As Mary Hatch, played by TCU junior Maggie Ewig, goes to call a possible suitor in front of George Bailey, the man she loves, to make him jealous, the prop phone falls off the wall. 

Hatch is unflappable. She grabs the wall phone in one arm, the speaker in the other, and leans in close to Bailey, just as she would if the phone was in its proper place. This was one of only several displays of thespian talent in Theatre Coppell’s opening night of “It’s a Wonderful Life” on Friday. 

“We had a strong cast so we managed to hold it together,” said UNT graduate Kylar Dobbs, who plays Bailey. “We’ve been working for a month and a half trying to get everything put together, so we were just excited to really get to do this, especially after COVID.”

For the start of the Coppell Arts Center’s first season, and the end of Theatre Coppell’s 2021 season, Coppellians were presented with an adaptation of the Christmas film. Familiar themes of family and friendship were reinterpreted by local actors. 

In the small town of Bedford Falls, there is Bailey, a caring and careful boy with big aspirations from a young age. His honorable father runs the loan and building business with hopes of allowing the common person ownership and loans from friendly faces. The business is in competition with a Mr. Potter at the bank, a loan shark who is content to let most live in the slums as long as he has his money. 

The young Bailey is portrayed as admirably as the young Hatch is adorably. In a well-thought out series of events, such as saving his brother from a sledding incident and stopping his boss from accidentally selling poison, Bailey’s respectability and character is built from the beginning. So is his desire to leave his small town. It is as much a part of him as his instinct to keep his people safe, and demonstrated even better when Bailey’s actors switch from young to older.

When Bailey’s father dies, he is forced to remain in Bedford Falls to keep the family business running and the people of the town fiscally safe. His desires to see the world are quashed. Though he is later able to marry Hatch, his childhood sweetheart, even his honeymoon is taken away as the money they have saved must go to the business to stop from foreclosure when the Depression hits. 

It is here where the best acting of the show goes on. Hatch hands over their honeymoon money like it’s nothing, and he gives it out to his account holders. Bailey exudes a youth and exuberance, a confidence, particularly in his scenes with Hatch. The two together are a steady leading couple, easy to root for in her consistency, his big dreams, and their shared childhood history. 

When Bailey finds his life insurance policy is worth more than the deficit, he contemplates suicide. God then sends in a quirky angel, Clarence, who is hoping to earn his wings by helping Bailey. 

Each little mannerism of actor David Willie, from accent to the continual questions of his wings to Joseph, his heavenly connection, adds up to Coppell Theatre’s exquisitely eccentric Clarence. Each member of the cast holds a similar charm. Potter delivers each line like he truly means it, Uncle Billy’s comedic personality adds an element of humor and Chelsi Jones is a perfect fit to play the beautiful Violet Bick. 

Each new setting, though spare in props and changes, has a warm fittingness about it, and the characters move through them comfortably. It makes all the difference, as the Coppell Theatre takes the set, the sound and the familiar wintertime story and turns it into something uniquely Coppell.

“Especially with the residential companies, shows like this are bringing awareness to such great local and regional theatre,” Coppell Arts Center patron service supervisor Emma McKenzie said. “This theatre group has been performing in an old fire station for 30 years, so people have been waiting and wanting a big stage for them for a long time.”

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