Across more than two decades and eight different venues (nine if you count Zoom), American Blues Theater’s annual radio play broadcast “It’s a Wonderful Life: Live in Chicago!” has endured.
The ensemble’s adaptation of Frank Capra’s 1946 movie classic took a historic turn Sunday when the yearly production inaugurated a brand new permanent space for the veteran troupe. It’s the first time since 2009 — when the ensemble left its longtime space at 1909 W. Byron — that the 35-year-old company has had a permanent home to call its own.
Designed by Morris Architects Planners, the new space at 5627 N. Lincoln is both sleek and warm; the lobby is spacious enough for mingling and intimate enough to feel cozy. There is stool seating at the bar, with additional chairs and sofas giving the place the feel of an elegant, lux living room built with entertaining foremost in mind.
“It’s a Wonderful Life: Live in Chicago!” plays in the Lincoln Square/West Ridge building’s larger theater, a 137-seat proscenium. The building also holds a 40-seat black box space with flexible seating as well as offices and areas for set, costume and prop production.
The sightlines throughout are superb in the proscenium — no seat is more than seven rows (roughly 20 feet) from the playing space. The acoustics — essential in a production like “IAWL” that dramatizes a radio broadcast — are crystalline.
“IAWL” has always been an ebullient, open-hearted show — or so it has been across the six venues where I’ve seen it — but it shines ever brighter in its new digs.
Directed by Executive Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside (a veteran of 15 “IAWL” productions) with musical direction by composer/pianist/emcee Michael Mahler (who has 13 productions under his belt), “IAWL” is rich in holiday cheer without ever becoming soppy or sentimental.
There are plenty of warm, glowy moments to be sure, but Whiteside doesn’t shy away from the darker edges of the familiar story. Our hero George Bailey (Brandon Dahlquist) meets Christmas Eve on the bottommost rung of despair, literally standing on the cusp of suicide, certain his life has been pointless.
It falls to the apprentice angel Clarence (Joe Dempsey) to save George from self-inflicted oblivion. Their Christmas Eve tour of George’s life reveals a perspective George has been blind to, as well as a man whose so-called failure of a life has benefited countless others.
George’s hometown of Bedford Falls and all its memorable inhabitants are brought to vivid life by a skilled ensemble with an indispensable assist from J.G. Smith’s prolific foley skills (cornstarch in a leather pouch sounds like snow crunching, a frozen head of romaine can make a punch sound authentic) and Mahler’s quicksilver-nimble musical accompaniment.
As George, Dahlquist has the aw-shucks everyman quality the role demands, but he’s also no yokel. George’s scenes with the town’s miser, predatory lender and aspiring slumlord Mr. Potter (Dempsey, sneering and snarling to villainously fine effect) reveal a man of integrity but not naivete.
Dahlquist is well-matched with Audrey Billings as George’s wife Mary. Billings has a spirited graciousness that makes you understand why George is so smitten.
The set design by Grant Sabin (this is 15th year with the show) gives audiences a credibly realistic radio studio, newly designed for the new space. Blinking “Applause” and “On Air” signs give the place a retro-veracity as actors move between music stands, altering their voices to create a town crowded with idiosyncratic characters.
Dara Cameron’s Violet brims with dreams and ambition. Manny Buckley’s Joseph brings a celestial gravitas to Clarence’s education in angeling. And as George’s brother Harry, Ian Paul Custer is utterly believable as a lantern-jawed war hero.
Mahler’s original 1940s-style ad jingles are featured throughout the action; plugs for show sponsors are rarely this entertaining. And Austin Cook’s original score runs through the production in an undercurrent of atmospheric music. “It’s a Wonderful Life” looks great too, in part thanks to Christopher J. Neville’s seasonally glamorous, period-appropriate peplum dresses and wide-lapel suits.
As in past productions, audience members have the chance pre-show to write their radio-grams. Hearing the cast read them aloud during breaks in the “broadcast” is always an ad hoc highlight. Speaking of: Arrive early. Mahler does a bit of musical improv that is absolutely mind-blowing.
“It’s a Wonderful Life: Live in Chicago!” finally has a new place to come home to each holiday season. It’s a fine place to visit, from the first blink of the “On Air” sign to the post-show milk and cookies.
