Pure Theater Presents ITS A WONDERFUL LIFE: THE RADIO PLAY 11/27-12/19

PURE Theatre is proud to present It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play by Joe Landry. The play is directed by Mark Landis, and will feature Paul Garbarini, Nat Jones, Jan Gilbert, Susan Kattwinkel, and Rodney Lee Rogers. It will open Friday, November 27, 2009 at Upper Lance Hall on the grounds of Circular Congregational Church, and run through Saturday, December 19.

It's Christmas Eve, 1946 and the audience attending this production at PURE Theatre will be taken back to a New York radio station. There, a cast of five actors will be performing the story of It's A Wonderful Life that families all over have watched many times in the beloved film version starring Jimmy Stewart. The audience will be treated to a glimpse of what live radio drama once looked like. The five actors in the cast will be playing all the roles from the central figure of George Bailey, Clarence the angel who shows George how much his life has meant to the people around him, the evil Henry Potter, Bert the Cop, Ernie the cab driver, George's wife Mary and his whole family...even little Zuzu.

We will see them play all the characters, and even add the live sound effects, just like a cast of actors might have done it years ago while American families gathered around their radios to listen in.

"The fascinating thing is that this story touches something so important in all of us, that even though we are playing it with this very amusing convention of five actors playing all of the characters and doing all the sound effects, it still remains a deeply heartwarming story," says Director Mark Landis.

"I've always loved radio. The era of radio drama was long over by the time I was a child but my parents and grandparents always reminisced about listening to their favorite programs. I remember my grandfather even preferred listening to the radio to watching television," continues Mark Landis. "The playwright, Joe Landry, has given us the opportunity here to play one of everyone's favorite Holiday stories and to do something that I would have thought was impossible - to see It's A Wonderful Life in a fresh way."

It's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American film produced and directed by Frank Capra and loosely based on the short story "The Greatest Gift" written by Philip Van Doren Stern.

The film takes place in the fictional town of Bedford Falls shortly after World War II and stars James Stewart as George Bailey, a man whose imminent suicide on Christmas Eve gains the attention of his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody (Henry Travers) who is sent to help him in his hour of need. Much of the film is told through flashbacks spanning George's entire life and narrated by Franklin and Joseph, unseen Angels who are preparing Clarence for his mission to save George. Through these flashbacks we see all the people whose lives have been touched by George and the difference he has made to the community in which he lives.

This American classic comes to life on stage as a 1940s radio broadcast. With the help of an ensemble that brings a few dozen characters to the stage, the story of idealistic George Bailey unfolds as he considers ending his life one fateful Christmas Eve.

The movie, It's a Wonderful Life was nominated for five Oscars without winning any, but the film has since been recognized by the American Film Institute as one of the 100 best American films ever made, and placed number one on their list of the most inspirational American films of all time.
PURE Theatre has garnered a reputation for artistic excellence, risk taking, and thinking outside of the box. The company's intrepid approach to the art and craft of theatre has garnered them numerous critics and audience awards, as well as a loyal following of patrons.

PURE will continue popular special events such as their Bring Your Own Baby performance on Sunday, December 20th at 2:00. BYOBaby is a unique opportunity for parents of young children to enjoy professional theatre without incurring the cost of child care. Child care is provided free of charge by PURE Theatre, and staffed by childcare professionals from The Circular Congregational Church in their downstairs facility. Also, PURE Theatre is proud to welcome the V-Tones as the pre-show to some of our performances. Opening night we will have a solo performance by Noodle. On December 3rd we will be donating a portion of our proceeds to Lowcountry First in support of their Buy Local Be Local Week, and have live music by the V-Tones.

Student Rush tickets are available for $15 with a valid student ID, for tickets remaining at curtain.

Its A Wonderful Life Creatives:

Mark Landis (Director) is a Professor of Theatre at the College of Charleston. He has been a member of Actors' Equity Association since 1978, and his work in the professional theatre took him to a number of different parts of the U.S. where he worked as an Actor, a Director, and a Stage Manager. He has also appeared as an actor in a number of commercials and in the P.B.S. production of Newscasts From The Past. He has directed over sixty fully mounted productions at both the College and Professional level, and in 2000 he directed a production of Aristophanes' The Birds with a cast that included both American and Greek performers at the ancient amphitheatre at Oeniades in Greece.

Joe Landry (Writer) plays have been produced across the country and internationally, and include Reefer Madness, Vintage Hitchcock: A Live Radio Play, Eve & Co., Beautiful, Hollywood Babylon, and Numb. Mr. Landry attended Playwright's Horizons/NYU, founded Second Guess Theatre Company in Connecticut and is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America. He is currently developing new projects for the stage and screen.
Paul Garbarini (Clarence & Other Roles)

Rodney Lee Rogers (George Bailey) is a Co-Founder of PURE Theatre. Acting credits for PURE include The Pillowman, The Lonesome West, Cloud Tectonics,
Underneath the Lintel, Eurydice, and The Tragedian. On television: One Tree Hill, Medicine Ball, and Army Wives. His feature film Steaming Milk won runner-up Best Actor and Best Director awards at the 1997 Seattle International Film Festival and was chosen as a "Best of the Fest" of both The Seattle Times and The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Directing credits include Tell, Jesus Hopped the
"A" Train, and The Beauty Queen of Leenane. As a writer his plays and one-acts include HOGS, The Tragedian, Killing Chickens, Fairgrounds, What Comes Around, Tell, Cowboys, and A Waffle House Christmas. His plays have been produced in New York City, Seattle, Charlotte, and Charleston. He was voted last year's Best Actor by City Paper of
Charleston.

Susan Kattwinkel (Mary Bailey & Other Roles) is a member of the theatre faculty at the College of Charleston, and has directed a variety of shows there, including Metamorphoses, Waiting for Godot, and The Vagina Monologues. Most recently she has been seen around town acting in productions of Absurd Person Singular and The Twilight Zone at The Village Playhouse. She is very happy to be making her debut performance at PURE.

Nat Jones (Henry Potter & Other Roles) has appeared on the PURE stage as George in Sheep's Clothing, Alec in Colder Than Here, and Michal in The Pillowman. Nat has also appeared in numerous area stage productions, including Glengarry, GLen Ross, Awake and Sing, and most recently, Mauritius, all with the Village Playhouse; and To Kill a Mockingbird with Charleston Stage. Nat is delighted to be sharing the stage once again with Rodney, as well as this talented cast of Radio Era re-enactors. With the passing of the torch from radio to TV, we misplaced that magical, and often rapturous, ability to imagine, to create imagery in our minds pulled from our own life experiences. It is said that radio waves go on forever. In the case of this timeless and ultimately uplifting classic, we can only hope this statement is true. An artist, graphic designer and copywriter when he's not haunting one theatre or another, Nat lives with his wife Chris, two dogs, and one very spoiled parrot in the far reaches of Mount Pleasant where, even in this day and age, crystal clear reception isn't always a given. Happy holidays.
Jan Gilbert (Violet & Other Roles)