A classic Christmas story that’s become a popular on-stage production was performed at Russell Sage College in Troy this month in a unique way. In the fifth part of WAMC’s holiday News Series, Southern Adirondack Bureau Chief Lucas Willard reports on a staged radio play of “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
“We are live in five, four, three…”
“WBFR in New York City…”
The theater at Schacht Fine Arts Center at Russell Sage College has been transformed into a 1940s New York City radio station. Actors in vintage costumes gather around a pair of microphones preparing for tonight’s program.
“Good evening ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to a live broadcast of WBFR Playhouse of the Air. We thank you for braving the winter this Christmas Eve and you’ll be glad you did when you hear the story we have for you tonight, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’”
“It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play” is an adaptation of the classic 1946 film starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed.
Tonight is the final dress rehearsal. David Baecker is the director.
“You’re standing in WBFR stations in New York and there are five actors who come on stage, plus a Foley artist, to do the piece. So, you’re seeing it from the actors’ point of view but hopefully as the play goes on you start to believe they are the characters or they are the many characters they play,” says Baecker.
Sage theater major Cameron Richardson is playing WBFR announcer Freddie Filmore.
“I also play a number of characters within the actual story, like Billy and Potter and Ernie the Cab Driver and a couple other ones…”
For his main role in the play, Freddie Filmore, Richardson says he did some homework.
“I do listen to a lot of old radio shows like the show ‘Suspense’ and stuff like that, I’ve listened to a lot, to try to get the voice and atmosphere right for it,” says Richardson.
And that includes perfecting that mid-Century American accent.
“Hello darling, how are you?”
Sage student Gabrille Gellys is playing the actor playing Mary Hatch Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
“It was definitely very weird at first, honestly, because you want to do so much and interact, like physical…touch, like, people,” says Gellys. “So it was definitely weird to just stand there, speak into a mic…”
Earlier this year, Sage produced another on-stage radio play with the 39 Steps. But unlike that performance, “It’s a Wonderful Life” is being readied for a live audience. And this production features no shortage of sound and Foley effects created live on stage.
Again, Cameron Richardson….
“I’m just really excited for people to get a chance see how the sounds are made and really process that, ‘Oh, if you put a cup into a bowl of cornflakes, it sounds like someone walking through snow.’”
“…So, that would be walking footsteps.”
Zachary Ziperstein is the show’s Foley artist. During the production, he stands at a table behind the actors that is covered in unusual-looking props to create a whole manner of sound effects. He picks up a plunger that’s sitting in a bucket of water.
“This is for falling into the water, and it…you kind of need to do a little noise thing to like…ambulate jumping in the water…”
There’s a pair of wingtip shoes on the table.
And a bell to simulate a telephone.
And a set of jingle bells for one of the show’s famous lines.
“’Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings,’ so. And then it would be like that…”
While there’s only one on-stage Foley artist, thunder, car noises, and other sound effects are played over the sound system.
“I’m getting help sometimes with like a few, you know, stuff during the show, so I kind of feel lucky in that way that people are helping me because I’m just running around all over the place, but I have appreciation for people that do this,” says Ziperstein.
It all comes together during the production. Here’s a moment in the play when character George Bailey uses his honeymoon fund to keep his family’s Building and Loan open for a crowd making a run on the bank.
“Five seconds, four seconds, three, two, one…Six o’clock! We made it! Lock that door, Uncle Billy! Boy. We’re still in business. And we even got two bucks left!”
The story told in two-and-a-half hours on film runs about an hour-and-a-half on stage.
On this night of the last dress rehearsal, Baecker believes the show is coming together well.
“I really do think you’ll enjoy young people work on this material. Because we’re used to seeing it with Jimmy Stewart, we’re used to seeing it in black and white, we’re used to seeing it the same way. They bring a freshness to it. They bring a surprising insight to the characters, which is fun, and it’s a good way to kick off the holiday season,” said Baecker.
Actors Richardson and Gellys are also ready to welcome audiences.
“I think they’re going to be hopefully transported to the 1940s and feel like a viewer from that time and experience a live production, as if it were taking place in the ‘40s,” says Richardson.
“I think the overall message of the show is really something that you should take away, that everything happens for a reason and you are part of this whole bigger concept of just ‘lovely world’ that we all live in, and I think that’s the most important thing that people should take away from the show,” says Gellys.
“It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play” was performed at Russell Sage College in Troy from December 3rd to 5th.
To hear all the stories in WAMC’s holiday News Series, visit WAMC.org.
