Communication Arts faculty, Harper Alumni perform audio rendition of “It’s a Wonderful Life”
Harper Instructor Bill Lucio, who plays George Bailey in It’s A Wonderful Life, practices a scene with his cast members on November October 20, 2021. Photo courtesy of Maham Khan.
Christmas is right around the corner, and the Harper College communication department is celebrating by performing a radio play rendition of the Christmas classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” directed by professor Laura Colbert.
The radio play will run on Dec. 12, from 8 to 10 p.m. Those interested in listening can purchase their tickets at the box office in Building J, room 135 or online from the Harper College website.
Tickets cost $15 for Harper students, $20 for non-Harper students as well as Harper staff and seniors and $25 for general admission. One ticket per household is required for viewing.
Leading up to the date and time of the play, those who purchased a ticket will receive a one-time link to stream the play. The play will not be available for streaming after the date and time mentioned above.
The communication department decided to direct a radio play this year to reconnect both current and retired faculty members amidst an ongoing pandemic.
“The last 18 months have been difficult for everyone, and I think we’ve lost touch because we’ve had to disconnect as a result of the pandemic,” Colbert said. “It had been a really long time since we did a faculty project, and faculty projects are a great way for us to share our skills with our students and for us to put our money where our mouths are.”
“It’s a Wonderful Life” was originally released in theaters in 1946 and tells the story of George Bailey, who is contemplating suicide before an angel takes a look back at his life and shows him what the world would be like had he never existed.
The radio play reenacts this plotline, while also featuring original music composition and visual images that audience members can see when they are listening to the play.
When it came to directing a virtual play with these factors, Colbert said that it was not without its challenges.
“The actors were all on microphone, and I had to direct them because, inside my head, I knew what the sound cues were, where the music was going to be added, where the visual cues would be so it was tricky.”
However, Colbert and the members of the cast enjoyed putting the show together.
“It was wonderful,” Colbert said. “I think more important than anything is just, as peers, having the chance to collaborate together, to come together, to work towards a common goal — that’s important not only for our students but for us as educators to make that commitment to each other and to our college, and so it was just a wonderful experience for all of us.”
Gary E. White • Feb 18, 2022 at 11:14 pm
Hi this is Gary White Harper graduate in 73. I also started the drama department there at Harper and directed the very first play ever performed at Harper College, “not enough rope“ by Elaine May. I was excited to find out that my granddaughter Micaela Gaffo was the editor of the harbinger which I also did while there at school. I wish I could have attended one of your performances of “it’s a wonderful life “. Mr. Frank Capra, who wrote the story was one of my favorite directors I was honored to meet him where he retired in Palm Desert in 1996. As a director I believe one’s greatest achievement is to make a change however little in the heart of your audience. The show I produced and directed “not enough rope“ By Elaine May, the first ever at Harper College was a tragicomedy. About the life of a terribly clumsy girl who can’t do anything right including several zany attempts at suicide until in the end she succeeds. My intention was to silence the laughter we had induced in the audience throughout with the tragic reality of the poor girls death. To turn it around, to realize they had really been laughing at themselves as we all are truly often foolish and clumsy. This turnaround didn’t work in the first two performances but in the third and final it finally did! In the long silence, as the lights slowly faded we had succeeded in making the audience ashamed of themselves for having laughed at themselves as we are all inside a little like that foolish young girl. And we all share the same fate. In that protracted silence I enjoyed one of the greatest achievements of my life! A joyous feeling that I still feel deep in my heart now some 50 years later! I hope each and everyone of you can achieve the same and make a little change in someone’s heart however little it may be.