Since its release in 1946, Frank Capra’s movie It’s A Wonderful Life has worked its way into the heart of the American holiday traditions around Christmas. So I imagine nearly everyone present at the Rep’s opening of It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play in the Stackner Cabaret is familiar with the story and the palpable excitement in the room is the anticipation on how is the Rep going to present all of the drama, pathos, and visual excitement of the original film on the small stage. For those of you not familiar with the story, never fear, all will be revealed!
So where should we start…well…let’s start with what we see first, Caroline Dischell’s incredible set. Completely evocative of Radio City Music Hall or the Rockefeller Center of the 1930s and 1940s, Dischell has mined the best of the Art Deco styles from the period with gilt geometric filigrees, seemingly textured and patterned wallpapers, horizontal motifs and lighting fixtures, and of course the classic ON AIR and Applause prompts sign! Welcome to the radio drama studio of WMKE (side note: was there ever a WMKE in Milwaukee? It seems like a natural but I don’t remember one).
And then director Jonathan Hetler starts the play as the house lights flash and the overhead announcer calls the cast to the stage and says that we are 10 minutes to air. And the cast members individually hurry from the back of the house to their places on the stage, waving to friends, making brief comments as they pass by, and greeting each other as old friends do. And at that moment we all magically transform from being members of the Stackner audience into the excited radio studio audience at WMKE.
One last thing before we get to the drama itself. Bobby Sharon’s costumes, just wow. The cut, the colors, the styles, are just so indicative of the period in my mind. And the hats that characters Sally Applewhite and Lana Sherwood are wearing on entry are to die for.
Places, places, and we count down three, two, one, On Air and David Flores as Freddie Filmore in his role as MC gives us the introductions and we are off and running. This gets complicated very fast because our five intrepid Rep actors play the actors at WMKE who play multiple characters in It’s A Wonderful Life. So if I misidentify a role, my apologies. Flores is a jewel as Filmore, switching from the MC role to Mr. Potter to a number other roles all at the drop of a hat. He is the most engaging actor on stage. Eva Nimmer is Sally Applewhite, and Applewhite’s main role is Mary Bailey, our protagonist’s love interest and eventual wife…but she plays a number of other roles as well. Nimmer very effectively describes the confident and secure and undaunted Mary when she is courting George and then starting the actions that save his day and then playing that same role but the Mary who never knew George Bailey and was depressed, withdrawn, and a bit fearful in her life.
Wade Elkins plays Harry Haywood who gets to play a number of prominent roles including , George’s brother, Harry Bailey. But most importantly Haywood is Clarence, the a bit confused, yet empathic, and well meaning guardian angel sent to help George through his personal trials and failings. Spot on Mr. Elkins! Melinda Parrett is Lana Sherwood…again playing multiple roles…a delightfully saucy Violet in the main story and then moving to a desolate woman in the life without George section. And then she gets to transition to Clarence’s mentor and fills in George’s backstory for Clarence and the studio audience so we understand the measure of the angel and the man, George Bailey. Although a number of actors double as Bailey children, Parrett efforts are really really cute and giggle provoking.
Jake Laurents is George Bailey and Jake Laurents is played by Daniel Arana. It is nearly impossible to play George Bailey without sounding a bit like James Stewart. And while Arana isn’t doing Stewart directly, there are hints of Jimmy in his swagger and sway, his vocal timbre, and of course he’s been made up to enhance his slight resemblance to Stewart. Arana is perfect for the role. And he easily moves from the ambitious dreamer to the practical unintended patriarch of the family to the stoic business man to the desperate lost soul we see just before the happy ending.
In my mind, an old time radio play would be actors sitting at tables in front of microphones with foley sound effect masters at one end and the musicians at the other. But that’s just for the radio…here we have a play…so it feels more like a staged reading as the players move front to center to stage left or right to interact as they recite their dialogue. And the actors all take turns playing the accompaniment on the piano and perform the sound effects…from police whistles to clomping feet to chimes to balloon pops to uncounted door slams! Part of the humor inherent in Hetler’s staging is the over the top actions employed when the actors are creating the various sound effects. Voila. But I fear for the longevity of the two front and center microphones as they are repeatedly adjusted up and down to accommodate the varied height of the cast.
Yes there is a happy ending as nurture and friendship wins out over greed and avarice and love once again conquers all.
And I almost forgot to mention that there are ads within the radio broadcast of our play within the play. They are ingenious and refer back to the movie and to the city of WMKE!
It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play will be presented by the Milwaukee Rep in their Stackner Cabaret Theater until December 21, 2025. Ticket information here!
Running Time: Approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes with no intermission. Recommended Age: 10 and up
Extra Credit Reading: The Playbill!
