A wonderful life = excellence achieved

 
One of the most satisfying events is witnessing events that grow and become more mature, more refined and more perfected. Not that any of us will ever achieve perfection, but when we strive for it, we can grab hold of excellence. Once again, I’ve been blown away by an event that we were fortunate enough to enjoy.
From Thursday, Dec. 12, through Saturday, Dec. 14, the Weston County Arts Council presented the live radio play “It’s a Wonderful Life,” adapted for stage and radio from Frank Capra’s classic screenplay by Tony Palermo. The play took place at the Weston County Events Center with new lighting and sound equipment provided by the sponsors: Wyoming Refining Co., First State Bank of Newcastle, Belle Fourche Pipeline Co., Shelco  and True Ranches. I am not going to tell the story of the play. For that, check out the movie because the story stayed faithful.
What I want to focus on here is the technical side of the production. With new equipment, problems are a given, and this play was no exception. Tom Voss, the director, is an even harsher critic than I could have been, and I’m no critic. He publicly admits problems. However, Voss also said that this performance was a kind of test run of the equipment and openly told us they were learning how to operate it. Limited time at the event center forced the cast and crew to get used to the new equipment with little practical experience. I think that takes guts to go on stage, only then knowing if it is going to work out or not. In my opinion the gamble paid off.
I attended all three performances, and I’m glad I did. This is where the real beauty of what took place was witnessed. First of all, Newcastle got to see something observed infrequently. In the years surrounding World War II, movies were advertised quite differently from today’s efforts. Now we have big budget trailers and such. But back then the advertising was done on the radio, in the form of plays adapted from the movies. These plays were in front of live
audiences, the actors reading from scripts, very few sets and a rawness to them that was disarming. 
I remember listening to some albums of radio shows that were big in the Golden Age of Radio, my father having quite a number of those recordings. They were raw, more improvised, off-the-cuff and electric. You can’t match that type of excitement. I think a large part of the fun has to do with the intimate nature of these radio plays. The performers are close to the audience. They are putting themselves out there in a very exposed position. In a play that is full of sets, professional stage lighting, and maybe even an orchestra, you get to hide, at least a bit, behind all that facade. Not so with a radio play. The actor is almost totally exposed, sets are practically nonexistent, and props are few. Sound effects, lighting and all the rest are right there on the stage with the performers, who are often the ones manipulating them in front of the audience.
This type of energy is where the magic happens. The show, built in the audience’s imagination, has the story told through narration and dialogue. But the pictures have to be built in your mind. I like that. It almost makes it feel as if you, as an audience member, take part in the storytelling process. That is an event that is hard to beat.
The play started with a female quartet called the Mello-Larks, who performed songs in the style of the two Andrews Sisters. The members are Susanne Voss, Carole Mark, Kristina Mireles and Sarah Mark. The costumes and performance set the mood of the play, bringing the audience into the 1940s. And what fun! The doo-wop harmonies were great, the songs energetic, and while they had a unique twist to them, there was that familiarity that helped you climb on board without any effort to take a ride back to the 1940s. The enjoyment kept getting better each night, partly due to the lighting effects, with vast improvements night after night. But those four ladies, as good as they were on the first night, got better with each performance.
And that same refinement extends to the cast of the play. Okay, sure – the first night had its bugs. Most of that was due to the technical issues of the new equipment. But I didn’t hear one complaint. Having this level of growth over the lighting and sound is an obvious step up. And I think everyone is looking forward to seeing how these upgrades will be used in events to come. As each night progressed, bugs were worked out, again, getting better and better each night. The third performance was so much fun, so free of worry and anxiety and with so few glitches that it was easy to sit back and watch the performance.
I have to mention a couple of really choice performances. The first actor was Voss, who played the part of the villain, Mr. Potter. He also directed and played other characters. His facial expressions and voice intonations were so fun and funny to watch. And his hobbling around on his cane, with a Scrooge-like outcome, was just a joy to see.
The other performance that had me going was Tim Lorenz’ performance. He played, at one time, Clarence AS2 (Angel Second Class) and Nick, the bartender. There was a scene where Clarence was weirding out Nick. Watching Lorenz switch back and forth between these two, changing vocalizations, his stance, even the expressions on his face, was a delight. To me, it was the highlight performance of the entire show. Not too many people could have switched between these personalities as effortlessly.
To the arts council, I must say, “Good job.” They took some chances with this play. But I think those chances not only paid off but made better performers and better technicians out of everyone involved. I, for one, can’t wait to see the next play. Who knows, maybe I’ll take the plunge myself and participate.