C M SQ page 39 Y K
December 8, 2016
Page 39 QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, December 8, 2016
ARTS, CULTURE C ULTURE & LIVING IVING by Mark Lord
Continued on page ge
Chain Theatre stages
a Christmas treasure, radio-style
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For Greg Cicchino, like so many others, the film version of “It’s a Wonderful Life” was a childhood staple, and he estimates that by now, at the age of 33, he has seen the perennial holiday fantasy favorite somewhere around 50 times. It comes a s no surpr ise then that Cicchino, managing director of The Chain Theatre, an independent company that first saw the light in 2009, should have felt inspired to adapt it for the stage. His rendition, which he is also directing, will be performed by the troupe for the second year in a row, with several of the original cast members making return appearances. He began to work on the story — an inspiring tale whose protagonist, George Bailey, learns through the intervention of his guardian angel, Clarence, how different life in his small-town community would have been if he had never been born — in January of last year, finishing it in time for its debut during the last winter holiday season. “We had done another version,” he explained in a recent telephone conversation. “I had a few areas I wanted to explore.” So, he gave the tale a “gentle massaging to make it a little more relevant,” though the tweaks might hardly be discernible, he said. Perhaps the biggest change, Cicchino explained, concerns the depiction of Mary, the love of George’s life. In one scene in the film, George gets rather violent with her as they are falling in love, turning the otherwise strong young woman into what Cicchino described as “a complete damsel, out of character for her, though not for the 1940s.” In Cicchino’s version, she becomes a more “proactive participant in her own life.” Sharp-eyed fans might also pick up on the he juxtaposition of a scene between George and nd another young woman, Violet, which, h, according to Cicchino, establishes moree clearly that “Mary is the only one forr George.” While such changes are few, it is thee telling of the story that should prove thee main attraction here: It will follow the stylee of a live radio broadcast, complete with music sic and sound effects. Minimal settings will be involved and Cicchino said the c o s t u m e s w i l l b e “s e a s o n a l l y a n d period-suggestive.” continued on page 43