As a radio play, 'Wonderful Life' a wonderful show

December 16, 9:55 PMChicago Theatre Review ExaminerCatey Sullivan

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   The movie is inescapable this time of year, as ubiquitous as “The Nutcracker”, and to some of us, as sodden with sweetness as over baked plum pudding. Many would call it holiday heresy, but we tend to grab the remote when “It’s a Wonderful Life” shows up on our TV, rolling our eyes at the sugary sentimentality of Zuzu’s bell and the golly gee demeanor of Jimmy Stewart as the savior of Bedford Falls.
   Given that predisposition, we weren’t expecting much from American Theatre Company’s radio version of “It’s a Wonderful Life: The Radio Play.” And how wrong we were. The production – staged as a live, 1948 radio broadcast complete with Foley man and Andrews Sisters-like advertising jingles – is enough to touch the heart of even the most irascible cynic. Directed by Damon Kiely, it’s an irony free affirmation of all that is decent about human condition. But first and foremost, it is a rollicking fine story.
   The show starts before, well, the show starts. Enter the ATC lobby half an hour prior to the performance, and you’ll hear a raucous carol sing-a-long coming from stage. If they didn’t sound so tuneful, you’d swear the cast was three sheets to an eggnog wind. Walk in, and you’ve entered a time machine: The intimate space has been converted to WATC studios, a radio station complete with neon “On-Air” and “Applause” signs that light up at the appropriate times throughout the evening. Everybody’s decked out in period perfect ‘40s finery, the women - sporting Veronica Lake waves and peep toe shoes, the men dapper in suits with Poinsettia boutonnières.
   After a few (hilarious) announcements from our sponsors (Emerald Nuts and the nearby Mrs. Murphy and Sons Irish Bistro), Bedford Falls leaps to life, wind howling as a despairing George Bailey stands poised to hurl himself into an icy river. That the actors have scripts in hand does nothing to dilute the story – nor does watching Foley maestro Sean Okerberg work his sound effect magic to create everything from high heels seductively tapping down the street to taxi cabs puttering through town to treacherous pond ice cracking beneath little Harry Bailey’s feet.
   Stepping into the iconic role of George Bailey, Stef Tovar pulls off a task of infinite delicacy and difficulty. On the one hand, he makes the part his own. On the other, he offers an homage of sorts to the film’s leading man, capturing all the endearing heroics that make Jimmy Stewart’s George Bailey one of the most memorable heroes of American movies. Die-hard film devotees will be charmed and the rest will find a wholly loveable character in Tovar’s big-hearted performance.
   Jimmy Stewart isn’t the only actor Tovar goes toe-to-toe with. John Mohrlein, long one of ATC’s MVPs utterly vanishes into slimy skin of slumlord Mr. Potter. It’s uncanny, how precisely Mohrlein embodies the Ebenezer Scrooge of Bedford Falls. And talk about range: Mohrlein is just as effective as Clarence, the wingless angel charged with preventing George Bailey’s suicide.
   Since this is a radio broadcast – or a facsimile thereof – everybody save Tovar plays multiple parts. Sadieh Rifai is a sultry vixen as Vi, a cutie-pie pipsqueak as Zuzu. John Sterchi is all life-and-death business as Clarence’s boss, and terrifically empathetic as Uncle Billie, a fellow who means well but is always in need of supervision. Mary Winn Heider glows with affection as George’s lifelong sweetheart and is a stern, iron-spined pillar of maternal wisdom as George’s mother. As WATC’s announcer James Lusk is as hearty and all-American as a bowl of cornflakes while Casey Campbell fills Bedford Falls with memorable townsfolk as Ernie the cab driver, Martini the tavern owner and a host of others.
Truly, it’s a wonderful show.
 

“It’s a Wonderful Life: The Radio Play” continues through Dec. 28 at the American Theatre Company, 1909 W. Byron, Chicago. Tickets are $35 to $40. For more information, call 773/409-4125 or log on to www.atcweb.org.