Trump and Sanders visit “It’s a Wonderful Life”

The production by Summerland Singers and Players of “It’s a Wonderful Life—The Radio Play” continues well with three performances now under our belt. The cast,  including the foley (a live sound effects technician) are sure-footed and able to cope with the inevitable variations we each insert into our performances. Live   community theatre is a team-building experience (more on this in my next post) as we respond to curve balls and personal innovations together.

For my part on the keyboard I continue to shape and adapt my incidental offerings as I become more familiar with the script and the manner in which the actors present it. As we don’t have a stage manager feeding me cues through a headset I must watch the score and the script simultaneously, something I find challenging. I must therefore improvise, as unlike fish, I cannot focus on two subjects simultaneously. So far, I get away with it. And it’s such fun.  

A brilliant Toronto jazz musician, Brian Hayman described to me how he played over 220 performances of The Lion King. I asked how he did it—surely he became bored, I asked. His response, was very “jazz”: “I never played it the same way twice.” So very cool.

If I can improvise from the piano pit you may ask how could the actors keep things fresh and lively for themselves? I have a suggestion rooted in both the story and in current events. Consider some textual excepts: First, from the heart and voice of the banker, Mr. Potter:

I suppose I should give my money to miserable failures to you and that idiot brother of yours.

Ideals without common sense can ruin this town.

I’m an old man and most people hate me. But I don’t like them either so that makes it all even.

George Bailey responds:

People are human beings Mr. Potter . . . but to you, a warped, frustrated old man, they are nothing but cattle.

You sit around here and you spin your little webs and you think the whole world revolves around you and your money. And it doesn’t Mr. Potter. In the whole vast configuration of things I’d say you were nothing but a scurvy little spider.

Triggered by the text, and during our final rehearsal, I heard a couple of different  voices. Instead of Mr. Potter, I heard Donald Trump.

I think if this country gets any kinder or gentler, it’s literally going to cease to exist.

I look very much forward to showing my financials, because they are huge.

And instead of George Bailey, I heard Senator Bernie Sanders:

The problems we face, did not come down from the heavens. They are made, they are made by bad human decisions, and good human decisions can change them.

We are living in a nation which worships wealth rather than caring for the poor. I don’t think that is the nation we should be living in.

I dare/double dare my colleagues to consider appropriate innovation as suggested above. If this is too difficult, how about we place a Trump hairpiece on Mr. Potter. The Guardian describes Trump’s appearance as “a narcissistic triumph over self-knowledge, yet here I am, unabashed. It’s like a bomb-proof pompadour.” I think this could work for Potter.

As for George—imagined as Bennie Sanders—we could imitate the famous meme, based on his seated and shuddering presence at the Biden/Harris inauguration. (Why does the US always induct their presidents, outdoors, during the coldest month of the year?) The meme has it’s own story, but that’s for another time. Maybe someone will knit me a Bernie Bear that I could ask the Foley to place in an appropriate location at just the right time.

As with Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, the age-old story of grace, vs. greed finds a new voice in “It’s a Wonderful Life. In the day-to-day arguments between leaders like Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, the instruction of the apostle Paul to the young evangelist Timothy identifies an enduring social disease.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Timothy 6:10)

Friends, there is a better, and easier way to live, to work, and to love. When competition is replaced by collaboration, we each benefit as do our communities and all of creation. Can we really replace the Potters with the Baileys? It is up to us to do our part, so let’s get busy.

Oh by the way, tickets are still available here or if you come early enough, at the door at Summerland United Church. Three performances remain: Friday, Dec 8 and Saturday Dec 9, both at 7 p.m.; and our final show, a matinee on Sunday Dec 10 at 2 p.m.

Please come out and support local live theatre, and enjoy the show.