IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE Comes to the Eklund Opera Program

Composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer's opera adaptation of the classic holiday film "It's a Wonderful Life" returns home to the Eklund Opera Program Nov. 15-17.

Heggie and Scheer first workshopped their opera at the College of Music's CU New Opera Workshop (CU NOW) in the summer of 2016, where opera faculty and students spent three weeks digging into and revising a draft of the piece. This fall, after several runs around the country, Heggie and Scheer have brought the opera back to campus for a full-scale production in Macky Auditorium.

A few small tweaks have been made to the story told in the 1946 Frank Capra movie of the same name. Guardian angel Clarence, for example, has been rewritten as Clara. But the story's main points were already well-suited to an opera format.

"At its core, there's a man thinking of taking his life because he doesn't recognize his value on the planet. With magic realism, an angel comes and intervenes and shows him the value of his life. There is a great sense of redemption. Those are all great elements for an operatic landscape," Heggie said.

"It's a beautiful story with a big message. The film captures it indelibly in this one way, but it lends itself well to telling on the stage as well. I'm very excited about it."

Tickets are available at cupresents.org, by phone at 303-492-8008 and in person at the box office (972 Broadway) Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.