It’s A Wonderful Life From Kayenta to Cedar City!
The SimonFest Theatre Company returns with its masterful, nostalgic, heartwarming Christmas classic, It’s a Wonderful Life. “We had such fun last season,” says director Richard Bugg. “And what better story to revisit at Christmas time, than one that reaffirms the importance of every individual’s life — and in such a charming and heartening way.”
It’s a Wonderful Life – a Live Radio Play is a stage recreation of a 1947 live radio play broadcast based on the beloved 1946 film starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. Audiences will watch a cast of eight create all the character voices and sounds needed for an old-time radio show, just as if they were part of the original airing on Lux Radio Theater.
The role of Clarence, the Angel will be played by an actual Clarence — Clarence Gilyard of film and television fame. Recreating the roles of Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed (George Bailey and Mary Hatch) will be husband and wife team, Jaymes Wheeler and Alyson King. Mr. Potter, and a handful of other characters, will be voiced by Richard Bugg, founder of SimonFest and director of this production. Creating a myriad of other characters and Foley sound effects for the production will be actors, Holly Barrick, Phillip Jensen, Maximillian Gilyard, and Peter Gilyard.
This radio play adaptation was originally mounted at Stamford Center for the Arts in 1996 and has been performed there since with great success. It was at Stamford that the play was fine-tuned and took shape. Through word of mouth alone, productions have since taken place around the country, including the noted Chicago premiere at American Theatre Company.
“Last Christmas,” continues Bugg, “while amid the pandemic, we felt the need to do some live theatre. What better way than through a radio play in which the actors all stand at their own microphones and create through sound effects and vocal characterizations this great story. The pure art of storytelling is the cure for our ennui, our sorrows, our anxieties, and yes, even our incivilities. Please come share this experience with us, as we take a journey of laughter and empathy.”
It’s a Wonderful Life – a Live Radio Play, by Joe Landry, will play at both the Center for the Arts at Kayenta (December 16th and 17th at 7:30 pm,) and at the Heritage Center Theater in Cedar City (December 20th, 21st, and 22nd at 7 PM.).
For tickets to the Kayenta performances, call 435-674-ARTS or visit the website: KayentaArts.com and for tickets to the Cedar City performances, call 435-267-0194, or visit the website: SimonFest.org
