IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY Previews

Something Wonderful is coming to Broadway.

Joe Landry’s It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play goes live on air very soon at the Broadhurst Theatre. This mounting of the widely performed show-within-a-show adaptation boasts a cast that includes Andrew Rannells, Megan Hilty, Tituss Burgess, Harry Hamlin, and Lisa Rinna; Jerry Zaks directs. Previews begin tomorrow night (November 4), opening night is November 18, and the limited run concludes on January 3.

“Take your seat in the live studio audience of a 1940s radio broadcast, high above New York City at Christmastime, where a company of actors has gathered to perform one of the most beloved holiday stories ever told. It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play tells the timeless story of George Bailey, a man who has spent his life putting the needs of others before his own. When a crisis forces him to look back on the life he’s lived, he discovers just how much one person can mean to the people around him.

This joyful production brings the town of Bedford Falls to life, with the actors playing dozens of characters, a foley artist creating sound effects live onstage, and, of course, some holiday carols along the way. It’s the holiday classic you know by heart, on Broadway for the first time ever.”

How many of us Broadway angels are getting our wings?!

George in DC said: "EDSOSLO858 said: "How many of us Broadway angels are getting our wings?!"

Apparently not many. I was curious and checked sales. The theatres look almost empty from the dates I checked."

This isn't exactly a shocker... It was announced October 1, which is a short runway for sales (especially a title like this which might have been appealing to groups that book 6+ months out). These are heavily saturated performers and it's not an "event" or a rarity to see them on stage. It's also 3 days past Halloween and most people aren't in the yuletide mindset yet.

This is one of the perils of a holiday show on Broadway: they'll limp along until Thanksgiving, numbers will improve in December, but they won't really take off until the final two weeks of the year. We have seen this with ELF and A CHRISTMAS CAROL and many other holiday-specific shows on Broadway.

Given the presence of Broadway & Beyond Theatricals, maybe the hope is that this is a loss-leader for a tour.

TotallyEffed said: "This wouldn't have interested me regardless, but the inclusion ofLisa Rinna made this an immediate skip for me. For all I know she's a lovely person, but her presence cheapens this for me.

I can watch the movie any time."


She's certainly a detractor for me. And I wonder if she and Hamlin are at odds with the "target New York audience" and trying to appeal to a broader tourist audience that might not come anyways...