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BIOGRAPHY | George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel composed operas, oratorios and instrumentals. His 1741 work, Messiah, is among the most famous oratorios in history.
Georg Frideric Handel was born on February 23, 1685, to Georg and Dorothea Handel of Halle, Saxony, Germany. From an early age, Handel longed to study music, but his father objected, doubting that music would be a realistic source of income. In fact, his father would not even permit him to own a musical instrument. His mother, however, was supportive, and she encouraged him to develop his musical talent. With her cooperation, Handel took to practicing on the sly.
When Handel was still a young boy, he had the opportunity to play the organ for the duke’s court in Weissenfels. It was there that Handel met composer and organist Frideric Wilhelm Zachow. Zachow was impressed with Handel’s potential and invited Handel to become his pupil. Under Zachow's tutelage, Handel mastered composing for the organ, the oboe and the violin alike by the time he was 10 years old. From the age of 11 to the time he was 16 or 17, Handel composed church cantatas and chamber music that, being written for a small audience, failed to garner much attention and have since been lost to time.
Despite his dedication to his music, at his father’s insistence, Handel initially agreed to study law at the University of Halle. Not surprisingly, he did not remain enrolled for long. His passion for music would not be suppressed.
In 1703, when Handel was 18 years old, he decided to commit himself completely to music, accepting a violinist’s position at the Hamburg Opera’s Goose Market Theater. During this time, he supplemented his income by teaching private music lessons in his free time, passing on what he had learned from Zachow.
Though working as a violinist, it was Handel's skill on the organ and harpsichord that began to earn him attention and landed him more opportunities to perform in operas.
Handel also began to compose operas, making his debut in early 1705 with Almira. The opera was instantly successful and achieved a 20-performance run. After composing several more popular operas, in 1706 Handel decided to try his luck in Italy. While in there, Handel composed the operas Rodrigo and Agrippina, which were produced in 1707 and 1709 respectively. He also managed to write more than a few dramatic chamber works during this period.
Touring the major Italian cities over three opera seasons, Handel introduced himself to most of Italy’s major musicians. Unexpectedly, while in Venice, he met multiple people who expressed an interest in London’s music scene. Enticed to experiment with a freelance music career there, in 1710 Handel left Venice and set out for London. In London, Handel met with the manager of the King’s Theatre, who commissioned Handel to write an opera. Within just two weeks, Handel composed Rinaldo. Released during the 1710–11 London opera season, Rinaldo was Handel’s breakthrough. His most critically acclaimed work up to that date, it gained him the widespread recognition that he would maintain throughout the rest of his musical career.
After the debut of Rinaldo, Handel spent the next few years writing and performing for English royalty, including Queen Anne and King George I. Then, in 1719, Handel was invited to become the Master of the Orchestra at the Royal Academy of Music, the first Italian opera company in London. Handel eagerly accepted. He produced several operas with the Royal Academy of Music that, while well liked, were not especially lucrative for the struggling academy.
In 1726 Handel decided to make London his home permanently, and became a British citizen. (He also Anglicized his name at this time, to George Frideric.) In 1727, when Handel’s latest opera, Alessandro, was being performed, Italian opera in London took a hard hit as the result of a hostile rivalry between two female lead singers. Frustrated, Handel broke away from the Royal Academy and formed his own new company, calling it the New Royal Academy of Music. Under the New Royal Academy of Music, Handel produced two operas a year for the next decade, but Italian opera fell increasingly out of style in London. Handel composed two more Italian operas before finally deciding to abandon the failing genre.
In place of operas, oratorios became Handel’s new format of choice. Oratorios, large-scale concert pieces, immediately caught on with audiences and proved quite lucrative. The fact that oratorios didn’t require elaborate costumes and sets, as operas did, also meant that they cost far less to produce. Handel revised a number of Italian operas to fit this new format, translating them into English for the London audience. His oratorios became the latest craze in London and were soon made a regular feature of the opera season.
In 1735, during Lent alone, Handel produced more than fourteen concerts made up primarily of oratorios. In 1741 Dublin’s Lord Lieutenant commissioned Handel to write a new oratorio based on a biblical libretto assembled by art patron Charles Jennens. As a result, Handel’s most famous oratorio, Messiah, made its debut at the New Music Hall in Dublin in April 1742.
Back in London, Handel organized a subscription season for 1743 that consisted exclusively of oratorios. The series opened with Handel’s composition Samson, to great audience acclaim. Samson was eventually followed by a run of Handel’s beloved Messiah.
In addition to his oratorios, Handel’s concerti grossi, anthems and orchestral pieces also garnered him fame and success. Among the most noted were Water Music (1717), Coronation Anthems (1727), Trio Sonatas op. 2 (1722–33), Trio Sonatas op. 5 (1739), Concerto Grosso op. 6 (1739), and Music for Royal Fireworks, completed a decade before his death.
Over the course of his musical career, Handel, exhausted by stress, endured a number of potentially debilitating problems with his physical health. He is also believed to have suffered from anxiety and depression. Yet somehow, Handel, who was known to laugh in the face of adversity, remained virtually undeterred in his determination to keep making music.
In the spring of 1737, Handel suffered a stroke that impaired the movement of his right hand. His fans worried that he would never compose again. But after only six weeks of recuperation in Aix-la-Chapelle, Handel was fully recovered. He went back to London and not only returned to composing, but made a comeback at playing the organ as well.
Six years later, Handel suffered a second springtime stroke. However, he stunned audiences once again with a speedy recovery, followed by a prolific stream of ambitious oratorios.
By 1750, Handel had entirely lost sight in his left eye. He forged on, however, composing the oratorio Jephtha, which also contained a reference to obscured vision. In 1752 Handel lost sight in his other eye and was rendered completely blind. As always before, Handel’s passionate pursuit of music propelled him forward. He kept on performing and composing, relying on his sharp memory to compensate when necessary, and remained actively involved in productions of his work until his dying day.
On April 14, 1759, George Handel died in bed at his rented house at 25 Brook Street, in the Mayfair district of London. The Baroque composer and organist was 74 years old.
Handel was known for being a generous man, even in death. Having never married or fathered children, his will divided his assets among his servants and several charities, including the Foundling Hospital. He even donated the money to pay for his own funeral so that none of his loved ones would bear the financial burden. Handel was buried in Westminster Abbey a week after he died. Following his death, biographical documents began to circulate, and George Handel soon took on legendary status posthumously.
RELATED PROGRAMMING: MUSIC TALKS: REALLY HEARING HANDEL'S MESSIAH | DEC 04, 2019
SOURCE: Biography.com
ARTICLE | Handel: 15 facts about the great composer
George Frideric Handel, one of the Baroque era's greatest composers, led a passionate, eventful and occasionally tragic life - but how much do you really know?
1. When and where was Handel born?
George Frideric Handel was born on the 23rd of February 1685, the same year as Bach, in Halle. Germany.
2. Played the clavichord in secret
Handel's lawyer father was not a huge fan of his son's musical ambitions. In fact, when he was a boy, Handel had to sneak to the attic to play a clavichord that had been hidden up there.
3. Duel with Mattheson
A bizarre incident in 1704 might have seen Handel's composing career cut tragically short after a set-to with fellow composer Johann Mattheson. For reasons apparently unknown, the two had a fierce quarrel in which Mattheson almost killed Handel with his sword, which fortunately struck a button on Handel's chest rather than the chest itself.
4. London calling
Handel was a hit in London, as evidenced by the very generous salary of £200 he received from Queen Anne when he moved there in 1712.
5. Musical director of RAM
Handel's successes in London continued, and he was eventually made the musical director of The Royal Academy of Music.
6. Rinaldo - his first London success
In 1711 the London stage was treated to its first ever opera composed specifically for it. The premiere performance of Handel's Rinaldo took place at the Queen's Theatre in Haymarket.
7. Acis and Galatea
His first work in the English language might not be his most well-known, but during his lifetime it was Handel's most popular work by some distance. It even received the honor of a little re-write by none other than Mozart in 1788. Well, if someone has to tinker with it, it may as well be Mozart.
8. Where did Handel live in London?
Even though he was German-born and educated, the Brits like to claim Handel for their own. He was fond of his home in 25 Brook Street, London, and Londoners were equally fond of him, as evidenced by...
9. Handel House Museum
Slap-bang in the middle of Mayfair is a permanent monument to Handel's life and music - his house. It has been lovingly restored to look exactly how Handel would've kept when he lived there from 1723 until his death in 1759.
10. Diva strops at the opera
Handel was such a popular opera composer that he was allowed to pick his own leading ladies. However, this perk led to an almighty bust-up between sopranos Faustina Bordoni and Francesca Cuzzoni, two rival singers of the day, who ended up having a scrap on stage during a performance of Bononcini's Astianatte. They both had to be dragged off stage to stop them pulling bits off each other's costumes.
11. Health problems
Some of Handel's biggest and best works were composed in the latter stages of his life. That might not sound too impressive, but then again he did suffer from a stroke in 1737, was involved in a coach crash in 1750 and had cataracts and eventually went blind after a botched eye operation 1751.
12. Standing to attention
During the first London performance of Handel's Messiah, King George II stood up as soon as the Hallelujah chorus kicked in - after that, it became traditional for audiences to stand for this famous chorus.
13. His final oratorio
Handel's final oratorio, Jephtha, was a heartbreaking experience for the composer. He was going rapidly blind as he wrote it, eventually leading him to write on the score: "Reached here on 13 February 1751, unable to go on owing to weakening of the sight of my left eye."
14. 3,000 people attend his funeral
When, after a life of tumult and incredible music, Handel succumbed to his afflictions in 1759, his funeral was attended by 3,000 people and was a huge state affair.
15. Beethoven's tribute to Handel
Praise doesn't come much higher than from Ludwig Van Beethoven, who said of Handel's works: "Go to him to learn how to achieve great effects, by such simple means."
RELATED PROGRAMMING: MUSIC TALKS: REALLY HEARING HANDEL'S MESSIAH | DEC 04, 2019
BIOGRAPHY | PHILIP GLASS
Through his operas, his symphonies, his compositions for his own ensemble, and his wide-ranging collaborations with artists ranging from Twyla Tharp to Allen Ginsberg, Woody Allen to David Bowie, Philip Glass has had an extraordinary and unprecedented impact upon the musical and intellectual life of his times.
The operas – Einstein on the Beach, Satyagraha, Akhnaten, and The Voyage, among many others – play throughout the world’s leading houses, and rarely to an empty seat. Glass has written music for experimental theater and for Academy Award-winning motion pictures such as The Hours and Martin Scorsese’s Kundun, while Koyaanisqatsi, his initial filmic landscape with Godfrey Reggio and the Philip Glass Ensemble, may be the most radical and influential mating of sound and vision since Fantasia. His associations, personal and professional, with leading rock, pop and world music artists date back to the 1960s, including the beginning of his collaborative relationship with artist Robert Wilson. Indeed, Glass is the first composer to win a wide, multi-generational audience in the opera house, the concert hall, the dance world, in film and in popular music – simultaneously.
He was born in 1937 and grew up in Baltimore. He studied at the University of Chicago, the Juilliard School, and in Aspen with Darius Milhaud. Finding himself dissatisfied with much of what then passed for modern music, he moved to Europe, where he studied with the legendary pedagogue Nadia Boulanger (who also taught Aaron Copland , Virgil Thomson, and Quincy Jones) and worked closely with the sitar virtuoso and composer Ravi Shankar. He returned to New York in 1967 and formed the Philip Glass Ensemble – seven musicians playing keyboards and a variety of woodwinds, amplified and fed through a mixer.
The new musical style that Glass was evolving was eventually dubbed “minimalism.” Glass himself never liked the term and preferred to speak of himself as a composer of “music with repetitive structures.” Much of his early work was based on the extended reiteration of brief, elegant melodic fragments that wove in and out of an aural tapestry. Or, to put it another way, it immersed a listener in a sort of sonic weather that twists, turns, surrounds, develops.
There has been nothing “minimalist” about his output. In the past 25 years, Glass has composed more than twenty five operas, large and small; twelve symphonies; three piano concertos and concertos for violin, piano, timpani, and saxophone quartet and orchestra; soundtracks to films ranging from new scores for the stylized classics of Jean Cocteau to Errol Morris’s documentary about former defense secretary Robert McNamara; string quartets; a growing body of work for solo piano and organ. He has collaborated with Paul Simon, Linda Ronstadt, Yo-Yo Ma, and Doris Lessing, among many others. He presents lectures, workshops, and solo keyboard performances around the world, and continues to appear regularly with the Philip Glass Ensemble.
RELATED PROGRAMMING: THE PHOTOGRAPHER | MAR 20-22, 2020
SOURCE: PhilipGlass.com
MEET THE ARTISTS | IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE
THE CREATIVE TEAM
David Ossman (adaptation/direction) has appeared many times at WICA, notably in Lew Carlino’s magnificent School for Scandal, new plays by Richard Evans and Tom Churchill, Love Letters with Michael Learned, and most recently in The Investigation as President Trump. He directed the ragtime staging of Seven Keys to Baldpate in 2006.
After graduation from Columbia’s School of Drama, David had only directed a single chancel play in Greenwich Village before creating a familiar voice on New York’s WBAI-FM, where he produced a classic Beat-era broadcast series, “The Sullen Art.”
David returned to live theater (as a performer) with the first Renaissance Pleasure Faires, where dialect and improv skills led to radio improv, then full-on folk-club stage plays with the newly-formed and super-hip Firesign Theatre in 1968.
Firesign, in its “Beatles of Comedy” heyday, played sell-out dates at Carnegie Hall, The Roxy, and the Seattle Paramount among other historic venues. One of its last four-man performances was at WICA in 2011.
Firesign’s vast archive was acquired in 2018 by the Library of Congress. Fifty years of broadcasts, movies, comedy scripts and original books, and Ossman’s own novels and memoirs are easily found on line.
Judith Walcutt (direction) had her first play, Lainguage, presented at the Ann Arbor Experimental Arts Festival and NYC’s LaMaMa Theatre shortly after her graduation from Bard College. During her graduate school years at USC, Judith produced Beatrice Manley’s (co-founder of the San Francisco Actors Workshop) Conjunctions, which included her Anna Grace: a poem for dancers, and performances by notable visiting authors. In WICA’s first two years, Judith produced love is a place – an e.e. cummings cabaret, “Summer Radio Festival” evenings, a family “Poetry Blast,” and A Child’s Christmas in Wales.
Judith’s company, Otherworld Media, has staged numerous Whidbey productions including Don’t Crush That Dwarf, A Thousand Clowns, and the audio-cinematic staging of Agatha Christie’s “The BBC Murders.”
Her first major live radio theatre work, “The Wonder Tales” (based on the Volsung Saga), was presented in four episodes at the Magic Theatre (San Francisco) in 1981. Her “War of the Worlds 50th Anniversary Production” was nominated for a Grammy in 1988. Judith’s children’s musical, Frankenbean and the Monster Carrots toured museums nationally and her radio broadcasts include two years of Choochokam programming and a season of “Live From The Islands,” promoting South Whidbey arts.
Judith has directed plays by Ursula K. LeGuin, Gish Jen, Margurite deAngeli; and such distinguished actors as Angela Lansbury, Colleen Dewhurst and James Earl Jones.
Patricia Duff (choreography / Cousin Tilly) studied acting in college and plied the trade later as a working actor in Chicago. Since moving to Whidbey Island, Patricia has performed in Whidbey Island Center for the Arts’ productions of Seven Keys to Baldpate, The Good Doctor, Cabaret, Enchanted April, Rabbit Hole, Becky’s New Car, A Christmas Story, The Fantasticks, and A Glass Menagerie. At Outcast Productions, she was seen in Nickel and Dimed, Good People, Gertrude Stein and A Companion, and Oh! What a Lovely War. Most recently she performed in Island Shakespeare Festival’s production of Shakespeare's Other Women. Many heartfelt thanks to Judith and David for their illuminating and community-embracing literary and theatrical dexterity. They are truly a Whidbey Island treasure. Merry Christmas!
Carol Douthitt (properties) enjoys gathering props for both WICA and the Whidbey Playhouse, thinks “nothing’s better that finding or making just the right piece,” appreciates the camaraderie and hard work putting on a show, and hopes to be onstage again or behind the scenes in the coming season.
Tony Brewer (sound design) is a poet and sound effects artist from Bloomington, IN. He has taught and performed at the National Audio Theatre Festivals in Missouri since 2001, and has been the sound effects guy and associate producer of the WFHB Firehouse Follies live broadcast variety show in Bloomington since 2008. He won an ANGIE (named for Angela Lansbury) and was made a Kentucky Colonel for his live foley work 2008-2012 at the International Mystery Writers Festival in Owensboro, KY. In 2015 he received the inaugural Bradshaw Award (named for Firesign Theatre character Lt. Bradshaw) for Service to the Field of Audio Theatre by the American Society for Science Fiction Audio. Tony has taught at Indiana University, Ivy Tech Community College, Michigan University, and the Kansas City Art Institute; and he has performed with the Knoxville Opera, IU Cinema, and the Wounded Galaxies Festival, as well as in dozens of independent productions, most recently with VoiceScapes Audio Theatre at the Center for Jewish History in NYC and at Granfalloon: A Kurt Vonnegut Convergence in Bloomington. By day a mild-mannered book designer at a university press, Tony also frequently collaborates with the experimental music + field recording collective Urban Deer.
Deb Shirey (stage management) has had the privilege of being part of WICA for seven wonder filled years. “First with City of Angels as a crew member. What an exciting show that was. I was in the back of the stage for a few more plays. Then up to the booth. There I got to learn from some of the best lights and sound. Then on to learn stage management with help from WICA. Emma, The Addams Family, White Christmas, Owen Meany’s Christmas Pageant, and The Santaland Diaries. Two years with The One Act festivals. WOW time goes by fast when you get to see magic in the making. I hope you enjoy our show.”
THE CAST
Wendy Ashford (Ensemble) was last seen in Mae West’s SEX. It’s a Wonderful Life is her fifth production at WICA.
Logan Ball (Sam Hee-Haw Wainwright) is delighted to make his WICA debut in this production. Logan is a recent transplant from Dallas, TX. Logan’s theatrical life began during adolescence, and saw its height with a performance in front of a crowd of a hundred thousand in South Korea. He has also worked in lighting, sound, and scenic design. You may have seen Logan onstage last summer as Theseus in Island Shakespeare Festival’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Logan now spends his days in the world of architectural rendering. A huge thank you to friends and family, especially Eva. Happy Holidays!
Jim Carroll (Ernie) appeared on WICA’s stage as Ernie Cusack in Rumors, Gordon in Dead Man's Cell Phone, Caveman in The Addams Family, Buddy in City of Angels, Snoopy in You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, Tom Jenkins in Scrooge, and MacMillan in Big, the Musical. Jim recently directed Shtick at Outcast Productions, where he has also been in Over My Dead Body, Dogpark, Nickel and Dimed, Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me, Why Torture is Wrong, and Play On. As a Firesign Theater fan since 1972, Jim is thrilled to be working with the real George Tirebiter and his lovely and talented wife Judith the She-Noodle. Dreams do come true!
Jameson Cook (Harry Bailey) began working with Martha Murphy at Whidbey Children’s Theatre at the age of seven, performing in The Shoemaker and the Elves, followed by Treasure Island, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Stompin, Charlotte’s Web (Templeton), and Robin Hood, as Robin. An older Jameson later returned to the cast of Treasure Island as Dr. Livesey. Jameson’s work with WICA includes The Kentucky Cycle (Joshua Rowen), Oliver (Charlie), and Big (Billy Kopecki). Jameson continued his performance education at EVCC, earning his Associates, with a focus in Theater Arts. While attending EVCC, he performed in Don Juan (Piero) and two student-written plays and directed Six Characters In Search of An Author. Jameson loves the stage and plans to continue his education in fine arts.
Chris Douthitt (Joe Hepner / Carter) and wife Carol moved to Whidbey in 1996 after a decades-long career as a professional sound designer. Chris was the Video/Filmmaking teacher at Oak Harbor High School for 16 years; he retired in 2018. Added joys during that time were supervising summer “Film Camp” at WCT for ten years, starting Wildcat TV in 2005, and appearing in the OHHS production of Guys and Dolls. Chris worked with Judith Walcutt and David Ossman on their staged radio productions of Mr and Mrs. North (WICA) and Agatha Christie BBC Murders at Whidbey Children’s Theatre.
R James Enslow (Martini) first trod the boards in 1985 at The Clyde Theatre in An Enemy of the People. He appeared in the world premier of the musical Charley Parkhurst, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, The Rainmaker, Picnic, and The Foreigner. Since “graduating” to the WICA mainstage, he appeared in Mrs. California, The Dining Room, The Miracle Worker, Nevermore, and Picasso at the Lapin Agile. In addition to acting, he has worked the lights and sound boards, crewed backstage, and created and operated special effects. Thank you, audience, for the energy you give back to the actors on stage. It’s good to be back!
Jim Freeman (Pop Bailey), when not being himself on stage, enjoys being someone else. Tonight's the night!
Annabella Harrison (Young Mary) is in the 5th grade at South Whidbey Elementary School. Aside from theater, she enjoys playing her trumpet, hip-hop dancing, and karate. She began acting at an early age at Whidbey Children’s Theatre. One of Annabella’s favorite roles was playing Michael Banks in the WCT production of Mary Poppins. She also enjoyed playing Jip the dog in Doctor Doolittle. Her most recent performance was the Goblin Minion in The Hobbit. Annabella thanks her parents and Martha Murphy for making it possible to do this production.
Gabe Harshman (George Bailey) graduated high school at Idyllwild Arts Academy, and studied theater at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts. Locally he has performed in Next to Normal, White Christmas, and Our Town with WICA; Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Island Shakespeare Festival; and Bollywood and Vine the Musical, A Couple of Blaguards, and Greater Tuna at Outcast Theater. His prior directorial credits are A Couple of Blaguards as well as assistant directing The Flick at Outcast Theater. He is also a host for Whidbey TV’s “What’s Up Whidbey.”
Shelley Hartle (Ma Bailey) is a veteran of Whidbey stages. It’s a pleasure to be involved in this particular production which for years has been part of many happy Christmas traditions. It’s a reminder that love, truth and honesty are still highly valued—in our community as in Bedford Falls. Spread the joy!
James Hinkley (Uncle Billy / Hobo) most recently appeared with the Island Shakespeare Festival where he played the role of Snug the Joiner in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the dual roles of Cavalcanti and Ephialtes in Dante’s Inferno. His earlier WICA portrayals include Smee in Peter and the Starcatcher, Uncle Vanya in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, and the “Old Man” in Prelude to a Kiss. But WICA audiences will most likely remember James from the Box Office where he spent many happy years selling tickets.
Olena Hodges (Violet) is elated to share the stage with this lovely group of friends and fam. Olena grew up on the Whidbey Children’s Theater stage, and could not be prouder to now contribute to the rich artistic realm of this community as the artistic director of Island Shakespeare Festival. She believes deeply in the human experience explored in theatre as a vehicle for social examination and change. Past acting highlights include Desdemona (Othello), Rosalind (As You Like It), Juliet (Romeo & Juliet), and Beatrice (Much Ado) all at ISF, as well as The Two Gentlemen of Verona and The Sign in Sydney Brustein’s Window at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. She holds a BFA in Performance from Southern Oregon University, and is a graduate of Circle in The Square Theater School. A huge thank-you to David and Judith for thinking of her for this delightful role, and her family and friends for their unwavering support.
Phil Hodges (Principal / Welch) most recently appeared as Linc Dees and Boo Radley in Drfiftwood Theater’s To Kill a Mockingbird.
Kevin Lynch (Mr. Potter) is pleased to be lurching about WICA again as Mr. Potter in It’s a Wonderful Life after having previously played the winsome zombie Lurch in Addams Family. Other island credits include Sterling in Slowgirl, Matthew Harrison Brady in a staged reading of Inherit the Wind, and King Arthur in the Camelot Panto, all at Outcast Theatre. Regional credits include seasons at the two longest running theatres outside of New York, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Alley Theatre in Houston, TX. Also, Kevin toured Montana playing Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, directed by stage and film actor Bill Pullman. Seattle credits include ACT, Empty Space, Seattle Shakespeare, Book-It and Bathhouse Theatre. Kevin produced and played Edmund in a well-reviewed Seattle equity waiver production of Long Day’s Journey Into Night. He was a finalist in both TCG and URTA National Auditions (Chicago and L.A.).
Michael McInerney (Bert the Cop) is pleased to be working once again with David and Judith, having previously played several roles in the last millennium production Don’t Crush that Dwarf/Hand Me the Pliers and Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him. In the intervening years he has popped up on stage (but rarely) in various productions, most recently as General Waverly in WICA’s White Christmas and in five roles, most notably Stanton, Sr. in Edward Jordan’s SEX, WICA’s Fall show. He is also happy to be part of the “IAWL” family .....a real slice of our own South Whidbey community. Kudos to all.
Mike McVay (Potter’s Goon) has been around a long time. His favorite theater is produced by Judith and written by David. Thank heaven the line load is light ‘cause the old memory isn't working like it used to.
Martha Murphy (Mrs. Hatch) is the founder of Whidbey Children’s Theatre. She has been involved with the theater community for the past 38 years. Thanks, David and Judith!
Cormac Nazarian (Young Sam) is twelve years old and attends Calyx Community Arts School at South Whidbey State Park. He enjoys reading, hiking, cooking, dancing, playing video games, inventing, and acting. He really likes oysters, and his favorite color is sunset orange.
Tessa Patty-Caldwell (Ruth Bailey) is a sophomore at SWHS. Tess is thrilled to be apart of It’s a Wonderful Life at WICA! The last play she did was The Adams Family and is currently apart of the upcoming production of Les Mis at Whidbey Children’s Theatre. In her spare time, Tess is playing her flute or baking. She would like to dedicate this performance to her younger brother and fellow thespian, Cooper Patty-Shank!
Lucas Pitts (Peter Bailey) is nine years old. He excels in music, playing both the guitar and piano. If he isn't writing lyrics, he is studying the ones on the airwaves. He has also been involved in underwater robotics for four years, competing yearly at the NASA sponsored competition in Federal Way, WA. With a desire to be on the stage, this his first theatrical performance.
Victoria Saenz (Janie Bailey) has been in many theater camps with Martha Murphy but this is her first WICA performance. She loves dancing, acting, singing, and playing the piano. She wants to thank her family for supporting her passions.
Jim Scullin (Clarence) has been a regular in community theater on Whidbey Island for over twenty years. He has appeared on the WICA stage many times. He reports that it is a particular delight to him to have this opportunity to participate in creating our own unique, local version of It’s a Wonderful Life under the imaginative direction of the Ossmans, and in the company of so many fine actors. And then, to be cast in the role of Clarence! Thank you to all for coming to join us for It’s a Wonderful Life. It’s wonderful to have you here.
Christina Sousa (Ensemble) is fifteen years old, lives in Langley, and is an artist and sculptor. She is an active member of the South Whidbey High School drama club and Music in Motion Show Choir. Christina has performed in Wellington Day School’s productions of Grease, Beauty and the Beast, Circus Berserkes; and the drama club’s production of You Can’t Take It With You. Christina has organised caroling with friends, in downtown Langley. She enjoys acting and is very happy to be a part of It’s a Wonderful Life!
Elise Sousa (Ensemble) is a Langley resident mother of three. She does face painting and henna body art on the side. She has worked with the pre-school class of Wellington Day school, costuming, choreographing, and directing their plays and performances. She is a Girl Scout leader of local high school troop 43552. Elise supports and enjoys all forms of the arts, especially when it comes to sharing it with the children, and our community.
Lila Sousa (Zuzu Bailey) is an eleven-year-old (lifetime) resident of Langley. Lila debuted her vocal talents at Blooms Winery last fall, then performed at the 2019 Whidbey Island Area Fair, accompanied by the Szabo Swingers. She has been selected to sing the national anthem for the 2019 Seattle Children’s Marathon. Lila played the part of Glenda the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz and Hava in Fiddler on the Roof at Martha Murphy’s summer theater camp. This inspired her with a love and hunger for theater. She is thrilled to be playing Zuzu in It’s a Wonderful Life!
Amy Walker (Mary Bailey) is an LA-based actress, singer, writer, and producer who is thrilled to be back performing on the WICA stage, where she was seen as Nancy in Oliver!, Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker, and in countless plays and concerts. Due out next year, Amy is in feature films Grace and Grit, Our Home, and The Scheme of Things. She’s in pre-production on three projects as writer, actress, and producer, along with incredible Oscar and Emmy-winning team members. She also voices fan favorite VG characters such as Lunara (Heroes of the Storm) and Elise Starseeker (Hearthstone). This is her upteenth show with the amazing David and Judith ~ here’s to more! AmyWalkerOnline.com
RELATED PROGRAMMING: IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE | DEC 06-21, 2019
DIRECTORS' NOTE | “IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE”
“Rendering a motion picture on stage requires leaps of the imagination. Films are composed of many individual scenes and shots. Films generally move rapidly from place to place. Films are peopled by many actors playing many small, but vital parts, including silent passers-by. One useful solution has been to re-fashion the drama into a musical, where big song-and-dance numbers frame the dramatic action. In fact, Paul McCartney is writing his own musical version of It’s a Wonderful Life, due on Broadway in a year or two.
Since we think the original movie script is just fine, heartwarming, romantic, funny and, best of all, the story sits perched on the Bridge between Heaven and Earth, fantasy and reality, life and death. So, no songs.
Instead, a sound-score that creates the daily life of Bedford Falls through twenty five years, from icy Christmas 1919 through George and Mary’s ‘meet-cute’ in 1928 and their wedding in 1932.
Because our actors’ performances bring these characters (and nearly 40 more) to life, their words are delivered ‘on mic,’ a technique borrowed from 1950s radio, (microphones were usually not visible in films), married to a fully costumed stage-play with action, props and settings. Like the movie, we move swiftly from scene to scene, arcing through time and space.
Movie magic is delivered by way of evocative lighting and production soundscapes, including traditional film techniques like live Foley sound-effects and ‘walla,’ the background talk that peoples movie crowd scenes.
Our Second Act brings Bedford Falls into the post-war Christmas of 1945. It also delivers the town into the hellish Pottersville, when George chooses to never have been born. All the Holiday color is gone from Pottersville, made rotten with greed and hate, but, as you must know, ‘twas all a dream, and we wake to celebrate with lifted voices our own beloved community, from which we have drawn three generations of talented artists for this production.
It’s a Wonderful Life is our gift to you, each one of you an angel, at least for the night.” — David Ossman and Judith Walcutt