It’s a Wonderful Life – The Musical
The 1946 classic film, It’s a Wonderful Life, was adapted into a popular musical by Keith Ferguson and Bruce Greer. The inspiring and tuneful show follows the journey of George Bailey from the classic movie.
Omega Productions’ award-winning crew were selected to shoot a premiere performance of the musical on December 15, 2001, at the historic Dallas movie house, the gilded Majestic Theatre. The performance included a multi-talented cast of members of Dallas First Baptist Church, including the church’s orchestra. Keith Ferguson served as Executive Producer. Bruce Greer served as Music Director as well as arranging the score for the orchestra.
Paul and Donna Christensen, Omega Productions, produced the project for television release. Michael Meece was Stage Director assisted by Jeff Davidson who served as Project Technical Director. Omega’s Don Moore Directed the shoot. Omega’s camera crew, Will Tyler, John Thomas, Jim Conrad, Paul Thomas, Jesus Carillo, and Ron Nance, were joined by Omega’s Sel Warren, who provided Video Shading. Mark Giesecke served as Video Tape Operator.
Tony Symanovich’s Dallas-based TELEFAX, Inc. provided remote television facilities with Symanovich serving as Engineer in Charge (EIC).
First Baptist Church, Dallas, Television Facilities provided Post Production Services. First Baptist, Dallas, also provided Sound Reinforcement and Recording Facilities.
The performances were well received as were the recordings:
Praise for It’s a Wonderful Life
“Audiences are going to be enormously entertained by this enjoyable show. It’s a crowd-pleaser you don’t want to miss!”
Ruby Nancy, Quad-City Times (Indiana)
“The score, by Keith Ferguson and Bruce Greer, is slick and often memorable. The musical numbers and Mr. Greer’s lush orchestrations are consistently impressive.”
Tom Sime, The Dallas Morning News
“…the children in the audience appeared to watch with rapt attention. We all did . . . the challenge of breathing new life into a story that most of us probably know far too well; familiarity with Frank Capra’s movie may bring audiences to the theatre, but good luck getting us to stop thinking of the movie during its performance. Based on the enthusiastic — and more than deserved — standing ovation that greeted [the] curtain call, however, I doubt that any of us still had Capra on the brain. The crowd may have attended the show already loving It’s a Wonderful Life, but quickly enough, it was clear that what we were loving was this particular It’s a Wonderful Life.“
The River Cities Reader (Illinois)
More information on the work:
https://iawlmusical.com/
https://www.facebook.com/IAWLMusical/
https://www.youtube.com/user/fgmusicltd/
Scene from It’s A Wonderful Life – The Musical, Second Class Angel:
Scene from It’s A Wonderful Life – The Musical, You Are Now In Bedford Falls:
