Drama Dock Brings An Old Favorite To the Blue Heron Art Center for the Holidays!

There was something wondrous and magical about sitting in on the auditions for Frank Capra’s, It’s A Wonderful Life, to be presented at the VAA’s Blue Heron Art Center this December. Wondrous because Drama Dock Theatre is presenting this timeless holiday classic, which just happens to be one of the most inspirational and best loved movies in American cinema, as a staged radio play. Magical because of the people who came thru the door, ready to assist director Elise Morrill, were ready to devote their Holidays to bringing Vashon yet another Holiday Classic.
Frank Capra’s classic bittersweet comedy/drama is about George Bailey, an eternally-in-debt guiding force of small town bank in a typical American town: Bedford Falls. It is Christmas Eve in 1946, and George, who has long and ineffectively struggled to escape from the confines of his "normal" life, faces financial ruin and arrest. High above Bedford Falls, two celestial voices discuss Bailey’s dilemma and send down some help: the eternally bumbling angel Clarence Oddbody, who after 200 years has yet to manage to earn his wings.
Written by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, and Capra himself, with additional scenes by Jo Swerling, the film and subsequent radio play were based on "The Greatest Gift," an original short story first written on a Christmas card by Philip Van Doren Stern. Uncredited for their work on the script were Dorothy Parker, Dalton Trumbo, and Clifford Odets.
It’s A Wonderful Life opens Fri, Dec 21 at 7:30 pm, plays on Sat, Dec 22 at 7:30 and Sun, Dec 23 at 2 pm. The show continues with 7:30 pm performances on Wed, Dec 26 thru Sat, Dec 29, and closes matinee at 2 pm on Sun, Dec 30. Tickets are available at vashonalliedarts.org, the Vashon Book Shop, The Blue Heron Art Center and The Heron’s Nest. General admission: $20, Drama Dock members: $15, General Youth & Senior: $10, Drama Dock Youth and Senior Members: $7.50.