Chances are that, as you’re flipping through channels in the coming days, you’ll catch snippets of George Bailey and Uncle Billy or perhaps hear the classic line: “Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.” “It’s A Wonderful Life” has become such a Christmas staple that many of us may keep channel surfing when it graces our TVs.
But a stage production is now bringing all the magic of the film to life in a way that will likely gift to audiences a new appreciation for the story and its lessons.
New Hope’s Bucks County Playhouse is staging “It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Broadcast” through Dec. 27. For film fans (or those who are not), the play is not a straight-forward rehashing of the movie; instead, the story is set in a 1940s radio station, headquartered in Doylestown, that is producing a reading of the film.
The small-town charm of “It’s A Wonderful Life” is mirrored by the setting of the stage production, which opens with a lengthy and impressive medley of holiday songs as the cast readies for its radio show. Once the reading gets underway, the audience is transformed from the station into the world of “It’s A Wonderful Life,” with the five actors deftly portraying the whole cast of the film’s characters. The storyline stays true to that of the film, walking through adventurous George Bailey’s struggle to break free from his small town and his eventual tribulations that led him to wish he was never born. Clarence the angel gives George an illuminating look at what Bedford Falls would be like without him, bringing the play to its heartwarming end (we’ll leave out the spoilers if there happens to be one or two people in the world who’ve never seen the film).
Though the concept of actors reading film dialogue before a line of microphones may not sound visually appealing, the play carries it off adeptly. The actors themselves are so skilled at differentiating among the many characters they play that it makes the audience feel as though they’re seeing a show with a cast of 30, instead of just five. The dialogue is also enhanced with the addition of live sound effects, carried out in a booth on stage: buckets of splashing water as George’s younger brother almost drowns, clicking heels as town floozy Violet traipses by and glass breaking when Uncle Billy takes one of his spills.
The acting, coupled with the effects, makes the audience feel not like they’re watching the film, but rather that they’re inside of it. The strength of the classic story is already there, and the way in which it is brought to life makes it even more enjoyable.