"It’s a Wonderful Life" - The Musical
(2007/2010/2016/2021)

The beginning of September always brings very special memories for me. Why? Because every year for the fourteen years we were members of the Celebration Singers at Prescott’s First Church of the Nazarene, the first Saturday after Labor Day weekend was when the Singers would kick off preparations for that year’s Christmas Extravaganza presentation with an all-day rehearsal when we would learn what that year’s theme for the Extravaganza would be and when we would be introduced to the music and plans for the presentation.

"It’s a Wonderful Life" - The Musical
Book and Lyrics by Keith Ferguson
Music, Vocal Arrangements, and Orchestrations by Bruce Geer
From the screenplay by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra, & Jo Swerling, 1946
Starring Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, and Lionel Barrymore
A Christmas Classic!

We had decided in 2001 that I would retire at the end of the 2001-2002 academic year from fifteen years as Associate Professor of Computer Science at Azusa Pacific University (APU) and move to Prescott, AZ. We bought a house in Prescott in April of 2002 and moved there in June of that year. After visiting several churches in town, we decided that First Church of the Nazarene was where we wanted to worship. We had heard that FCN had a great music program and we wanted to become a part of it. So, we started attending the church in August and joined the choir in time to be part of the Christmas kick-off rehearsal for that year.

The music program at FCN was under the creative and capable direction and leadership of Merlene Neil. Merlene had attended APU as an undergrad and was an extraordinarily talented soprano vocalist and pianist who had grown up in Skull Valley, just a few miles southwest of Prescott where her father had pastored a local church. Over the fourteen years of our membership in the church choir, I estimate that we did about 125 musical presentations for Easter, Memorial Day/Fourth of July, and Christmas under Merlene’s direction. The Christmas presentations where the highlight of the year for the Singers when we did as many as eight performances over two weekends in early December.

All our presentations were both challenging and fun, and I especially enjoyed the fellowship, both social and spiritual, with everyone that participated to make each musical a success. And it was very encouraging and satisfying to see the support we received from the church’s staff and congregation in particular and the Prescott Area community in general. From time to time, we still meet total strangers who attended our presentations and remember us as having been members of the cast. They will invariably comment on how much they appreciated and enjoyed both the message and the entertainment.

Of all our performances, I think my favorite was a musical version of the Christmas classic movie "It’s a Wonderful Life" which starred Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, and Lionel Barrymore. We did this musical twice, once for Christmas of 2007 and then again in 2010…eight performances each year over two weekends in early December…for a total of 16 performances. The pictures and video shown here are from the 2010 presentations.

Click the Video to Play

Bryan Jones as the Hero, George Bailey

Dick Eckhart as Henry Potter, the Richest and Meanest Man in Town

John Hammer as Mr. Reineman, Potter’s Employee

Tom Kayn as Potter’s “Goon” (watch Tom’s ’wheelchair ballet’)

In 2016, I learned that Yavapai College, our local Community College here in Prescott, would be doing this very same musical in their Performing Arts Center (YCPAC), and they were holding try-outs for parts in the play. Since I was familiar with the musical from having done it at FCN, I decided to audition for the part of Henry Potter (the same part I had in the FCN plays), and I got the part. We did four performances at YCPAC, all very well attended and received. (At three of the performances, the audience booed me, so I guess I was playing the part reasonably well.) It was fun working with a lot of incredibly talented young men and women from the college and the community.

In 2021, near the tail end of the COVID-19 pandemic, I learned that Yavapai College was once again doing "It’s a Wonderful Life" and would be holding auditions for parts in the show on Thursday evening, August 19, so I submitted the form indicating my intention to audition for the part of Henry Potter, the same character I had played in the 2016 show. The play was being directed by Dr. Craig Ralston (who had directed the 2016 play at YC) and Scottie Scott who had joined the YC Performing Arts faculty sometime after 2016. However, about a week before the auditions were to be held, I had second thoughts about auditioning, so I sent a message to the audition coordinator withdrawing my intent to audition.

The Friday morning after the auditions, I received an email message from Dr. Ralston saying that they had held the auditions the night before and that they had not had anyone audition for the part of Henry Potter and would I reconsider doing the part. I responded to him explaining why I had decided to withdraw from the auditions: I was now 86 years old and not sure my memory was working as well as it had five years earlier and that I did not want to be a detriment to the success of the show by delivering a less-than-great performance. I also explained that just a few months earlier, in April 2021, I had lost my wife of almost 62 years and was still dealing with the emotional effects of losing her.

However, I thanked him for his message and encouragement and said that I would reconsider and pray about my participation in the show over the weekend and would give him a final answer on Monday morning. Craig responded back by expressing his understanding of and sympathy with my situation and agreed to my plan to give him an answer on Monday.

So, I thought and prayed about what I would do. As I did, I realized that I really believed that if Mary Jane were still here, she would be encouraging me to accept the part. She had always ecouraged me in the past, and I believed strongly that she would do so now. So, Monday morning I went to Dr. Ralston’s office at the college and said that I would do the part and that I would give it my best effort.

Rehearsals started in September, and we did five performances December 16-19 with one performance each on Thursday and Friday evenings, and Sunday afternoon, and two performances, afternoon and evening, on Saturday. All very well attended and received. I was happy with my performance in all the shows (you know, we tend to be our own toughest critic), and I believe that MJ would have been proud of me for my part in the show. As an extra benefit, I had the privilege of working with a lot of incredibly talented young (and older) men and women from the college and the community and I made a lot of new friends.

Overall, that makes a grand total of 25 performances that I’ve done as Henry Potter, the richest and meanest man in town, in "It’s a Wonderful Life". There are still times when I wake up with Mr. Potter's lines going through my head.

All in all, I consider my/our experiences as part of these thespian groups to be one of the highlights of my/our retirement years. I’m grateful to have been able to contribute to and participate in them.

   Close   

or click the blue title bar at the top of the page