Jeanna de Waal and Martin Landry Join IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY Cast

Jeanna de Waal (Diana, Kinky Boots) and Martin Landry (Oh, Mary!) have joined the cast as standbys for all principal roles in It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, when it comes to Broadway next month. Previews begin Wednesday, November 4, with an official Opening Night of Wednesday, November 18, for a strictly limited engagement of nine weeks only, through Sunday, January 3, 2027.

This holiday season, It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, directed by four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks, makes its Broadway Premiere at the Broadhurst Theatre (235 W 44th St.). Adapted for the stage by Joe Landry and based on the story “The Greatest Gift” by Philip Van Doren Stern, the play transports audiences to a 1940s radio studio, where a company of celebrated actors gathers to perform Frank Capra’s timeless classic, live on-the-air, complete with a foley artist and holiday carols.

Previously announced in the cast are five of stage and screen’s most beloved and dynamic stars, who will bring a bevy of Bedford Falls characters to life. Two-time Tony nominee Andrew Rannells (Gutenberg!, The Book of Mormon) leads the company as George Bailey, opposite two-time Tony nominee Megan Hilty (Death Becomes Her, “Smash”) as Mary Bailey. Six-time Emmy nominee Tituss Burgess (Oh, Mary!, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”) earns his wings as Clarence and others, Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Harry Hamlin (“Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches,” “L.A. Law,” “Mad Men”) takes on the villainous Mr. Potter and others, and four-time Emmy nominee Lisa Rinna (“Days of Our Lives,” “The Traitors,” “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”) plays Violet and others.

It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play invites theatergoers to take their seats in the live studio audience of a 1940s radio broadcast, high above New York City at Christmastime, where a company of actors has gathered to perform one of the most beloved holiday stories ever told. It’s the timeless story of George Bailey, a man who has spent his life putting the needs of others before his own. When a crisis forces him to look back on the life he’s lived, he discovers just how much one person can mean to the people around him. Jerry Zaks’ joyful production brings the town of Bedford Falls to life, with the actors playing dozens of characters, a foley artist creating sound effects live onstage, and, of course, some carols along the way. It’s the holiday classic you know by heart, on Broadway for the first time ever.

The design team for the Broadway production includes Tony Award-winning Costume & Scenic Designer Santo Loquasto (Hello, Dolly!, The Music Man), Lighting Designer Kenneth Posner (Beetlejuice, The Coast of Utopia), and Sound Designer Palmer Heffernan (John Proctor is the Villain, Just For Us). Music Direction is by Andy Einhorn (Gypsy, Carousel). Casting is by Taylor Williams, CSA, and General Management is by Wagner Johnson Productions.

It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play is produced on Broadway by Seaview, Sue Wagner, John Johnson, No Guarantees Productions, Broadway & Beyond Theatricals, Pam Hurst-Della Pietra & Stephen Della Pietra, Jillian Robbins, The Shubert Organization, Scott Abrams, Tom Tuft, The John Gore Organization, James L. Nederlander, Patty Baker, Wendy Bingham Cox & Jodi Oh, Colleen Cook, Nicholas Kaiser, Stella La Rue, Michael Page and Bruce & Peggy Wanta.

Based on the 1943 short story “The Greatest Gift” by Philip Van Doren Stern, Frank Capra’s heartwarming masterpiece film It’s A Wonderful Life was released in 1946 and nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. 2026 marks the 80th anniversary of the film, which is still embraced today as a cherished holiday tradition by families around the world. Joe Landry’s adaptation, It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play first premiered in Connecticut in 1996, at Stamford Center for the Arts, and has since become one of the most produced plays in the country. This production marks the play’s Broadway premiere. The story ‘The Greatest Gift’ is used by permission of The Greatest Gift Corporation.

Biographies

Jeanna de Waal (Standby) Best known for Diana the Musical on Broadway and still on Netflix. Other credits include American Idiot, Kinky Boots, Sweeney Todd, Carrie, Wicked, Waitress, Finding Neverland, & The Great Gatsby. Jeanna runs Broadway Weekends, a theater camp for adults led by Broadway artists, now with events in NYC, LA, and Naples, FL in February & July 2027.