The Garfield Center for the Arts is pleased to announce its special holiday production of “Live from WVL Radio, It’s a Wonderful Life.” Willie Repoley’s stage adaptation of the classic Frank Capra film is delivered as a 1940’s radio broadcast, recreating the old time nostalgia of a time before TV, DVDs and iPods. “It’s a Wonderful Life,” portrays the uplifting tale of everyman, George Bailey, as he comes to realize just how blessed he is when he gets a chance to see what life would have been like if he had never been born. This traditional holiday story, set in the sleepy little town of Bedford Falls (which so many have transposed as our own Chestertown), is about neighbors, friends and family and the difference one person’s life can make on so many others.
It is a cold and stormy night at WVL Radio and a winter blizzard has prevented the regular cast members from getting to work. With the station’s fate in the balance, a daring band of just four actors must perform over 30 roles to prevent the radio station from foreclosure. This story-within-a-story mirrors the drama of George Bailey and the residents of Bedford Falls, as they rediscover the joy of community connectedness.
Directed by Prince Theatre veterans Diane & Jim Landskroener, the cast is made up of talents both familiar and new to the Prince Theatre stage. Making her Garfield Center Debut is Washington College student Rachel Dilliplane. Theatre Executive Director, Lucia Foster returns to her own stage for the first time in two years, and is joined by Carrington Ritchie and John Lesser, who entertained audiences as brothers Teddy and Mortimer in “Arsenic & Old Lace” last spring. Surprises and laughs are sure to unfold as each actor is challenged with creating multiple roles without the use of costume or scene changes.
Thanks to the generosity of the theatre’s new namesake, Matt Garfield, complimentary tickets are offered to active duty members of the armed services as well as fire, rescue and police personnel from Kent and Queen Anne’s counties. This offer of complimentary tickets is available for all Garfield Center productions through the end of September 2012 (Reservations and ID required).
The show will greet audiences for the Holiday Season over two weekends, November 26-27 and December 2-4. For tickets or more information visit the theatre’s new website at www.garfieldcenter.org or call 410-810-2060.