I recently watched a radio style twist on the classic “It’s A Wonderful Life” at Falcon Theatre. I honestly have never watched the movie in it’s entirety. I’ve seen enough clips over the years to get the just of the movie. I was really interested when I found out the play would be presented as a radio show. The concept took me back to watching the movie “Annie” as a child when they show the “behind the scenes” while making a radio announcement to try to find Annie’s birth parents.
The theatre is located in the heart of downtown Newport,KY and it’s walls boast the plays that have been presented there.
We opted for the front row to get an upclose view of the foley artists.
The play really gave you the feeling of being a live audience with the “applause” and “on air” signs that cued us when to participate.
The actors immediately kept my attention by all of their voice impressions. The cast of 7 filled was able to transform their voices into range of ages that they could transition to within moments.
Their voices as children always made the audience smile.
The foley artists also kept me super intrigued. It was really interesting to see how they would create the sounds by what looked like a kitchen experiment.
Crunching a bag of cornstarch for footprints in the snow, slamming doors, splashing water; they achieved every sound with such creativity.
I really enjoyed seeing something different vs. the usual Christmas play. It was nice to take in a different perspective of a familiar story.
You can still catch a performance at the Falcon Theatre December 13-15. Check out their website for details.
