‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ wings into Rogers Little Theater

By From Staff Reports

Posted: November 25, 2009 at 6 a.m.

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ROGERS — Rogers Little Theater will honor American tradition by presenting “It’s A Wonderful Life,” the classic tale of George Bailey and his life-saving Christmas Eve encounter with his guardian angel.

This RLT KidWorks production is set to open Dec. 4 at The Victory Theater in downtown Rogers.

“In our American culture, ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ has become almost as familiar as Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol,’” said director Ed McClure.

“It’s A Wonderful Life” at RLT, sponsored by Cox Communications, is set to run Dec. 4-6 and Dec. 10-13. Most performances start at 7 p.m.: Sunday show times are at 2 p.m. The Victory Theater is at 116 S. Second St.

Dreams of escape and adventure are quashed by family obligation and civic duty for George, the socalled “Everyman” from small-town Bedford Falls. On the brink of throwing his life away on Christmas Eve, his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody, descends “to save him from despair and to remind him — by showing him what the world would have been like had he never been born — that his has been, after all, a wonderful life,” McClure said.

“This fine dramatization not only celebrates the faith of the season, it also celebrates the American philosophy of life: hard work, fair play and the love and support of one’s family and community will be rewarded with a wonderful life,” Mc-Clure said.

Playing the part of George, Jack Krupka of Rogers said the iconic performance of actor Jimmy Stewart in the 1947 Hollywood version of “It’s A Wonderful Life” has helped him in preparing for the play at RLT. The American drama film was originally produced and directed by Frank Capra.

“It’s such a well-known movie and story. Stewart was such a well-loved and well-known actor. Audiences were able to relate to him in so many of his roles. That’s the measuring stick to live up to and to compare to,” Krupka said.

Krupka said he studied for his role by focusing on the character of George Bailey as well as Stewart’s portrayal.

“Stewart’s performance helped me to understand the character and figure out how I want to portray George — facial expressions, body language and vocal inflection. I couldn’t possibly imitate the work of Jimmy Stewart, but through this performance I hope the audiences will see and relate to life and emotions of George Bailey,” Krupka said.

The guardian angel serves as George’s conscience, and through flashbacks George is forced to see the people whose lives he touched and made better, noted Jim Olmstead of Lowell, who plays the role of Clarence.

“All along George thought he had one goal: to become an engineer and move away. Circumstances changed all that, and he is having a tough time dealing with it. I show him how his life really was and how it would be if he never existed. There is purpose for him. He has a job, children and good friends. He’s worth much more alive than dead,” Olmstead said.

As part of the new Walmart Classroom Series, RLT cast members will perform scenes from “It’s A Wonderful Life” for school children at Victory Theater on Dec. 8. The Walmart Classroom Series, made possible through a grant from the Walmart Foundation, is sponsored by Walmart to expose children to the arts, said Lisa Anderson, the theater’s recent director of development.

Anderson said daytime performances of “It’s A Wonderful Life” and upcoming productions of “Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” “The Secret Garden” and “The Miracle Worker” will be available at no charge to children from public, private and homeschool groups.

The cast for “It’s A Wonderful Life” includes Claire Morledge of Fayetteville as Mary Bailey; Rick Pierson of Rogers as the evil Mr. Potter; Autumn Trout of Prairie Grove as Violet Peterson; and Kathy McClure of Rogers as Mother Bailey.

Other cast members are: Greg Weeks of Springdale as Uncle Billy; Carlene Clendenen of Rogers as Aunt Tilly; Luke Heffron of Bentonville as Harry Bailey and Sam Wainwright; Richard Steven Dean of Bentonville as Bert the cop; John Parker of Rogers as Ernie the mailman; Kevin Lancaster of Rogers as bank examiner Mr. Carter and Mr. Welch; Charles Riedmueller as the pharmacist, Mr. Gower; Russ Pennington of Rogers as Mr. Martini; Connie Lovett of Rogers as Mrs. Martini; Sara Harrison of Fayetteville as Miss Andrews; Kathy Travis of Bentonville as Mrs. Thompson; and Courtney Schrock of Prairie Grove as Mrs. Hatch and Potter’s secretary.

Children in the cast are Kanon Dowse of Bentonville as Young George Bailey; Kaleb Lane of Rogers as Pete Bailey; Hunter Low of Rogers as Tommy Bailey; Courtney Mulcahy of Rogers as Zuzu Bailey; Taylor Zeher of Bentonville as Janie Bailey; and Nicholas Karren of Bentonville as the Newspaper Boy.

For information and/or to obtain group rates or special corporate performances, contact the RLT Box Office at 631-8988.

For The Record, Pages 2 on 11/25/2009

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