Review: A WONDERFUL LIFE at Goodspeed Opera House

It's a tricky thing when a popular film is adapted for the musical stage. Sometimes it works and sometimes it simply falls flat. For A WONDERFUL LIFE, presented by Goodspeed Musicals, it falls somewhere in-between. To be fair, It's A Wonderful Life is not just a "popular film", it's practically an American institution, so the audience for A WONDERFUL LIFE, the musical adaptation by Sheldon Harnick (Book and Lyrics) and Joe Raposo (Music) most likely come to the show with a very clear expectation of what they will see. They expect encounters with George Bailey as he sacrifices his own dreams for those of his family and neighbors, the harrowing scene where, despondent, he decides to take his own life, Clarence the guardian angel, the truly detestable Mr. Potter, a lovely Mary, some fun "Hee Haw"s with Sam Wainwright, and let's not forget Zuzu's petals.

But, unfortunately, those expectations are not completely met in this production. A WONDERFUL LIFE at the Goodspeed is a case of a well-acted, well-sung, beautifully produced and sometimes inspiring piece that suffers from not-so-memorable music and a book that tries to do too much with too little. But let me first focus on those things that were very good in this production.

Duke Lafoon as the indefatigable George Bailey, conveys the good-natured, down on his luck man with strength, and makes some clear character choices which set him apart from the iconic Jimmy Stewart performance (though there were a couple moments that Stewart came through clearly.) He handles the range of emotion well and certainly endears the audience to his plight, and shares his ultimate revelation that regardless of what may face us, it is still "A Wonderful Life." Kirsten Scott as Mary had the standout performance for this reviewer. Her performance in "If I Had A Wish", in particular, was truly beautiful. She was poised and conveyed Mary's strength and support of George in a very believable way.

Other standout performances include a deliciously evil performance by Ed Dixon as Mr. Potter and a delightfully quirky Clarence as portrayed by Frank Vlastnik (though his song "Wings" left me questioning the choice of the creators of the show to include such a random, though fun, number to start the second act.) The children who play George and Mary's kids (Riley Briggs, Ben Stone-Zelman, and Ella Briggs) are great for the short time they are on stage, but, unfortunately, we don't get to see enough of them.

I am always impressed with how a director uses space, and that is particularly important at the Goodspeed, due to the small stage. Michael Perlman's direction didn't disappoint and he seemed to effectively achieve strong performances out of the whole cast.

The production values for A WONDERFUL LIFE, as with every Goodspeed show I have had the pleasure of seeing, were top notch. The choreography (by Parker Esse) for the rousing "In A State" was great (and well executed by the ensemble). Brian Prather's (Scenic Design) use of windows helped convey the scope of Bedford Falls without a lot of unnecessary set pieces. The costumes and wig/hair design (by Jennifer Caprio and Mark Adam Rampmeyer respectively) were perfect for the time period, and helped subtly convey the shift in era (from the 20's to the 40's) over the course of the show. And the music as orchestrated by Dan DeLange and directed by Michael O'Flaherty was well-balanced and strong.

But with all the good things (and there were many bright spots as noted above), A WONDERFUL LIFE constantly feels like it is trying too hard. There are awkward and heavy-handed lyrics in many of the songs, scenes that can seem out of place and might confuse audience members who are not already familiar with the original film, and interesting changes to parts of the story, some of which work, some of which do not. The show is touted as "family-friendly" and while that is completely true, I am not sure there is enough to keep younger audience members, especially those not familiar with the film, interested.

All in all, I am glad I was able to see this production of A WONDERFUL LIFE. It is not a piece that is performed often and one I had always wondered about but never had the chance to see performed. In less capable hands, this musical would likely be a boring, troubled mess, but the strong cast and creatives at the Goodspeed have been able to make it into something entertaining and even heartwarming. So, as a piece of American Musical Theatre, A WONDERFUL LIFE may be far from wonderful by itself, but the current Goodspeed production comes as close to making it so as I can imagine any theatre can.

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A WONDERFUL LIFE runs at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, CT through November 29. Performances are Wednesdays and Thursdays at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. For more information, call 860-873-8668 or visit www.goodspeed.org. The Goodspeed Opera House is located at 6 Main Street, East Haddam, CT.

Photo credits: Top photo: The cast of A WONDERFUL LIFE, playing now through November 29 at Goodspeed Opera House. Photo by Diane Sobolewski.

Mid photo: The cast of A WONDERFUL LIFE are "In A State", playing now through November 29 at Goodspeed Opera House. Photo by Diane Sobolewski.

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