Backcountry film festival

Celebrate the human-powered experience during the Winter Wildlands Alliance Backcountry Film Festival, brought to you by Mammoth Nordic. The event starts at 6 p.m. this Friday, Jan. 20, at the Forest Service Auditorium in Mammoth Lakes. Enter the raffle to have a chance to win the grand prize of a  6-day Nordic ski trip to Winthrop, Wash. Entry tickets are $10 presale, available at Access Art & Business Center, and $15 at the door. Details at mammothnordic.com.

“Weather is for the Birds”

Could you survive in the bird world? Explore the world of birds during “This Weather Is For The Birds,” a 30-minute interactive program. This family program will engage all your senses as you compare yourself to a bird.

Program starts at 2 p.m. this Saturday, Jan. 21, at the Mammoth Lakes Welcome Center on Hwy 203, at the entrance to Mammoth Lakes. The free presentation is sponsored by the U.S. Forest Service, Eastern Sierra Interpretive Association, the National Parks Service, and Mammoth Lakes Tourism.

OHV vehicle grant open house

The Inyo National Forest and Bishop Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will be requesting grant funds from the State of California Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation division for the purpose of enhancing and managing motorized recreation in this area.

The agencies will hold an informal Open House from 4-6 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 30, at the Forest Service/BLM office located at 351 Pacu Lane in Bishop. Representatives from the two agencies will be available to answer questions about potential grants and to receive your ideas about the types of projects and other opportunities which could be funded through these grants.

For more information, or if you have special needs for accommodation in order to participate, call Marty Hornick, Forest Trails Coordinator, at 760.873.2461 or Rich Williams, BLM Recreation Planner, at 760.872.5033.

Edison lends you a tenor

There’s no better way to start off 2012 at the Edison Theatre than with a riotous, door-slamming, dress-dropping, mixed-up-identity farce: Ken Ludwig’s “Lend Me a Tenor!”

It’s Sept. 8, 1934, and Cleveland’s premiere opera producer is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The tickets are sold, the stage is set, and the 30-piece orchestra is warming up. But, it’s about to become “un disastro gigantesco.” With three minutes to curtain, “Il Stupendo,” the world’s greatest tenor, is missing! And that’s only in the first five minutes! Love, lust, laughter, romance, chases, champagne and opera — all in one show!

The local cast features Chuck Scatolini as Tito Merelli, the great Italian Tenor also known as “Il Stupendo;” Greg Young is the scheming opera manager Mr. Saunders; Tim Casey is Max, Saunders’ mousy assistant, who dreams of an operatic career and who’s in love with Saunders’ daughter, Maggie played by Erica Sutch, who in turn is infatuated with “Il Stupendo.”

Alice Suszynski plays Julia the overexcited chairman of the opera board; Lynne Blanche is the sexy soprano, Diana; Jim Marcotte plays the star-struck bellhop; and Juliana Olinka is “Il Stupendo’s” jealous wife, Maria.

“Lend Me a Tenor,” plays Feb. 9-26, for three weekends, on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings at 7 p.m., and on Sunday afternoons at 4 p.m. Tickets: $20 General Admission, $18 for Seniors and Students.

Reservations, group sales, gift-giving and fundraiser opportunities: contact Shira Dubrovner at 760.934.6592 or shira@mammothlakesfoundation.org.