'It's a Wonderful Life'

The Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts offers a holiday presentation of "It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play," Dec. 12 at 2 and 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 13 at 7:30 p.m.

The time-honored American holiday classic will be re-created as a 1940s radio broadcast, with six Equity actors embodying more than 30 characters and a Foley artist creating sound effects on stage. The show was adapted by Joe Landry from the original screenplay of the 1946 Frank Capra film, starring Jimmy Stewart and set in the fictional upstate New York town of Bedford Falls.

A reception will be held before each performance, featuring refreshments, carols and choral singing by local school choirs and community choruses, and a holiday toy drive hosted by the Schwartz Center. Bring a new, unwrapped children's toy and drop it in one of the holiday boxes in the lobby. The Saturday evening performance will also benefit the United Way of Tompkins County.

The cast includes stage veterans Michael Kaplan, Jeffrey Guyton, Paul Hebron, Sonja Lanzener, Madeline McDonough-Maher and J.G. Hertzler.

Tickets are $10 general, $8 for students, available by calling 607-254-ARTS or online at http://www.schwartztickets.com. The production is being offered in addition to the regular 2009-10 subscription season. Season theater subscribers can pre-order tickets.

More student films

Cornell Cinema will premiere narrative film and video projects by student filmmakers, Dec. 13 at 7:30 p.m. at Willard Straight Theatre. The two-hour program features work from the course Film 4780, taught by Marilyn Rivchin with media assistant Randy Hendrickson.

The filmmakers and films are: Matthew Chin-quee, "You Never Know"; Shubhra Pandit, "The Matchbox"; Jason Ramsey, "Jacob's Birthday"; Alexander Scharfman, "The Big Community"; and Christian Madera, editor and collaborator on multiple projects.

Also showing: Selected projects from a summer animation class taught by visiting professor Lynn Tomlinson. The animators are Linda Barsi, Bing Bai, Oliver Dudman, Daniel Fipphen, Gabriella Garza, Diamantina Espinosa, Chenxue Lu, Andrew Rose, Maia Vidal, Jennifer Wong and Roxanne Yamins.

Cornell Cinema will be closed from Dec. 14 to Jan. 22 for the winter break. Remaining titles on the late fall schedule include "The Neverending Story," Dec. 12 at 2 p.m. (recommended for ages 6 and up; $3 for adults, $2 for children age 12 and under); the Sundance-endorsed films "Unmade Beds" (Dec. 11-12) and "In The Loop" (Dec. 10-13); James Cameron's "Aliens" (Dec. 11-12) and Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" (Dec. 10-12).

Shaping the green economy

Cornell master's in regional planning students will present a webinar, "Green Economy Investments: What Do Local Policy Makers Need to Know?" Dec. 14 from 1:30 to 3 p.m.

The session is geared to helping local officials make informed policy decisions on green economic investments in the best interests of their communities. The program is hosted by Susan Christopherson, city and regional planning.

Presentations include "Local Management of Industrial Wind Energy Siting," "A Biofuel Strategy Right for Upstate New York," "How Local Policies Can Support the Development of Green Jobs," "Why Manufacturing Green Technologies Matters" and "Developing Markets For Local Food Producers."

To participate, register at http://tinyurl.com/yjltq2x . The registration deadline is Friday, Dec. 11. Instructions will be e-mailed to registrants. Information: Heidi Mouillesseaux-Kunzman, hmm1@cornell.edu or 607-255-0417.

Winter Employee Celebration

Tickets are on sale now through Jan. 8 for the Winter Employee Celebration on Saturday, Jan. 16, featuring men's and women's basketball games against Columbia University and a Cornell Community Dinner of chicken parmesan and pasta with grilled vegetables marinara.

The schedule: women's basketball at 2 p.m., men's basketball at 4 p.m. (both in Newman Arena, Bartels Hall); dinner, 1:30-3:30 p.m. in the Ramin Room, Bartels Hall. All faculty, staff, retirees and their families are welcome. Tickets are $5 (dinner and both athletic events) and $3 (dinner or athletic events); available at the Athletic Department Ticket Office in Bartels Hall (10 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays; bring your Cornell ID) or call 607-255-4247.

Volunteers are needed and will receive a complimentary ticket; contact Cheryl McGraw at 255-7565 or crm54@cornell.edu. Information: http://www.ohr.cornell.edu/commitment/staffEvents/ECD.html. Sponsors include the Division of Human Resources; Department of Athletics and Physical Education; and Cornell Catering.