With all the running around buying presents and facing a stream
of social Yuletide events, too often folks get a little cynical
about this frantic winter festival season. Well, if you’re feeling
that way as I was recently, head out to a local theater.
With all the running around buying presents and facing a stream of social Yuletide events, too often folks get a little cynical about this frantic winter festival season. Well, if you’re feeling that way as I was recently, head out to a local theater.
The classic stories of the stage can put your hectic holiday flurry back in perspective. And there are a number of regional companies putting on seasonal shows right now. In Morgan Hill, the South Valley Civic Theater ends its run this weekend of the musical “Scrooge” based on Charles Dickens’ most famous miser who ever terrorized Tiny Tim. The Mission San Juan Bautista provides a serene setting for the traditional Mexican play “La Pastorela,” performed by the El Teatro Campesino stage company until Dec. 16. And The San Jose Rep is giving the gift of an excellent one-man show starring Dan Hiatt called “This Wonderful Life,” based on the classic Frank Capra flick “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
Although they’re secular stories, both “Scrooge” and “This Wonderful Life” tie into the spiritual enlightenment theme of the holiday season. Both dramas have protagonists who are taken on a mystical Christmas Eve journey in which they learn that every life is connected to a grander vision of the universe.
Last weekend, I enjoyed a performance of “This Wonderful Life.” Hiatt brought to life many of the colorful characters of the fictional community of Bedford Falls who allow the story’s hero, George Bailey, to see what life in his hometown would have been like if he’d never been born. An everyman, Bailey discovers that one ordinary individual can make a big difference in the lives of not just his fellow town folks, but in the wider community of the world.
The history of this beloved Christmas classic is a drama in itself. It begins in November 1939 when a writer named Philip Van Doren Stern wrote down Bailey’s adventure as a short story titled “The Greatest Gift.” Stern failed to find a publisher for his little tale, so he self-published 200 copies and mailed them to friends for the Christmas season of 1943.
One of these publications came into the hands of movie producer David Hempstead at RKO Studio. The executive thought Cary Grant would be perfect for the role of George Bailey, and so bought the rights to Stern’s story for $10,000. Instead, Grant made a Christmas movie called “The Bishop’s Wife,” and so RKO put its “Greatest Gift” project on hold.
Popular director Frank Capra read Stern’s inspirational story of personal redemption and felt compelled to turn it into a project for his Liberty Films production company. He bought the rights for $10,000 from RKO and renamed the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
Starring James Stewart as Bailey, the film received positive reviews when it came out in 1946. But it was a box-office failure. Part of the problem was that after enduring the tough times of World War II, the American public wasn’t ready for a story about a suicidal man dealing with his own personal and financial problems on Christmas Eve.
But thanks to television, the movie’s time did come . With the growing popularity of home video in the 1980s, it quickly became a favorite holiday flick. Eventually, the prestigious American Film Institute named it one of the best films every made and honored it with the top spot on its list of the most inspirational American films of all time.
After watching The Rep’s theatrical version of the story, I thought about how it relates to life here in the South Valley. The various cities in our region might no longer have the quaint Norman Rockwell charm of Bedford Falls, but the lesson George Bailey learns is just as relevant to the folks in Hollister, Gilroy, San Juan Bautista and Morgan Hill today.
Like in the theater world, every single individual in the South Valley plays their part in a greater story. Everyone’s life is connected directly or indirectly to the lives of every human being who has ever lived or who will someday live. If one individual somehow was deleted from existence, the resulting vacuum would change the entire course of history.
That’s the message of the Christmas season. From the lowliest pauper to the highest prince, everyone on our planet is equally important. During this season of winter festivals when it’s too easy to fall into a cynical mood while dealing with the buying of Christmas presents, a theater performance like “This Wonderful Life,” “Scrooge” or “La Pastorela” can remind us that every life is indeed a great gift.
