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NOVEMBER 2007 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Curtain times: Evenings at 8 p.m.; Sunday Matinees at 3 p.m.

DECEMBER 2007 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Curtain times: Evenings at 8 p.m.; Sunday Matinees at 3 p.m.

Cast

Peter Haloulos

Stephen Kelsey

Glenda ManWaring

Cindy Mixon

Beau Phillips

Will Ragland

Turn back the clock to the 1940s and set the dial for a double dose of holiday nostalgia. Joe Landry's fast-paced and faithful spin on the Frank Capra holiday classic hearkens back to the golden age of radio when families gathered together for inspirational broadcasts and wholesome entertainment. Savvy studio actors recreate the much-loved celebration of simple goodwill, community, and cheer in the face of hardship. Perfect for the whole family!

Sponsored by Greenville Hospital System, this production of It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play will be directed by John Fagan, Artistic Director of the Upstate Shakespeare Festival, and features Will Ragland, most recently seen at Centre Stage as Buddy Holly. Other members of the cast include voiceover artist Glenda ManWaring, Stephen Kelsey, Beau Phillips, Cindy Mixon and Peter Holoulos, who will portray Clarence, the angel whose intervention in the life of Ragland’s character (George Bailey) earns him his wings.

“The combination of live 1940s-era radio theater and this particular Christmas story is incredibly rich,” says Centre Stage executive director BJ Koonce. “This is American optimism in its purest form.”

Scenic Designer Lesley Preston, Professor of Theater at Presbyterian College, has created a vintage 1940s radio station from which the cast will “broadcast” the show before our live studio audience. Period radio ads will be played and performed during commercial breaks and sound effects will be created the old-fashioned way ... on-the-fly with everything from a thunder sheet to a wind machine to a vintage siren.

It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play will run November 29 – December 16 with 8 p.m. performances Nov. 29 – Dec. 1, Dec. 6-8 and 13-15 and 3 p.m. performances Dec. 2, 9 and 16. Tickets are $25 and $20 for adults, with discounts for students and seniors. All seats reserved. Tickets go on sale to the general public November 12 and the box office can be reached at 864.233.6733 2-6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 2 hours before performances.

View a seating chart.
Get directions to the theater.

Special talkback December 7 with the playwright!

Joe Landry

Wonderful Life playwright Joe Landry will attend our December 7 performance and will be on hand for the special talkback session to be hosted by Johnny Price of the Caleb Group after the show.
Joe Landry's plays have been produced across the country, and include Eve & Co., Beautiful, Hollywood Babylon, and Numb. His other adaptations include Reefer Madness and Death in Venice. Mr. Landry attended Playwright's Horizons/NYU and is the founder of Second Guess Theatre Company. His produced screenplays include Who Would Jesus Date?, a Christian dating service mockumentary. He's currently working on a new radio play called Vintage Hitchcock, which is comprised of adaptations of three of Hitchcock's British films.

United Ministries food collection box
Please bring canned and boxed non-perishable foods with you to the show. We'll be collecting them throughout the run of Wonderful Life for United Ministries.