The Sierra Madre Playhouse is preparing to celebrate the holidays with five festive programs lined up, spanning 59 performances across 37 days, running from late November 2026 through early January 2027. Highlights will include the return of Bob Baker Marionette Theater’s marionette adaptation of The Nutcracker, a comedic musical parody of Die Hard (for the camp that believes it’s a holiday movie) from troupe 30 Minute Musicals, and an interactive, family-friendly staging of A Christmas Carol. The lineup will also feature holiday jazz from Grammy-winning pianist Gregg Karukas and a swinging seasonal set from Matt Johnson & the New Jet Set. For dates, ticket information, and additional details about each production, visit sierramadreplayhouse.org, or contact Libby Huebner at libby@adlibpr.com for more information.
The band Lambchop released their latest album, Punching the Clown, to widespread acclaim, with the record available across streaming platforms and in physical formats through Merge Records and Bandcamp. Along with the release, the band debuted joke country, a 10-minute short film styled as a mock radio interview, starring Henry Phillips, of 2023 film Punching the Clown, portraying Lambchop frontman Kurt Wagner. The film offered a cinematic companion piece to the album, and dropped in advance of a tour that included sold-out shows in Minneapolis and New York, and will stretch into February. See bnds.us/6wsjb5 for tour dates.
AMC Global Media and Lakeshore Records have released the official soundtrack for The Vampire Lestat, featuring original music by composer, songwriter and series co-producer Daniel Hart. The album dropped digitally on major platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. Set against this rock-and-roll-driven season, the series follows Lestat as he tours multiple cities with his band, pursued by memories of his rebellious past, while his growing fame deepens his hold over humans and vampires alike amid the Great Conversion (a surge in the vampire population). Hart, who has composed for film, television, and audio storytelling, including David Lowery’s The Old Man and the Gun, produced a score for this series with rock-inspired and atmospheric textures that mirror Lestat’s journey. Contact Christian Endicio at christian@whitebearpr.com for more information.
Michael Dease and his big band will release The Sleeper: The Music of Gregg Hill on October 30 via Cold Plunge Records. The Guggenheim-winning trombonist and composer devoted the project entirely to compositions by Michigan writer Gregg Hill, distributing 10 pieces among 10 different arrangers, and featuring guest soloists Dr. Eddie Henderson and Virginia MacDonald. The album marked Dease’s fourth collaboration built around Hill’s catalog, following The Other Shoe, Found in Space and City Life, and assembled an all-professional, multigenerational ensemble from across the country. Dease produced the record himself, continuing an evolving musical partnership rooted in Hill’s distinctive melodic and rhythmic style. For details, contact Jon Solomon at jon@dlmediamusic.ccsend.com.
Hollywood Records released the Original Video Game Soundtrack for Marvel’s Wolverine on all major digital streaming platforms. Composer David Fleming, known for the acclaimed Widow’s Bay, The Last of Us and Superman, scored the project, drawing inspiration from western and ronin (a samurai from feudal Japan) archetypes to capture Logan’s conflicted nature, while giving other characters, like Sabretooth and Jean Grey, their own distinct musical identities. Fleming’s involvement in the project was announced at San Diego Comic-Con. The game launched in September on PlayStation 5. Learn more by contacting Sarah Roche at sarah@whitebearpr.com.
Fatshark Games and Laced Records released Volume 5 of the Warhammer: 40,000 Darktide Original Soundtrack, composed by BAFTA-winning Danish composer Jesper Kyd, known for NO LAW, State of Decay 3, Tumbbad and the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Ezio Trilogy scores. The soundtrack became available on digital music platforms. Kyd’s score blended dark operatic textures with heavy synths, incorporating vintage analog and Eurorack modular synthesizers, organic instrumentation and gothic choir to push the Warhammer franchise into new sonic territory. This volume compiled 16 tracks drawn from the game’s Skitarii and Hive Scum updates, tracing the shift from Hive Tertium’s trenches to the wilderness of Atoma Prime. For further details, contact Greg O’Connor-Read at greg@topdollarpr.com.
