Episode 227 – Eurydice Goes Down, Down, Down

May 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Stuff of Myth - Orpheus Myth Audio DramaWell, they call it Greek tragedy for a reason – and we have it in full force this week with the conclusion of Roger Gregg’s The Stuff of Myth. Orpheus finally gets his chance to plead for his Eurydice back and – by God – he gets her! But whatever you do, dude… don’t look back. Phil Proctor and Melinda Peterson truly shine in their unforgettable renditions of Hades and Persephone.

This great production won a Gold Ogle in 2007 and has gotten rave reviews as a stage play. After many times trying to schedule this into the show and failing, for May 2011 we’ll be featuring all four episodes of “The Stuff of Myth” plus a bonus mythological encounter as part of RDR’s spring festival of Bacchus.

First up, Captain Radio focuses on emerging producer Tanja Milojevic, whose Lightning Bolt Theater of the Mind production has a new original tale out, “The Swamp.” Don’t get sucked down.

We wrap with Cables to the Ace: 83 from Roger Gregg

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Radio Drama Revival – Episode 227

Cables to the Ace: 83 by Thomas Merton, from THE COLLECTED POEMS OF THOMAS MERTON, copyright 1968 by the Abbey of Gethsemani.
Music, Sound Design, Production & Direction by Roger Gregg. Crazy Dog Studios. 2011.
Voices: Jamie O’Neill & Alicja Ayres
Voice Recording by Colm Coyne.
Video by John Merriman.

This video is from ‘Selections from Cables to the Ace by Thomas Merton’ – a concept album by Roger Gregg, made with the Gaiety School of Acting Class of 2011.

Cables To The Ace can be found in The Collected Poems of Thomas Merton.

Filed Under: Classic Retellings, comedy, Crazy Dog Audio Theater, Fantasy, Podcast, Romance Tagged With: , , ,

Episode 226 – Orpheus’ One True Love, Pendant Power and Rats

May 20, 2011 By 3 Comments

Stuff of Myth - Orpheus Myth Audio DramaThe seductive backdrop of Ancient Greece returns in sticky sweet splendor in round 3 of Roger Gregg’s The Stuff of Myth. Orpheus recounts the journey to find – and lose – his one true love, Eurydice. In this installment Orpheus finally meets, and loses, his one true love. Tragedy at its funniest!

This great production won a Gold Ogle in 2007 and has gotten rave reviews as a stage play. After many times trying to schedule this into the show and failing, for May 2011 we’ll be featuring all four episodes of “The Stuff of Myth” plus a bonus mythological encounter as part of RDR’s spring festival of Bacchus.

First up, Captain Radio‘s tribute to the prolific production prowess of Pendant Productions, an audio house that has released a staggering 800+ dramas over the years from dozens of podcasts. And a bonus treat from Roger Gregg, a sample of his new poetry/music montage Cables to the Ace!

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Radio Drama Revival – Episode 226

Cables to the Ace: 19 by Thomas Merton, from THE COLLECTED POEMS OF THOMAS MERTON, copyright 1968 by the Abbey of Gethsemani.
Music, Sound Design, Production & Direction by Roger Gregg. Crazy Dog Studios. 2011.
Voice: John Merriman & Tiernan Kearns.
Voice Recording by Colm Coyne.
Video by John Merriman.

This video is from ‘Selections from Cables to the Ace by Thomas Merton’ – a concept album by Roger Gregg, made with the Gaiety School of Acting Class of 2011.

Cables To The Ace can be found in The Collected Poems of Thomas Merton, – get a copy!

Filed Under: Classic Retellings, comedy, Crazy Dog Audio Theater, Podcast, Radio Drama, Romance Tagged With: , , , , ,

Captain Radio Review: Too Much of a Good Thing

May 19, 2011 By 2 Comments

Captain Radio Audio Reviews

Graphic - FunGraphix.com | Theme music - Shane Lamb

Title: Too Much of a Good Thing
Producer: Elsa Lankford and Black Crow Productions
Type: Comedy/Drama
Genre: Social Satire

Rating: AD-G* (mild swearing)
Availability: Free to Listen on PRX (Free Listener Registration Required)

Greetings, Audionauts – Captain Radio here with a review of Elsa Lankford’s Too Much of a Good Thing from Black Crow Productions.

Some global cultures have well-known, presumably independent news gathering outfits working alongside reasonably respectable commercial enterprises.

American news-gathering falls largely upon the shoulders of both commercial and intensely-sponsored “public” organizations.

Both, of late, have received their fair share of cynical criticism for dubious content, methods, objectivity, and, importantly, independence.

The separation between news and sponsorship can become precariously blurred, as our Too Much of a Good Thing protagonists learn while watching “news” that seems more broken than “breaking”:

[SOUND BYTE]

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Laura, a wannabe mystery writer (voiced by Danielle Lenhard), and her Helen Reddy-obsessed intimate roommate, Trina (voiced by Lankford) step outside to try to fathom the news frenzy engulfing the house next door.

When Trina defends neighborhood trash collector Joey (voiced by Patrick Zemeral) from media pillorying, “ace” live reporter Dank Stevens (voiced by James Armstrong) soundly repudiates her:

[SOUND BYTE]

The reporter then presses on to fast-breaking coverage of … unicorn abuse.

Soon, a furtive figure recruits the amenable ladies to investigate the mysterious comings-and-goings in the neighborhood, just as the old News Director at “Channel 7.5” (voiced by Grace Enriquez), explains the (sad) facts of news evolution to Dank:

[SOUND BYTE]

When neighborhood uber-gossip Mrs. Lewis (Enriquez again) abruptly is hired and upgraded to become the new Channel 7.5 News Director, Lankford unleashes through her a droll and thinly veiled volley at network newsgathering credibility:

[SOUND BYTE]

Satire eventually shifts more toward a genuine mystery, and imperiled Laura and Trina uncover a plot so large and so sinister that even Monty Python writer/director Terry Gilliam’s dark fancy would be tickled.

While the play hints at autobiographical asides and harbors some fun, if not essential, dialog, its virtually unrelenting satire seems all too suited to modern network news-mongering.

Listen to Elsa Lankford’s Too Much of a Good Thing from Black Crow Productions at PRX.org.

During your visit, you may also wish to hear Lankford’s half-hour documentary about a neighborhood bypassed by road construction entitled, Rooted and Unrooted: West Baltimore’s Highway to Nowhere.

Until next time, Audionauts, this is Captain Radio, signing off!

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Captain Radio Reviews Elsa Lankford’s Too Much of a Good Thing from Black Crow Productions

 

* Rating based on the Audio Drama Directory Ratings System.


 

Filed Under: American, Captain Radio Reviews, comedy, Drama, Mystery Tagged With: , , , ,

Episode 225 – Sprites and Satyrs, and Cables hit the Ace

May 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Stuff of Myth - Orpheus Myth Audio DramaThe saucy splendor of Ancient Greece heats up this week as Orpheus recounts the journey to find – and lose – his one true love, Eurydice. In this installment we meet some nymphs, a romping satyr, and a career on the road that ends in a doozy.

This great production won a Gold Ogle in 2007 and has gotten rave reviews as a stage play. After many times trying to schedule this into the show and failing, for May 2011 we’ll be featuring all four episodes of “The Stuff of Myth” plus a bonus mythological encounter as part of RDR’s spring festival of Bacchus.

First up, Captain Radio‘s review of a hilarious satire of television news, Too Much of a Good Thing. And a bonus treat from Roger Gregg, a sample of his new poetry/music montage Cables to the Ace!

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Radio Drama Revival – Episode 225

Cables to the Ace: 50 by Thomas Merton, from THE COLLECTED POEMS OF THOMAS MERTON, copyright 1968 by the Abbey of Gethsemani.

Music, Sound Design, Production & Direction by Roger Gregg. Crazy Dog Studios. 2011.
Voice: Cillian O Gairbhi.
Voice Recording by Colm Coyne.
Video by John Merriman.
A Gaiety School of Acting production as part of Gregg’s course on Acting In Audio 2011.

Special Thanks to Dr. Pearson & The Thomas Merton Center. See: www.merton.org

Used by permission of New Directions Publishing Corporation.

This video is from ‘Selections from Cables to the Ace by Thomas Merton’ – a concept album by Roger Gregg, made with the Gaiety School of Acting Class of 2011.

Cables To The Ace can be found in The Collected Poems of Thomas Merton, – get a copy!

Filed Under: Classic Retellings, comedy, Crazy Dog Audio Theater, Podcast

Episode 224 – The Festival of Bacchus Kicks Off With Stuff of Myth

May 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Stuff of Myth - Orpheus Myth Audio DramaAhh, ancient Greece. Hot nymphs, raging orgies, much wine, song, and occasional transformations into livestock. All well and good, right?

Well things are more wacky than ever in the sizzling and scandalous interpretation of the myth of Orpheus done by Roger Gregg, The Stuff of Myth.

This great production won a Gold Ogle in 2007 and has gotten rave reviews as a stage play. After many times trying to schedule this into the show and failing, this month we’ll be featuring all four episodes of “The Stuff of Myth” plus a bonus mythological encounter as part of RDR’s spring festival of Bacchus.

First up, Captain Radio‘s review of the terrific Saki satire, the Quail Seed, adapted by 19 Nocturne Boulevard.

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Radio Drama Revival – Episode 224

Filed Under: Classic Retellings, comedy, Crazy Dog Audio Theater, Fantasy, Podcast Tagged With: , , , ,

Captain Radio Review: Harrison Quest

May 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Captain Radio Audio Reviews

Graphic - FunGraphix.com | Theme music - Shane Lamb

Title: Harrison Quest
Producer: Justin Piasecki
Type: Comedy
Genre: Fan Fiction Satire
Rating: AD-PG13*
Availability: Free – HarrisonQuest.com (available at iTunes as well)

Greetings, Audionauts – Captain Radio here with a review of Harrison Quest from Justin Piasecki.

Ironically, social media networking seems to be creating more and more iconoclastic but energetically bound and resolute subcultures within our increasingly disaffected society.

Our poster child for the day, then, is the Sons of Ford, a bickering, potty-mouthed, occasionally rowdy klatch of young males all ultimately cinched together in blind devotion to superstar Harrison Ford. However, at their weekly meeting to sort through Ford’s trash, the Sons discover their failsafe scheme to aggrandize Ford will soon be despoiled big time by the celeb himself:

[SOUND BYTE]

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The race is on, but the obstacles just keep a’ comin’. First, Simon (voiced by Piasecki) fails to register the Sons fan booth at the annual GalaxiCon that Ford attends, defaulting the slot to odious archrivals, the Harrison Ford Fan Club, led by sadistic Desoto (voiced by McCoy Jen). Then, unbeknownst to the Sons, Desoto plants Joel (voiced by Matthew Novak) as a spy in the Sons’ midst to capture the secret movie script. If that weren’t enough, unbelievers pop up like paint ball targets everywhere, even on a movie date:

[SOUND BYTE]

Stalwart listeners to Harrison Quest episodes gradually grow tolerant enough of the steady stream of expletives to sense how totally enraptured (perhaps self-deluded) Simon, Brent, Eddie, and Horris have become. Their daily lives, their art, even their metaphysics coincide with Ford infatuation. In this scene, brimming with hilarious irony, Horris (voiced by Brad Bogner, on occasion standup comic at NYC’s Eastville Comedy Club) piously exchanges “scripture” with Daniel (voiced by Kai Lahti), a Jehovah’s Witnesses who, erroneously assuming it to be a kindred gathering, shows up for a fan production of “Witness: The Musical”:

[SOUND BYTE]

With time running out, digital whiz Brent (voiced by Dane Williams) concocts a clever plan to foil the superstar’s date with icy Destiny. After sampling Ford’s dialog from various DVD’s, Brent dials up the cryolab to cancel the actor’s upcoming appointment by replaying the samples at opportune moments. All seems at first to go well, until Eddie (voiced by Brad Marriott) decides the lab staff are stone-walling:

[SOUND BYTE]

Subplots and random anecdotes abound, all persistently re-enforcing how deeply entrenched fan adoration is in these guys. The tone and mood of Harrison Quest most closely mirrors a zany blue MTV buddy sitcom.

Despite some low-no-budget audio disparities (dialog delivery comes from Piasecki’s former NYU film school cronies, other friends, and the odd stranger, with some lines home-recorded and emailed in from as far afield as Iowa), and despite the proliferation of expletives and adult innuendo, Harrison Quest delivers an intriguing if humorously embellished expose of celeb fandom. As the AD-PG13 rating indicates, this extended spoof is definitely not meant for the kiddies.

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Hear all nine current madcap Harrison Quest episodes, with a surprised-filled “season finale” tenth episode due out soon, at HarrisonQuest.com.

 

Until next time, Audionauts, this is Captain Radio, signing off!

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Captain Radio Reviews Harrison Quest from Justin Piasecki!

As a bonus this time, hear Mason Page’s fun, fired-up rap theme music for the series, We Are the Sons of Ford

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* Rating based on the Audio Drama Directory Ratings System.

Filed Under: American, Captain Radio Reviews, comedy, Podcast, Radio Drama Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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