormé co-wrote “The Christmas Song.” Jule Styne wrote “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” These songwriters worked within an American entertainment tradition shaped profoundly by Jewish artists, from vaudeville and Tin Pan Alley onward.

Chanukah in New Vaudeville! brings that history onto the stage and has enormous fun with it.

Expect holiday standards, plenty of Jay Bragg’s original music, stories behind the songs, comedy, and the joyful unpredictability of New Vaudeville. At its heart is a celebration of the Jewish artists who helped create the soundtrack of the American holiday season — and of the wonderfully complicated, creative ways cultures bump into each other, borrow from each other, and become part of each other.

Come early for the 6:00 pm social hour, then settle in for a 7:00 pm performance that travels from the North Pole to the Borscht Belt and quite a few places in between.

Presented by Bethel Area Arts & Music (BAAM) and the Maine Jewish Museum at The Gem Theater.

About Jay Bragg

Jay Bragg is a Maine-born, Nashville-based, third-generation entertainer whose connection to vaudeville is personal. His grandparents performed a vaudeville act in New York and Massachusetts in the 1930s, and Jay has carried that family tradition into a career spanning roughly 5,000 live performances.

Performing as “The Wizard of Whimsy,” Jay brings together music, storytelling, comedy, and theatrical spectacle. His philosophy of performance took shape during his years as a hospice volunteer, where he came to understand entertainment as an act of generosity: the important thing isn’t the performer, but what the people in the room get to experience together.

That idea runs through his work, from his acoustic singing telegrams to New Vaudeville, the theatrical project through which he explores and celebrates the many strands of his own musical, cultural, and family history.

As Jay puts it: “A life without whimsy is a life lived too grimly.”

Registration link coming soon