Holiday Classic Comes to Scotts Valley High

It’s a Wonderful Life Nov. 30, Dec. 1, 2, 7-9 at 7:00 p.m.

Scotts Valley High School presents the stage version of It’s a Wonderful Life opening November 30. Directed by Kendra Kannegaard and Larry Wenner, the play tells the story of George Bailey, a man given the rare gift to see what the world would be like without him.

It’s a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas fantasy comedy-drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra, based on the short story “The Greatest Gift,” which Philip Van Doren Stern wrote in 1939 and published privately in 1945.

The film is considered one of the most loved films in American cinema and has become traditional viewing during the Christmas season. Nominated for five Academy Awards, Frank Capra’s beloved film is an undisputed holiday treasure, ranked No. 11 in the American Film Institute’s list of the 100 best American films ever made — and also their No. 1 most inspirational American film of all time.

In our American culture, It’s a Wonderful Life has become almost as familiar as Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. The story is a natural for a stage adaptation: the saga of George Bailey, the Everyman from the small town of Bedford Falls, whose dreams of escape and adventure have been quashed by family obligation and civic duty, whose guardian angel has to descend on Christmas Eve to save him from despair and to remind him — by showing him what the world would have been like had he never been born — that his has been, after all, a wonderful life.

This faithful adaptation has all your favorite characters: George and Mary Hatch, Clarence, Uncle Billy, Violet, and, of course, the Scrooge-like villain, Mr. Potter. This fine dramatization not only celebrates the faith of the season, it also celebrates the American philosophy of life: hard work, fair play, and the love and support of one’s family and community will be rewarded.

•••

Performances are in the Student Union of Scotts Valley High School November 30, December 1, 2, 7-9 @ 7:00 pm Tickets are priced at $8 for Students/Seniors and $10 General Admission.