A SPECIAL REPORT: HOLIDAY FUN

READY, SET . . .: Orange County’s holiday entertainment begins this week even before the Thanksgiving leftovers are gone. . . . “The Nutcracker” will monopolize the stage as usual, opening at the Performing Arts Center on Friday with live music and more than 150 dancers from the San Francisco Ballet and local troupes. It runs through Dec. 8, with tickets $14 to $50. . . . The budget-minded may favor recorded-music performances, most costing $10 or less, at Orange Coast College, Saddleback College, Golden West College, the Laguna Playhouse, the Sisters of St. Joseph Auditorium in Orange, Anaheim’s Phoenix Club and the Forum Theatre in Yorba Linda.