by Mike Hoban
It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play – Adapted by Joe Landry; Directed by Damon Kiely; Music Direction by Emily Turtle; Set Design by Michael McGarty; Costume Design by Jessie Darrell Jarbadan; Lighting Design by Noah Beauregard. Presented by The Gamm Theatre, 1245 Jefferson Blvd., Warwick, RI. Through December 24th, 2021
When I was a younger man, I watched It’s a Wonderful Life on PBS for the first time with my brother, long before it became a Christmastime staple. As the credits rolled, we sat motionless on either end of the couch, trying to hide our tears from one another, without success. It was a powerful experience, and one that was recreated multiple times during the holiday season for me and millions of others through the years. So the idea that that type of magic could be reproduced on stage – in the form of a radio play no less – seemed implausible at best. But miracle of miracles, the production of It’s a Wonderful Life:A Live Radio Play, now playing at The Gamm Theatre in Warwick, RI, delivers the same deeply gratifying sensation as the original movie, largely on the strength of the almost campy performances by its stellar cast, who embrace their radio star personas with wild exuberance.
Based on the screenplay by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra, and Jo Swerling, (which was based on short story “The Greatest Gift” by Philip Van Doren Stern), It’s a Wonderful Life tells the story of George Bailey, who dreams of being a world traveler, determined to leave the small town of Bedford Falls behind to seek adventure (“You know what the three most exciting sounds in the world are? Anchor chains, plane motors, and train whistles,” he tells Uncle Billy). But the dream never materializes as George instead spends his life in unselfish service to his family and the town, elevating the lives of everyone around him. When it all falls apart and he’s at the mercy of the soulless Mr. Potter, he decides that the world would be better off if he had never been born. Enter Clarence, the bumbling “Guardian Angel Second Class”, who shows him otherwise (“You’ve been given a great gift, George, a chance to see what the world would be like without you.”). There has rarely been a film that packs the emotional wallop of It’s a Wonderful Life – the American Film Institute ranked it #1 on its list of the most inspiring films of all time – and like A Christmas Carol, the film’s message, that helping others may be life’s greatest reward, clearly shines through.
What separates the staged radio play version from that of the film is the shared experience of live theater, as well as the complete commitment by the cast and design team. From the moment you enter the theater, you’re transported back in time to the days of live radio broadcasts, as the actors gather around an upright piano in 1940’s garb, exhorting the “studio” audience at station WGAM to join them in pre-show traditional Christmas carols, which most do with glee. The cast – Tony Estrella as George Bailey, Lynsey Ford as Mary Hatch/Rose Bailey, Fred Sullivan, Jr. as Mr. Potter/Clarence, as well as Jeff Church, Helena Tafuri, Richard Noble, Emily Turtle in multiple roles, and DJ Potter as the radio effects special guy – are superb and play off each other well. Sullivan (who many may recognize from his work with Shakespeare on the Common) nearly steals the show as Mr. Potter, and Turtle is both adorable and hilarious as Zuzu. DJ Potter (no relation to the evil protagonist) augmented the pre-show “Twelve Days of Christmas” carol with an impressive display of sound effect mastery, matching each new day with an appropriate effect, even as the pace of song sped up to dizzying levels.
For those of us who have made a viewing of the movie a Christmas season ritual, it’s almost impossible not to choke up at the show’s tear-jerking scenes, even when you know what’s coming – whether it’s Clarence getting his wings or George saving Mr. Gower from giving a lethal prescription to a child when he finds out his own son has died in the war. But It’s a Wonderful Life is a joyous experience, and a great way to kick off the holiday season. See it. For tickets and information, go to: https://www.gammtheatre.org
