First that obligatory recap: Wonderful Life is the story of George Bailey, a decent man who grows up with dreams of exotic adventures, but who is forced by the unexpected to remain in his hometown of Bedford Falls, New York. When it seems that George is going to be held responsible for money missing from the bank he helms, he’s driven to attempt suicide — but is rescued by Clarence, his Guardian Angel. In a Dickensian hallucination, Clarence shows George just how terrible life would have been for many people — his wife, his brother, one of his employers — if he had never existed. Once George learns his true value, he returns to the love of life just in time to be financially saved. At the end, aspiring angel Clarence, in recognition of his work with George, wins his coveted wings.
All right: You knew that. So let’s talk first about Jim Sorensen, who plays George with such artistry, he’ll make you forget Jimmy Stewart. I’ve been reviewing Sorensen’s work for five years or so, and was already calling him a “star” back in 2012. What this unique actor brings to the role of George is a palpable decency, a Midwestern-ish aura of goodness that makes you believe he’d fall in love with the placid, unspectacular Mary Hatch, and that he’d go hungry rather than see you miss a bus or lose your winter scarf. Not that Sorensen is limited to playing such roles — he’s been terrific in everything from The Rocky Horror Show to David Hare’s The Blue Room. But inner virtue is still his forte, and he handles it beautifully in Wonderful Life. Honestly, I don’t think Sorensen has ever given a bad performance.
Which leads me directly to V Craig Heidenreich (that’s right: no period after the letter V). I first saw Heidenreich on stage years ago in Sarasota, when he was a member of the Asolo Rep company, and then I watched him shine in numerous plays at Banyan Theatre, which he co-founded. Well, starting a few months ago, Heidenreich has been acting in the Bay area (he was strong as a British Marxist in American Stage’s The Pitmen Painters), and as Mr. Potter in Wonderful Life, he’s nasty and selfish and a lot of fun to hate. He also acts as the show’s narrator, coming across as authoritative and oh-so-mature. Heidenreich is a transformer: You never know what he’s going to be, exalted or abject, younger or older than his years. He’s one of those performers who has thrown himself into the fickle world of the theater with courage and consistency, and it’s not irrelevant that he acted for 15 years with the storied Actors Theatre of Louisville. He’s unusually skilled and I hope to see him in many more dramas.
And that brings up Becca McCoy, who portrays seductive but vulgar Violet in Wonderful Life, and who’s been pretty delightful for years in everything from Disenchanted! to Spamalot. As a brash Sleeping Beauty out to explode patriarchal stereotypes, or as an absurd Lady of the Lake in a hilarious Monty Python spinoff, McCoy has shown herself to be a fearless, uninhibited performer who lives for the stage, with the stage, and on the stage. I admit that I wasn’t at first bowled over by her acting (however many seasons ago that was), but she’s increasingly proved herself a genuine talent and a one-woman theater event. Other theater artists get wise and leave the stage behind for dental school: McCoy, I’m quite sure, will be on the boards into her dotage. Watching actors as I have over almost two decades, I’ve gotten a sense for who’s genuine. McCoy is that, and a sturdy talent to watch.
The next two actors I don’t know as well. I haven’t much noticed Colleen Cherry, who plays George’s wife Mary, in past years, but she was gruesomely effective as a completely insane Lizzie Borden a few months ago in Lizzie! (co-produced by Jobsite Theater and the Straz Center), and as Mary she’s homespun, amiable, and utterly trustworthy. Dean Wick I don’t remember ever seeing in past shows, but he’s super as Clarence the Angel, both self-abnegating (as befits an angel, second class) and thoughtfully forward (he throws himself off a bridge to get George’s attention). You can’t help but love both of these performers, demonstrating as they do a kind of quiet magnanimity. Some actors live through their lines and some live between them: Cherry and Wick radiate more than they say. You couldn’t ask for two better performances of these parts.
There are other first-class features of this Wonderful Life, not least Jerid Fox’s attractive set, featuring lecterns and old-style microphones and a large plaque with the call letters “WBFR.” Add two Christmas trees and two windows, behind which snow appears to be falling, an “Applause” sign, an oriental rug, and an area for creating sound effects, and you’ve got just the seasonal feel that a production like this requires. Jill Castle’s costumes include three-piece suits for the men, and green and red dresses for the women. Chris Baldwin’s lighting is innocuously perfect.
But it’s acting that makes this show work so well, even when we well know the movie on which it is based. Director (and Artistic Director) Gularte, I’m glad to see, has found all her performers on the West Coast of Florida, demonstrating that this Californian is turning Floridian at a nice pace. To say it one more time: If you’re looking for a familiar holiday experience, along with the inevitable Nutcracker and A Christmas Carol, you’ll find it here, with these top talents, in the live radio version of Wonderful Life.
And that, George Bailey, is something else to be thankful for.
It’s A Wonderful Life
American Stage,163 Third St. N., St. Petersburg, through Dec. 24. Wednesdays, 7 p.m.; Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 3 p.m. $30. 727-823-PLAY, americanstage.org.
This article appears in Dec 15-22, 2016.