Comments on: Theatre Review: “This Wonderful Life” at the IRT

By: Christopher

Christopher — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 02:24:54 +0000

I took my wife to this yesterday as a Christmas gift to us. I am soooo very glad I did. This was amazing and Mr. Richardson did an amazing job. I think I actually like the movie more after the play. I have always been annoyed by it a bit, but now I think I can appreciate it in a different way. It was my first time at IRT (we live in Evansville). But, I think I might plan future trips to Indy around IRT’s schedule to check out even more.

Thank you for this blog, it was great!

By: Hope

Hope — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 02:48:51 +0000

Pam, I, too, wish you could be here to see your nephew in this show. I’ll say it again: he’s wonderful!

(And thanks, Pam, Erin, and Dane for reading and commenting. I just got back from two days without Internet access and had to slog through 1,103 autobot spam messages in Chinese, Russian, German, and English about online casinos, porn, discount watches, viagra, and getting rid of termites in furniture.

I can’t tell you much it means to me to be going through my “comment moderation queue” and come upon a comment from a real, live person!)

By: pam kemnitz

pam kemnitz — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 02:05:10 +0000

Jerry Richardson is my nephew and a wonderful actor and person I would love to see this show but unfortunately I live a another state. Thanks for the great review of it. I almost felt like I did get to see it.
Aunt Pam

By: Erin C

Erin C — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 02:29:32 +0000

I would love to see this, especially after reading this wonderful review. I love the movie- I always find Christmas time to be oddly sad; maybe melancholy is the word. So I’ve always found It’s a Wonderful Life to be the perfect movie for me at the holidays- a little sad, but hopeful, and warm.

By: Dane

Dane — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:22:33 +0000

Am I a bad person because i’ve not seen this movie *L* I think im the only one alive who hasn’t. Nice review though….it made me want to see this. Sounds like a cool concept!

By: Hope

Hope — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:01:35 +0000

You’re welcome, Debby! I loved the “radio” version of “It’s a Wonderful Life” that the Spotlight Players did last year. I’ll be curious what you think of this one-person version.

By: Debby

Debby — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 07:41:06 +0000

Thanks for reminding me that I wanted to see this show! I’ve been so busy it slipped my mind!

By: Hope

Hope — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:59:56 +0000

Thanks very much for the interesting comment, Jack! I didn’t know that about how the movie came to be.

Re: the parking…well, by the time I got anywhere near the IRT, I was running so late that I decided the valet parking would be worth it. Reviers can NOT miss the opening minutes of a show! (Plus I hate to miss the curtain talk anyway, just for myself, and I knew my friend was waiting and probably wondering where I was.)

Usually, though, I can find a place on the street. Nights and weekends you don’t have to put money in the meters.

By: Jack Gramling

Jack Gramling — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:33:36 +0000

You know the story behind the movie, don’t you? It started out as an original short story that a guy gave a select group of his friends instead of Christmas cards. One of the friends passed it along to a screenwriter friend of his, and the writer turned it into a screenplay. The director Frank Capra took an interest in it, and…well, the rest is history. There was even a book that came out in the ’90s about the movie, something like The It’s a Wonderful Life Book. It even had the original short story, which was quite a bit different than the movie.

I used to really love this film, now a public-domain staple at holiday time, and I still have it on VHS…in its original pristine black and white rather than that godawful colorized misstep that Ted Turner attempted in the mid-’80s (and might still be playing on TBS for all I know). I especially watched it during the late ’80s and early ’90s, even during non-holiday times of the year when I was a young husband and father. I identified with George Bailey, the average Joe who sacrifices his own dreams to do the right things for his family and friends. I, too, wanted to do right by my family, and I think I did (you’d have to ask my son about that, though). But now that I’m older and living alone, I don’t identify with George so much. I’m probably more like Uncle Billy than anyone else in the movie now. At least I hope I’m not Potter, although I can do a pretty fair imitation of Lionel Barrymore. (“You called me a wawwww-ped, frustrated old MAAAAAAN!”)

Sounds like the IRT one-man show last Fri was fun; I’m sorry I missed it. Eleven bucks for valet parking, though??? Ouch! Why didn’t you try parking across the street @ Circle Center Mall? Do they close the parking garage at a certain time?