This December, Merely Players continues our season of storytelling with “It’s a Wonderful Life – A Live Radio Play,” our holiday gift to the community. It’s a nostalgic callback – a dreamy escape to the Golden Age of Radio and a tribute to one of cinema’s most iconic films. “It’s a Wonderful Life” stands as America’s counterpart to Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”: a seasonal story of love, gratitude and redemption that reminds us annually of what truly matters.
The play unfolds in a New York City radio studio on Christmas Eve, 1947. Nine fictional celebrities play all the parts, accompanied by three Foley artists who produce live sound effects.
It features actors portraying other actors, who in turn are performing a rendition of a beloved movie.
The year 1947 marked the postwar peak of radio’s popularity, with families gathering nightly in their living rooms to enjoy game shows, variety hours, soap operas, comedies, dramas and mysteries. Although television had been invented, network television did not premiere until 1948, leaving radio as the primary form of home entertainment. The world created by this “live radio play” offers a simultaneous journey: into the nationally broadcast studio of WBFR in Manhattan; into the cherished story of Bedford Falls; and into the lives of George Bailey and the innocent Clarence, who descends from heaven to save George, reunite him with his family and community, and earn his angel wings. This theatrical magic allows the audience to inhabit multiple worlds – participating as a studio audience, at home listening with loved ones and visually recalling the original film.
I have the honor of this production being my directorial debut with Merely Players. In creating this world, working with a talented ensemble of character actors, and assembling the radio studio set, lights and sound with Merely’s tech wizard Charles Ford – something magical happened. Art imitates life, history repeats itself, and the parallels between our small Colorado town and 1947 Bedford Falls became striking.
Times were troubling, uncertain and stressful in 1947. World War II had just ended. America had survived the Great Depression only to face a global conflict. The characters in this story have endured fear, loss, poverty and confusion. George Bailey is torn between his ambition to travel the world and his devotion to his town, family and one true love, Mary – a struggle as old as time and as familiar as the American dream. In creating a holiday getaway for all, we’ve crafted a mirror. “It’s a Wonderful Life” reflects hope, community, gratitude and love. My most sincere hope is that it reminds us we can persevere through trying times, not by focusing on what we cannot control, but by cherishing what’s right in front of us: our family, friends, community and love. I began this project as a holiday illusion, blending theater, cinema and radio. Instead, I discovered the story bridges past and present. It’s a time machine and a gift that we look forward to sharing.
Matt Bodo is a local writer and actor who is directing Merely Players’ 2025 production of “It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play,” which runs from Dec. 5 to Dec. 12. Tickets are available at www.merelyplayers.org.
