Wonderful Life

A Baltimore Christmas-season tradition continues this weekend with showings of It's a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol at the Senator Theatre, 5904 York Road. It would be hard to go wrong seeing either, even if it would be for the umpteenth time. Life, Frank Capra's 1945 classic, is simply one of the most honestly emotional films ever made, as small-town banker George Bailey comes to realize that riches have nothing to do with fame or profit, everything to do with treating your fellow man right.

Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life" is a staple of the holiday season, and it's easy to find people who think it's the best movie ever. So what made Toby Orenstein, producing director of Toby's Dinner Theatre, want to bring the tale as a musical to the stage? "I love the story," Orenstein declares. "I love what it says. I think everyone has gotten so materialistic - " She stops herself. "I'm idealistic," she explains. "I love the story's values." And why make it a musical? "I think music always enhances the dramatic action," says Orenstein, who is directing the show at her theater for the fourth time since 1989.

George Bailey sings! Though it's hard to picture James Stewart's George Bailey breaking into song in the 1946 Frank Capra film "It's a Wonderful Life," seeing the tale as a musical at Toby's Dinner Theatre is not as odd as you might think. The story has all the ingredients for a good musical. It has a likable hero in George Bailey, a dreamer who never gets out of his hometown of Bedford Falls. It has an attractive love story between George and Mary Hatch (Donna Reed in the movie). There's a guardian angel (Clarence, a kindly bumbler looking to earn his wings)

Folks who need their holiday spirits revved up should take in a performance of Pasadena Theatre Company's "It's a Wonderful Life" this weekend. I've seen this show every year since 1997 and enjoy it more each time. It has now become my favorite holiday entertainment. As almost everyone knows, Frank Capra's 1946 movie classic "It's a Wonderful Life" starred James Stewart as Bedford Falls banker George Bailey, who discovers that "no man who has friends is a failure." With the help of his wingless guardian angel, Clarence Oddbody, George learns that he has profoundly affected the lives of his friends, co-workers and family.

I own a piece of Bedford Falls -- 320 Sycamore, to be precise. Here, George Bailey, his wife and four kids lived a wonderful life, although he didn't realize it until it nearly slipped through his grasp. Now, I must decide whether this purchase was a wise investment -- or a boondoggle prompted by my subconscious response to Sept. 11. Besides, the place needs work. The Bailey home and three other buildings synonymous with the 1946 classic film starring Jimmy Stewart are available from Walgreens, the nation's largest drugstore chain, as part of its first It's a Wonderful Life illuminated village series.

Now in its seventh incarnation, Pasadena Theatre Company's It's a Wonderful Life has become a local holiday tradition rivaling Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Having directed all of the company's productions of this stage adaptation of the 1946 Frank Capra film, Sharon Steele, president of the company, finds several reasons for the show's continuing popularity with audiences and performers. "We skipped last year after doing the show for six consecutive years, and now we're back to this story that endures because it deals with World War II-era patriotism and family values," she said.

THIS ONE IS for Susan Yim, who could teach the whole world how to live a life instead of lament. And it's for her mother, Shirley Yim, and her father, Dr. Robert Yim, who shepherded thousands of Baltimore children across his 42 years as a pediatrician but could not protect his own child from the sudden stroke that paralyzed her when she was 23 years old. That was 20 years ago, when Susan had gotten her biology degree from the University of Maryland, Baltimore...

Howard County Tourism and two of its members, Coca-Cola and Krispy Kreme Donuts, will sponsor "It's a Wonderful Night in Olde Ellicott City" from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. tomorrow. The event, which is based on the classic movie It's a Wonderful Life, will be launched with an on-air giveaway of a $1,000 shopping spree at 8:45 a.m. on WLG 1370 AM. The winner will be invited to spend the money in Ellicott City tomorrow, when merchants will welcome shoppers with bells, fresh baked goods and cider.

Silence and darkness flooded the auditorium as a string of prayers emanated from above focusing on a single man, George Bailey. The pervading question: "What makes a man so desperate as to consider suicide on Christmas Eve?" River Hill High School's recent production of It's a Wonderful Life tells a tale of the triumph of love during difficult times and illustrates a newfound appreciation of friendship and life. Straying slightly from the original 1946 film by Frank Capra, the River Hill production of It's a Wonderful Life recounted the story of George Bailey, who is given a chance to reflect on his life and the effect he has had on others.

PIGGING out over the holidays is a time-honored American tradition. By now, most of us have had it with turkey and ham and all the leftover trimmings -- and with "It's a Wonderful Life."Talk about excessive! No fewer than 15 stations broadcast the 1946 Frank Capra movie last week an astounding 24 times in the Baltimore area.Our trusty program guide from The Sunday Sun says that 18 of those showings were in the original black and white version -- the one we prefer.Six other times, the film was presented in its colorized version, a vastly inferior product that robs the film of much of its crispness and dramatic impact.