Radio Drama Revival!

In this continuation of our October fright-thon, we welcome the spectacular new paranormal tales series 19 Nocturne Boulevard to the show.

In the creepily original “Making Book,” a street-savvy brother and sister team are torn apart by a strange book that is valued highly by a seller should it make it to his hands unopened.

But there’s just this strange thing about books that aren’t meant to be opened…

Radio Drama Revival! Episode 91

Terrorists celebrate! (Err… We’re sorry, we mean “fans of horror.”)

If you love bloodletting, screaming, shrieking and near (and a little past near) scrapes with death, then this is your month to tune into Radio Drama Revival. In the 2nd-annual fright-fest leading up to a 2-hour Halloween special, we dig through the horrifying vaults of modern audio to come up with the eeriest tales to chill your spine.

10/9 - 19 Nocturne Boulevard Presents “Making Book” - What is so interesting about this book that a rare antique dealer in New York will pay five figures for it while insisting that no one open it first?

10/16 - Cape Cod Radio Mystery Theater’s “The Buoy,” Part 1 - Pit and the Pendulum creep you out? Then tune in for this horror masterpiece by our neighbors on the Massachusetts coast. Edward Wolcott is an innocent tourist abducted from his motel room, taken by boat, and strapped to a large sea buoy in the Woods Hole Passage. His strange night bobbing alone at sea turns into one of sheer terror, when he realizes the current is slowly dragging the buoy under.

10/23 - Cape Cod Radio Mystery Theater’s “The Buoy,” Part 2 - Conclusion of “The Buoy.”

10/30 - Interview with Horror Master Joe Lansdale - Author of dozens of novels of derelict Texas towns and frights of the imagination, Joe Lansdale joins us to talk about the making of the audio drama adaptation of “God of the Razor” and his latest novel, “Leather Maiden.”

10/31 - 9-11 PM, HALLOWEEN SPECIAL - The gates to hell roll back again in the second annual Radio Drama Revival Halloween Horror Special. Put the kids away and hear the most spine-chilling, gut-wrenching stories ever to be adapted into audio, and keep your ears open for a special live theater event.

Listeners online will be able to stream it ONLY at WMPG — I will rush to get this out on the ‘pod as quickly as possible but it probably won’t be until the witching hour on All Saint’s Day…

LET HORROR BE UNLEASHED!!!

Err, before that, how about your wallet: If you like Radio Drama Revival, mosey on over to WMPG who desperately needs your support to keep shows like mine on the air.  Plus you get cool schwag.

Anyways, back to the horror!

I’m a huge fan of Doug Bost and Jeff Ward’s work, having played this tale and their chiller “Roadkill” on here before.  And no more fitting way to kick off the Halloween season than this creepy little ghost story inspired by the crashing waves of Acadia National Park…

PS:Get more of Doug Bost’s stuff here.

Radio Drama Revival! Episode 90

(man, what a landmark, huh?)

At long last, FinalRune Productions is back with the original story of a man waylaid on his way somewhere else, “Waiting for a Window.”  Starring an incredible cast of voice actors including Bill Dufris, Joe Duley, Charly Duley, Ed Patterson, “Man” and long-time FinalRuner, Philip Hobby.  Original music by Barb Truex.

Hear the story hear first, then buy it second!  Available for download only on Echo Fiction.

Radio Drama Revival! Episode 89

This week we yell… Yikes! as we’re entertained by the creative madness of one of Portland, Maine’s newest, and surely the most demented (in a good kind of way), Yikes! Monsters.

Produced by yours truly, the show today features monologues and short sketches recorded around Portland, Maine featuring oddball characters that might just be from Portland, Maine. If you like what you hear, make it up this way for their shows October 27 and November 3rd at the Freeport Cabaret!

Radio Drama Revival! Episode 88

Greetings all,

My wife recently had surgery for appendicitis, and between doing my work, taking care of her, and looking after my 4 year old son, I’m just too beat to write from scratch this week.  My essay on Gordon Bok’s “Peter Kagan and the Wind” will therefore be postponed to next week.  However, I’m not too tired to type up someone else’s words, so today I’m proud to present a lost piece of radio drama history.  

After my review of his dramatic adaptation of Franz Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” went up, Erik Bauersfeld sent me a thoughtful and fascinating email response.  Noting my interest in his cooperative 1984 Hörspiel USA project between Berkeley, California Pacifica station KPFA and German station WDR Köln, Mr. Bauersfeld kindly volunteered to send me information about it.  The envelope he sent contained a 1984 copy of the KPFA’s Folio, which included summaries of all the Hörspiel USA dramas and an introductory article by Bauersfeld himself.  

This was, of course, much too interesting to just file away.  I contacted Bauersfeld and requested his permission to post his essay here, which he generously granted.  Together with the show summaries, it presents a window onto a fascinating and all-too-brief bridge between the worlds of American radio drama and German Hörspiel.  The dramas showcase an impressive level of dramatic invention and intellectual caliber, demonstrating philosophical depth and artistic boldness.  While I share Bauersfeld’s regret that this international cross-pollination was cut short all too quickly, these nine broadcasts alone are an impressive accomplishment.  They deserve wider recognition, and more than that, re-release.

I want to make it clear from the outset that this article only reprints Bauersfeld’s essay and the show summaries from the KPFA Folio issue.  The words that follow are not my own, and I do not claim them.  Furthermore, this post does not contain audio files of any of the actual shows.  I only wish it did, as I’m dying to hear them myself.  Nevertheless, I encourage any audio drama enthusiast to read on, and audio drama producers even more so.  The ideas packed into these shows are rich, fertile, and inspiring, demonstrating even today how much further the artistic boundaries of audio drama can be pushed.

Again, my deepest gratitude to Erik Bauersfeld for allowing me to reprint his words and bring attention to this intriguing chapter of radio drama history.   

Read the rest of this entry »

We continue this week with the dastardly Sherlock Holmes tale, “The Speckled Band” performed by our friends at the Quicksilver Radio Theater.  Holmes and Watson are on the hunt of the mysterious killer behind deaths at a remote estate in the English countryside… but will they be in time to stop the next death?

Radio Drama Revival! Episode 87

Sometime in 1990, I was a pathetic high school student getting my heart slowly and painfully broken during an ill-advised Smith College visit to my first girlfriend. The relationship was clearly dying on the vine, and I was wretched.  Things went from bad to worse, and then we went to see a visiting a cappella group, the Tufts Beelzebubs, perform in a campus lounge.  A dapper bunch of fellows took the stage and proceeded to rock the house with a polished, harmonious set including Peter Gabriel’s “In your Eyes”.  They finished with a stunning medley of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” and Peter Schilling’s “Major Tom (Coming Home)”, the final chords of which have haunted me ever since.  I was spellbound from start to finish, and for five glorious minutes Major Tom’s dramatic return to earth eclipsed my romantic misery.  I searched for a recording for years; it proved damnably elusive.

I found it at last, and although the sound quality is far from perfect, the song still carries the old magic. Even better, I’ve been granted permission to share it with you.  Ladies and gentlemen, I present the 1990 Tufts Beelzebubs!


Right click to download “Space Oddity / Major Tom” by the Tufts Beelzebubs!

Read on to learn more about the performance and for some sentimental rambling from yours truly.

Read the rest of this entry »

Oh, Holmes, strongman of logic, consumer of sensitive substances and eyes that make a hawk look blind… and an audio theater regular, much, unfortunately, to the abuse of the fine British detective.  Forget all the hack-job Holmeses you’ve heard today as our friend at the Quicksilver Radio Theatre delight us again with the diabolical tale on “The Speckled Band.”

Holmes and Watson are awoken in the middle of the night to a frightened young girl who talks of an abusive stepfather and a strange murder… but as clues lead up towards what invariably will be another slaying, can Holmes and Watson act in time to stop it?

Part 1 of 2.  Enjoy.

Radio Drama Revival! Episode 86

Labor Day blues got you down?  Not quite ready for sacks of books and long lectures again?  Then treat you ears (or iPod) to some kickin’ audio this September with a line-up of quirky and diabolical this month on the show…

SEPT 4 and 11 - THE SPECKLED BAND
We welcome back our friends at the Quicksilver Radio Theater for this diabolical Sherlock Holmes mystery.  Originally performed before a live studio audience, this show was directed by Jay Stern and stars Craig Wichman (also the adapter of the script) as Holmes and John Prave as Watson, and features music by Tony Award winner Mark Hollmann and stunning sound effects by Sue Zizza and David Shinn of Sue Media Productions.  “The Speckled Band,” one of the most diabolic of the Holmes mysteries, runs in two-parts, the first half airing on September 4th and the second half on September 11th (podcast up, as always, the Friday thereafter).

SEPT 18 - TALES FROM PORTLAND
We’re joined by Yikes! Monsters, a Portland-area theatre troupe lauded for their irreverence and insight.  In their first appearance on radio, Yikes! will perform a series of monologues based on quirky could-be people of the Portland area, from a divorced father of four to a man who believes in dinosaurs and a man with rocks in his head.

SEPT 25 - WAITING FOR A WINDOW
Written, directed, and produced by my own FinalRune Productions, “Window” recounts the tale of Norman, a sailor who is waylaid on his adventures somewhere else and finds himself trapped on an island where no one seems to leave — or want to escape.  “Waiting for a Window” features a cast of Portland-area voice acting enthusiasts and professionals, including Bill Dufris, Ed Patterson, Joe Duley and Charly Duley among others.  Further contributing to the production’s unique sound is an original score produced by Barbara Truex, southern Maine composer, WMPG DJ and the resident sound designer of the Mad Horse Theatre Company. Recording was completed entirely in the field — at docks, in the woods, and in a created bar.