It was once a beloved American tradition: Every evening, families would gather together around the radio and become engrossed in stories brought to life by just the sound of an actor’s voice.
This weekend, talent from across Long Island will take the stage at the Suffolk Theater to reenact one of the nation’s most treasured holiday films in a medium as classic as the movie itself – as a live radio production.
It’s A Wonderful Life has been screened at the Suffolk Theater every Christmas season since the theater reopened in 2013, but this year marks the first time the classic will be performed there as a live radio play.
“It harkens back to the days when the film actually first came out,” said director Bonnie Grice.
In those days – the early 1940s – the Suffolk Theater was just a decade old. “It’s really the perfect setting for this story,” Grice added. “It was built during the same time that A Wonderful Life takes places.”
Grice has transformed the Suffolk Theater’s stage into a radio studio from the 1940s, where a cast of 12 actors and two sound effects artists bring the classic story into vivid color with the sound of their voices.
Each member of the cast plays several different parts – some as many as six – changing their voices for each role. Sound effects are produced right on stage, allowing the audience a unique peek into all the creative tricks a sound effects artist must use to recreate everyday noises.
“We use corn flakes for the sound of footsteps running in the snow,” Grice said. “There’s a door that opens and closes. It’s really cool.”
But though watching the live radio performance will be fascinating in itself, Grice urges audience members to spend at least a few minutes of the show with their eyes closed, experiencing a radio drama the way it was meant to be.
“Radio dramas allow their audiences to become engrossed in these stories by focusing on just the words and the sound effects,” she said. “It really brings the story to the forefront.”
Grice, a local NPR broadcaster by trade, co-directed this adaption of It’s A Wonderful Life in Southampton last year alongside director Michael Disher.
When Suffolk Theater general director Dan Binderman approached her this fall about bringing a performance to Riverhead, Grice thought it was a fantastic idea.
“It’s beautiful because the Suffolk Theater is the only remaining art deco theater on Long Island,” she said. “Dan came to us and said that they screen the movie every year and asked if we’d be interested in doing it at the theater.”
It is already shaping up to be a success: The production’s sole performance this Sunday has already sold 250 tickets.
The story has an appeal that reaches so many different people, Grice says, because its message actually has nothing to do with Christmas.
“Yes, it takes place on Christmas, and the last scene has a Christmas tree, but it has a much darker undercurrent,” Grice said.
The play begins with its main character considering suicide when his guardian angel steps in to show him all of the lives he has touched and all the positive impacts he has made on the world around him. “It could almost be presented as an anti-suicide message,” Grice said.
“This time of year can be very hard,” she added. “It’s not all lollipops and roses. So many of us have real problems during the holiday.”
The cast in this weekend’s production, Grice says, has the talent and the depth to handle such a sensitive subject.
“It will bring people to tears,” she said. “Our actors are that good and the story is that timeless.”
This radio adaption of It’s A Wonderful Life will have only one live performance, but the hour-long show will also be broadcast on 88.3 Peconic Public Broadcasting on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
The show this Sunday will start at 6 p.m. Tickets can be bought online for $15 general admission/$30 VIP. Children are admitted free.
A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Maureen’s Haven, a local homeless shelter and outreach program.
Doors will open at 4:30 p.m. so audience members can enjoy dinner or drinks at the theater beforehand.
