The classic Christmas story, redefined for a new generation. 

Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer‘s operatic adaptation of the genre-defining Frank Capra film of the same name, the It’s a Wonderful Life opera will transport you to the idyllic little town of Bedford Falls, where it’s a white Christmas – though not everything is merry and bright.

Down-on-his-luck banker George Bailey (Frederick Ballentine) feels like life has passed him by, so when his guardian angel (Danielle de Niese) pays him a visit, George is shown what life in his beloved Bedford Falls would be like without him in it: maybe it’d be a little less wonderful after all?

Aletta Collins makes her ENO debut directing and choreographing, with regular Heggie collaborator Nicole Paiement conducting the ENO Chorus and Orchestra alongside the all-star cast, which includes Gweneth Ann Rand, Jennifer France, Michael Mayes and more.

Based on the 1946 Frank Capra movie of the same name (by permission of Paramount Licensing Inc.) and “The Greatest Gift” by Philip Van Doren Stern. Commissioned by the Houston Grand Opera with Co-Commissioners San Francisco Opera and the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.

Paperback, 56 pages