On-air: River City Players to perform 'It's a Wonderful Life' as 1940s-style radio play

River City Players Community Theatre is set to go live with its latest production, �It�s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play,� on Nov. 8 at Port Cape Girardeau.

The show is a condensed version of the 1946 film �It�s a Wonderful Life� and revolves around the character George Bailey.

George is a small-town man in the fictitious township of Bedford Falls. He contemplates suicide after inheriting the family-run savings and loan � and problems. His guardian angel, Clarence, intervenes; showing him what life would be like without him.

Kyle VanPool of Jackson has been involved with the River City Players for 14 years. He portrays Uncle Billy in the production, along with other minor characters.

�I think the film is just so iconic,� he said. �That may be a challenge, because you come in seeing it and in your mind, George Bailey is Jimmy Stewart and Potter is John Barrymore.�

Dimitri Gann performs as George Bailey on Thursday during rehearsal for the River City Players’ upcoming production of “It’s a Wonderful Life” at Port Cape Girardeau in downtown Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS

VanPool said he connects most with the personality of Uncle Billy. And George is more of an �everyman� kind of character, he said, able to connect with those who have been dissatisfied with life.

�If we all could have the chance to see what life would be like without us ever being born, I think we would all realize that we actually matter,� VanPool said.

He also described the production as a �play within a play,� with it taking place shortly after the movie�s release. It is not an exact reproduction of the original film, VanPool explained.

�It�s a radio station in the �40s, doing �It�s a Wonderful Life� for their visitors, and what you�ll be seeing is us speaking into microphones, playing different characters,� he said.

VanPool said not having to memorize any lines was one of the selling points that got him interested.

George Bailey, played by Dimitri Gann, left, speaks to Rose Bailey, played by Jessica Belanger, on Thursday during rehearsal for the River City Players’ upcoming production of “It’s a Wonderful Life” at Port Cape Girardeau in downtown Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS

�Of course, after you rehearse, you�ve got it in your head. And of course, you don�t want to spend the whole time looking down at your script,� VanPool said. �You want to make connections with the audience.�

Director of the production Holly Raines said she has been with River City Players for 10 years, and this is the first Christmas show the theater has performed in several years.

�The response has been interesting,� Raines said. �Anybody that I talk to has been really interested in coming to see it, because it�s �It�s A Wonderful Life.��

A couple challenges, she said, involved portraying the show while retaining the �play within a play� aspect, and also working with a larger cast � 10 actors portraying 15 to 20 different characters, Raines said.

She said it�s like directing two shows at once.

�You�ve got to listen to the actors reading the lines and making sure they�re getting the emotions right, but then also watching the background as they�re sitting, waiting to read,� Raines said.

She said you can�t just have an audience come and watch people read; they have to also be able to watch what�s going on in the background.

Raines said she has wanted to do a Christmas show � and radio show � for quite some time because she loves Christmas, but could never find a play she liked.

�I can�t take credit for finding this play,� she said. �That was the president, Roseanna Whitlow-Greenwood.�

The play was adapted from the movie by Joe Landry and was first performed in 1996.

St. Louis native Charlie Foster recently moved to Southeast Missouri and is new to acting. This will be his first production since elementary school, he said.

Foster works in sales and uses social media within his marketing, creating sales videos to promote his business. After making a connection with someone who works with River City Players, Foster ended up producing a rap video for his business.

�She wrote the lyrics and I performed it,� he said. �She was in the last production with River City, and she said, �You know what, you should try out for a part.��

Foster said he was so grateful to get the part of Clarence, the angel who guides George around Bedford Falls.

Since Foster is an ordained minister at his church, he can relate to the character of Clarence because he is �somebody that wants to help,� he said.

Audrey Wilhelm, 11, lives in Jackson and portrays the characters Janie and Zuzu, George�s children. This will be Wilhelm�s seventh play, she said.

�I like meeting all the cast members,� Audrey said. �I�ve been around a lot of adults and I�m really used to that, so it�s kind of nice being away from kids, because I more fit in with adults than I do kids.�

Audrey said, �When you get to be around adults, they actually teach you neat things to make you a better actor or actress.�

�It�s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play� runs Nov. 8 through 11 at Port Cape Girardeau restaurant in downtown Cape Girardeau. A complete schedule of show times can be found at the River City Players Community Theatre Facebook page.

jhartwig@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3632