There are two creative performances playing in the Spindle City this holiday season. At the Cohoes Music Hall, the C-R Productions crew has brought to life a Christmas classic - A Wonderful Life, the Musical. And the Spendwood Dance studio is putting on The Nutcracker but, as they put it, with a little pizzazz (if that's how you spell pizzazz) and to raise money for charity.

One of our photographers at The Record observed that maybe The Cohoes Music Hall decided on A Wonderful Life for other reasons than it being a holiday story. Maybe people in this economy can relate with the Baileys' money problems in the 1945 movie. And maybe people want to see a musical of this to escape their own world for a while. Or maybe they just knew it was Mayor John McDonald's favorite movie?

Whatever the reason...it's showing through Dec. 18 with Thurs., Fri. and Sat. shows at 8pm and Sat./Sun. at 3pm. More information can be found here.

You can also check out the annual Spendwood School of Dance and Gymnastics holiday pageant of The Nutcracker Story. Along with being entertaining, the show is also a charity benefit which has raised $38,000 over the past seven years for organizations like Clothe-A-Child, C-R Kids, the Cohoes Music Hall, the Open Door Community Center of Cohoes, and the Cohoes Senior Center.

The next show is Dec. 18 at 7pm at the Cohoes Music Hall. Tickets are on sale at 50 Johnston Ave. in Cohoes, where the dance studio is located. For more information, go here.