The Forest Lawn holiday season production
of “It WAS a Wonderful Life” has been canceled due to a natural disaster within
St. Matthew’s Cemetery in West Seneca.
The production of “It WAS a
Wonderful Life” has been a Forest Lawn tradition since 2012. This production
consists of some of the cemetery’s permanent residents giving musical and
comical glimpses of Christmases past, when they were alive. The production
typically runs from the end of November through December. All shows for this
season have been canceled.
A statement issued by Forest Lawn Group
of Cemeteries said, “A portion of the St. Matthew’s property collapsed into
bordering Cayuga Creek, threatening the sanctity of more than 200 burials,
which were at risk of falling into the creek.”
The precautions taken to save burial sites and
relocate others were estimated to $600,000 to date.
Refunds for already purchased
tickets are available and Forest Lawn intends to re-install this holiday
tradition in 2020.
Forest Lawn is also known for
various walking and trolley tours. These tours range from architecture, and
famous residents to historical Civil war tours. These tours are still
instituted seasonally. By Bethany Clancy
and Kristina DiBlasio
