Lifted from a suicidal depression, George Bailey is a man with a reawakened appreciation of his life and the people he loves. By showing George what Bedford Falls and numerous loved ones would have been like if George had never been born, Clarence manages to turn him around. When the accidental loss of $8,000 leaves George on the verge of disaster, he contemplates killing himself and is saved by Clarence, George’s slightly bumbling 292-year-old guardian angel.
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He plans to see the world and build skyscrapers or something else huge when he grows up but circumstances keep him at home.
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#It's a wonderful life radio play movie#
As fans of the movie know, George has grown up in Bedford Falls, an idyllic small town, determined to get out. The play works like a fable, sort of a “Christmas Carol” in reverse: Instead of a mean old man being shown scenes of happiness, we have a hero who plunges into despair. Five actors perform the dozens of characters in the radio play as well as produce the sound effects. This production is performed as a 1940s live radio broadcast in front of a studio audience. It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play by Joe Landry was inspired by the classic American film by Frank Capra. From the Town of Jonesborough: In accordance with current CDC guidance, masks are kindly requested for all patrons attending our performances.The Ivoryton Playhouse Holiday show runs until December 17th. To purchase tickets, call the Historic Jonesborough Visitors Center at 42 or go online to . Tickets are $17 general admission, $15 for students and seniors. There is also a special group rate for parties of 15 or more. Shows run Thursday through Sunday, November 4-7. The show is sponsored by Denny Dentistry and Sonia King. Cast members are Becky Edmisten, Paul Fagan, Janette Gaines, John Guerrasio, Mika Hoilman, Caleb Knisley, Emma Montag, Jonathan Schmidt, and Joel VanEaton. “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play” is written by Joe Landry, directed by Tom Flagg (a former Broadway actor), and stage managed by Audrey Holley. You don’t know what they’re listening to, but you can tell they’re enrapt with it. Imagine those folks gathered around that radio, listening. “Imagine your parents or grandparents or great-grandparents,” Flagg urged, “back in the ’40s sitting around a radio: listening to the news from the warfront, listening to entertainment, listening to comedy, listening to dramas. There’s also the nostalgia and “good feelings” of being a family back in the olden days, sitting around a radio listening to the broadcasts. You won’t be able to see all that you’ll need to imagine it.” You won’t see Bailey Park where all those nice little houses were built. You won’t see that big old ramshackle house that George and Mary restore. “I would ask the audience that just for a minute,” Flagg said, “to close your eyes and think about what you’re hearing and then imagine, because you won’t be able to see the bridge where George is threatening to jump off. What you’ll hear in the radio show is what you would see in the film. That’s what we’ll create the actors will paint a picture of their character, and of their story.”īecause in a radio play you can’t show what’s happening, a lot more exposition is necessary to tell it, to render a picture of what’s happening. But he was so scintillating and the character he created was so real, you kind of forgot you were just watching a guy talk. “When we moved to Jonesborough, we went to the Storytelling Festival,” Flagg remembered, “and we were in a tent with 1000 people to watch somebody talk. And is there a better place to see storytelling come to life than in the Storytelling Capital of the World? The seven actors will bring to life 23 different characters. This show takes the audience back 75 years to a 1940s radio studio.
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So, when people auditioned for this show, I had them stand behind a screen so I couldn’t see them. And to enhance the story, they had great voices. They got enveloped in the story, because it was all about the story. People listened to the radio, and they used their imagination. “In 1946, radio was still king,” said the show’s director, Tom Flagg.
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Running for just one weekend at the Jonesborough Repertory Theatre is a unique presentation of the classic story, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Tap into your imagination as you hear the story unfold as if sitting around a radio in the 1940s.