For Chris O’Connor, the founder and artistic director of Hoboken’s Mile Square Theatre, his job is not just about telling stories for an audience; it’s about telling stories in a unique way that they haven’t seen or heard before. So when “It’s a Wonderful Life” comes to the Mile Square Theatre in early December, audiences will see the timeless classic told in a way many have not seen before.
“It’s not like we’re doing the movie here,” O’Connor said. “We’re doing the story of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ but done as a radio play. It has a very interesting theatrical twist. The audience will come into the theater and the theater is going to look like a 1940s radio theatre. The MST audience will be the 1940s audience in that studio.”
The pick-me-up holiday film allows the audience to hear parts of the story through live sound effects as well as the theatre sound system.
“It’s a great show to bring kids to and it’s a great show to bring your date.” – Chris O’Connor
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O’Connor said that MST has been preparing for this particular play for about six months.
“One of the things that we really put a lot of resources into is our physical production,” O’Connor said.
MST annually puts on four plays, and each year the holiday season play is done in December.
Theater finds a home
The theatre was founded in 2003. O’Connor said the group was, for a few years, without a home. The theatre performed productions in Sinatra Park, at Hoboken High School, the Hudson School, and other locations. The group eventually found a home in the Monroe Center on the west side of Hoboken in 2008.
“We convinced the owner of the Monroe Center at that time to let us create a performance space that would serve our needs and would also serve other performing companies in town,” O’Connor said.
As detailed in recent issues of The Hoboken Reporter, the Monroe Center is now under new ownership with sweeping changes expected. One major change would be an overhaul to the current theatre space.
O’Connor said that one aspect of the development or renovation of the theatre should be an increased capacity, from the current number of 120 seats.
“We want to increase the capacity of the audience in the theater because we are predicting that we’re going to need to grow that way because of recent box office trends,” O’Connor said.
During “God of Carnage,” the previous play put on by Mile Square Theatre, the company sold out four of the last five shows.
However, with development slower to rise on the west side of the city compared to the waterfront eastern side, O’Connor said it has been difficult to consistently draw a crowd.
“Even despite the fact that there’s free parking here, it’s been hard to get people because the building is less than inviting,” O’Connor said. “But [new owner] Hershy [Weiss] is doing a lot to transform this building.”
O’Connor knows that in addition to an inviting building, the quality of the plays must also be inviting. He thinks putting “It’s a Wonderful Life” on display will draw many to come see the show.
“We wanted to find a play that had a broad appeal for the holidays and a colleague of mine had showed me this adaptation,” he said. “I liked several things. It’s a recognizable iconic film. I’ve run into so many people who when I tell them we’re doing ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ they say ‘that’s great I watch that movie every year.’ People connect to that movie.”
O’Connor said the cast works six days a week in preparation of the show, and they will do so up until the show begins on Dec. 1.
John P. Keller and Annapurna Sriram play George and Mary Bailey, respectively. Many of the actors and actresses in Mile Square Theatre do regional work and are called in to Hoboken for the show, O’Connor said.
The show runs from Dec. 1 to Dec. 18 on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. On Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, the shows begin at 8 p.m. On Saturdays and Sundays, the shows also begin at 3 p.m.
Tickets are available on MileSquareTheatre.org.
“We call it a holiday treat for the whole family and it really is,” O’Connor said. “I think people are going to come and they’re going to love the story and they’re going to love the message of the play. I think it’s a play that’s close to our hearts because it teaches us that we’re all important in the world that and I think that’s a great message for the holidays. It’s a great show to bring kids to and it’s a great show to bring your date.”
Ray Smith may be reached at RSmith@hudsonreporter.com