A Wonderful Show

Radio play Based On Holiday Movie Can Be Seen On Nov. 24

Return to the days of live radio. Voices carried over the airwaves like beacons from faraway lands to ignite imaginations gathered around millions of radios.
So it goes with “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play.”
Scheduled to stage at the Paramount Center for the Arts in Bristol, Tenn. on Nov. 24, the show will not exactly transmit via the airwaves, but it sure recalls days of yore when live radio dramas dominated many a radio in many a living room.
Joe Landry wrote the play nearly 20 years ago while still in high school. A fan of the Frank Capra classic film version of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” when Landry’s interest in old-time radio shows grew, he decided to adapt his version as if it were a radio show on stage.
“It’s a lost art, writing a radio play,” Landry said last week from his home in Fairfield, Conn. “There’s a tip to nostalgia, but I also tried to keep it relevant.”
Hans Meyer directs. Quite a challenge when considering how deeply imbedded Capra’s classic has become in American society. Add to that the immensely ingratiating portrayal of down-on-his-luck and down-on-life George Bailey by James Stewart. Daunting, indeed.
“We treated the script as if it just showed up in the mail and not as a classic,” Meyer said by phone from Asheville, N.C. “We’re not trying to imitate it or Jimmy Stewart. The story is absolutely the story that everybody knows.”
And that makes the tasks of Joe Sturgeon all the more difficult. Only five actors appear on stage, but they fill the roles of about 35 parts. Sturgeon plays an astounding 16 of them.
“I play Mr. Potter, the town’s villain and Scrooge-like character,” Sturgeon said. “I also play George’s Uncle Billy, George’s father, and I play Joseph, the superintendent of angels. It’s a broad spectrum, which is great.”
Staged as if the play is being broadcast via a radio station circa 1946, the show offers audiences the opportunity to step into the past. However, staging is spartan, as would be the case if a person were to have actually attended a live radio show from the 1940s. So bring an imagination.
“Once you’re sitting there and seeing the show, it has a way of working up the imagination,” Meyer said.
Perhaps the most considerable challenge the show encounters is reaching younger audiences, folks who have probably never heard a live drama broadcast over the radio.
“I think the most immediate generation will get it faster than an older generation because of [the proliferation] of podcasts,” Sturgeon said. “Audio delivery is something they are getting right now. I think they will be very open and identify with this.”
The play’s message sure isn’t a hurdle. Set on Christmas Eve, “It’s a Wonderful Life” features the inspirational story of George Bailey, who sees his life as a failure and ventures to the brink of committing suicide. An angel sent from heaven saves him by showing him that which he has, as opposed to that which he does not.
“[The play] definitely has the emotional power of the film,” Landry said. “It’s timeless because everybody can relate with George Bailey. The message of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ is that every life is important and every life touches other people.”
Indeed it does, Sturgeon said. He has heard the sniffles from emotion drifting throughout audiences as the show’s climactic scene barrels up and overtakes perhaps even the stoutest of composures.
And he has seen their looks after the show.
“Smiles from ear to ear,” Sturgeon said. “They say, ‘I can close my eyes and imagine that I’m there, gathered right around the radio.’ For two hours, it transports you to another time and another place.”

IF YOU GO
What: “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play”
When: Nov. 24, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Paramount Center for the Arts, 518 State St., Bristol, Tenn.
Admission: $24 for adults, $20 for seniors, $12 for students
Info: (423) 274-8920
Web and audio: http://www.ncstage.org/pages/its-a-wonderful-life-returns.php (scroll down the page for several audio clips)
Note: The play will be one of several events going on during the annual Christmas Open House in downtown Bristol on Nov. 24

TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at .