Wheaton Drama presents 'Miracle on 34th Street'

When the applause sign goes on this weekend at Playhouse 111 in downtown Wheaton, audience reaction will become part of the show.

An adaptation of the holiday movie classic "Miracle on 34th Street," the Wheaton Drama production depicts a cast and crew presenting the story to a radio audience of the '30s, '40s and '50s.

The narrative concerns a department store Santa named Kris Kringle who is thought to be insane because of his belief that he is the real Santa. A lawyer comes to his defense.

Vintage-looking microphones, cue cards, low-tech sound effects and period costumes will re-create the experience - with a few changes, director Ben Dooley said.

"We're putting our own unique spin on it," he said.

For one thing, this show will be longer than most radio versions of feature-length films.

In the old days, Dooley said, "they would take movies and they would condense it down for the radio. I went back to the original version. Everything's put back in."

So fans of the 1947 movie starring Edmund Gwenn and Maureen O'Hara won't wonder where that favorite scene or line of dialogue went, because it'll be there, plus some additional, expositional dialogue aimed at filling in the missing visuals for the radio audience.

"We managed to bring the fuller version of the story back," Dooley said.

Dooley and a couple of the cast members, no strangers to radio drama, are part of an Oak Park-based troupe that regularly stages re-creations of radio shows. Called Those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear, they regularly perform at Oak Park Arms, a retirement community.

Dooley said that during radio drama's heyday in the 1940s, audiences who couldn't get to the theater to see movies would instead listen to the radio version.

Mimicking real radio, the Wheaton show will include commercial breaks with jingles and a few pleasant surprises for the live audience, Dooley said.

Several local companies and organizations have purchased commercial time, he said, in the show-within-a-show. The Downtown Wheaton Association is one such organization.

"We actually wrote a jingle to be sung in the show," Dooley said.

Paula Barrington is the association's executive director.

"We pledged about $200. It's like a 30-second to 60-second commercial," Barrington said. "It's really fun because it's incorporated as part of the show."

The show is a fundraiser for Wheaton Drama, a nonprofit community theater organization.

"This is 100 percent volunteer theater. It's such an amazing organization," Dooley said.

"None of the actors, producers or directors are paid," said Michelle Rollins, a member of the theater company. "It's a small venue, but small and mighty."

Dooley said all proceeds go back into keeping the theater company afloat and into its youth acting and scholarship programs.

Rollins said that during intermission, audience members will be invited to participate in a "wine pull" and gift basket raffles.

"Miracle on 34th Street" has a four-performance run, with shows beginning at 8 p.m. Thursday to Saturday, Dec. 17 to 19, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 20.

A full slate of shows are on the Wheaton Drama calendar for winter and spring, Dooley said.

In January, Wheaton Drama will present "Rabbit Hole," a drama about a couple grappling with the death of a child, followed in March by "Quartet," a comedy about opera singers living in a retirement home.

Spring features "The Mystery of Edwin Drood," an unfinished Charles Dickens tale wherein the audience has a hand in choosing the ending.

For the past several years, Dooley said, Wheaton Drama has presented a theatrical version of "It's a Wonderful Life" at Christmastime. Because productions of that popular show proliferate throughout the area, he said the group decided to change it up this year.

"This is good for the whole family," Dooley said. "It's a clean, wholesome show. It's got a good message."

If you go

What: "Miracle on 34th Street" presented by Wheaton Drama as a radio show

Where: Playhouse 111, 111 N. Hale St., Wheaton

When: 8 p.m. Thursday to Saturday, Dec. 17 to 19; 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 20

Tickets: $15; available at wheatondrama.org or (630) 260-1820

Info: (630) 260-1928 or wheatondrama.org