There are two types of people who will attend Perseverance Theatre’s production of “This Wonderful Life” this weekend–those who have seen the film that the play is based on and those who haven’t.

Though it has been a while, I have watched the 1946 classic “It’s a Wonderful Life” several times. While sitting in the theater watching Ed Christian perform the one-man show, I couldn’t help but imagine scenes from the movie and compare them to his portrayal. I thought to myself, I wish I could simply enjoy this stage experience without scattered memories from the film taking my attention away from what Ed is doing up there.

However, after talking to others after the show who had never seen the film, they said just the opposite. They wished that they had the film under their belt so they could have better understood some of the references in the stage adaptation. But everyone I talked to enjoyed themselves and took something away from the performance.

Ed essentially acted out the film, almost in its entirety, switching from character to character and also acting as narrator. He alone was the show, with no help from other cast members or extras. I have a tremendous amount of respect for anyone who can pull that off, especially someone who can do it very well.

What impressed me about Ed’s performance (besides the perfect execution of the 60-page script and keeping an audience’s attention all by himself for over an hour) was how he was able to jump from character to character. I tried to imagine what that would be like, and it seems that the actor must be conscious of every element of their being. When switching between a male and female character there are obvious differences that are considered, such as the tone of their voices and their posture as they sit or stand. But there are more subtle changes that must happen as well. One second Ed could be playing someone who is even-tempered, the next second he might switch to a slobbery drunk and then on to an innocent little child, all the while staying true to the film.

A few days before the performance, Ed told me that everyone has their own impression of Jimmy Stewart (who starred in the film as George Bailey, the primary character that Ed spent most of his time on). He’s right. His is good, and in the lobby after the performance, I noticed a number of audience members giving pretty good shots at it as well.

The play starts off strong, but it isn’t until the final quarter that it really gets gripping. As George Bailey struggles to determine the value of his own existence, I found myself on the same journey with him. What would the world be like if I’d never been born? I don’t have an angel to show me, and I don’t have three ghosts of Christmas to show me my past, present and future as Mr. Scrooge did in “A Christmas Carol,” but we can learn some lessons from these Christmas tales. These are stories that suggest Christmas is a time of evaluating what is really important in life. For Scrooge, he determined that in giving and sharing with others what was most important to him, there was life. For George Bailey, family and friends took first priority, but he needed to experience a life-changing event in order to come to that conclusion. Lucky for us in Juneau, we only have to take a trip to the theater to learn from George’s experience.

Whether you subscribe to Christmas or not, “This Wonderful Life” is a grand experience to warm the spirits this season and, if nothing else, to witness Ed lighting up the stage in his first solo performance. It’s not to be missed.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 4th, 2009 at 2:51 pm and is filed under Theatre. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.