Starlight’s ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ exemplifies the importance of fellowship

For people all around the world, the late Frank Capra’s iconic 1946 film, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” is a holiday staple. The film tells the story of everyman hero George Bailey, who faces a Christmas Eve existential crisis. Thinking that he’s worth more dead than alive, Bailey reflects on what he believes is a life of failures and makes the grim decision to end his life. With the help of a guardian angel sent from heaven to set him straight, he’s provided a glimpse of what his close-knit community of Bedford Falls would be like if he had never existed. Despite the sentimentality, the film flirts with some dark subject material, like the 1918 influenza pandemic, the Great Depression, parental loss, unrealized dreams, alcoholism, unbridled capitalism, war and suicide.

Philip Grecian, who adapted the 1983 film “A Christmas Story” for the stage, transformed “It’s a Wonderful Life” into a two-act play that somehow seems to smooth out the social and political messages that make the film beloved. All that remains is a healthy schmear of holiday schmaltz.

Still, the central message of the story, that “no man is a failure who has friends,” delivers a heartwarming reminder that a life of service and selflessness is a life worth living. When Bailey’s friends come together in the second act to replace $8,000 lost by his elderly uncle, Bailey realizes that it’s his family and his connection to the community that define him.

Similarly, this beleaguered Starlight Dinner Theatre production is a triumph of community spirit. After founder, president and artistic director Linda Granger’s July announcement that the theater would sign the controversial Guy Sanville, former artistic director of Purple Rose Theater Co. in Chelsea, to direct two shows, it was later announced that he would not be directing “It’s a Wonderful Life” due to an urgent medical issue. Cast member David Brooks stepped into the director role. With casting changes and a venue change during production, Brooks notes in the playbill that without the wonderful cast and crew, this Bedford Falls could have easily turned into a contentious Pottersville.

Speaking of Pottersville, this reviewer loves a good villain, and Douglas Foy delivers as the monstrous Henry Potter. Reminiscent of the bombastic and disputatious Gene Hackman as Sen. Kevin Keeley in the 1996 comedy/thriller “The Birdcage,” Foy’s delivery is comical and captivating.

As Bailey, Mark Polzin gives the audience a solid portrayal of a character synonymous with the late Jimmy Stewart, complete with Stewart’s stammering cadence and frenzied pacing. Stephanie Spagnuolo Vosburgh also receives honorable mention as the faithful wife of Bailey — and the true hero of this drama.

While the show was technically glitchy — telephones rang out of sync, lights flashed indiscriminately, and pre-recorded audio was ill-timed — like Capra’s vision of the power of community, Starlight Dinner Theatre’s production reinforces the idea that community theater betters everyone.