Gamm Presents A Warm, 'Wonderful' Holiday Treat For The Family

The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre (The Gamm) celebrates the holiday season with It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play. Adapted by Joe Landry from the screenplay by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra and Jo Swerling, this family friendly play is set in a radio studio on a snowy Christmas Eve in 1946, with radio personalities retelling the redemptive story of George Bailey. Damon Kiely, chair of performance for The Theater School at Chicago's DePaul University, makes his Gamm directorial debut transposing the movie classic from screen to stage, as if it were a live radio broadcast. A cast of 7 actors play multiple characters, with radio jingles and an onstage Foley artist creating real-time sound effects.

It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play runs December 5-22 at The Gamm Theatre, 1245 Jefferson Blvd., Warwick, RI.Tickets are $45 (regular) and $20 (child/student); preview performances (December 5-8) are $33. Season subscribers get $10 off regular-price tickets. Tickets: 401-723-4266 or gammtheatre.org.

Kiely said he's been working with Landry to customize the script for The Gamm and create a truly unique experience.

"Our show will be set in Warwick Rhode Island in the fictional WGAM radio station. We'll be advertising local businesses on our 'radio station' and making deep connections with the Gamm audience through holiday carols and on-air shout-outs. I feel excited that we have the possibility to touch so many New Englanders with the incredible story of George Bailey, the human spirit of Bedford Falls, and the joy of live radio performance," Kiely said.

Gamm Artistic Director Tony Estrella, who plays George Bailey, called It's A Wonderful Life "the heart of our 35th season." "All season long we are looking deeply at what it means to be an American," Estrella said. "George Bailey's story is a reminder that decency and selflessness are the core values of citizenship, that a community is only as strong as its most vulnerable members, and that no one is too small to matter or make a difference."

George, Clarence, and the entire town of Bedford Falls come to life in this staged 1940s radio broadcast of Frank Capra's holiday movie classic. With live sound effects and a handful of actors, the story of beleaguered building and loan owner George Bailey, and his affable helper angel, Clarence, unfolds one fateful Christmas Eve as you've never seen it before. This captivating, life-affirming story is a holiday treat for the entire family! "One of the best holiday shows around. . . .