Matthew Koenig and Joz Vammer will play George Bailey and Mary Hatch in It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play at Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Florida. The production runs December 2, 2026, to January 3, 2027, in the company’s 161-seat Jane B. Cook Theatre.
Scott Keys directs Joe Landry’s adaptation of Frank Capra’s 1946 film, which turns 80 this year. Previews are December 2 and 3, and opening night is December 4. The show opens Asolo Rep’s 2026–27 Second Stage season.
Landry sets the story in a 1940s radio studio. Five actors share dozens of roles, while a Foley artist makes the music and sound effects live on stage. The plot is the film’s: George Bailey, facing ruin, is shown by his guardian angel, Clarence, what Bedford Falls would have become without him.
Keys returns to Asolo Rep after directing A Year with Frog and Toad there. A Sarasota director and teacher, Keys chaired the theater department of Booker High School’s Visual and Performing Arts program for 21 years, and has directed Fun Home, Parade, The Mousetrap and Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins.
Producing artistic director Peter Rothstein called the film “one of the most beloved holiday films of all time,” and Landry’s version “clever, heart-warming and a fantastic vehicle for actors.”
The cast
Koenig makes his Asolo Rep debut as George Bailey. His regional credits include Cleveland Play House, Great Lakes Theater and Laguna Playhouse.
Vammer, also new to the company, plays Mary Hatch. Her credits include Bernie and Mikey’s Trip to the Moon Off-Broadway, Red Taxi at La Jolla Playhouse and Twelfth Night at The Old Globe.
Ann Morrison returns as Violet and other roles. She was last seen at Asolo Rep as King Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar. Morrison created Mary Flynn in the original 1981 Broadway production of Merrily We Roll Along, and recently starred in the national tour of Kimberly Akimbo.
Michael A. Shepperd makes his Asolo Rep debut as Freddie Filmore, Potter and others. His credits include the national tour of Two Trains Running, Matilda and The Color Purple, and he plays Smitty on the television series NCIS: Origins.
Donovan Whitney, also making his Asolo Rep debut, plays Clarence and others. His regional work includes Fences at Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe and Between Riverside and Crazy at American Stage.
The understudies are Mel Holley (Freddie Filmore, Potter, Clarence and others) and three students from the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training: Jason Budahazy (George Bailey, Foley Artist and Stage Manager), Tessa Kaplan Nesbet (Violet and others) and Malia Vargas (Mary Hatch).
The creative team
Peter Vitale is back with the company, and on stage: Vitale plays the radio studio’s Stage Manager, Foley Artist and Composer, making the sound effects and music live. Last season Vitale composed and performed live music for Asolo Rep’s Primary Trust, and spent more than 25 years as Resident Composer and Music Director at Ten Thousand Things Theater in Minneapolis.
Costumes are by David M. Covach, who has worked at Asolo Rep for 31 years and was formerly its costume shop manager. Lighting is by Ethan Vail, production manager and resident lighting designer for the Sarasota Ballet, whose Asolo Rep credits include Grand Horizons, Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer and Camelot. Sound design is by Matthew T. Parker, the company’s head of sound, now in a 34th season there.
Michelle Hart, Asolo Rep’s resident hair, wig and makeup designer, also designs for the Sarasota Ballet and Palm Beach Dramaworks. Patricia Delorey is voice and dialect coach; Delorey’s Asolo Rep credits include Knoxville, Silent Sky, Cabaret and Sweeney Todd.
Casting is by Murnane Casting, led by Chad Eric Murnane, CSA, and Amber Snead, CSA. Matthew Rohan is stage manager, in a fourth season with the company, and Hanna Hagerty is assistant stage manager, in a third.
The rest of the Second Stage season
The season continues with the world premiere of Jennifer Maisel’s Provenance, directed by Casey Stangl, which follows a painting from its creation and its theft in the Nazi era through the generations of families tied to it. It ends with Bootleg: America Sings 1927, an immersive cabaret on the writing and music of 1927, directed by Rothstein.
A separate production under the same title began performances on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre on November 4; our report on that company has its casting.
Tickets
Performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m., with 1:30 p.m. matinees on Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays and select Thursdays. There is no performance on Christmas Day, December 25. Tickets are on sale from the Asolo Rep website and on 941-351-8000.
