A Wonderful Life (musical)

Infobox Musical
name= A Wonderful Life
subtitle=


caption=
music=Joe Raposo
lyrics=Sheldon Harnick
book=Sheldon Harnick
basis=Frank Capra's film
"It's a Wonderful Life"
productions= 1991 Washington DC
2005 Broadway concert
awards=

"A Wonderful Life" is a musical with a book and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and music by Joe Raposo.

Based on the classic Frank Capra film starring Jimmy Stewart, the story closely follows the original plot, set in 1945, telling the story of a suicidal man whose guardian angel reveals to him how different the world and everyone whose life he has touched would be had he never been born. The film was, in turn, based on a 1938 short story by Philip Van Doren Stern called "The Greatest Gift".

Background and production history

Harnick and Raposo worked for many years to put together a musical version of "It's a Wonderful Life", but just as the musical's book was completed, a controversy arose over the rights to the underlying Stern story that delayed production of the show. During this delay, Raposo died of cancer in 1989. [ [http://www.tuts.com/season07/wonderful_study.pdf Information from the TUTS study guide] ]

"A Wonderful Life" was performed for the first time at the University of Michigan in 1986, followed by a staged reading at Paper Mill Playhouse in 1990. It had a successful run at Washington, DC's Arena Stage in 1991.

On December 12 2005, a staged concert version was staged by director Carl Andress and choreographed by Denis Jones at the Shubert Theatre in New York City for the benefit of the Actors' Fund of America. Amongst the Broadway notables who participated were Brian Stokes Mitchell (George), David Hyde Pierce (Clarence), Judy Kuhn (Mary), Dominic Chianese (Mr. Potter), Philip Bosco, George S. Irving, Marc Kudisch, Phylicia Rashad, Marian Seldes, and Karen Ziemba.

The Paper Mill Playhouse produced the work in 2006, directed by James Brennan, and earning cool reviews. [See, for example, [http://movies.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/26njtheat.html?n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics%2FOrganizations%2FP%2FPaper%20Mill%20Playhouse NY Times review of the Papermill production] and [http://www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/nj/nj186.html Talkin' Broadway review of the Paper Mill production] ] Theatre Under The Stars produced the work in 2007, and the piece has received other regional productions. [ [http://www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/chicago/ch114.html Review of a Chicago production] ]

Song list

;Act I
* George’s Prayer
* This Year Europe
* One of the Lucky Ones/Can
* You Find Me a House
* In a State
* A Wonderful Life
* If I Had a Wish
* One of the Lucky Ones-
* Reprise
* Wings
* Good Night
* Not What I Expected
* Panic at the Loan Building
* A Wonderful Life - Reprise

;Act II
* Can You Find Me a House - Reprise
* When You Own Your Own Home
* First Class All the Way
* I Couldn’t Be with Anyone but You
* Welcome a Hero
* Christmas Gifts
* Precious Little
* Unborn Sequence
* A Wonderful Life - Reprise
* Welcome the Hero - Reprise
* Christmas Gifts - Reprise

References

External links

* [http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=415074/ Internet Broadway Database listing]
* [http://www.musicalheaven.com/Detailed/272.html profile of the show at Musicalheaven.com]
* [http://www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/nj/nj186.html Review of Paper Mill Playhouse production]