Free screenings of "It's a Wonderful Life" at the Donna Reed Theater, December 11

See It's a Wonderful Life as it was meant to be viewed – on the big screen.
On Sunday, December 11, the classic holiday movie, starring Denison native Donna Reed and Jimmy Stewart, will be shown twice – at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Donna Reed Theatre. Free admission.

Bedford Falls display returns.
A miniature replica of Bedford Falls returns to the front window of the Donna Reed Heritage Museum for a winter showing. The HO scale replica was built by model building enthusiast from the Quad Cities area and was displayed for several years by the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center in Davenport, Ia. before being donated to the Donna Reed Foundation.

Expanded museum exhibit on the making of It's a Wonderful Life opens. 

Stepping inside the museum, you will find an expanded exhibit featuring a variety of items from the Donna Reed Collection relating to the making of the movie. It includes a letter to pen pal Violet Lindsey mentioning the upcoming filming of the movie; daily call sheets detailing the daily shoot schedule; daily production reports tracking expenses and progress of the filming of a various scenes; Donna Reed's invitation to a screening of the movie from director Frank Capra; and the review of the movie which appeared in Variety. Of particular interest are photos of the new snow-making process developed especially for this film that replaced the practice of using painted cornflakes for falling snow.

Jared Grimes touring with “Carefree - Dancin’ With Fred & Ginger”

Hayley Podschun and Jared Grimes

2001 Donna Reed Foundation national scholarship recipient in dance.

"Carefree — Dancin' With Fred & Ginger" is a musical revue paying tribute to songs and style of Astaire and his co-star in a host of classic Hollywood musicals, Ginger Rogers. It includes such Gershwin classics as "Slap That Bass," but also songs by Cole Porter, Irving Berlin and others.

"We pay homage to Fred and Ginger," explains the show's leading man, Jared Grimes. "My character is a reflection of characters Fred would play in his movies — a guy who's looking to dance, release his frustrations and partner with a beautiful lady. We reinvent what he did and replicate what he did. We say 'Fred would have done this,' then try to do it. It's a wild ride down Memory Lane."

Grimes has toured with Mariah Carey and worked with Gregory Hines, Ben Vereen and Jerry Lewis. He was the associate choreographer for the Tupac Shakur musical "Holler if Ya Hear Me" and did an acclaimed "Singing in the Rain" routine in the 2015 "New York Spring Spectacular" at Radio City Music Hall. Before stepping into the shoes of Fred Astaire in "Carefree," Grimes won a 2014 Fred and Adele Astaire Award for outstanding male dancer.

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