It's a Wonderful Life

Our high school performed It's a Wonderful Life around Christmastime and it was a wonderful way to showcase our students' talent and give the community a warm feeling to begin the season.

Lori Talley, Fayetteville-Perry Schools, Fayetteville, Ohio

The adaptation of It's a Wonderful LifeÉproved to be a tremendous success. As producer, I found the script to be easy to follow and interpret. Our students were challenged and edified in the process of the production. Thank you for your help and assistance in securing the rights for performance and for providing outstanding literary work.

Tim Lutz, Superintendent, Kelliher Public Schools, Kelliher, Minn.

This is a great adaptation of the iconic movie story. Anyone who enjoys the movie will not be disappointed. Entertaining for all ages. The story is timeless and very appropriate today. Our audiences loved it. Our actors loved doing it. I loved directing it.

Diane Karohl, United Methodist Church, Oakland, Neb.

This nonmusical version played out very well each night. The lead roles are poignant and meaty, making them very good vehicles for some of our strongest actors. I found myself choking back tears each time I watched it. The performances were most profound and the house was packed each time in spite of the four-foot snowdrifts outside!

Carolyn Cox, Anacortes Community Theatre, Anacortes, Wash.

The script integrates comedy, drama and current events (economic crisis) to probe non-Christmas topics such as "What would my corner of the world look like without me?" and the role of community in preventing suicide and helping individuals recover from mental illness. A great success for us.

Jim Block, St. Clair County Community Mental Health, Port Huron, Mich.

It's a Wonderful Life appealed to people of all ages and was a rousing success. It moved very fluidly and was the perfect length for families with small children.

Adam Campbell, Front & Centre Stage, Oldtown, Md.

The play does justice to the beloved holiday film. Due to popular demand, we added a performance to the run.

Beth Jurgaitis, Racine Theatre Guild, Racine, Wis.

We highly enjoyed using this script and received many positive comments. I think we'll use this production again next Christmas. I would definitely recommend Dramatic Publishing to other churches.

Pastor Jenny McKay, Mt. Olivet Assembly of God, Apple Valley, Minn.

My students and audiences thoroughly enjoyed this production with its timely and everlasting message. Thanks for staying true to the original movie. Many audience members reported having the same emotional response after seeing the play as they did when watching the film!

Sherry Petrowski, Maryville High School, Maryville, Tenn.

One of the most enduring stories, It's a Wonderful Life is a striking reminder of the importance of community, friends and family. This adaptation has fast and flowing forward action until its powerful climactic moment.

Lavinia Hart, Wayne State University, Detroit, Mich.

"It's a Wonderful Life" is exactly like the movie you remember. The script includes actually helpful stage directions, making it a great choice for novice directors or groups with limited experience. This show can be scaled up or down, performed on a simple unit set or with more elaborate locations, so it is a great option for various budgets, locations, and time constraints.

Sarah Pacheco, NBHS Drama Club, New Bedford, Mass.

It's a Wonderful Life really captured the spirit of the movie but was easy enough to stage on a unit set. It was our most attended play for a one night performance (we had over 400 attend our Friday night show). In a few years I plan to do this again as it was so successful and enjoyable.

Kathy Bohlke, Union Grove High School, McDonough, Ga.

This play was my directorial debut six years ago and it's still a terrific holiday show. It captures the simplicity and sincerity of the screenplay/film. It may be "Capra-corn," but it's an audience favorite.

J. Ferreira, King Philip Regional High School, Wrentham, Mass.

Rodgers' version (the stage play) is a very faithful adaptation of Capra's classic. He obviously knows what average American community theatres are looking for. It's also broken down into very manageable segments, making rehearsals easier. Crowd appeal was very high and no one minded that our leading man looked/sounded nothing like Jimmy Stewart!

Neal Lewing, Port Polson Players Theater, Polson, Mont.

Many audience members commented on the great quality of the adaptation from a well-loved movie. The play was readily staged by our experienced high school cast. "It's a Wonderful Life" was especially helpful to our community as it copes with a tragic rash of young adult suicides this past summer.

Ellyn Plackowski, Manistique High School, Manistique, Mich.

This is an excellent play for high school production. It is difficult to find crowd pleasing plays for this size group and this one had a good variety of smaller parts along with automatic crowd appeal.

Betty Schriener, Portland Christian School, Louisville, Ky.

An excellent adaptation of the classic film. Very theatrical. All the most-loved scenes from the film are included.

Don Swarz, Starry Night Theatre, Inc., North Tonawanda, N.Y.

I am impressed with the faithful adaptation of this classic story. Audiences enter, expecting the story they know and love, and that's exactly what they get!

Ken Barnett, Mount Gilead High School, Mount Gilead, Ohio

An excellent adaptation from screen to stage. The movable set was a rewarding challenge for the set and stage crew. One of the best productions we've done.

M. Bemis, Carlsbad High School, Carlsbad, N.M.

It was a great adaptation. Very easy to stage. It is short - approx. 65 min. running time. It includes the entire story in a short amount of time. Audiences loved it.

Lois DeVries, Covenant Christian High School, Demotte, Ind.