A Wonderful Ride

In early 2013 I was asked to direct a production of It’s a Wonderful Life for the Chemainus Theatre Festival at the end of that year. I was thrilled to be asked but concerned about which adaptation to use: straightforward play, staged ‘radio-play,’ or one of two existing musical adaptations.

Because the company wanted it to be a musical, and I didn’t find either version particularly appealing, I asked the AD to let me create an adaptation using songs from the era and traditional Christmas songs as the score.  Time being of the essence I whipped together a treatment of about half the show.  At this early stage one thing became quite clear: how well the songs of Gershwin, Weill and others integrated with the story. I realized I was attempting to create the version of Wonderful Life that may have been done had the musical division of MGM got their hands on the project during its heyday!

That first production for Chemainus Theatre Festival was like a workshop production: a very intense few weeks of rehearsals as we tried to take these disparate pieces of theatre, film, and music and weave them into a satisfying whole. I can’t overstate how important that first cast was to the development of this piece. David Marr as Clarence, Alison Macdonald as Mary, Jeff Hyslop as Uncle Billy, and David Leyshon as George all helped to sculpt this adaptation, and I’m thrilled that two actors from that original cast are returning to the show again: Gordon Roberts as Gower/Dr. Campbell, and Sayer Roberts (no relation) as Harry Bailey.

That may have been the end of it had Persephone Theatre in Saskatoon not expressed interest in producing the piece the following year. With time off in between I was able to come back to the treatment with fresh eyes. A number of changes were made including cutting a song, moving the placement of another, polishing the dialogue, and integrating more of Clarence, the angel into the action and dialogue – it also allowed Nico and I to create a proper working draft of the entire score.

That production, in a bigger house with a bigger budget, proved even more successful than the first, again playing to sold-out houses, and even receiving an outstanding production nomination at the end of the theatre season. David Leyshon returned as George, and I was thrilled to have Jeff back as Uncle Billy.

The following year the adaptation was licensed by Theatre Aquarius just outside of Toronto, Ontario. Although I couldn’t direct this production I was able to attend opening night and based on what I saw went back to the libretto once again to polish a few moments that still seemed a bit elusive on stage (no fault of that production – entirely in the writing).

A year or so after that production I was approached by Jovanni Sy about mounting the production at Gateway Theatre in Richmond. I was thrilled because I had still not been able to share the work right here at home.

We had been wanting to produce the whole show with PSP but the fact is, it is a gigantic production and PSP just could not raise the capital needed to mount it on our own. Partnering with Gateway made the whole thing possible, and we struck a plan to produce it at the Gateway in 2018 with a follow up production at the Anvil Theatre in 2019.

And here we are…

It should be noted that the goal of this production was not to recreate the film, but rather to both honour it and give audiences a unique, new way of experiencing this beautiful story. Musically, our aim was to have the songs give greater expression to the story while transporting us to the time and place in which it’s set and to unify the score through the use of original musical motifs woven throughout the existing songs.

Enjoy!