Full Cast, Creative Team Set for Paper Mill’s A Wonderful Life

Jeff Brooks, Catherine Brunnell, James Clow, John Jellison, and Nick Wyman will star in the Paper Mill Playhouse production of the Joe Raposo-Sheldon Harnick musical A Wonderful Life, November 8-December 17. The production, which will open officially on November 12, will be directed by James Brennan with choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler.

The show is based on the classic famed Frank Capra film It’s a Wonderful Life, about George Bailey, a small-town banker who contemplates suicide but finds life is worth living thanks to the intervention of Clarence, an unlikely angel determined to get his wings. Raposo, who died in 1989, wrote the music and is best known for being one of the creators of Sesame Street. Harnick, who write book and lyrics, won Tony Awards for Fiorello! and Fiddler on the Roof, and was nominated for She Loves Me, The Apple Tree, and The Rothschilds.

The show’s cast will also include J.B. Adams, Sean Martin Hingston, Dale Radunz, Kevin Bernard, Robert Creighton, Jan Passano, Ed Romanoff, Jessica Mary Murphy, Jerry Galante, Emilie Dupree, Kellie Drinkhahn, Jeremy Davis, Todd Horman, Jean Marie, Allison Couture, Cynthia Lee Heim, Marisa Malanga, Sophia Rudin, Nigel Columbus, Adrian Pena, Erin Henry, Daniel Marconi, Jacqueline Colmer, Lucy Grebin, Matt Condello, and Natalie Loftin.

The creative team includes Charlie Smith (sets), Gail Baldoni (costumes), Richard Winkler (lighting), Randy Hansen (sound), and Tom Helm (musical direction). Brennan has directed the Paper Mill productions of She Loves Me, Noises Off, The Sound of Music, and Crazy for You. Blankenbuehler will choreograph the upcoming Broadway revival of The Apple Tree.

Brooks, who will play Clarence, has been seen on Broadway in such shows as Guys and Dolls, Beauty and the Beast, and Gypsy. Brunnell, who will play Mary Hatch Bailey, starred on Broadway in Big River and Thoroughly Modern Millie. Clow, who will play George, starred on Broadway in Assassins, Wonderful Town and Company and played Captain Hook in the recent national tour of Peter Pan. Jellison, who will play Tom Bailey, has starred on Broadway in The Phantom of the Opera, All Shook Up, and Titanic. Wyman, who will play Henry Potter, has starred on Broadway in Sly Fox, My Fair Lady, and On the Twentieth Century.