Highly Recommended **** One knows when the holidays are approaching from the theater marquees in town. The Goodman is known for “A Christmas Carol” and American Blues Theater ( no matter where they call home) does it’s radio show presentation of “It’s a Wonderful Life: Live From Chicago!” ( where I appear each year as Santa in one or two performances). Well, the holidays are here and due to Covid 19, the theaters are closed, but thanks to the brilliant minds and technology, we can still enjoy these holiday treats. The Goodman will stream last year’s production and the American Blues Theater company will use ZOOM to bring their powerful holiday story to each and every home “live”!
I have watched and participated in this company’s production over the years and no matter how many times I have seen it, I have always loved it! After all, this is a radio version of Frank Capra’s film “It’s A Wonderful Life” ( which may have been the first “Hallmark Christmas Movie” before there was a Hallmark. The story has all the emotions and feelings to convey the holiday spirit. It is romantic, funny, sad, festive and has a moral. It is for many the true spirit of the season, and over the years, the performance by this theater company has brought the spirit to many people of all walks of life. In this year, 2020, with all we have been living through, this play ( and production) may be more uplifting than ever before!
In this era of ZOOM, the production is set a little differently than in the past. While designed to have the audience feel that they are in an actual radio studio , circa 1944, where they will watch the actors bring this story to life, we are sitting in our own homes, as are the actors. The screen is filled with many boxes as we approach “curtain” and each of the actors is introduced as they join us. At this point we are kind of greeting each other as Mike Mahler ( pianist, announcer and others) along with his wife, Dara Cameron(Violet and others) bring us some holiday music. They are together and have their home set up to resemble ( somewhat) a radio station. Since each actor is home, the actual radio station part of the production gets a little lost, but the production and performance far outweighs this .
The cast has changed slightly from years past, but as always ABT finds just the right people to bring these characters to life. New to the cast are Audrey Billings playing Mary Bailey ( and others) and Manny Buckley ( Joseph and others), both doing quality jobs. Ms Billings was being observed by several others who had preceded her over the years including director Gwendolyn Whiteside who has played the role several times. Ms Billings was up to the task. Buckley has a great voice and is able to bring several characters to life with just his vocal range ( and the use of a cap).
Returning to the cast in addition to Cameron and Mahler ( who is also the musical director) are Ian Paul Custer ( Harry and others), John Mohrlein ( Clarence and the evil Mr. Potter), who I believe has been doing these parts for all 19 years, Shawn J. Goudie who handles the Floey ( and plays a few speaking roles this year) and of course Brandon Dahlquist as George Bailey. Yes, eight actors bring the entire world of Bedford Falls to life and while it is only 80 minutes of theater, it is a lifetime of memories for your family.
Each actor is working from their home and while it is harder as they cannot play off each other or the audience response ( they turn your mikes off during the performance) they do a bang-up job. I think, for the experience, one of te things they might want to alter during the run is allowing the audience to see the Foley at work. The Foley does the sound effects and Goudie is brilliant at this. Perhaps his square could be left open so those interested can see just how the sounds come alive.
This is a slick production even away from the studio on Belmont and while we do not leave with cookies and milk, we do leave with a smile on our faces, warmth in our hearts and knowledge that next year, this time, we can go back to the theater and see this show again, LIVE!
To catch “It’s A Wonderful Life” , again LIVE, it will be running through January 2nd with performances as follows:
Wednesdays 7 p.m. except December 2, 9 and 16)
Thursdays 7:00 p.m. Except 11/26
Fridays 7:00 p.m. ( except 11/27, 12/25 and 1/1/2021)
Saturdays 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
Sundays 3:00 p.m.
additional
November 25th , Wednesday 7:00 p.m.
November 27th 4:30 p.m.
December 6th 3 p.m.
December 21st 7:00 p.m.
December 30th 7:00 p.m.
December 31st at 4:00 p.m.
ON DECEMBER 24th, Santa will appear! December 11th Hanukkah will be celebrated and December 27th, Kwanza
To order your opportunity to witness this production call 773-654-3103
Tickets range from $25-$55
Arrive 15 minutes early for the fun with the players. Visit www.americanbluestheater.com
To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “It’s a Wonderful Life: Live in Chicago!”.
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