The performance runs approximately two hours with an intermission.

Oil Lamp Theater reopens its doors with our annual production of It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play.  This play has become a holiday tradition for many Oil Lamp patrons and their families, and in this year we know those traditions that bring us joy mean more than ever before. Embrace the season with us and watch everyone’s favorite classic performed live on our stage. Only seven actors bring the entire town of Bedford Falls to life in a 1946 radio play – complete with sound effects – to tell the story of George Bailey, whose troubles lead him to wish he had never been born. He is visited by the angel Clarence who comes to Earth on Christmas Eve to help George realize how many lives he has touched and just how blessed he has been and how different the world would be had he never been there.

Our intimate Glenview theater space is transformed into the studio of New York radio station WBFR on Christmas Eve in 1946 for this warmhearted adaptation of the famous Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed film. But at Oil Lamp Theater, the magic isn’t only on the stage! Audiences will be captured by the tinsel-and-holly enchantment of a traditional Christmas from the moment they enter the theater. The tree is up in the lobby, holiday music is playing, and drinks at our new working bar make for a festive and delightful experience!

Please note: All patrons must provide proof of their full vaccination status and have a matching ID to enter the theater. Masks will also be worn at all times unless actively eating or drinking in the lobby. Children under 12 and people with medical conditions or religious beliefs preventing them from being vaccinated must provide proof of a COVID-19 PCR test within 72 hours of the performance start time, or a negative COVID-19 antigen test taken within 6 hours of the performance start time.

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