It’s a Wonderful Life at the Civic

By Kalyn Golland
Western Herald

This holiday season, the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre is breathing new life into the Christmas classic “It’s a Wonderful Life,” as it runs on the main stage from Nov. 27 to Dec. 13.

The familiar tale of learning to appreciate the life one has is coming to Kalamazoo with a musical twist.

George Bailey and Mary Hatch will not only be crooning the familiar ballads, “Buffalo Gals” and “Auld Lang Syne,” but musical numbers will crop up through the entire show.

“The music makes sense because when music happens, this is the basic psychological thought, it happens when regular words are not enough,” said director Brad Poer. “That is what we shoot for with the actors, we want it to come from themselves.”

For Erica Adams, 22, who portrays the character Shirley, the music only enhances the story.

“The music brings new life to Bedford Falls,” she said.

For those concerned that a musical production of the story might not be consistent with the 1946 film, Poer assures that outside of the songs, the dialogue and scenes hold true to the original.

In the tale, the life of George Bailey is chronicled from his struggling working class childhood to adulthood. It is in adulthood that the optimistic Bailey grows bitter and resentful over the curveballs life has thrown him, which include keeping him tied down to the “crummy little town” he so hopes to leave.

We catch up with Bailey on Christmas Eve, just as he is deciding whether or not life would be better if he had never been born. Bailey’s guardian angel, Clarence, is sent down to earth on a mission to show Bailey the answer to his question in order to “earn his wings,” and hopefully give Bailey new insight into the life he has in Bedford Falls.

While the story has become familiar to many in the past sixty years, Poer believes there is still a new angle on Kalamazoo’s production.

“I was not looking for someone to impersonate Jimmy Stewart or Donna Reed. We wanted to have it what would it look like if it was someone from our community… we’re not trying to copy the film,” Poer said.
“The dialogue is the same, but we want the actors to put themselves in the part and not be Jimmy Stewart… we’re giving it Kalamazoo’s heart. This way it will be more personal and local, where they’re [the audience] is coming from.”

The themes of simplicity, perseverance, and new beginnings running within the story are something Poer sees as especially relevant today.

“There’s never been a more perfect time to tell this story, with the news and economy… people are looking right around them for meaning,” Poer said. “I think this message this year in particular will be something audiences will be able to relate to really easily.”

While maintaining themes that ring true no matter the season, and bringing new notes to a well-known tale, “It’s a Wonderful Life” promises to deliver its Christmas cheer.

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Posted by heraldstaff on Nov 22 2009. Filed under A & E. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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