Old-time radio takes the stage with ‘Miracle on 34th Street’

In a collaboration between the Kirk Players and the Mundelein Arts Commission, the radio play “Miracle on 34th Street” will take to the boards to offer warm holiday cheer. The show will be performed Dec. 5-7 at the Archer Business Center, 175 N. Archer Ave., Mundelein, and will feature top local actors in the radio adaptation of the famed holiday classic.

The show, transcribed by Ben Dooley for “Those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear” old-time radio recreations, was a 1947 movie starring Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, Natalie Wood and Edmund Gwenn in the heartwarming story of faith and belief. It was turned into a Broadway Musical called “Here’s Love,” written by Meredith Willson, and was again filmed in 1994.

The Kirk Players/MAC production features local performers, including John di Leo as Kriss Kringle, with Julie Brouton and Luke Rush as Doris and Fred, and 8-year-old Estelle Savon as young Susan. Others in the production include Caryl Davidson, Drew Scott Hemmerich, Melanie Ludington, Marilee C.C. Rusiniak, Les Schreurs, and Lane Wheeler.

The show is being directed by Joyce Becker Lee, with assistance from Assistant Director/Stage Manager Bev Karns, and Natalie Lavoie handling the onstage old-time sound effects. Lee is no stranger to radio theater, having co-directed radio versions of her own original musical version of “A Christmas Carol” twice for the Mundelein Arts Commission. “This is an extremely talented group, and we are very excited to bring this holiday classic to life.”

Tickets are $5 and are on sale at the Kirk Players website, kirkplayers.org, or at the door, and all proceeds will go to the Fremont Township Food Bank.