Steppin' Out

Story

Film proves it's a wonderful story for a one-man show

By Heather Zimmerman

Just about everyone can remember at least some of the lines from a favorite movie, but actor Mark Setlock had such a knack for reciting lines--in character, no less--from It's a Wonderful Life, that his impersonations became a play of their own.

This Wonderful Life, a one-man adaptation of Frank Capra's beloved holiday film It's a Wonderful Life, runs Nov. 24-Dec. 23 at the San Jose Repertory Theatre, 101 Paseo de San Antonio, San Jose.

Setlock's talent for re-creating not only George Bailey, but also all the residents of Bedford Falls, inspired a retelling of the favorite film with a single actor playing all the roles, about 35 total. Based on the idea from Setlock, playwright Steve Murray adapted the story of It's a Wonderful Life into a one-man show, adding a narrator, also played by the same actor.

The tale of This Wonderful Life is the same as the movie, which incidentally was itself adapted from a short story by Philip Van Doren Stern. Some major hardships have convinced good-hearted everyman George Bailey that the world would be better off without him. He's about to end it all when an angel shows him an alternate world where his loved ones are decidedly worse off for having had no George Bailey in their lives.

For the Rep's production, veteran Bay Area actor Dan Hiatt will play George, his wife Mary, and all his family, friends, the angel who enlightens him and even his lone enemy, the greedy landowner Potter. Rep audiences may know Hiatt from his many appearances with the company, including A Christmas Story, Enchanted April, Noises Off, A Flea in Her Ear, and most recently The Triumph of Love.

San Jose Rep's associate artistic director Kirsten Brandt helms the production.

Tickets are $15-$59. For more information, call 408.367.7255 or visit www.sjrep.com.