CAPE MAY – Radio’s Golden Age didn’t die completely with the advent of television in the 1950s. On Dec. 13, members of the Cape May United Methodist Church will present “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play,” as part of its efforts to open their church to the community and raise funds to benefit the church and its missions.
The play is based on the story “The Greatest Gift” by Philip Van Doren Stern, and is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, serving the Dramatists Play Service Collection. It was adapted by Joe Landry.
“We have fun, but it’s also harder than we thought,” said director Jon Vile of Lower Township. “Old-time radio took place in a studio with sound effects. Making sound effects, like when George jumps in the water, isn’t as easy as you might think.”
The short story was published in 1943 and is loosely based on the 1843 Charles Dickens novella, “A Christmas Carol.” In the story, George Bailey is a man who has given up his dreams to help others in his community. His thoughts of suicide on Christmas Eve bring about the intervention of his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody. Clarence shows George all the lives he has touched and what the world would be like if he had not existed.
According to Vile, the congregation wanted to open their church to the community, showing that it was an inclusive congregation that welcomed everyone. Proceeds from the past four productions have totaled about $6,000, and 100% of the proceeds are used locally, nationally and globally. Ramps were built locally to help those with mobility challenges; relief has been provided to those in need due to natural disasters through the United Methodist Committee on Relief, and members visited Kenya and Guatemala to assist with building projects.
“It’s a great story and great for radio,” Vile said. “Everyone gets to read their lines, so there’s no memorization. We have a lot of fun.”
This is the fifth time the congregation will have produced a radio play. In 2019 and 2021, they produced “It’s a Wonderful Life”; then in 2022, they produced “A Christmas Carol.” Last year, they produced a locally written play called, “The Yuletide Odyssey,” about a bus trip from Philadelphia to the West Coast, highlighting what happens along the way, including a woman who goes into labor and delivers twins.
“In 2022, we wrote the commercials into the script,” Vile said, recalling the fun they had making commercials about a company that produced kazoos.
For the most part, the people playing the characters haven’t changed much over the years. They start practicing in October.
“The youngest person in the play is 55,” Vile noted. “The actors usually play multiple parts, which means the kids’ voices in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” are the voices of adults.” About a dozen people are involved in the production.
Peter Munsick plays the main character, George, while Helen Vile plays his wife, Mary. Clarence the Angel is played by Bill Green, who Vile said “looks and sounds like Clarence from the movie.” Henry Potter, who is the villainous robber baron and the main antagonist in the film, is played by Bob Morris, who also plays Mr. Giuseppe Martini “because of his talent at accents.
“Everyone has talents so we try to match those talents to performance,” Vile said. He was a sixth-grade teacher at Lower Township Elementary School before retiring in 2012.
The performance takes place in the church, which dates back 182 years as the oldest in the city. The audience sits in the pews so limited seating is available at $10 each by reserving with Judy Platt at 609-741-6267 or the Church office at 609-884-3792. The performance is at 7 p.m. at the church, 635 Washington Street, Cape May.
Contact the author, Karen Knight, at kknight@cmcherald.com
