The last few month came with quite a learning curve for most people. For the Ojai Art Center Theater the challenge arrived in the form of staging a production using Zoom. See how they pull off “It’s A Wonderful Life A Live Radio Play” when the show streams Saturday, December 12 at 7 pm through Saturday, December 19 at midnight.
“Zoom is another world,” Gai Jones, the play’s director, said. “We’ve constructed some Zoom acting tips we didn’t know going into this. Like you can’t overtalk each other.” The actors might all perform in different locations but they still need to come together as an ensemble. Like many of the Ojai ACT productions Jones directed in the past this cast consists of a large number of actors, twenty-nine of them ranging in age from eight to eighty-three.
Working with a big diverse cast on Zoom brought up a plethora of issues. Between different devices, from mobile to desktop, and operating systems from Chromebook to Apple to Windows, each person’s setup varied. Some actors needed help with their internet connections, some required tutoring in using Zoom. Fortunately the cast includes technical whiz Adam Dunn who assisted in multiple ways. He instructed his fellow ensemble members in working with virtual backgrounds, incorporating lighting and positioning so the actor doesn’t bleed into the image.
Dunn also served as the on-screen Foley sound effect operator. The script for “It’s A Wonderful Life A Live Radio Play” offers a true radio performance experience, complete with suggestions of materials for making the sound effects. It includes commercials as well. Viewers will enjoy the humorous old-fashioned ads for Dux Toilet Cake, with a hundred uses, and Bremel Hair Tonic.
The 1940s era of the play made work for costumer Sheryl Jo Bedal simple. She dug through her extensive collection of vintage hats. “It’s actually the fastest and easiest I’ve gotten a show costumed,” she said. Her and Jones held a drive by costume pick up outside the Art Center. Everybody wore masks and practice social distancing. “Usually with costuming it’s about colors and textures and styles,” Bedal said. “With Zoom we see them from the chest up and don’t get the full effect. Wearing the period hats is important to draw the audience into the late 1940s.”
Philip Paul Nemy, who plays George Bailey, a man who plans his suicide until his guardian angel convinces him his life made a difference, agrees Zoom is a whole new world. He said, “When I innately, as the character, want to reach out and touch my wife, hug her because I’m alive again, physically I’m limited. I can’t because we’re in two different rooms. We’re on Zoom.” Jones worked with Nemy and Emily Hall, who plays George’s wife Mary, to choreograph their kiss.
Similar problems arose with props. If one character gives a prop to another character they must have identical items at their separate homes, and orchestrate the handoff to appear seamless.
In addition cast members needed to adjust to turning their audio and video on and off at the correct times. “It was quite hectic for awhile,” Stage Manager Sue Barry said. Looking back at how it began to now, she marvels at what they accomplished. “The actors can only use half their bodies to show emotion with expressions and hand gestures. I’m amazed at how talented these people are in adapting to being in this little box.”
When Jones first approached Barry about stage managing the show, Barry wondered what a performance over Zoom might look like. If you wonder too, Ojai ACT invites you to stream “It’s A Wonderful Life A Live Radio Play” December 12 through 19. Tickets, available at ojaiact.org/iawl for $12.95.