It's a Wonderful Life at the FMU Performing Arts Center in Florence

FMU Performing Arts Center to showcase 

“It’s a Wonderful Life: Live from WVL Radio Theatre”

FLORENCE – “It’s a Wonderful Life: Live from WVL Radio Theatre,” will be performed at the Francis Marion University Performing Arts Center on Thursday, Dec. 1 and Friday Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m.

The show, an adaptation by W.V.R. Repoley, is produced by the N.C. Stage Company and Immediate Theatre Project.

Set on Christmas Eve in 1945, the show features a handful of WVL Radio’s actors who have braved the blizzard to perform that evening’s broadcast of “It’s a Wonderful Life” and keep the station afloat. The clever stage adaptation breathes new life into the poignant story of George Bailey and Bedford  Falls.

When Frank Capra and his co-writers were working on the original screenplay of It’s a Wonderful Life, the Great Depression was a vivid memory. The story of George Bailey and Bedford Falls is juxtaposed against of time of failing banks, devastatingly high unemployment and a shortage of affordable housing.

The  circumstances are eerily familiar and over 60 years later, this story remains as fresh and relevant as ever. It’s message of hope and optimism is the perfect antidote to holiday cynicism.

It is the second  of four performances in the Variety Series that includes “Second City” and “War Bonds: The Songs and Letters of World War II.”

In addition to the “Variety Series” there are four others during the PAC’s season that runs until May of 2012.  Those series include Broadway shows, concerts, family oriented shows and a dance series as well as a wide range of acts in the smaller, more intimate Black Box Theatre. Information on the complete season is available at www.fmupac.org.

Tickets for the show start at $15 and may be purchased at www.fmupac.org, via telephone at (843) 661-4444, and at the FMU Performing Arts Center Box Office. Telephone and personal ticket sales are available Monday through Friday between 12-5 p.m. Subject to availability, tickets may be available for purchase at the door.  The PAC is located in downtown Florence at the intersection of Dargan and Evans Streets. 

Release contact: Angela Crosland (843-661-1227, office; acrosland@fmarion.edu, e-mail)

View FMU news releases online at www.fmarion.edu/news.