Now through December 22 at Footlights Theatre, 190 US Route 1 in Falmouth, is It (WAS) a Wonderful Life, a frothy, heartwarming paean to small-town, tis-the-season America.
This delightful play, inspired by Frank Capra’s 1946 Holiday Film “It’s a Wonderful Life,” intelligently directed by Rachel Flehinger, and skillfully adapted for the stage by Footlights Executive Artistic Director Michael J. Tobin, romps merrily back and forth, in lickety-split fashion, across the intimate stage at Footlights, gifting the town of Falmouth, its neighbors — and indeed all of Greater Portland — with just a little over one intermission-free hour of welcome good cheer and stress-relieving nostalgia. It’s Capra’s Bedford Falls, transported right here to New England, and you’ll be glad Mr. Tobin and Footlights brought it here! After all, who, anywhere in America, can’t use a healthy dose of therapeutic mood-lifters at this time of year?
For me, at least, after an especially difficult day of coping with some especially difficult people — it happens, doesn’t it — seeing It (WAS) a Wonderful Life at my favorite theater in all of southern Maine did wonders for my tattered disposition. I’ve no doubt it would do every bit the same for you and your friends and neighbors, too. And so, to that end, I hope you’ll come see!
What makes this performance truly memorable is that Nick P. Soloway — a veteran of the Footlights Theatre stage who’s appeared there in “The Long Weekend,” “Maggie’s Getting Married,” and “You’re In My (Inappropriate) Thoughts,” among others — plays every single character in this production entirely by himself!
On the night I saw the show, Soloway charmed and chin-chucked me right out of my chair by the skill and finesse with which he handled the required barrage of hilarious, finger-snappingly quick character changes. He played them all — George Bailey, Mr. Potter, Uncle Billy, Sam Wainwright, Clarence Odbody — and even his wife Mary, her mother, and his daughter Zuzu — with remarkable Mr. Rogers ease, warmth, and authority. He showed anger only when the story required it, and he did that exceptionally well, too. And good measure, he even threw in some precipitation along the way. Watch out, Row One! By the way, you’ll love his Violet Beck cameo appearance! I know I did.
As always at Footlights, the set for this production is spot-on well designed and executed, in this case bringing back memories of a kinder, gentler, less materialistic, less politically tumultuous Christmas season. And once again, the expertly chosen music — another of Tobin’s invaluable skills as a theatre professional — contributes to the distinct feeling that while you may be sitting in the warmth and ambiance of yet another Footlights Theatre evening, you’re actually hunkered down somewhere in Bedford Falls, New York, nestled up to the fire and waiting eagerly for the lives of George and Mary Bailey and their neighbors to take the Better Turn they so richly deserve — and finally make. Of course, you know that, but it never harms us to know a story of such beauty and insight by seeing it, again and again.
Footlights Theatre is located on 190 US Route One in Falmouth, Maine. Shows are Thursdays 7 pm, Fridays 7:30 pm, and Saturdays 2:00 pm & 7:30 pm. To reserve your tickets for a performance of It (WAS) a Wonderful Life — and other Footlights events — call the Box Office — open 24/7 — at 207-747-5434.
Ross Alan Bachelder,
www.artsaplenty.me
Berwick, Maine
artsmultiple@gmail.com