Have you ever wondered what the world would look like if you hadn’t been part of it?
Not in the grand, sweeping ways we often measure life’s impact, but in the smaller moments: a conversation, a kindness, a friendship, a hand extended when someone needed it.
There’s something enduring about It’s a Wonderful Life – a parable for us all, reminding us that our lives are woven together in ways we don’t always recognize. The smallest gestures, the everyday connections, the ways we show up for one another – they shape the lives we lead, often in ways we don’t even realize. And what if, one day, we could see just how much?
Whatever this holiday season looks like for each of us, it offers an opportunity to gather, reconnect, and celebrate the life we get to live alongside one another. It’s truly one of my favorite times of year, in part because it reminds me how precious our time is, and how much the moments we share with one another matter.
I’m grateful we get to share this story with you, and I hope it offers a moment to pause and perhaps recognize the wonderful life all around you.
-Samantha Martinson
SAMANTHA MARTINSON (Director)
Select Production Credits – Directing: Dinner with the Duchess, Next Act; Sandra, Two Crows Theatre Company; Great Expectations, Door Shakespeare; Gloria, University of MN, BFA; She Kills Monsters, First Stage; fml: how Carson McCullers saved my life, Carthage College; The Wolves, Marquette University; ‘Neath the Hills of Bastogne, Sunstone Studios MKE; The Tempest, Mad Rogues; Twelfth Night, Milwaukee Youth Theater. Assistant Directing: Ring Round the Moon, American Players Theatre; A Year with Frog and Toad, Children’s Theater Company; Artemisia, Forward Theater. Samantha is the festival producer for World Premiere Wisconsin, a yearlong statewide festival celebrating new plays and musicals. She has worked on administrative and artistic staff with Playwrights’ Center, American Players Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Door Shakespeare, and First Stage. She is a Kennedy Center Directing Intensive alum. samanthamartinson.com