Justin Guarini, Lauren Molina and More Will Headline IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY at Bucks County Playhouse

Bucks County Playhouse has announced the initial casting of its much anticipated 2012 holiday production, It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play by Joe Landry. Performances run from Thursday, December 13th through Sunday, December 30th at the Bucks County Playhouse (70 South Main Street).

It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play will feature Doylestown resident Justin Guarini (“American Idol”, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, American Idiot) as “Jake”, Garth Kravits (The Drowsy Chaperone) as “Harry/Jazzbo”, Lauren Molina (Rock of Ages, Sweeney Todd ) as “Lana”, Jill Paice (Curtains, The 39 Steps) as “Sally”, and Kevin Pariseau (Legally Blonde) as “Freddie”. Additional cast members of It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play will be announced shortly.

Directed by Gordon Greenberg, choreographed by Lorin Latarro, and inspired by the classic film, It’s A Wonderful Life: a Live Radio Play is performed as a 1940s live radio broadcast in front of a studio audience. This beloved American holiday classic, which tells the story of idealistic George Bailey as he considers his demise one fateful Christmas Eve, comes to captivating life with the help of an ensemble that brings over two dozen characters to the stage. It premiered in 1996 and has since been produced countless times around the country to critical acclaim.

It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play is produced by special arrangement with Playscripts, Inc. (www.playscripts.com).

It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play is sponsored in part by ShopRite. The Bucks County Playhouse 2012 Season is supported by Vincent DiBianca, Patty Oceanak, Princeton Automobile Company, and Flemington Car and Truck Company.

It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play will play the following schedule: Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m., Wednesdays at 2:00p.m and 7:30 p.m., Thursdays at 2:00 p.m. & 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. There is no matinee performance on December 13th. There will be no evening performance on Dec 23. There is no performance on Christmas Eve (Dec 24) and Christmas Day (Dec 25). For full details, and to purchase tickets, please visit bcptheater.org or call 215-862-2121.

Special post-show talkbacks will take place following the matinee performances on December 19, December 22, and December 26.

Located 90 minutes from New York City, the Bucks County Playhouse opened in 1939 on the site of a grist mill dating from the late eighteenth century. Ironically, the structure was at that time in danger of demolition; however playwright Moss Hart and the local community rallied to save the building and re-opened it as a theatrical venue, which quickly became one of the country’s most famous regional theaters, with a veritable who’s who of American theatrical royalty including Kim Hunter, Helen Hayes, Kitty Carlisle, Colleen Dewhurst, Shirley Booth, Lillian Gish, June Lockhart, Grace Kelly, Robert Redford, Bert Lahr, Leslie Nielsen and Walter Matthau and remained in continuous operation until December 2010. Thanks to the Bridge Street Foundation, the non-profit family foundation of Kevin and Sherri Daugherty with Tanya Cooper as President, this beloved theatrical landmark was re-opened and celebrated on July 2, 2012, exactly 73 years and day from when it originally opened in 1939.