UCM Students to Perform ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ Live on The Beat

University of Central Missouri student Quinton Weed rehearses in the Elliott Student Union for the upcoming live radio drama, “It’s a Wonderful Life,”
which will be performed in the Union and simultaneously broadcast on The Beat at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 10.

 

Just in time for the holidays, students and faculty with The Beat, the campus radio station at the University of Central Missouri (UCM), are producing a live broadcast of “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Audiences can watch the production in person in the Elliott Student Union atrium or listen to the live broadcast on The Beat. Both take place at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 10. Those who come to campus will be treated to free hot chocolate and popcorn, courtesy of the Union.

The Beat has produced recorded radio dramas, but this will be the first live radio drama. The goal is to transport listeners back to the 1940s, when the classic movie premiered and it was common for families to gather around the radio to hear a live broadcast.

“It's a bigger undertaking, but the students really like the challenge,” said Shannon Johnson, associate instructor of Media Production and station manager for The Beat. “The auditions were open to the entire campus. We have a mixture of Music Tech students, Theatre students, Fashion students, Digital Media students, but they all have a love of performing. It’s a really nice collaboration with the whole campus.”

About 25 students are working on the production, including a live pianist who is composing music for the scene transitions.

Johnson and the two Foley artists have worked to find just the right items to create realistic sounds that will bring the beloved story to life. Work is underway to construct a wind machine, and Johnson’s son, a Mechanical Engineering student, is welding a car door to a frame so it can be opened and closed. There is even some UCM flair through the use of a red Mule cowbell for the sound of a retail store door opening. And, of course, a small bell that everyone will recognize as the sound of an angel getting its wings. 

“There's simple ones like doors opening and closing and cars driving off. But it's all of the little things that help you feel like you're actually there,” said Carson Meade, a junior Digital Media Production major from Savannah. “And so it's kind of like a mystery almost, trying to put together the puzzle of how to imitate that sound.”

The show script includes commercials, but the UCM crew has decided to recreate live commercials for actual sponsors of The Beat.

“So, for Alley Cats, we're going to have a bowling ball rolling. Heroes, we’ll do the sizzling sound of the food,” Johnson explained. “We're going to recreate it with our announcers as a thank you for our sponsors who have helped us.”

The show doesn’t come without its challenges. For some students, “It’s a Wonderful Life” marks their first live performance. For others, they’re finding creative ways to produce a show without visuals. 

“One of the biggest things we have to think about is making sure that you are emotive in your voice and you don't speak monotone with all the different emotions that you're trying to portray because they can't see your face,” said Rosalyn Schuster, a senior Musical Theatre major from Nixa. “If you're smiling, they don't know that unless you have some kind of change in that voice.”

With podcasts on the rise and voiceover work continuing to be a popular career choice for actors, the inaugural live radio drama is also an opportunity to learn new skills.

“Radio drama is another form of acting – voice acting. It's really just everywhere these days on the radio, it's in film voiceover, it's in cartoons, it's in pretty much everything,” said Quinn Allen, a senior Theatre major from Lone Jack. “Voiceover is really something I love learning because it's another tool I can have in my toolbox. It's a very versatile form of acting because your voice is an instrument that you can shift and change and mold to whatever you like.”

Schuster said her favorite part of the production is the story itself.

“I think that ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ is such a feel-good holiday-time story, especially just the ending,” Schuster said. “It's all about community and persevering through hard times, and I think that's always a really good message to keep in mind, that it's always possible that things can get better.”

The production is partially funded by a grant from the Speech and Theatre Association of Missouri.

To listen to the live broadcast at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 10, visit ucmbeat.com. For more information about UCM’s Department of Communication and Digital Media Production, visit ucmo.edu/comm.

 

UCM students Kaia Trujillo and Payton Lawrence practice in the Digital Media Production studio ahead of The Beat’s live production
of “It’s a Wonderful Life.”