CHS to air Christmas classic

Special to the Frontiersman

PALMER — Colony High School’s drama department presents a radio adaptation of the classic Frank Capra film “It’s A Wonderful Life” by Tony Palmero at 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday. Tickets to see the live 1940s-style radio performance are $7 at the door, or people may listen for free on Radio Free Palmer, KVRF 89.5 FM, or online at radiofreepalmer.org.

“Now with Radio Free Palmer on the air, we’ve got a new dramatic venue in an old technology: radio,” said Brian Mead, Colony drama director and Radio Free Palmer board member.

The performance tells the story of George Bailey, who wants to get out and see the world, but seems forever stuck in his hometown of Bedford Falls. When he’s had enough and decides to end it all, Angel Second Class Clarence comes down from heaven on a mission to save George and earn his wings.

“Of course, everyone has heard of the days before television and how families used to gather around the radio,” said Mead, who has a long line of radio in his blood. “My grandmother, Louise Starkey, starred and wrote for radio’s first daytime soap opera, ‘Clara, Lu, and Em,’ in Chicago back in the ’30s and ’40s. The program started as a sorority sketch at Northwestern University, but became a wildly popular dramatic series sponsored by Colgate-Palmolive.”

This is Colony’s first foray into radio drama, but it still will have a visual element for those coming to see the live performance. The show is presented quasi-1940s style with costumes and period hairstyles.

There is a backdrop of an old time radio studio and live sound effects created from all sorts of gizmos, gadgets and found objects.

The student actors play themselves as though they were 1940s-era radio actors playing a variety of parts, each with unique voices and character traits.

“If this goes well over the radio, we’ll consider a radio show as a regular part of our drama season,” Mead said. “We even bought some great looking vintage style microphones. For a radio show, it’s going to have a great visual effect.”