Newtown High School students are readying for a streamed video performance of “It’s A Wonderful Life, A Live Radio Play” for Saturday, December 19, starting a 7 pm. Tickets are available now.

All tickets are $12 and available online at nhsc.booktix.com. The production is being sponsored by Ingersoll Auto of Danbury.

Director and NHS teacher and auditorium manager Janice Gabriel said, “It is a wonderful life, and that’s why I chose this particular show: The message of it itself is so timely. And I think we all need a little bit of joy right now.”

Readying a production has been “a joy in itself” for the students, Gabriel observed, in a time when many theaters, both professional and educational, are closed. For some of the students, Gabriel added, the production has been a “saving grace.”

Gabriel said she hopes people will take the time to buy tickets, then schedule watching the production at home, with family members if possible, and enjoy a moment of “live theater.”

“Watch and just see what these students are doing,” Gabriel said.

The production will be staged in a “radio drama” format. Gabriel explained that for radio drama productions, actors usually do not learn what show they will be in until just before the performance. The actors rehearse the “form” of acting, but not the show. For the NHS production, the students know which show they are part of but not what role they will play.

“They know what show it is, with the promise that they will not conduct research,” Gabriel said. “Though, most people know it.”

NHS typically holds a fall drama production, and the radio drama staging is taking its place this year. The fall drama is normally directed by students, and Gabriel said she was worried that directing would put added pressure on students this year, with the possibility of then changing to learning remotely.

Until Newtown Public Schools switched to fully remote learning for November 23, Gabriel said the plan was to have the production set and filmed on the NHS stage, with social distancing and special precautions. While everything is still being worked out, Gabriel said students will now take part remotely. The show will not be “100 percent live,” due to different technology capabilities of the participants, but Gabriel promises it will maintain the integrity of a true radio drama.

“It’s going to be a little bit of work, but it is so worth it,” Gabriel said. “We are still creating theater in a world that is not, and the kids are excited about it. They are craving this.”

Offering a production of this nature is also a different experience for the students, and it highlights a different range of talents, like voice acting.

Gabriel expressed gratitude for Ingersoll Auto of Danbury’s sponsorship of the production and for the support received from NHS and school district administration when she presented the idea for a radio drama.

“Our administrators have really supported us and helped us figure out creative ways to teach and to have our extracurriculars in some fashion,” Gabriel said, adding she feels that is particularly important as “through this whole thing the arts have proven they are essential.”

Along with Gabriel, the production team for the show is technical director Tim White, production stage manager Leah McCafferty, assistant stage manager Katie Murphy, lighting design Lily Swansiger, sound design Julie Olsen, assistant sound design Abby McCafferty, construction head Claire Nalajala, painting head Maren Leyva, and props head Sammy Vertucci.

The cast, in alphabetical order, is Charlotte Cartelli, Leah Crebbin, Julia Forlenzo, Lizzy Gotschlich, Joan Gogglietino, Maddie Hintze, Sean Kenny, Jules Kessler, Kristin Lageman, Jackson McDevitt, Christine Salvo, Colton Stergue, Madeleine Talluto, Nate Wheeler, Nick Williams, Malcolm Zimerman, and Zac Ziperstein.

The crew, in alphabetical order, is Isabella Battaglia, Annika Fogal, Brooke Kinsey, Maren Leyva, Leah McCafferty, Abby McCafferty, Katie Murphy, Claire Nalajala, Julie Olsen, Aaron Richard, Lauren Smiley, Carissa Soriano, Colton Stergue, Lily Swansiger, Savannah Valentin, Dante Verna, Sammy Vertucci, Jessica Zhang, and James Thorpe.