Shazam! The Trans-Siberian Orchestra sure knows how to put on a Really Big Show. The group cranks up the extravaganza elements - lasers, pyrotechnics, the whole shebang. That coupled with their inimitable music accounts for at least part of the reason that TSO is one of the best-selling concert acts around.

Season's greetings: When TSO returns to Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday, the members will bring a holiday-specific show. It's the rock opera "The Lost Christmas Eve," set in NYC - a Capra-esque version of NYC, that is. The story follows characters through "a rundown hotel, an old toy store, a blues bar, a Gothic cathedral."

Ghosts of Christmas past: The music, as fans know from the album version of "The Lost Christmas Eve," calls upon all sorts of genres, from rock to folk and Broadway to R&B. After performing all of "The Lost Christmas Eve," TSO will break out other songs, too - popular tunes from their past, including some from "Christmas Eve & Other Stories," as well as some from their present, notably their recent release, "Dreams of Fireflies (On a Christmas Night)."

- KRISTINA DORSEY

Trans-Siberian Orchestra's The Lost Christmas Eve, 3 and 8 p.m. Friday, Mohegan Sun Arena, $42, $52; mohegansun.com.