In Focus: Actors Repertory Theatre Puts A Unique Spin On It’s A Wonderful Life

Actors Repertory Theatre was started by three people passionate about theatre. In the 12 months since they were established, they have had more than half a dozen productions.

For this week’s In Focus, reporter Sammy Holladay was in attendance for their presentation of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play.’ Actors Repertory Theatre’s name comes from exactly that. The actor and the art of being an actor.

Which is why their productions require the performers to enhance their skills. Beth Selinger and Patrick Spradlin enlisted Curtis Jendro to take care of the technical side of Actors Repertory Theatre and they took care of the side they’ve spent their life’s work on.

Selinger has been in theatre for over 50 years and Spradlin was the Theatre Instructor at Central Lakes College for 31 years. After brief retirements, they knew they had to get back to doing what they love.

Which comes to their latest production. Everyone knows ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ but Actors Repertory Theatre puts on productions that audiences may be familiar with, and puts their unique spin on it.

Five distinguished actors made up the cast of this production, including Spradlin, which means that each actor had to take on multiple roles, which provides a different challenge from a theatre actor’s usual performances.

As of now, Actors Repertory Theatre has 3 productions scheduled for 2024, one in each season for Spring, Summer, and Fall.