It's a one-derful life

Every year when the temperature drops and snowfall threatens, Boston area theatergoers can count on certain shows to warm their hearts. You've got your pick of multiple versions of A Christmas Carol, a classic and contemporary version of The Nutcracker, and even the outrageous Gold Dust Orphans are reprising their holiday spooktacular Silent Night of the Lambs. This season, The Lyric Stage presents a new offering with the New England premiere of This Wonderful Life, Steve Murray's homage to It's A Wonderful Life.

Okay, so perhaps it's not a completely new idea. The Frank Capra film, after all, is one of the most beloved of holiday movies, thanks to its uplifting message of the importance of family, sacrifice and community, and its affirmation that every person is important. And thanks to It's A Wonderful Life playing in heavy rotation on TV stations for many years, Jimmy Stewart's moving performance has become iconic. As George Bailey, the man who loses all hope on Christmas Eve but is shown by an angel how much good he has done in the world, Stewart is perhaps cinema's greatest Everyman.

But no matter how many times you've watched the movie, you haven't seen it like this: With versatile actor Neil A. Casey playing all 32 characters.

"It's exhausting, but it's a lot of fun," the puckish Casey chuckled in an interview last week. He was heading into rehearsal with the most basic of tools: Cup of coffee, a notebook, and a DVD of the film. "I've been watching the movie non-stop," he said, explaining that This Wonderful Life is not a spoof or adults-only, but a sincere interpretation that's suitable for all ages.

After all, why mess with perfection? I expected Casey - a character actor whose magnetism and energy has shined in local productions of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Noises Off, Take Me Out and Shear Madness - to enthuse over the actorly challenge of performing a one man show. But he began by praising the movie.

"It's a great film," he said. "It has great performances and it's really well made. There's a part that gets me every time, when it dawns on George that maybe Clarence really is an angel. Even when I play that moment, it gets to me."

Both Murray's script and Jack Neary's direction hew close to the original, right down to the staging (though Casey mischievously hinted that there are "a few additions.") That's where Casey's well-worn DVD comes in. He's not taking lightly the idea of filling the shoes of Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed and Lionel Barrymore.

"I've really got my Lionel Barrymore down," Casey boasted, "but Clarence is still giving me some problems."

This performance seems to have whet Casey's whistle for one-man shows; when I ask him what part he'd like to play next, he mentions Fully Committed. Local producers should take note of that idea quickly, because after a brief return to Boston this fall after spending a year teaching at Niagara University, Casey will soon be leaving again; this time for New York City.

"It's time for me to take the next step," he mused. "Every teacher I've ever had has said I would work a lot in my 40s, because I'm a character actor. Now all my college friends are doing well in New York and telling me to come down."

Though Casey doesn't rule out returning to Beantown for a good role, it seems we can't count on seeing him sparkle on our stages anymore. How wonderful, then, that before he leaves he gives Boston one last gift before he goes, regardless of the season.

Before he headed into rehearsal, Casey stressed that the message of It's a Wonderful Life is universal. "Frank Capra didn't even think of it as a Christmas movie," he said. "It's about having friends and helping people. It's about every day of your life."

This Wonderful Life plays Wed.-Sun., Nov. 23-Dec. 22, at Lyric Stage, 140 Clarendon St.d, Boston. Tickets $25-$54. Info: 617.585.5678 or www.lyricstage.com.