ESCANABA — The Players de Noc will do a live recording of the holiday classic “It’s a Wonderful Life” as a radio show at 7:30 p.m. Friday on the Besse Theater Stage at Bay College.

Attendance to the live recording is free, “our annual gift to the community,” the group states on its website. Those who can’t be at the live show can hear it on the radio Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

The beloved American movie comes to life as a live 1940s-style radio broadcast, complete with sound effects, music and on-stage storytelling. With the help of an ensemble that brings a few dozen characters to the stage, the story of idealistic George Bailey unfolds as he considers ending his life one fateful Christmas Eve.

The show is written by Philip Van Doren Stern and directed by Katherine LeDuc.