Northern Stage’s “It’s A Wonderful Life”

For your listening pleasure

‘Tis the season once again to stroll the streets of Bedford Falls. If you were around in the mid-1970s, you may remember that due to a glitch in its copyright renewal, the 1946 film It’s A Wonderful Life (photo, below) entered into the public domain, which meant TV stations could broadcast it cheaply. And they did, over and over again throughout the holiday season. I know. I watched it dozens of times then and yearly forever after.

I sat down to listen to the current Northern Stage production, It’s a Wonderful Life: A Radio Play. Having grown up in the era of television rather than radio, I felt disconcerted with nowhere to rest my eyes. So at times I closed them, and realized that the images from the film flowed effortlessly through my mind—a visual complement to the snappy dialogue of Northern Stage actors as they re-created the story of George Bailey and his search for meaning in the small town life of Bedford Falls.

Who better for the role of the dastardly Mr. Potter than Tom Ford, cast as the even more dastardly Miss Trunchbull in Northern Stage’s Matilda? Ford’s Potter is still the man you love to hate. As for actor Max Samuels, perhaps we will never know if he was even a tiny bit daunted to step into the shoes of Jimmy Stewart, but he delivers a convincing and energetic performance. His George Bailey speaks in a similar Stewartish folksy cadence, whether awkwardly flirting with Mary (played winningly by Brittany Bellizeare) or giving voice to Bailey’s despair in the famous scene on the bridge. Director Carol Dunne is cast in multiple roles (as is true of most if not all of the cast), acting both as George’s mother Rose Bailey and as the crotchety, eavesdropping Mrs. Hatch.

The play runs for approximately 90 minutes and all of the beloved major and minor players are there: Harry Bailey and his new wife, Mr. Gower the pharmacist, the Martinis moving into their new home. It’s all a pleasure to revisit, and the teary ending survives with a particular resonance during what some might call this annus horribilis. And as a bonus, the production includes musical, home-grown commercials between acts.

There are a few scenes that were left on the cutting room floor in the made-for-radio version. Part of the fun is figuring out which those are. The sound effects, manufactured in-house, are spot on—the rock thrown through the window of the old Granville house, for example, and of course, the tinkling when the apprentice angel Clarence gets his . . .well, you know.

It’s A Wonderful Life: A Radio Play is streaming on demand at Northern Stage until January 3, 2021. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact the box office or check out the website. Click here to see the playbill. Photo, top, of the cast in production courtesy of Northern Stage.

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Susan B. Apel retired from a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word.