Displaying items by tag: Joe Landry

Citadel will be visited by Clarence the Angel and the beleaguered George Bailey from November 13 – December 13, when the company presents IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: THE LIVE RADIO PLAY, based on the perennial favorite holiday film that starred James Stewart, Donna Reed, and Lionel Barrymore. When the film premiered in 1946, before the television era, it was a common practice for popular films to be performed as live radio plays, and IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE was performed live on CBS's THE LUX RADIO THEATRE with Stewart and Reed recreating their film roles as George and Mary Bailey on December 23, 1947. This radio play adaptation by playwright Joe Landry not only brings the film's beloved story to the stage, but it also recreates the magic of the heyday of radio dramas. The cast of five will play radio actors who are performing all 50 roles of the "radio play within a play," recreating the tension and excitement of performing live before a studio audience and a nationwide radio audience of millions. Jack Hickey, the former Artistic Director of Oak Park Festival Theatre, who directed Citadel's THE COTTAGE in 2024, will return to Citadel to direct. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY will open on Friday, November 13 after previews on November 11 and 12, and play through December 13.
 
Hickey's stellar cast will be led by Brian Parry, known in Chicago for such iconic roles as Willy Loman, King Lear, and Richard Nixon. Parry has been cast in the equally iconic role of the villainous Mr. Potter, created in the film by Barrymore. Jake and Sally – the radio actors playing George and Mary Bailey  - will be Jake Harrison Murphy (Puck in BrightSide Theatre's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM) and Rachel J. Jones (seen earlier this year in Writers Theatre's LEOPOLDSTADT, and as Juliet in Oak Park Theatre's ROMEO AND JULIET). Parry, along with John Dooley (of Citadel's ADMISSIONS and THE COTTAGE) and Cait Kelly (of POOR BEHAVIOR and CRY IT OUT with Oil Lamp Theatre), will be the radio actors playing all the other characters of the film. Caleb Ryan Jones will create the Foley sound effects and play the radio stage manager. Understudies are Bob Sanders (Freddie/Mr. Potter and others), Zach Kunde (Harry, Jake/George Bailey and others) and Ariel Dooley (Sally/Mary Bailey). The final cast members, it should be noted, will be the Citadel audiences themselves – who will play the studio audience.

The IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE design team that will take audiences back to a radio studio of the 1940's includes Jeff Award winners Bob Knuth (Scenic Design) and Rachel Sypniewski (Costume Design); Joel Zishuk (Lighting Design), Alex Trinh (Sound Design), and Reiley Duffy (Props Design). Also on the production team are Abby Austin (Stage Manager), Jason Clark (Master Carpenter), Adri Andreolas (Scenic Charge), Natalie Barowsky (Stage Crew), and Scott and Ellen Phelps (Production Managers).
 
Flex passes, which can be used in any combinations for any Citadel Main Stage shows, are available for four admissions at $140.00, or three admissions for $115.00 or two admissions for $80.00. Preview flex passes are also available for $45 (two shows), $55 (three shows), or $65 (four shows). Subscriptions and single tickets priced at $50 (plus ticketing. Fees) are on sale at www.citadeltheatre.org. 
 
Citadel Theatre is in residence in the West Campus of the Lake Forest School District at 300 S. Waukegan Road, Lake Forest. Further information and ticketing is available on the company's website at www.citadeltheatre.org.

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY
Adapted by Joe Landry
Based on the story "The Greatest Gift" by Philip van Doren Stern
Directed by Jack Hickey
Friday, November 13 – Sunday, December 13, 2026
(Previews November 11 and 12 at 7:30 pm)

Thursdays*, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Sunday matinees at 3 pm. Wednesday matinees at 1 pm on November 18 and December 2, Saturday matinees at 3 pm on November 28 and December 12. Understudy performance Wednesday, December 2 at 6:30 pm.
* No show on Thursday, November 26 (Thanksgiving Day)
Preview ticket prices $27.15 including ticketing fee. Regular run prices $53.40 including  ticketing fee. Discounts available for groups, seniors and students..
Citadel Theatre, located in the West Campus building of the Lake Forest School District, 300 S. Waukegan Rd., Lake Forest, IL.
Tickets available online at www.citadeltheatre.org or by phone at 847-735-8554, ext. 1
 
On one fateful Christmas Eve, George Bailey teeters on the edge of despair, until an unexpected visitor reveals the extraordinary impact of his life. The immortal story of the classic film is told as a lively 1940s radio broadcast. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY blends humor, nostalgia and heart into a timeless reminder that the choices we make can change everything.

Oil Lamp Theater is proud to announce the cast and creative team for its next production and the final production in its 2026 season, It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, November 20 - December 27, adapted by Joe Landry and directed by Becca Holloway at Oil Lamp Theater, 1723 Glenview Road. The schedule includes preview performances Friday, Nov. 20 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 21 at 3 p.m. with the opening performance Saturday, Nov. 21 at 7:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 3 and 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. with additional Wednesday performances on Dec. 2 at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m, Dec. 16 at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. and Dec. 23 at 7:30 p.m. There will also be an understudy performance on Wednesday, Dec. 9 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale now for $30 for previews and $55 for the run at OilLampTheater.org.  

This heartwarming production is the perfect way to embrace the spirit of the Christmas season. Experience unmatched holiday cheer with Frank Capra's beloved classic, It's a Wonderful Life, reimagined as a captivating Live Radio Play, complete with foley sound effects and set in Oil Lamp Theater’s WBFR radio studio.

Audiences are invited to journey to Bedford Falls, where George Bailey's troubles lead him to wish he was never born. Clarence, an angel sent to intervene, steps in to make his wishes come true and George quickly learns just how blessed he is and how many lives he has touched.

The cast of It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play includes Ethan Smith (he/him, Jake Laurents); India Huy (she/her, Sally Applewhite); Adam Schulmerich (he/him, Freddie Filmore); Baxter Konstans (he/him, Harry “Jazzbo” Haywood); Julia Hope Budd (she/her, Lana Sherwood); Anthony Augustine  (he/him, Foley Artist); Christopher Ratliff (he/him, U/S Jake Laurents); Aly Mackenzie (she/her, U/S Sally Applewhite); Neil Figuracion (any, U/S Freddie Filmore); Payton Nesci (he/him, U/S Harry “Jazzbo” Haywood); Katherine Abel (she/her, U/S Lana Sherwood) and John N Williams (he/him, U/S Foley Artist).  

The production team includes Becca Holloway (she/her, director); Anthony Doyle (he/him, stage manager); Trenton Jones (he/him, scenic designer); Rachel D. Hemm (she/her, lighting designer); Taylor Pfenning (she/her, costume designer); Elly Burke (she/her, props designer); Conner Nicoson (they/them, technical director); Connor Windle (she/her, production manager and sound designer) and Rose Leisner (she/her, company manager). 

ABOUT JOE LANDRY, playwright

Joe Landry's plays have been produced across the country and internationally and include It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play (named one of the top-ten most produced plays by American Theatre Magazine). His other Live Radio Play adaptations include Vintage Hitchcock, Meet Me in St. Louis, War of the Worlds: The Panic Broadcast and A Christmas Carol, published through Playscripts/Broadway Licensing and Concord. Other plays include The Wicked Stage, Reefer Madness, Numb and Hitchcocked!. He attended Playwrights Horizons/NYU and has taught playwriting at Sacred Heart University.

ABOUT BECCA HOLLOWAY, director

Becca Holloway is a director/choreographer based in Chicago. She’s thrilled to return to Oil Lamp Theater, where she made her directorial debut 10 years ago! Favorite directing credits include Curious Circumstances of Louis Le Prince, Wise Guys, Die Hard 4 Your Luv (The Factory Theater), Muted (Red Theater) and Wanderlust and The Muses (Chicago Music Theater Festival). As an associate director: Godspell (Music Theater Works) and the upcoming Sunday in the Park with George (Paramount Theatre). Holloway has also worked extensively as a casting director for more than 30 productions including work with Wicked and The Lion King.