REVIEW: Lyceum Theatre Closes Their 2009 Season with Charming Presentation of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE - A LIVE RADIO PLAY

The 2009 season for the Lyceum Theatre draws to a close with It's a Wonderful Life - A Live Radio Play. This is a unique take on the familiar holiday film classic that's been reworked for the stage by Joe Landry; in this case as a radio dramatization. What's interesting to me is that it was quite common during the golden age of radio to adapt current movies for the airwaves, and that was actually done back in the 1940's with Frank Capra's timeless feature. So, you're essentially viewing a fictionalized version of an event that genuinely occurred at some point. And, it's a perfectly charming and delightful experience.

The plot is basically the same as the movie; except that we're watching the actors perform the material as part of a special Christmas Eve broadcast. Naturally, that means that we get interruptions for clever, retro styled commercials, like the one for Bremel, a product that's supposed to get rid of dandruff, as well as one for Dove soap. Sandwiched around these amusing gems is the story of George Bailey. Even though some of the more visual items have been excised, all of the other characters and elements are present, including: his lovely wife Mary; the evil Mr. Potter; loud-mouthed Sam Wainwright; sexy siren, Violet; bumbling Uncle Billy; and, of course, Clarence the angel, who's sent down to earth to stop George from committing suicide by showing him what life in Bedford Falls would have been like if he never existed.

Jacob Knoll and Liz Ali take on the roles of George and Mary, respectively, and both do a nice job bringing these characters to life for the air. Knoll brings out the earnest and good hearted qualities that we've come to expect from George, while Ali nicely understates her work as Mary. Ames Adamson, Anne Marie Bills, and Quin Gresham take on the rest of the cast, and utilizing a wide variety of dialects, do stellar work in their various guises. Adamson also warms up the audience and handles announcing chores as Freddie Fillmore.

It's a tribute to the power of the original story, and Peter Bennett's light directorial touch, that this staging still packs some of the emotional impact of the original. He's aided by Randy Winder's straight-forward lighting scheme, as well as his scenic design, which recreates a vintage station from the 1940's. Garth Dunbar's period costumes also help to set the proper mood.

If I have any qualms at all, it's that I anticipated there being more behind the scenes action, but the script really focuses on delivering the original plot, managing to condense it down to a tidy 90 minutes.

It's a Wonderful Life - A Live Radio Play continues through November 22, 2009 at the Lyceum Theatre in Arrow Rock, MO.

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