Kathleen Silverman and Jen Ridgway (Jon Neftali Photography)
Reviewed by G. Bruce Smith
Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center
Through Dec. 23
The set-up for It’s a Wonderful Life – On Air is promisingly funny: It’s Christmas Eve 1947 at WNBC radio station in New York City, and a major snowstorm has pummeled the entire state. All of the Broadway stars who are scheduled to perform WNBC’s annual broadcast of the classic Christmas chestnut are stuck in Poughkeepsie. So the station’s general manager scrambles frantically to assemble a cast of anyone still in the building — copy boy, secretaries — even a nun soliciting donations for homeless orphans.
And there are, indeed, funny bits as the story unfolds. But if you’re looking for nonstop laughter a la The Play that Goes Wrong, you won’t find it in Wonderful Life, currently onstage at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center.
That’s because, despite what should be really bad performances by this hastily assembled cast, they all do a good job as actors in the radio play. Sure, they make mistakes — for example, when one of the characters reads the stage directions (“A big sigh” and “Sighs again”).
What author Fred Helsel (who also directs) has done in his adaptation from the Lux Radio Theatre broadcast and screenplay of Wonderful Life is give the audience the original story with a few comical bungles and over-the-top silliness sprinkled throughout the show. The nun, Sister Mary Benedict (Amanda Grieg), has many of the funniest bits as she dives in wholeheartedly – and in a not-so-holy manner – to help out with the sound effects.
But what would have been funnier would have been a play that totally messes up the original story so that the audience wouldn’t even recognize the well-known tale of George Bailey, a small-town man whose life seems so desperate that he contemplates suicide, but is saved by his guardian angel.
Nevertheless, you can’t go far wrong with this adaptation of this classic chestnut, performed by an able cast on a festive holiday set, complete with a Christmas tree, lights, garland, and decorations. And if you’re looking for a few laughs mixed in with a dash of nostalgia and holiday spirit, It’s a Wonderful Life – On Air might very well be your cup of eggnog.
Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center, 3050 E. Los Angeles Ave., Simi Valley; Fri.-Sat. 8 pm, Sun. 2 pm; thru Dec. 23. www.simi-arts.org. Running time: two hours and 15 minutes with an intermission.
