- 2023-10-09
It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play Extension Press Release
"WONDERFUL”
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE EXTENDS ONE WEEK
AT MARIN THEATRE COMPANY
Extended through December 23, 2012
MILL VALLEY, CA—Marin Theatre Company announced today that, due to enthusiastic audience response, they will extend It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play by eight performances. Bay Area audiences now have the opportunity to experience this Joe Landry’s “fresh” stage adaptation of Frank Capra’s classic holiday film through Sunday, December 23.
Critics Robert Hurwitt of the San Francisco Chronicle, Sam Hurwitt of the Marin IJ, Chad Jones of the TheaterDogs blog and Woody Weingarten of the Marinscope Community Newspapers are unanimous: MTC’s Wonderful Life is “wonderful.” “Enough already with A Christmas Carol,” wrote Jones, who recently featured the area’s competing ‘Scrooges’ in a piece for the Chronicle. “This year, if you’re searching for an alternative to Ebenezer and his ghosts, I recommend you head to Marin Theatre Company and spend some time with George Bailey and Clarence, his Angel Second Class.”
Adapted from the 1946 film It’s a Wonderful Life starring actors Donna Reed and James Stewart, It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play transposes the cinematic classic (and holiday television tradition) to the theater by staging the story as if it was a live radio broadcast in front of a studio audience. Five actors perform the voices of dozens of characters while creating foley sound effects. As in the movie, everyman George Bailey must learn that “no man is a failure who has friends” (and a little divine intervention), when he must face off against local robber baron (and all around curmudgeon) Henry F. Potter.
In reviews, the cast of It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play has been hailed as “dazzling, talented and virtuosic” (Marin IJ), “memorable and terrific” (San Francisco Examiner) and “breathtaking and well-honed” (Marinscope). The play features actors Patrick Kelly Jones (Bellwether), Gabriel Marin (Bellwether and A Streetcar Named Desire) and Carrie Paff (Edward Albee’s Tiny Alice, Sunlight and A Streetcar Named Desire), as well as the MTC debuts of Sarah Overman and Michael Gene Sullivan. Director Jon Tracy, making his MTC main stage debut, has been praised for his “buoyant” (Examiner) and “clever “(Chronicle) staging that “keeps things hopping and popping” (Marinscope) and “marshals a lot of good energy to keep things from veering into the corny” (TheaterDogs).
MTC is inviting families (and extended families!) to come see this heartwarming holiday play. MTC always offers discount $20 tickets to patrons under 30 years old. Discount family packages are available, contact MTC’s Box Office for more information. For all performances of It’s a Wonderful Life, no children under five years old are permitted.
FACTS & CALENDAR INFORMATION
WHAT
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY
WHO
Marin Theatre Company
Adapted by Joe Landry | Directed by Jon Tracy
Featuring Patrick Kelly Jones,* Gabriel Marin,* Sarah Overman,* Carrie Paff* and Michael Gene Sullivan*
* Member, Actor’s Equity Association
WHEN
EXTENDED! Now through December 23
Full run: November 23 – December 23, 2012
Performance Days
Evenings:
Tue, Thu, Fri & Sat 8:00 pm
Wed 7:30 pm
Sun 7:00 pm
Matinees:
Every Sat and Sun, 2:00 pm
Check marintheatre.org or call the box office at (415) 388-5208 for exact performance dates and times.
WHERE
Marin Theatre Company | 397 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley, CA 94941
ABOUT
“ It’s heartwarming and it’s good for the soul.” – San Francisco Chronicle
EXTENDED! Now through December 23.
Step back in time to the 1940s. Become the live studio audience for a radio broadcast of this American holiday favorite. True to Frank Capra’s cinematic classic, everyman George Bailey must learn that “no man is a failure who has friends” (and a little divine intervention). Experience It’s a Wonderful Life live and in color with five actors performing the voices of dozens of characters while creating foley sound effects. | Perfect for the whole family.
“The cast is terrific, dazzling, virtuosic; gives the film fresh – and indeed, wonderful – life.” – Marin IJ
TICKETS
$36–$57, details below (discounts available for Seniors and those Under 30)
Ticket Prices
Previews: $36 all
Opening Night & Sat Evenings: $52 side | $57 center
Tues: $36 | $41
Wed, Thu, Sun Evenings & Matinees: $41 | $46
Fri: $47 | $52
Please note: Ticket prices are subject to change.
Discounts available:
RUSH tickets: $15, available one hour prior to show, based on availability
Under 30: $20, all performances
Senior and military discounts available, please call
For group sales, contact Julie Knight, (415) 388-5200, ext. 3302
ENGAGE
“MTC Engaged” invites patrons to join MTC’s artistic staff, designers and casts in conversation.
Get in the spirit of the holidays and time period – come at least 20 minutes early for preshow festivities.
A member of MTC’s artistic staff (often with one or more members of the cast) hosts a Q&A talk back after every performance, except Saturday matinees and evenings and Closing Nights.
MTC Engaged Special Events:
• Director’s Night – post-show conversation with director: Wed 12/12
ACCESS
“MTC All Access” strives to make theater accessible to all audiences. For visually impaired patrons, Large Print playbills are available at the box office at all performances, Digital playbills that are compatible with screen reader software are available online starting one week before the first performance of a production, and Braille playbills are available with two-weeks advance notice through partnership with LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired. To request a Braille playbill, call MTC’s Box Office, (415) 388-5208, or use the California Telecommunications Relay Service by dialing “711.” For hearing impaired patrons, amplified sound Listening Devices are available.
CONTACT
marintheatre.org | (415) 388-5208 | boxoffice@marintheatre.org
ABOUT MTC
Marin Theatre Company is the Bay Area’s premier mid-sized theater and the leading professional theater in the North Bay. We produce a six-show season of provocative plays by passionate playwrights from the 20th century and today in our intimate 231-seat proscenium theater. We are committed to the development and production of new plays by American playwrights, with a comprehensive New Play Program that includes at least one premiere each season, two nationally recognized annual playwriting awards, new play readings and workshops by the nation’s best emerging playwrights and a National New Play Network Playwright in Residence. Our numerous education programs serve more than 6,000 students each year. Founded in 1966.
PRESS CONTACT
Sasha Hnatkovich, Communications Director
(415) 388-5200, ext. 3313 | email
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