Tickets To Enchantment

Magic, Elvis’ Bible, Frankie Valli and Santa on the moon. Holiday entertainment doesn’t have to include trees and lights. This year, a plethora of sights and sounds in Washington, D.C., brings plenty of fun. From rare biblical artifacts to dazzling illusions, here’s how to soak up the magic of the season.

- Jean Lawlor Cohen

Two blocks from the Mall, visitors enter the Museum of the Bible through a soaring glass vestibule, with Psalm 19 inscribed in a different language on each of 16 panels. Artist Larry Kirkland, known for grand-scale installations with embedded messages, also designed 40-foot bronze “pages” of Genesis that flank the front door. That’s the blessed entry to interactive displays, Vatican treasures and artifacts confirming the holy scripture’s impact on the modern world.