When you meet the family of George Bailey, it feels as familiar as the stockings on the hearth. They have, for generations, been a staple of the holiday season, wafting into our homes on television just as the smell of gravy wafts in from the turkey dinner cooking in kitchens all over the continent. That smell, and that family, gently remind us It's A Wonderful Life.
Never in Prince George have the Bailey children seemed so familiar. At Theatre NorthWest, the seasonal favourite is being produced in live radio play style. They are the same characters we have seen time and again on TV yet they are also kids from our own city. Six of the actors involved in this production are local, including all four taking turns portraying the Bailey children. Depending on the night, you will see combinations of Claire Ramsay, Aleisha Ramsay, Jacob Hellyer and Nash Walker.
It's an invaluable opportunity for young actors to get to work with established professionals. It's an invaluable opportunity for Prince George to get to see homegrown talent comingling with pros from all across Canada.
"I've never been in a professional play, but I have been in small things," said Walker, 12. He has done some parts in school plays at Ecole College Heights Elementary, and he has taken the annual Shakespeare camp put on each summer by director Melissa Glover.
"I like performing in front of people, a big crowd is what I like the best, that feels amazing," Walker said. "I can't wait to get here for every rehearsal, and I know the shows are going to be awesome, and everything will be different than what I've ever experienced before. In summer, the camps are for fun and you pay to be there. But this is different - they are all paying to see you. It's serious, now."
Hellyer has also done only small on-stage appearances in school productions, but a turn as Daddy Warbucks in the Immaculate Conception School's production of Annie gave him all the incentive he needed to pursue other theatrical opportunities.
"I realized drama was something I wanted to be part of," he said. "I tried out for It's A Wonderful Life but I wasn't very hopeful. I figured a lot of kids would be auditioning for this," he said. And he was right, there were many options, confirmed TNW director Jack Grinhaus, but Hellyer succeeded.
"I got pretty excited," Hellyer said about finding out the good news. "I feel pretty proud to go this far at only age 11."
He hasn't seen the movie version made so popular by Jimmy Stewart, and he wants to hold off seeing it until after the play is underway. He is taking Grinhaus's direction and following the mentorship of the many adult actors in the show, so he doesn't want the film version adjusting his mindset.
The movies interest him in general, though. He is the first generation that has had filmmaking technology at their fingertips, and he likes to use it. Smartphones, YouTube, GoPro, all kinds of movie making tools are easily available for anyone with the interest and Hellyer has it. He likes to make little films for fun, although he said he tends to delete them almost immediately. He's still learning and doesn't consider his work anything more than a hobby so far.
Hanging out with the other actors, especially Walker, has been a treat for Hellyer. He loves that he gets to share the experience with others who love theatre as much as he does. In fact, he and Walker laughed about hatching a plan to scare other child actors away from TNW. They joked that if they spread the rumour that Grinhaus was a mean, horrible director, other kids wouldn't audition for future parts and they would get all the acting opportunities.
Grinhaus found this funnier than the kids did.
In that sense, the cast and crew of It's A Wonderful Life: The Radio Play has also become a kind of family.
They perform the show starting tonight at TNW. Tickets are available instantly online at the TNW website or in person at Books & Company. It runs almost nightly until Dec. 13.
