By Marilyn Forbes

Published: Tuesday, November 13, 2012, 8:59 p.m.
Updated: Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Members of the Mt. Pleasant Area Drama Club will present the classic “It's a Wonderful Life” this weekend in the auditorium of Mt. Pleasant Junior-Senior High School.

Using the timing of the show for some holiday fare, the directors decided to go with a family classic to bring in the season.

“We thought that with the time slot we had that we could do something that was a holiday show,” co-director Rich Bair said. “‘It's a Wonderful Life' is a well-known movie, so we thought we would go with it.”

Ironically, many of the 40-plus students who make up the cast and crew of the show were not familiar with the timeless movie that starred Jimmy Stewart, but many rectified that when the show title was announced.

“I rented it and watched it the night before we had auditions,” senior Elizabeth Mizikar, 17, said.

Mizikar will be playing the lead of Mary and was taken with the character when she watched the movie.

The show will follow the dialogue and movie version very closely, which is something that co-director Barbara Rolla felt the audience would identify with.

“It's very close to the movie, to what people know,” Rolla said. “I think that audiences will enjoy it very much.”

All of the set construction and prop building is being done in-house by student volunteers and the cast will be utilizing the school's sound and lighting systems to help enhance the theatrical experience of the production.

“That show was well received but this year we wanted to do more of a family show,” Rolla said. She said this year's production is appropriate for audiences of all ages. “This show is a very family-friendly show, very family-orientated.”

The running time for the show will be two-plus hours and the group hopes that all of their weeks of hard work and rehearsals will play off with big crowds.

“We hope to see a lot of people from the community,” Bair said. “We especially want to thank Dr. (Ken) Williams and Mr. (Terry) Struble, who have been very supportive of us.”

The show will be staged at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday with a 2 p.m. matinee Saturday.

Tickets can be purchased at the door. Adult tickets are $5 each; children and students are $3 each.

Marilyn Forbes is a freelance writer.

1. Penguins Insider: Time is right for Jokinen’s return
2. Steelers quarterback Roethlisberger likes the revamped offense
3. Steelers’ Polamalu trim, fit as he arrives for OTAs
4. Kovacevic: Pens improve under microscope
5. Neal’s solid play soon could pay off on scoresheet for Penguins
6. Steelers notebook: Less talk, more work is Tomlin’s theme
7. Former Pittsburgh police Chief Nate Harper asks for permission to take grandkids to Ohio amusement park
8. Peduto secures Democratic nomination for Pittsburgh mayor
9. Penguins notebook: Morrow leaves practice with injury
10. Trial begins for teen accused of shooting girl, setting her on fire
11. Officials identify Homewood toddler killed in East Hills shooting

There are currently no comments for this story.
Subscribe today! Click here for our subscription offers.