It’s A Wonderful Show

There is something so idealized and charming in the vision of the Leave it to Beaver-esque family crowding around a television set with a 12-inch screen watching Frank Capra’s 1946 film It’s A Wonderful Life at Christmastime. However, an experience that is a little farther removed from our contemporary reality, but perhaps even more charming, is the image of that same family gathering around a radio, to listen and to envision the story in their imaginations. It’s A Wonderful Life, now playing at the Canadian Stage Company, is a fantastic stage adaptation of Capra’s film by Philip Grecian, set in a radio studio where ten actors, a pianist and a sound technician dramatize the story for their listeners using all the means available to them.

Before the actors appear onstage, the entire tone of the play is established by Michael Gianfrancesco’s lovely set. It evokes images of Norman Rockwell paintings, Edwardian Santa Claus and his workshop, while also illuminating how small, crowded and cluttered radio stations were at this time. The feeling of there being so many interesting things packed into limited space is mirrored nicely in the play itself. Director Donna Feore has created so many interesting moments that overlap one another; the eye is in constant motion trying to absorb everything. It also adds a beautiful dimension to all the actor-characters as they have to maneuver quietly and carefully around one another and within the narrowness and clutter of the set.

The show is a tour de force for the ten actors, who play all sixty speaking parts in It’s A Wonderful Life as their actor-characters. The emphasis, of course, is on their voices and it is truly amazing to watch multiple characters spring to life from the mouth of a single performer often in rapid succession. John Gzowski is fascinating to watch as he provides all the sound effects throughout the show, including a particularly clever use of a stalk of celery. Leslie Arden’s music is pitch-perfect, and her interactions with the other actors as Pearl Lowe creates a real sense of the rich dynamics at play in the studio beyond the Christmas performance. Juan Chioran is particularly captivating as the vile Mr. Potter, Patrick McKenna gives a beautifully heartfelt performance as Uncle Billy, and Douglas E. Hughes creates an especially interesting actor-character Dennis Chilvers, who knits when not in front of the microphone. Steven Gallagher is perfectly hilarious and bursting with shtick in every role he voices, but his portrayals of Freddie, and Nick after George’s visit from Clarence, deserve special mention. Marla McLean shines as the epitome of grace and loveliness in her portrayal of Mary Bailey. Her voice is so filled with charm and she is particularly captivating to watch in everything she does. As her actor-character, Fanny O’Brian, she shows a mixture of poise and spunk and I guarantee you will find yourself watching McLean maneuver about the stage as O’Brian even when she’s not “acting.” The most brilliant performance of the evening is without a doubt the perfect portrayal of George Bailey by Mike Shara. He brings so much charm, vulnerability, strength, and empathy to George, while rooting his actor-character Harvey Davis in a touch of Humphrey Bogart.

It’s A Wonderful Life is fascinating to watch. If you have never seen the film, I would suggest watching it before seeing this adaptation, but regardless, it is a true feat that the cast of this show can elicit so much laughter, sentimental tears of joy and powerful feelings of optimism, from standing before a microphone and speaking the words. Our lives seem so much more complicated than that of the romanticized visions we have of the past. There is much to worry about, and so much to do. Regardless, I encourage you to take a break from hectic contemporary Toronto and to immerse your soul in that idea of a simpler time. This show will warm your heart just in time for the holidays, and it will remind you in this time of economic uncertainty, no one is poor who has friends, and it is with love and generosity that we strive for our own wonderful life.