SUNDAY, 12/20 2pm (In Person) SOLD OUT!
MTC MainStage presents
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY
Adapted for the Stage by Joe Landry
from the Screenplay by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra and Jo Swerling
Sound Design by Will Atkin
Lighting Design by RJ Romeo
Scenic Design by Jessie Lizotte
Costume Design by Diane Vanderkroef
Stage Managed by Lou Ursone
Directed by Kevin Connors
MTC MainStage presents
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE:
A LIVE RADIO PLAY
December 10-20, 2020
Thursdays at 7pm, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 2pm & 8pm, Sundays at 2pm. All times are EST.
In person performances at MUSIC THEATRE OF CONNECTICUT
509 Westport Avenue (Route 1) in Norwalk
(Click here for directions)
Live streamed performances will be shown online through a link provided to ticket holders prior to their show.
Runtime: 1 hour and 30 minutes with no intermission
For In Person tickets please call the Box Office at 203-454-3883
In Person Discount:
About
The holiday classic brought to life as a live 1940s radio broadcast. A perfect holiday treat for the entire family!
Hailed as “magical” by The Boston Globe and “ fresh and inventive” by the Chicago Sun-Times, It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play transposes the cinematic classic (and holiday television tradition) to the theater by staging the story as if it was a live radio broadcast in front of a studio audience. Five actors perform the voices of dozens of characters while creating foley sound effects. As in the movie, everyman George Bailey must learn that “no man is a failure who has friends” (and a little divine intervention), when he must face off against local robber baron (and all around curmudgeon) Henry F. Potter. It’s “a surefire reminder of what this season is all about” (Edge Magazine).
Production Photos
All photos courtesy of Alex Mongillo
Who’s Who
Elissa DeMaria (Sally Applewhite)
is ecstatic to return to the MTC stage to bring joy through theatre during these trying times. Select previous credits include Jekyll & Hyde (Lucy), Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey - CCC nomination), Next to Normal (Natalie), Marvelous Wonderettes (Swing), Kiss Me Kate (Lois/Bianca). Elissa is a teacher at MTC and a proud Point Park University alum. Now and always, for Louise. @eee.lissa
Matt Grasso (Jake Laurents)
is beyond grateful to be returning to the MTC stage after two long years. He is so thankful to Kevin and Jimmy for keeping theatre alive in such a unique time. Matthew's recent credits include: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Zebulun, ACT of CT), A Christmas Carol: A Live Radio Play (Jake Laurent's, MTC), The Bridges of Madison County (Michael, MTC), Big River (Young Fool, Oldcastle Theatre Company).
Jeff Gurner (Freddie Filmore)
has appeared at MTC in Ragtime, Jekyll & Hyde and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Broadway and Off-Broadway credits include The Lion King, Five Course Love, The London Cuckolds, The Man of Destiny. Regional: The Music Man (Goodspeed), Billy Elliot (Gateway Playhouse), Peter & the Starcatcher (Pioneer Theatre Company), A Christmas Story (St. Louis Rep), A Prayer for Owen Meany (Playmakers Rep), Harold & Maude The Musical (Papermill Playhouse), Brimstone (Berkshire Theatre Festival), Buddy! (The Ordway), Pump Boys & Dinettes (Cherry County Playhouse). TV: Homeland, The Good Wife, Nurse Jackie, Law & Order: SVU/Criminal Intent, Mercy, Rescue Me, Third Watch.
Jim Schilling (Harry “Jazzbo” Heywood)
co-founded Music Theatre of CT in 1987 and is currently MTC’s Managing Director and Director of the School of Performing Arts. MTC acting credits include Jacques Brel is Alive and Well..., Three Guys Naked from the Waist Down, Yours, Anne, It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, Doubt, Almost, Maine, God of Carnage, The Fantasticks, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, The 39 Steps, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and most recently Sylvia. He was nominated for a CT Critics Circle award for Herr Shultz in Cabaret and winner of the BroadwayWorld award for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. He continues as a Blue Ribbon Panelist for the Daytime Emmy Awards, and is on the voting committee for the SAG awards, and a member of “Who’s Who in the American Theatre” from 1991-present. Jim was also an adjunct professor at Sacred Heart University (Advanced Acting, Advanced Scene Study, Script Analysis and Directing) where he was recently nominated Best Director of a musical for his work on Godspell.
KEVIN CONNORS (Director, Executive Artistic Director & Co-Founder) Off-Broadway: Play Like a Winner (NYMF award-winner), Prime Time Prophet, Jukebox Saturday Night, The Abandoned Loves of Frederick R., Life Anonymous, Lover: The Valentino Musical, Babes Off Broadway, Saloon and Suzy Q. Selected regional productions: The Fantasticks, It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, Babes in Toyland, A Christmas Carol and Baby; with such stars as Joan Rivers, James Naughton, and Johnny Mathis. He has directed over 100 MTC Equity MainStage productions including Next to Normal, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, Cabaret, Little Shop of Horrors, Evita, Doubt, Master Class, Gypsy, (all Connecticut Critics’ Circle Award Nominations/Winners), and It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, (Moss Hart Award Winner). BroadwayWorld Award Winner as Best Director for MTC’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Connecticut Critics’ Circle Best Director winner for MTC’s Ragtime, and recipient of the Tom Killen Award for Outstanding Contribution to Connecticut Professional Theatre. As a composer he has penned the score for numerous musicals including It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play and A Christmas Carol: A Live Radio Play (both published by Playscripts, Inc.), and served on the faculties of The Hartt School of Music/University of Hartford, Sacred Heart University, the University of Bridgeport and Musical Theatre Works in NYC. www.kevin-connors.com
It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play is presented by arrangement with Playscripts, Inc.