Greenbrier Valley Theatre will present “It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play” at the Pocahontas County Opera House Sunday, December 8, at 2 p.m.
Tickets are $8. Children 17 and younger are admitted free of charge.
The performance will benefit the Pocahontas County Family Resource Network’s Christmas Project 2013. Each Christmas, the Family Resource Network typically serves about 250 children from low-income families, partnering with work with the Pocahontas County Sheriff’s Department, local churches and business to collect and distribute toys and warm winter clothing, as well as food. Donations of new, unwrapped toys will be accepted at the Opera House at the door for the December 8 performance.
Opera House doors open at 1:30 p.m. Tickets are available in advance at the Fourth Avenue Gallery in Marlinton.
“It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play” was written by Joe Landry and is directed by Cathey C. Sawyer.
This beloved American holiday classic comes to captivating life as a live 1940s radio broadcast. With the help of live on-stage sound effects and an ensemble of five actors that bring a few dozen characters to the stage, the story of idealistic George Bailey unfolds as he considers ending his life one fateful Christmas Eve.
George Bailey has grown up determined to get of the idyllic small town of Bedford Falls. He plans to see the world and build skyscrapers when he grows up. But circumstances keep him at home. After his father’s death, the rich, evil Mr. Potter tries to liquidate the Bailey family’s savings-and-loan business and take over the town. George’s brother, Harry, marries a great woman whose father has offered him a promising career opportunity, far away from his hometown. When the accidental loss of $8,000 leaves George on the verge of disaster, he contemplates killing himself.
Clarence, George’s slightly bumbling 292-year-old guardian angel—still working to earn his wings—comes to earth to help him. By showing George what Bedford Falls and numerous loved ones would have been like if George had never been born, Clarence manages to turn him around. Lifted from despair, George Bailey is a man with a reawakened appreciation of his life and the people he loves. It all happens on Christmas Eve, and an angel gets his wings.
“It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play” is the perfect holiday show for the whole family.
Mary Houlihan, a critic for the Chicago Sun-Times said, “One of the best holiday shows around. This is a fresh and inventive way of reconnecting with a classic story of love and redemption.”
Greenbrier Valley Theatre’s production of “It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play” will feature five professional actors; Lee Blair, Joe Lehman, Andrea McCullough, Hannah McGinley, and Kermit Medsker.
The Pocahontas County Opera House is located at 818 Third Avenue in Marlinton. Performances at the Opera House are informal, family-friendly and open to all. The entrance and main seating are accessible to persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities are encouraged to attend; special accommodations can be arranged upon request by calling 304-799-6645.