The Village Players will bring a beloved holiday classic to the stage this December.
It’s a Wonderful Life, A Live Radio Play will take The Village Players stage Dec. 13 through Dec. 15.
The play is an adaptation of Frank Capra’s 1945 classic holiday film. Joe Landry, the writer of the play, revamped the story as a live radio broadcast.
“This beloved American holiday classic comes to captivating life as a live 1940’s radio broadcast. With the help of an ensemble that brings a few dozen characters to the stage, the story of idealistic George Bailey unfolds as he considers ending his life one fateful Christmas Eve,” Playscripts writes.
A classic with a twist
The play tells the classic story of It’s A Wonderful Life with a twist. In this adaptation, 1940’s movie and radio actors tell the story of It’s A Wonderful Life during a live radio broadcast.
Actors will play both 1940s characters as well as take on radio roles playing It’s A Wonderful Life characters.
“The actors play 1940s movie and radio personalities that have come together on Christmas Eve to tell the story of its wonderful life in this radio studio in front of a live audience,” Dave Nelms, director of It’s A Wonderful Life, A Live Radio Play said. “So it’s kind of like you see their radio personalities and then you see all their characters that they play within It’s a Wonderful Life in the style that you would see if you were in a radio studio in 1945 watching people perform a radio play.”
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Nelms has been involved in Toledo’s theater scene for around 45 years.By day he is a light designer. He is on the Village Board of Directors as well as the Actors Collaborative Toledo Board of Directors. This will be Nelms 8th time being involved with this particular show.
“It’s just a unique show, because it’s a kind of a play within a play,” Nelms said.
Not only is the show itself unique, but the set, sound and costume design brings a distinctive feel to the show.
“They’re all in 40s period clothing. It’s a period set for a radio studio. All the sound effects are done live on stage by a foley artist,” Nelms said. “The music is done by just the piano player and then the cast for all the background music. And there’s a couple like commercial jingles and stuff in the 40s radio style. It’s a lot of fun.”
An “applaud sign,” traditionally used in radio and TV to cue clapping, will also signal audience members when to applaud throughout the show. “On Air” signs are also used during the play.
Village Players’ interpretation
The Village Players adaptation of It’s A Wonderful Life, A Live Radio Play, will be different from other adaptations of the show, as they have staged it more as a play than the traditional radio show.
“The characters are moving around. Sometimes they have the, you know, the radio scripts in their hand. Sometimes they don’t,” Nelms said. “In the 40s, the radio, you know, in the studios, the characters would come and go to the microphones, and they’d be in the back with coffee and cigarettes, and they come up and they have their pages. So you’re seeing what it’s like to be in the studio at the time. Shows people performing.”
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Only five actors will be playing the It’s A Wonderful Life characters, according to Nelms.
“So they’re doing other dialects, other voices, and they’re performing, you know, different characters back to back,” Nelms said. “So that they’re constantly changing characters and changing voices, changing dialects. It’s a challenge for an actor, and they have to be able to sing.”
Tickets to It’s A Wonderful Life, A Live Radio Play can be purchased on The Village Players website for $20 or $15 for students.
“I just want people to come and enjoy this holiday classic. You know, have a little cheer in their life and walk out with a smile on their face,” Nelms said.
For more information on It’s A Wonderful Life, A Live Radio Play, visit thevillageplayers.org.
