It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play on Broadway
Andrew Rannells and Megan Hilty lead Joe Landry’s radio-play version of the George Bailey story, staged by Jerry Zaks as a 1940s broadcast. Live sound effects, carols, and a holiday run that ends January 3.
It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play is the 2026 Broadway production at the Broadhurst Theatre, running November 4, 2026 through January 3, 2027. Andrew Rannells plays George Bailey opposite Megan Hilty as Mary, while Tituss Burgess, Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna voice Clarence, Mr. Potter, Violet and most of Bedford Falls between them. Jerry Zaks directs Joe Landry’s adaptation, which unfolds as a live 1940s radio broadcast, with a foley artist making the sound effects in front of you and carols along the way.
To be clear about what this is: it’s a live stage show, not a screening of the 1946 film, and it isn’t the Irish Repertory Theatre’s Off-Broadway radio version, which uses a different script. Landry’s radio play has been a regional holiday staple since 1996. This is the first time it has played Broadway.
Below: tickets and timing, dates, the cast, how the radio-play format works, running time, whether it suits kids, and how to plan the night around West 44th Street.
It’s a Wonderful Life Broadway Tickets
Tickets are on sale for the full run, from the first preview on November 4 through the final performance on January 3. Broadway Direct is an official seller for the production. The listings at the bottom of this page come from a ticket marketplace, so prices can sit above face value. That’s worth a quick comparison before you check out.
With only nine weeks on the calendar, the real decision isn’t whether tickets exist. It’s whether your date or your seat matters more.
Trip already booked? Lock the performance first, then pick the best section left on that night. Moving the date later isn’t an option on a run this short.
If you want center orchestra or a specific row, buy earlier. The best-located seats on a short holiday run are the first thing to thin out, whatever the date.
Open three or four performances side by side. Weeknights in November usually give you more choice than December weekends.
Previews run Nov 4–17. They’re full performances with the full cast; the creative team can still make changes. After Nov 18 you’re seeing the locked show.
Finding Lower-Priced It’s a Wonderful Life Broadway Tickets
As of October 10, the production hasn’t announced a rush, digital lottery or student program, and we haven’t seen a discount code we’d vouch for. If one is announced, it will be listed here. In the meantime, a few things actually help:
- Go early in the run. Preview weeks and November weeknights tend to have the most room.
- Check face value first. Compare any resale price against the official listing before you pay a premium.
- Watch for same-day programs. Many Broadway shows add rush or lottery once performances begin. Our Broadway rush and lottery guide explains how they work.
- Deciding late? The last-minute Broadway tickets guide covers TKTS and same-week options. Whether this show releases inventory there is up to the production.
When Should You Buy It’s a Wonderful Life Tickets?
This show is tied to Christmas, and its calendar is too. Here’s how the nine weeks break down for a buyer.
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Nov 4–17Previews
The first two weeks. Real performances, just before reviews. A good window if you want the show without the post-opening rush.
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Nov 18Opening night
Reviews land the next morning. With five recognizable names in a short run, strong notices could tighten the weeks that follow.
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ThanksgivingHoliday weekend
Thanksgiving falls on November 26. Midtown fills with parade-weekend visitors, so that stretch is likely to be busier than the weeks around it.
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DecemberThe show’s natural season
It’s reasonable to expect the weeks before Christmas to be the most in demand, though no one has published sales figures. If December is your month, don’t leave it until December.
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Dec 27–Jan 3Final week
The last performances, including New Year’s week. Once January 3 passes, this production is done.
For the general pattern across Broadway, see when to buy Broadway tickets.
It’s a Wonderful Life Broadway Dates
Wednesday, 2026
Wednesday, 2026
Sunday, 2027
It’s a strictly limited nine-week holiday engagement at the Broadhurst. Broadway schedules often shift around Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s, so check the exact curtain time on your ticket rather than assuming a standard week.
It’s a Wonderful Life Broadway Cast
Five actors, a few microphones and a whole town. The two leads play one role each. Everyone else covers several.
Andrew Rannells as George Bailey
Rannells is a two-time Tony nominee, for The Book of Mormon and Falsettos, and his Broadway résumé also runs through Hamilton, The Boys in the Band and Gutenberg! The Musical!. George is a tricky part to voice: decent, frustrated, funny in his first half, then in real trouble on Christmas Eve. It needs someone who can play charm and panic within a few lines of each other, and that’s squarely what Rannells has been doing on Broadway for well over a decade.
Megan Hilty as Mary Bailey
Hilty is also a two-time Tony nominee, most recently for Death Becomes Her, and she has played Glinda in Wicked and led 9 to 5. Mary is the steadiest person in Bedford Falls, which in a radio play means the voice has to carry warmth with almost nothing visual to help it.
Tituss Burgess as Clarence and More
Burgess, a Broadway regular whose credits include Moulin Rouge! and a household name from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, plays Clarence, the angel still waiting on his wings, and “others.” That billing is the radio-play format at work: the company switches characters with a change of voice, a hat or a step to a different microphone, so one actor can be an angel in one scene and a townsperson in the next.
Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna on Broadway
The real-life couple return to Broadway together. Hamlin plays Mr. Potter, Bedford Falls’ miser-in-chief, and others. Rinna plays Violet, the town flirt, and others. They last shared a Broadway stage in Chicago in 2007, when Rinna made her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart and Hamlin played Billy Flynn. Hamlin’s other Broadway credits include Summer and Smoke and Awake and Sing!.
Creative team: directed by Jerry Zaks, a four-time Tony winner, with music direction by Andy Einhorn, sets and costumes by Santo Loquasto, lighting by Kenneth Posner and sound by Palmer Hefferan.
What Is It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play?
The setup: you’re the live studio audience at a New York radio station in the 1940s, at Christmastime. A company of actors gathers to broadcast the George Bailey story on the air. You watch the broadcast being made, not a movie being recreated.
The story is performed “on air,” so the acting lives in the voice and in what happens between the lines.
The sound effects are made in front of you, which tends to be the part people talk about on the way out.
Five announced performers cover the whole town by doubling roles, which is half the fun of the format.
Holiday carols are folded into the broadcast, keeping the 1940s-radio atmosphere going between scenes.
Before this production’s specifics are public, here’s how radio sound effects were traditionally made: footsteps on a small board, a real door on a hinge frame, a box of cornstarch squeezed for snow underfoot. The fun is seeing something that ordinary turn into a winter night in Bedford Falls.
Is This the Same as the 1946 It’s a Wonderful Life Movie?
No. This is a stage adaptation of the same story, performed live as a radio broadcast. It isn’t a screening, and you won’t see the film at any point. George, Mary, Clarence, Mr. Potter and Bedford Falls are all here, but the experience is built around voices, live sound and the radio-studio setting rather than what Frank Capra put on screen.
If you love the movie, that’s an advantage: you already know where the story is going, so you can enjoy how this company gets there.
The Story Behind the Play
Everything starts with The Greatest Gift, a short story by Philip Van Doren Stern about a man who wishes he had never been born. Stern couldn’t find a publisher and sent it out as a Christmas card in 1943. That story became Capra’s 1946 film. Joe Landry’s radio-play adaptation premiered at the Stamford Center for the Arts in Connecticut in 1996 and has been staged by theaters across the country every December since. The Broadhurst run is its Broadway debut.
Is This the Same It’s a Wonderful Life Production as Irish Rep?
No. The Irish Repertory Theatre in Chelsea has staged its own radio-play version Off-Broadway in past holiday seasons, adapted by Anthony E. Palermo and directed by Charlotte Moore. It’s a different script, cast and theater. This page covers only the 2026 Broadway production at the Broadhurst, directed by Jerry Zaks from Joe Landry’s script. If you’re reading a review or buying a ticket, check which one it’s for.
How Long Is It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play?
The Broadway production hasn’t officially posted a running time yet. Some ticket-listing sites are showing estimates in the 80-to-90-minute range, but they don’t agree on the intermission, so treat those as placeholders until the production confirms during previews. We’ll update this as soon as it does.
For planning purposes: this looks like a shorter-than-average Broadway night, which makes it easy to fit a proper dinner before or a drink after.
Is It’s a Wonderful Life on Broadway Good for Kids?
No official age guidance has been posted yet, and third-party listings disagree. Here’s what to weigh in the meantime:
- The story is family-friendly, but not light. The turning point is George on Christmas Eve, desperate enough to wish he’d never been born. It’s the emotional heart of the piece and it lands for adults; younger kids may find it heavy.
- The format asks kids to listen. A radio play leans on voices and sound rather than big stage effects. Kids who know the movie, or who love audio stories, tend to get more out of it.
- The theater has its own floor. The Broadhurst is a Shubert house, and Shubert’s standard policy doesn’t admit children under 4.
For more family options this season, see the best Broadway shows for kids and our Broadway with kids guide.
It’s a Wonderful Life Broadway Reviews
Critics review the production after opening night on November 18, 2026. We’ll add a short summary of the Broadway notices here once they’re out. Reviews of the Irish Rep version or regional productions aren’t reviews of this one.
Where Is It’s a Wonderful Life Playing?
At the Broadhurst Theatre, 235 West 44th Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue, a short walk from Times Square. For section-by-section advice before you choose seats, use the Broadhurst Theatre seating guide.
Plan the Night Around the Broadhurst
West 44th sits in the thick of the pre-show crush. Walk west toward Ninth Avenue for more choice, and be seated about 90 minutes before curtain. See restaurants near Broadway, the pre-show dining guide and Hell’s Kitchen.
Times Square–42nd Street is the easy subway stop. December traffic around Times Square is slow, so give yourself extra time. See how to get to a Broadway show and parking near Broadway.
Holiday-season hotel rates climb, so book the room when you book the show. Compare hotels near Broadway and hotels near the Theater District.
Pair the show with the rest of the season using our Christmas in NYC guide, or add a second holiday show with A Christmas Carol downtown.
It’s a Wonderful Life Radio Play FAQ
Is It’s a Wonderful Life on Broadway in 2026?
Where is It’s a Wonderful Life playing on Broadway?
When do previews begin?
When does It’s a Wonderful Life open on Broadway?
When does the Broadway run close?
Who plays George Bailey?
Who plays Mary Bailey?
Who is in the It’s a Wonderful Life Broadway cast?
What is It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play?
Is the radio play the same as the 1946 movie?
Is this the same production as Irish Rep’s It’s a Wonderful Life?
Who adapted the play?
Who directs It’s a Wonderful Life on Broadway?
How long is It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play?
Is It’s a Wonderful Life on Broadway good for kids?
Are Broadway reviews available yet?
Nine Weeks, Then It’s Off the Air
It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play is a short, star-led holiday run with a fixed end date. Pick your date, compare a few performances, and sort dinner once the tickets are in hand.
More Broadway Planning Guides
Build the Rest of Your Holiday Broadway Night
The broadcast runs nine weeks on West 44th Street. Here’s everything around it: the room, the dinner, the trip in and the rest of the December lineup.