Matthew Boudreau, a stellar audio engineer and colleague from over at Audio Drama Talk, has kept me in the loop about the development of his new audio drama, 1918. The show promises absurd writing, a tight cast, and excellent production values. Here’s a quick trailer:

1918 Trailer 1 – More are Coming from Aural Stage Studios on Vimeo.

Here’s a blurb about the show from its creators:

It’s 1918 and aliens have crash landed on the planet. At the climax of World War I, Axis and Allied scientist are racing to find uses for alien technology. Triplanes and Sopwith camels are rigged with laser systems. Believed dead after being shot down, Manfred Von Richtofen, the infamous Red Baron is restored to health as a cybornetic robot and enlisted to aid Germany in it’s quest to fight the return of the aliens. But the key to their quest lies in the hands – or rather the voice – of a talented, capable and tenacious vocalist, Evelyn Ceriwyn, and the bumbling, but charming scientist, Dr. Henry Isotope.

Be sure to tune into the show at http://www.1918show.com/ on March 1!

Exciting news for Firesign Theatre fans! Via “Snook” -

The Firesign Theatre and Seeland Records is proud to present DUKE OF MADNESS MOTORS, the long-awaited ultra-comprehensive “Dear Friends” radio reissue that fans have been dreaming of for decades: http://www.firesigntheatre.com/domm/index.html

DUKE OF MADNESS MOTORS is the ultimate box-less boxed set of Firesign’s complete broadcast output for the years 1970-1972, when they were blowing minds on Los Angeles radio with The Firesign Theatre Radio Hour Hour, Dear Friends, and Let’s Eat. Our reissue package is nothing less than the complete history of the period in one 108-page book and one DVD-ROM of MP3 data. The book contains an 8000-word historical essay, new interviews with Firesign and their producer and engineer, complete show rundowns, original scripts, vintage Phil Proctor photocollages, found objects and much more. Meanwhile the DVD-ROM is a data disk containing every show of the era, fully restored and remastered, encoded to MP3 – over 80 hours in all. Dump to your hard drive and let the fun begin.

DUKE OF MADNESS MOTORS will be available in stores starting February 15 – but if you pre-order now directly from the Firesign Theatre, we’ll ship you a copy the moment we get them from the printer, possibly as early as the beginning of January. It’s a limited print run and there’s gotta be more than a thousand of you Fireheads still alive and salivating for one of these babies, so act soon! One book-plus-DVD costs just $45 postage paid to the U.S. and Canada, or $50 post paid worldwide (we accept PayPal, credit cards, checks, or well-concealed cash). To order, just go to www.firesigntheatre.com, where you can also hear audio samples, take a peek inside the book, and read two rambling essays from your faithful Firesign archivist demonstrating the depth of his obsession as exemplified by his tragic proclivity for crate-digging and bunker-diving over the last ten years.

THIS MEDIA BLITZ IS WORD-OF-MOUTH ONLY, SO IF YOU KNOW A FIREHEAD – PASS IT ON!

If you’re a Firesign Theatre fan, you don’t need to be told more. If you’re not, order this, and prepare to be blown away!

Fresh from the Emerald Isle comes this new treat from Roger Gregg, a scene from a new production of Faustus… Roger has been talking about his desire about doing Faustus since I visited back in 2008, and it’s thrilling to see it becoming a reality.

Here is a scene from the new show which will run in Dublin from November 18 to the 26th in Smock Alley Theatre:

I asked Roger whether there will be an audio adaptation of this work, similar to what he did with The Stuff of Myth. Roger says:

Yes … In fact one of the central tenets of the stage show is have an on-going live sound score being performed on stage by all the demons. Using no pre-recorded material, very little amplification and employing many ‘OTR’ type sound effects gadgets in with the musical instruments.

There are many imagistic scenes in which very little is said and the story is conveyed through the movement and actions of the actors and the sound-scape and music.

So the audio version will be a ‘Concept Album’ with alot of musical passages.

This new show is so exciting that I’m tempted to cash in some frequent flyer miles to see the show myself. Share new Crazy Dog’age with your friends!

Audio fans delight, there is fresh Jack Flanders to be had.  And boy, is it steamy.

As we showcased a few weeks back with Lady Windemere’s Brass Fantabulous, ZBS has been on a steampunk kick, culminating in the release of the newest Jack Flanders adventure, Steam Dreamers of Inverness.

In this tale, we’re invited back to that magical place, with thousand of windows like so many eyes turned inward, and re-introduced to our friends Jack, Mojo and Claudine.  Jack’s trying to figure out what to do with the old mansion when he discovers a mysterious device… When activated with steam, the device sends the user into a steamy, Victorian world of dreams. 

Get a taste of it in this sample:

Download audio file (SDI.mp3)

For fans of Jack, you’ll find all of Tom Lopez’s witty rapport (“This clean coal isn’t clean at all!” / “Well, it’s a dirty business”) as well as mystic overtones (Mojo gives us some anecdotes exposing the Buddhist heart of Christianity), and signature dimension-traveling exploits.  There’s a welcome, comfortable feel in that musty old castle, and a feeling throughout the production that everyone involved is happy to be back home.

The MP3 download of the 2-hour production is available on ZBS’ website for a meager $17.

If you’ve never had the joys of listening to Jack Flanders, I suggest you start the journey now, it’s a wonderful one to take:

• The Fourth Tower of Inverness – The original classic audio, ZBS’ original piece which mixes 60s culture, eastern mysticism, fire-breathing dragons, alchemy and dimension traveling for a romp unlike any before seen in audio
• Moon Over Morocco – Jack Flanders’ second adventure takes him to exotic Morocco, where legends of the desert are relived and he meets Mojo the mystic piano man
• Return To Inverness – I have a soft-spot in my heart for musty old mansions and so the Return to Inverness charmed me as much as the original.  Went Lady Jowls passes on, traveling Jack returns to the mansion to figure out what to do with it… Just in time to start getting hoodwinked with disappearing rooms, furniture, secret passages, and the other denizens of the mansion.

Visit ZBS’ site for a full listing of Jack Flanders adventures.

Via Jeff Adams at Sound Stages Radio:

Sounds for Soldiers, the project by audio theater producers all over the world to send 10,000 MP3 CD’s to men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, continues to inch upward on the Pepsi Refresh project.

To remind everyone, that’s a grant Pepsi pays out to worthy causes IF they are voted in the top-ten of their category in an online poll. Everyone can vote once a day, either on the Pepsi Refresh site or by texting the number 101175 to the text number 73774.

Early in the week, we were at 184th. Then we jumped to 87th. Yesterday, we were 79th, and today we’ve climbed to 75th. That means were heading in the right direction, but going pretty slowly. The voting continues until August 31st.

Remember, this is not a “I’ll get there next week and vote,” thing – it’s a “I’ll go their EVERY DAY and vote thing.” Do it at breakfast, do it at dinner, do it as you sit down to surf the web in the evening, just do it! And the other thing? Tell your friends. Forward this message to your email list. Let everyone know.

This idea was originally put forth by veterans who told us men and women serving in forward areas depend on iPods to relax in the middle of the impossibility of combat. That’s the idea, helping the people who are helping us in a very small way.

Now you can donate from your own pocket at http://www.sounds4soldiers.org, but if you don’t want to give money, just vote daily in the Pepsi refresh project. Thanks for your time.

This is a very worthy cause, so cast your votes now!

To follow up on our coverage of BBC announcing the end of the Friday play, today it was reported that the BBC has made a commitment to keeping radio drama free from cuts for the near future.

The Stage News quotes BBC head of radio drama Alison Hindell as saying:

We are still the biggest broadcaster of radio drama in the world by miles and make hundreds and hundreds of titles – a claim that Hollywood can’t make. We now have to say, let’s guard that stronghold. And part of my job is to protect that.

So, not as dire a prediction as some fans felt after the Friday Play disappeared, but still not quite the moment to break out the champagne.

Still, as Roger Gregg pointed out last we chatted, radio drama’s only sustainable way to survive (at least on broadcast radio) is to adapt to new listening habits and become accessible to the iPod generation.

One podcast at a time

The big (and troubling) news in the radio drama world this week is the announcement by BBC Radio 4 that they’re going to be ending their Friday play.

BBC cites budget woes as the reason for the cut, and radio drama fans in Britain and beyond are concerned not only about the loss of this beloved time slot, but of the implications of the move for the future radio drama (at least as a terrestrial radio broadcast!).

This flies in the face, of course, as what most people perceive of as a revival of audio drama in America.

If you haven’t seen the Wall Street Journal article that highlights yours truly, do so now – In ‘Mind Movies,’ the Word Picture Continues to Appeal to Eager Ears – WSJ.com.

While it’s not terribly fair to weigh what the BBC does vs. what we independent producers are up to (you’re talking about a multi-million dollar publicly-funded operating budget and five-figure an hour production costs vs. that of a shoestring) it does seem that there’s a growing, not a shrinking, audience for radio drama.

So what gives?

It’s the Economy, Stupid

Of course the story of arts funding everywhere is that the economy has wrecked everything.

Public arts budgets have been in trouble since arts budgets were created. That’s certainly an American truism and I expect it’s similar in Britain.

There also seems to be a numbers game thing going on with the BBC 4 Radio Play. So says the Guardian’s TV & radio blog:

Radio 4, however argues that the audience itself is limited – that at a peak of 350,000 listeners, the Friday Play attracts the smallest audience of the station’s drama output. And that its budget is also limited: cost-cutting plans means that money has to be saved across its output, and drama is no exception, losing 4% of its current budget. Some Friday-evening drama has been “excellent”, R4′s station controller, Mark Damazer, tells me. “But it’s not cheap.”

“But it’s not cheap.” Ahhh, that’s the rub…

Looking at numbers points to the fundamental problem with radio drama from a “reach the masses” programming angle.

Generally speaking, this is ART we’re talking about here, which is always going to have a smaller audience than pop TV or the news. While I’m still angling for the breakthrough audio drama hit (Stephen King, anyone?) the reality is that radio drama is not set up to compete for the masses. The power of the radio drama experience is measured in quality, not quantity.

That’s why radio drama has adapted so beautifully to the web. The number of distribution channels is basically infinite, as is the space to put it.

It costs no extra bandwidth for tens of thousands of hours of audio drama to exist alongside 1970s Norwegian death metal. It does, however, cost a lot of money to have audio drama exist on a terrestrial radio station where there is a finite amount of time in the day and a finite amount of channels to play it on.

This distribution problem is, of course, secondary to the problem of the cost of making it in the first place.

Say your job is to fill X amount of hours in the day, and you have Y dollars to do that. Of course if you can fill those hours for fewer dollars it seems like a good move, particularly if you can increase listeners to Z at the same time. This is how the argument based on numbers works.

Roger Gregg spoke about this rather elegantly (if a tad bitterly) when I spoke with him in Ireland last year, I’d encourage to review that interview again: Talking with Roger Gregg, Radio Wizard. (UPDATE: Roger added some of his own comments to this discussion)

Roger reports a similar story of woe in Ireland where some difficult, and painful, cuts have been made lately in the arts. And don’t even get me started about America.

This is, of course, why BBC is a charter, not a for-profit body. By virtue of being a public entity, they are able to invest time and money in pursuing arts created for public good, rather than popularity and filling airtime for the cheapest $$$.

So does this cut in programming represent a compromise for quantity, over quality?

What BBC Radio 4 Has to Say

BBC Radio 4 has a lot to say about the cut – they’re not exactly happy about it either, and have this to say in their own defense:

Drama on BBC Radio 4 is in rude health. The network continues to be the biggest commissioner of original dramas in the UK with 650 hours of drama and readings this year alone. Recent plays illustrate the breadth and ambition of our output: David Hare’s Murder in Samarkand, starring David Tennant; Lenny Henry’s Othello; and the entire le Carré Smiley series, featuring Simon Russell Beale. We continue to attract the best writers and performers to work on the network.

… There has been some publicity recently about the decommissioning of the Friday Play. Let me fill in the background. We used to commission 32 fresh plays a year for 9pm on Fridays. The other 20 weeks were repeats of earlier Friday plays. But while our aim is always to offer original drama of the highest quality, we work to a budget and sometimes have to make difficult decisions about where to invest. Rather than spread the budget more thinly over all our drama strands I decided to decommission a single strand – the Friday Play. This will enable us to maintain investment in the quality of the hundreds of plays we broadcast elsewhere across the network. The Friday Play was reduced to 12 new plays last year, before being decommissioned this year.”

This from the BBC Radio 4 Blog

So, death of a time slot, and not a medium? Also promising, on Feb 26 it was reported that BBC Cymru Wales is to Double Network Radio Drama Production – so it’s not time to ring the death bell for radio drama on the BBC.

However, the cut of such a popular program (if you are to believe the amazing response from listeners – see the new 400+ member strong Speak up for Radio Drama now! Facebook Group to see what I mean) is an ominous omen for the future of radio drama on what has traditionally been one of its strongest bastions – the BBC.

The Future of Audio Drama

Alright, so folks, what IS the future of audio drama – on BBC 4 and otherwise?

We obviously spend a LOT of effort on this show focusing on modern independent groups – including Britain’s own, extremely unique, and talented Wireless Theatre Company – and these groups are going to persist no matter what happens on major broadcasters.

Of course, what makes this story different is that the BBC puts out a fundamentally different product – real budget and national distribution, from a revered institution.

So let’s hope that the BBC is serious when they say “Radio 4 remains absolutely committed to original drama” – because there’s no better medium for debuting original, challenging works of art, and no better producers out there than the BBC.

UPDATE: BBC has reaffirmed their commitment to radio drama – meaning, no more cuts… for now

James Kicklighter sent me a link to a new video out with himself, Edith Ivey, Berry Stolch and Jonathan Pope live from the Macon Film Festival.

Hear about the background of the film, what it was like making it, and of course, some delicious tidbits about the golden age of radio!

Do check out James Kicklighter’s site for more information about Theater of the Mind and his projects, and recall our conversation with him a few months ago about turning memories of radio into film!

What can I say, I’m giddy beyond words.

My own audio drama group, FinalRune Productions, was featured in the Wall Street Journal on February 25, 2010.

The article, entitled “Return With Us to the Thrilling Days Of Yesteryear—Via the Internet,” heavily focused on FinalRune’s signature field recording style and director Fred Greenhalgh’s passion for reviving audio drama in an age of the iPod.

I’ll let the article speak for itself, and wait, there’s more… great video!!!

Radio Drama Revival wants to offer huge congratulations to Yuri Rasovsky and Roger Gregg for achieving nominations for two separate, yet equally big awards.

Yuri Rasovsky’s The Maltese Falcon was nominated for a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album, an enormous accomplishment for an audio drama.

And jeez, if you haven’t listened to The Maltese Falcon yet, do! I raved about it in a review I did a few months ago because it deserved it, and much more. It’s one of the best audio mysteries you’ll hear.

While the actual award went to Michael J. Fox’s, Always Looking Up, let’s congratulate Yuri again for bringing audio drama to a major awards night.

Our compatriot across the sea, Roger Gregg, has been nominted for his country’s Irish Times Theatre Award for Best Sound Design for his work in Barrabbas Theatre’s Johnny Patterson: The Singing Irish Clown.

While this doesn’t honor his radio drama work directly, his sound design is, of course, a direct byproduct of his excellent work in audio drama and the nomination is a huge honor.

Not being from Ireland, I asked Roger what these awards were about. He simply put, “in Ireland these are THE Awards. The only ones that matter when it comes to professional theatre.”

Congratulations again Roger and Yuri, it’s a great day for audio drama when two of our own get the recognition they deserve!

Today we continue our three year anniversary special and self-reflective analysis.  Today we focus on the most memorable interviews I’ve ever done.

This was a really hard one to put together, because I’ve done a ton. In fact, here’s a link to all interviews on Radio Drama Revival.

Here are some of what I consider the very best:

1. Roger Gregg @ Crazy Dog HQ in Ireland (Episode 117)

   I’ve had the huge pleasure of speaking with Roger Gregg on several occasions, but none more interesting than in his den of iniquity in Dublin, Ireland.

   Roger speaks of the promise and challenge of audio programming, and how innovative use of art is the way to keeping audio relevant in the YouTube age.

2. Tom Lopez on ZBS Film Noir (Episode 127)

   This past summer I was looking for people to talk about the National Audio Theater Festivals (NATF) and it made sense to talk to Tom Lopez again, arguably one of audio’s most influential and creative producers.

   This interview was fun because we got to talking about short-form audio drama and experimenting with a visual component.  Like Roger’s interview, we got a veteran’s view of audio in our society and ideas on how audio can keep its place in an environment of media glut.

3. Sue Zizza and Pat Fenton (Episode 84)

   In what I think is my only interview with both producer and writer, Sue and Pat talked about the work that went into the audio dramatization of Jack’s Last Call, including a lot of fun anecdotes about Jack Kerouac’s life and some gems about audio production.

4. Scott Hickey and Brian Price Talk about the Slasher (Episode 81)

   Ihad the occasion to sit in behind-the-scenes in the recording of “The Slasher,” an – ahem – killer work by The Grist Mill and a great opportunity to see seasoned vet Brian Price do what he does best.  This interview brought in producer and director to talk about their ambitious approach to audio – producing stories by published authors – and getting together an incredible cast and a professional recording space for their show.

5. Erik Bauersfeld and Jim McKee Talk About Radio Drama in the Bay Area (Episode 134)

   In case interviewing Tom Lopez wasn’t good enough, I got to talk to his mentor, Erik Bauersfeld, who’s been inspired by radio drama since he first heard the Witches’ Tale back in the 1930s.

   In this interview we touch on everything from his early days at KPFA doing Black Mass to his pioneering productions in field recorded audio drama.  By the way, Erik won the prestigious audio luminary award from Third Coast Audio Festival this year!

Did I miss something?  Disagree?  Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Welcome to day two of our three year anniversary special and self-reflective analysis.  Since Jan 2007, I’ve had a chance to feature a LOT of good work on the show.  75 hours and counting of audio goodness so far!

It’s impossible to feature everything that’s good, particularly because there are episodes in so many different genres, from a heavy dose of horror to holiday tales, classic retellings to contemporary drama, sci-fi, fantasy, and even a little bit of romance.

However, sometimes you just gotta pick your favorite babies.  Here are some episodes I think you should listen to again:

1. Dialogue with Martian Trombone (Episode 13) – What can I say?  I’m a lover of jazz music and this absurd martian tale showcases the endless wit of Great Northern Audio Theater.  Having David Ossman and Philip Proctor from the Firesign Theatre certainly doesn’t hurt, either.
2. Buried in Falling Sand (Episode 16) – While Dreamseeed has not produced much else, this gem of a sci-fi bears deserves a listen.This inspired, eerie tale does what science-fiction does best: use a society not so unlike our own to tell us truths we’d rather not know.  What WOULD happen if we had a drug that made us forget the work day?
3. God of the Razor (Episode 94) - The Grist Mill has produced many fine tales, but God of the Razor may be the best.Moody, atmospheric, and unremittingly dark, Joe Lansdale‘s God of the Razor tells of the dark that lurks in the basements of East Texas… and in the hearts of men.
4. The Salmon of Blackpool (Episode 52, Episode 53, Episode 54, and Episode 55) – Okay, here’s a cheat, because it’s a series of four episodes, not just one, but it is worth it.Crazy Dog Audio Theatre‘s “Salmon of Blackpool” is simply one of the most compelling produced and moving pieces of audio drama I’ve ever heard.  The only thing I’ve listened to that deserves the name “audio cinema.”  Give a listen and tell me you don’t agree.
5. Hayward Sanitarium (Episode 126) – And let’s not miss this entry from the catalogue of audio suspense.While we only featured one episode of it, “Hayward” is a masterfully written and produced tale of the goings-on at one strange home for the mentally in coastal Maine.  The precedent for shows like Wormwood and Shadow Falls, even if they don’t know it!
6. Medusa on the Beach (Episode 138) – Okay, well this is #6, but I couldn’t help myself.  I’m addicted to myth and Wireless Theatre Company‘s “Medusa on the Beach” retells the myth of medusa beautifully.  Cheeky, moving, and dark, I’m delighted from the first few minutes.

Did I forget one of your favorites?  Want to share what you thought about a great audio artist?  Leave something in the comments below.

Tomorrow, we talk about the greatest interviews with audio artists over the past three years.

It doesn’t seem like so long ago that a chance opening at local radio station WMPG gave me a great opportunity: start my own weekly radio show dedicated to radio drama.

My goal from the beginning: expose more people to the medium of radio drama and give me an opportunity to share my own work with others.

Suddenly it’s 3 years later, and Radio Drama Revival has gone a lot of places I never expected and given me the opportunity to do a lot of cool stuff.

I’ve talked to lots of really awesome people, legends like Tom Lopez (two times), Roger Gregg (two times on the phone, and once in person), Tony Palermo, and Erik Bauersfeld, authors Mort Castle and Joe Lansdale, and all sorts of great independent dramatists, such as Brian Price and Jerry Stearns, Marc Rose and Geral McQuinn, Doug Bost, the guys behind Wormwood… the list goes on.

So, in light of all this, and a little sentimental, this week on Radio Drama Revival I’ll put posting some “top 5″ features – “best of,” if you will, from my heavily biased and nostalgic perspective.

We’ll start today.

5 Most Interesting Web Stats

It’s the digital age, and as a podcaster I have a LOT of data to try and comprehend. Here are some of the more interesting giblets:

1. Radio Drama Revival has approximately 400 regular weekly listeners via RSS (as reported by Feedburner).  RDR has had over 300 subscribers since the end of October, 2008.
2. Each episode gets 500-1000 (!) downloads right away, and stuff deep in the archives (episodes 100 and lower) still gets downloaded!Pretty much every archived episode gets at least one download a week.
3. The single most popular day on Radio Drama Revival, ever, was October 31, 2009, with about 500 people landing on the website.Overall, the October horror stories effort has been a huge success which is why I keep doing it. I’ll talk more about that in a follow-up post.
4. God bless Google.Nearly half of all traffic to this website comes from Google alone, particularly because of the good rankings I get for “radio drama” and “radio drama podcast”There seems to be some name recognition, though, because a decent amount of traffic comes from the word “Radio drama revival” and 20% of visitors actually return using a bookmark or typing in the domain by hand.
5. It’s not a surprise that the biggest audience for RDR is the US (about 66%), but outside of the US, the show is quite a global force! 155 countries tune in to the show, with every inhabited continent representing (sadly, no listeners from Greenland). The top 10? U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Phillipines, India, and France. Radio drama is an international phenomenon!

Tomorrow, we’ll be going through the archives to find the Top 5 Episodes You Should Listen to Again.

And if it seems like I’m missing anything, do leave a note in the comments!

Art by Simon Adams

This Halloween, FinalRune Productions had a live radio drama… Details forthcoming, but here’s the audio!!!

Download audio file (halloween-show-2009.mp3)
Halloween Show 2009

Stories Include:

• The Ghost Behind the Black Door by Roger Gregg
  A couple from the city moves to a mansion in the countryside only to find that things are not all as they expect… a spoof on the classic horror meme.
• Leaving You is Hell by Fred Greenhalgh
  A dark retelling of the myth of Orpheus inspired by the classic jazz tune “St James Infirmary.” A man in New Orleans is doomed to keep falling in love with the same woman and seducing her to her death.
• Bone Lake by Mark LaFlamme
  The ice fishing’s going well on Bone Lake, until a man comes from the winter’s night looking for a very strange catch.
• Third Shift by Kevin Anderson
  A company will sell you very efficient workers at a bargain price. Just don’t send the living to check out their work.

The Talented Cast

Burke Brimmer and Christine Marshall from Mad Horse Theater Company, FinalRune regular Philip Hobby, Janice Gardner, Tom Power.

Live Sound Effects and Music

Live sound effects by Paul Drinan and “Goober,” computer FX by Michael Townsend, live music performed by Barb Truex.

What is PowerUp?

WMPG’s PowerUP! Campaign seeks to raise $250,000 to upgrade the signal strength of the station’s main transmitter and move it to a better location.

Photo by Randy, Son of Robert

Alright, here it is, folks – three days before Halloween and the height of scary story season. My inbox has been bombarded with new stuff all this month which I’ve been dying to get out there to you, and there is just so much happening that if I had my way, I would clone off five or six of myselves to check out all of the cool Halloween events.

That not being possible, you’ll find me in Portland, Maine putting on a two-hour Halloween radio drama with 5 original plays. Yikes. But no matter where you are in country (or the world, for that matter), if you want blood-curdling audio, there’s stuff out there for you.

After putting out my feelers the audio community, digging around on my own, and just collecting all of the awesome stuff people like you have been sending my way, I’m going to share what I’ve come up with for awesome haunting horror audio.

Starting, first, with the LIVE Halloween shows – these are events where you can show, participate, and be spooked in an audience with real people! Follow-up post coming soon with recorded programming

Live Halloween Radio Shows

Portland, Maine – 7-9PM EDT on Sat, Oct 31

What is It? – My own show. I’ve talked about that already. Five plays by writers Roger Gregg, Mark LaFlamme, Kevin Anderson and yours truly.

How Do I Hear It? – Show up!!! Or, barring that, audio stream at wmpg.org and video stream at finalrune.com

Memphis, Tenneessee – 7-9PM CST on Sat, Oct 31

What is it? For the second year in a row, Chatterbox will perform a live Halloween Show over the airwaves on 91.1 WKNO-FM Memphis / 90.1 WKNP-FM Jackson.

Just to outdo me, Chatterbox is doing SEVEN short tales of horror, suspense, and the macabre. Expect to encounter the undead, creative murderers, tentacled monsters, hungry demons, unseen beasts, and other horrors that will keep you awake well into the night. A talented team of actors, musicians, sound effects artists, and producers will create these stories while you listen — just like in the Golden Age of radio.

How Do I Hear It? 91.1 WKNO-FM Memphis / 90.1 WKNP-FM Jackson. If you don’t live in the Memphis area, you can listen live through the WKNO website.

Boston, Massachusetts – 8PM on Oct 29, 30, 31, and 2PM on Oct 31

What is it? The Post-Meridian Radio Players bring us “The Big Broadcast of October 30th, 1938″ – the latest iteration of their annual Halloween tribute to the Golden Age of Radio. This year they present two plays – “The Frank Cyrano Byfar Hour” and a special production of Orson Welles’ infamous “War of the Worlds” radio play, adapted to follow events in Boston during the ”Martian invasion.”

PMRP does amazing stuff, as you can grok from my raving of their New Year’s radio show.

How Do I Hear It? Check out Somerville Theater, next to the Davis Square T Station. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. Further information about the show, ticket reservations, and PMRP in general may be found on their website at http://www.pmrp.org

Portland, Oregon – 4PM and 6PM PST on Oct 31

What is it? Over in our sister city of Portland, Oregon, the Willamette Radio Workshop presents their 7th annual Halloween audio theater extravaganza at McMenamins Kennedy School. This year’s presentation is an original compilation of stories based on “The St. James Infirmary Blues,” featuring live music and foley, and streaming in real time on the internet. “Tales from St. James Infirmary” is a cross between ER, The X Files and EC Comics, featuring stories of zombies, lost loves, murder and revenge – in other words the perfect Halloween confection. You’ll never be unsatisfied with your HMO again.

There will be two programs with eleven stories split between the two. There were even MORE stories (including my own) that filled up their full roster… my but they do a lot of shows!

How Do I Hear It? All shows are free and open to everyone (who has the guts, that is). Streaming Mix for Radio 23. Listen in at http://radio23.org/#listen

New York City – 3PM EDT on Oct 31

What is it? It’s thrilling to hear from groups you’ve never encountered before, and when I put my call to action from the community I found out about a Frankenstein Halloween Special by the appropriately named “RadioTheatre” presented by Horse Trade Theater Group (separated at birth from Mad Horse Theater Company? The world will never know).

These guys look like they’ve been around for a while and have gotten some high accolades. Here’s what they say about their show:

The critically-acclaimed, award-winning RADIOTHEATRE pulls out all the stops for this one, folks…a grand, aural spectacular! From the company that brought you KING KONG, THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, THE TIME MACHINE, DRACULA and more…now comes FRANKENSTEIN!

In concert, LIVE, on stage…with a great cast of story tellers, an original symphonic score and a plethora of sound effects! Just bring your imagination!

Good to see the city that never sleeps is in the game. Go out and get spooked!

Topeka, Kansas – 8PM CST on Oct 31

What Is It? The WTCT Players are scheduled to perform Oct 30 at Topeka’s Oldfather Theatre. Admission $6. No clue what they’re doing but they usually perform three vintage half hour plays. Last year, they did one each from Suspense, Inner Sanctum and The Witch’s Tale.

Let the theatre be your radio and take you on a trip back to a simpler time. The WTCT Players perform in the newly renovated Oldfather Theatre, complete with improved air conditioning, wheelchair access, and comfortably padded seats!

How Do I Hear It? I think you have to show up, no details if a stream or podcast version will be available.

4. In Washington, The Midnight Mystery Players announced they’d be doing a version of “The Bride of Frankenstein” on Oct 31 but there have been no further details on their website:

Bellingham, Washington – Sat, Oct 31

What Is It? The Midnight Mystery Players announced they’d be doing a version of “The Bride of Frankenstein” on Oct 31 but there have been no further details on their website.

How Do I Hear It? Few details of the show published. Try contacting them!

Cayman Island – 8PM EDT (?) on Sat, Oct 31

What is it?This is fun. The Cayman Drama Society will stage three Agatha Christie radio plays on Halloween. Um, that’s about it for info, though.

How Do I Hear It? There’s no too much detail, but check out Radio Cayman’s website, also, look there for a live stream link.

Norman, Oklahoma – 7PM CST on Fri, Oct 30

What Is It? Three episodes of “Suspense” (“Zero Hour,” “The Hitchhiker” and “The House in Cypress Canyon”) performed by Second Stage Players in Norman, OK on October 30. Formed in 2005, Second Stage Players perform various types of readers’ theatre, including live radio scripts, one-act plays and interpretive readings.

How Do I Hear It? Tickets for the performance are available at PAS’s home in the Depot during regular business hours, 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $7 in advance and $10 at the door. All senior tickets are $7; admission for children age 12 and under is $3.

Unclear if there will be a podcast, contact the PAS at 307-9320 or see this article for more details.

Miscellania

And there are always plenty of “War of the Worlds” recreations scheduled for this time of year. Here are two:

• War of the Worlds in Athens, Alabama
• War of the Worlds in Kingston, New York

Not Quite Halloween Live Radio Shows

These are not quite on Halloween, but are spooky, so why not enjoy?

Minneapolis, Minnesota – 9:30-10:30 CST on Nov 1

Sound Affects aired an Icebox Radio Halloween Special this past Sunday night, which is available on the station archives at: http://www.kfai.org/soundaffectsaradioplayground/ for two weeks after air date.

On November 1 Sound Affects will air “The Evil At Shady Lake”, a comic suspense tale made here at KFAI by the Deadbeats on the Air players. Written by Britt Aamodt. Appropriate for the day After Halloween.

How Do I Hear It? Tune into the live stream, or available in the KFAI archives after the broadcast.

Glen Allen, Virginia – 7:30PM EDT on Nov 3 and 4

What Is It? The On the Air Radio Players are doing something called “Fright Night Double Feature: Dracula and Frankenstein,” an original old time radio show! The hour-long event will be taped and offered later for podcast and features live music and sound effects.

Offered by the County of Henrico Division of Recreation and Parks.

How Do I Hear It? Looks like you can show up in Virginia, or look for a podcast down the line. Their website: http://www.otarp.com/upcoming_shows.htm

Georgetown, Delaware – 2PM EDT on Nov 1

What Is It? The Possum Point Players’ Ad Hoc Touring Company are scheduled to perform Nov 1 at Possum Hall. For $5, you get vintage versions of “The Maltese Falcon” and the Jack the Ripper thriller, “The Lodger” according to this article in the Sussex Countian.

How Do I Hear It? Unclear if the event will be podcast. You could try calling the box office: 302-856-4560.

Thanks, People

Thanks be to emruf7 over on the Audio Drama Talk board for contributing a number of stories to this release… and of course, all of the individual artists who sent me stuff. Keep it up!

The Zoom Q3 is just a tad bigger than the Zoom H2 and packs in some decent video

With itchy impatient hands I finally got my anxiously awaited package from Sweetwater – the Zoom Q3 video recorder…

Yes, this is the one that has bitchin’ sound and video in a really portable and easy to use format.

For an audio drama guy, it seemed a no-brainer; I live and die by my Zoom H2 but have often thought it would be fun to be able to capture a little bit of video, too… everything from behind-the-scenes footage of FinalRune shows to how-tos on various pieces of recording equipment.

I’ve yet to get my teeth into the product but thought I’d share some initial thoughts upon looking at the product, especially compared to the Zoom H2 since I use the H2 extensively.  I kind of thought the Q3 was going to be H2 + video but it isn’t, exactly.

A few observations:

• Sound quality seems to be about the same.  The H2 has a lot more options.  The Q3 has a way bigger screen and is more friendly.
• Video (to me) seems just dandy.  Obviously I have a strong bias to good audio.  The picture is as good as I’m going to need it and I’m really excited about the possibilities once I start putting this thing to work.
• The Q3 SD card door is flimsy and will eventually break off.  They clearly did not design it for people who are going to be hot-swapping SD cards in the field.  Um, hello?

The Zoom Q3 doesn’t come with a tripod, but the one from the Zoom H2 works like a charm
• Accessories for the Q3 are really basic.  I was kind of hoping for more from a $250 device.  You get a wind screen, some RCA cables, and a 2GB SD card.  No AC adapter, no tripod, no handhold (I haven’t tested handling noise but it’s terrible on the H2).  As you can see, the mic stands from the H2 work fine with the Q3.
• A really disappointing oversight is that you can’t use the Q3 as an audio or video interface.  What the heck, Samson?  One of the most powerful features of the Zoom H2 is that you can use it as a field recorder OR audio interface depending on your need.  I was really hoping to be able to use the Q3 for talking on Skype, but now it seems I will need to jerry-rig something using the RCA cables.  I hope they are able to add this feature on with a firmware update.  Just foolish

Overall I’m really excited about the recorder and, as I said, can’t wait to put it to work.  I wish it was about $50 cheaper and that I could use it for Skype, but having the capability to capture video and decent sound in such an easy format is priority #1 for me.

I’ll be taking this out to the first rehearsal of FinalRune’s upcoming Halloween live radio drama and getting you some footage to look at soon.

Note: Getting one of these right now might be tough, it took forever for them to come out and it looks like they’re already back-ordered.  However, I still highly recommend Sweetwater, they’ll get it to you fast and treat you right.

Things have been great lately for audio fans of Agatha Chrystie. Last month I mentioned how Audiofile magazine had a feature on the Queen of Crime, and bubbled in great length about how great the live Agatha Chrystie radio dramas at the International Mystery Writer’s Festival was. Killer!

But now there’s more – Audiofile Magazine, to celebrate Agatha’s birthday, is giving out a free audiobook of the Agatha Chrystie story “The Case of the Missing Will,” through a partnership with Audible and BBC Audiobooks America.

You do need to sign up for a form with Audiofile, but heck, if you aren’t already getting the magazine and their newsletters, what kind of audio fan are you? You’ll also need an Audible account, and the same rules apply.

Audiofile Magazine and Audible are both very audio drama friendly. While their emphasis is obviously on audiobooks, you’ll routinely find reviews for audio plays in Audiofile and there are great audio dramas to download on Audible (the Rocky Coast Radio Theatre, for example, and the 2000x series).

So check it out, while there’s time! The offer is only good until September 20.

Check out their landing page stuffed with great Agatha Chrystie material, or go straight to the download for the free audiobook.

Lots of audio groups have success doing remote recording – having cast members from across the world record their lines independently and then email audio files of their lines to one producer who puts it all together. The baker with all of the ingredients from the cake, if you will.

Darker Projects, Brokensea, and Pendant Productions all come to mind as groups who regularly or occasionally use this method. And if you know what you’re doing, it can come out very well!

Of crouse, if you’re just starting out, there are a lot of beginner’s errors you can make that result in uneven, or unusable, results. Which it was why it was so great to come across this presentation by Richard Elen, who presented this talk at OpenTech 2009 in London on producing “Radio Drama At A Distance” using Skype:

Thanks, Richard, for this fantastic presentation. This really sums up just about everything the basic audio drama technician needs to know to get started. We’ll be corresponding with Richard via email and featuring his feedback here in a couple more weeks.

Now this is fun!

Radio Drama Revival is now being syndicated on Red House Art Radio.

Red Radio bills itself as “an innovative project of the Red House Art Center and is Central New York’s first listener-generated arts and ideas Internet radio station. Red House Art Radio [Red Radio] explores audio as an art-form and communication platform.”

Sounds good. And they are into radio drama, too! It goes on:

Red Radio is not conventional broadcast radio nor is it like any other Internet radio station. Instead, Red Radio is a cutting-edge communication medium that unites local and global artists, musicians, philosophers, leaders and commentators on one stage.

For the moment, it seems you’ll just be able to get the Radio Drama Revival podcast on their website in addition, of course, to this main feed. However, in the future it looks like they are going to be offering a streaming online radio station with a whole slew of interesting content.

As broadcast models continue to evolve and change, this is an exciting model to follow, and of course RDR is excited to draw in more listeners from wherever they come.

August has been a killer month for the Queen of Crime. She took main feature in Audiofile Magazine with their epic feature on the audio legacy of Agatha Christie, and no sooner did I finish reading the mag then did I hear that four — count ‘em four — of her plays were being produced in live performance at the International Mystery Writers’ Festival in Owensboro, Kentucky.

Those shows aired last week (August 15) on WNIN, and wow, what a doozy it was.

It kicked off with the previously unpublished “Butter in a Lordly Dish,” a tale of sweet revenge of Biblical scope, and easily my favorite play of the batch (and, unsurprisingly, the darkest). The show continued with “Three Blind Mice,” a tale of deception and murder that inspired the long-running theater production “The Mousetrap,” then “Personal Call,” of a wife ready to honeymoon with a husband who is not all that he seems, and finally concludes with “Yellow Iris,” an enchanting Hercule Poirot tale set in a London night club.

All the tales were excellent, in no short part due to the exceedingly talented cast and crew, with such names as Phil Proctor, Gary Sandy, and Orson Ossman along with performers from across the country.  Melinda Peterson gets special recognition for her marvelous portrayal of Christie herself – who was used as the narrator/MC of the evening – a delightful way to gain insights about the writer and to give continuity to the stories.  Sound effects were by master Tony Brewer and Preston Ossman.

David Ossman directed the show, which again makes it no surprise that the performance was so exceedingly awesome. Finally, no short praise goes to Zev Buffman and Judith Walcutt for producing the show.

It’s not clear when a CD or digital version of this tale will be out, but keep checking out the International Mystery Writers’ Festival website. Also, WNIN also ran a summer mystery audio drama series, and you can hear several pieces from the previous years’ festival online: http://www.wnin.org/radio/summer-mystery-series.html.

This was the third year of the mystery writers festival, and it seems like they just keep upping the ante. Seeing such an audio drama emphasis at a non-audio specific conference is extremely exciting, and leads me to start researching fares to Kentucky for next summer…

If you’re not on the ZBS newsletter list, well, sign up now, and then, check out some of the latest stuff they’ve put out.

As you recall, we talked to Tom Lopez a few weeks ago about his radio drama/web video hybrid 4 Minute Film Noir.  Several more fun videos have come out, including “The Little Man with the Big Roscoe,” “When Sully Became Sally,” and “Galloway’s.”

Let’s see if I can get one to embed here:

What other fun stuff? There are great pictures of 4 Minute Film Noir behind the scenes, and the fantabulous new show, Ruby 8.  I just picked up the MP3… you’ll find this covered in the “Fred’s Fuze” column soon!

Well, I’m not sure how many listeners are near Cutchogue, New York, but this Sunday, August 2, from 2:00pm – 4:00pm, Castello di Borghese Vineyard & Winery will be offering a live performance of Jack’s Last Call: Say Goodbye to Kerouac.

Wait, does that play sound familiar? It should, because we featured the show last year and interviewed writer Pat Fenton and producer Sue Zizza.

For those who missed the series (it only ran on the podcast for 2 weeks), here’s the synopsis:

It’s the end of summer in 1964. A major cultural shift is starting to happen in the US, and on Jack’s last night in Northport, the America he saw through a rear view mirror, riding, along side his road buddy, Neal Cassady, is slowly replaying in his mind.

Long after a small going away party that he has thrown for himself is over, Jack keeps on drinking as he prepares to move to Florida with his mother. He reflects back on his fame, his youth as a football star, and the worry that his time has come and gone. As he sums up parts of his life in this bittersweet narrative he receives a series of soul-searching phone calls from his daughter Jan.

This production of the play is being directed by Huntington’s Ed Dennehy, and tickets are only $10. Plus, you get the opportunity to meet the artists following the performance.

For more information call (516) 658-0423 or e-mail: jackslastcall [@] gmail.com. To hear the audio version, check out the website, Jack’s Last Call

Fancy some good summer rea — er, listening? BBC Audiobooks America is hoping you will, and that you’ll check out their new Facebook Group for chatting about some of their best titles.

This month it’s Peter Benchley’s Jaws, a novel I read back in middle school and remember more for its lewd scenes than the vicious shark that seems to freak people out to this day. The kick-off discussion is “do you prefer the book or the movie?” which so far seems to be going for Spielberg.

I’m interested to see where this thing goes. It already has a bit of a following (around 50 members last I checked) and a conversation you should join, full force. With so many different existing communities, I’m curious to see how well the BBC can foster one, but with a good built-in audience, and some great titles, things should start to happen.

Give it a look, and of course, you can’t miss the handy link to buy the respective audiobook from the BBC!

Join the BBC Audiobooks America Facebook Audiobook Discussion Group.

Great news.  Back in December we played chunks from The Shadow of the Bear, while our good friends at The Sonic Society played the whole durn thing!

That show has now gone on to win a listener’s award from The Sonic Society… well, let them speak for themselves:

Based on the book by Regina Doman, The Shadow of the Bear audio drama has won the Sonic Society’s 2009 Uni Award for Best Audio Drama Show … At the end of May 2009, the Sonic Society invited its 50,000 listeners world wide to nominate their favorite show for its 2nd Annual Uni Awards.

The finalists in seven different categories were chosen by popular vote and announced on the Sonic Society’s blog on June 9. The listeners then voted on the finalists. After all thevotes were in, Jack Ward of the Sonic Society said, “The Shadow of the Bear won by a clear majority the ”Best Audio Drama Show”.

Congrats, Andrew and Regina, “Bear” was a great production.  If you want to hear more, check out our original podcast on it, download the award show from Sonic Society, or maybe just listen to the interview with Andrew and Regina.  Finally, check out Regina’s website and Chesterton Productions.

Fulfilling a call to action from this week’s Escape Pod, I must encourage you to check out the show’s 200th episode, which features a story by Robert Heinlein. Heinlein is far and away my most beloved of science fiction authors (though in tight competition with Philip K Dick and Ray Bradbury), and the story, “All You Zombies,” is a mind-bendingly brilliant tale of paradox and time travel. Reminiscent of the short story of his that was adapted for the 2000x series, By His Bootstraps.

If you’re a big fan of audio drama I hope your passion extends to audio fiction. I’ll elaborate on this more as I start to spend time on different podcasts I’ve fallen in love with, but the podcastophere is rich with well told audio right now.

Podcasts like EscapePod, which produces killer short stories and compensates the authors properly, are doing more for storytelling than the publishing industry has in the last decade. As much as I can love audiobooks (your mileage may vary), I think the short fiction podcast form is an even closer match to the tastes of us short-fiction craving audio drama enthusiasts.

So, congrats Escape Pod, 200 freakin’ episodes! Radio Drama Revival has over a year to go. I hope that by the time we get there the show is even a tenth as kick-ass as your weekly sci-fi injection.

Go Listen to Heinlein’s “All You Zombies”

Hat tip to SFF Audio which turned me on to this very exciting episode.

As I mentioned a couple weeks back, I had the amazingly well-timed opportunity to talk to Rich Fish who happens to feature prominently in the new documentary by Georgia Southern University, Theater of the Mind.

Oh and yes, we talked to James Kicklighter who was kind enough to chat on the phone about a month ago. Thereafter, James was so kind as to send me a screening version of the DVD to check out.

The documentary is far from comprehensive, but a refreshing primer and a worthy tribute to OTR. It highlights a group of modern college students — painted as a tad spoiled by non-linear digital editing — as they to learn the art of creating live radio plays, interspersed with experts talking about the magic and challenge of live radio as well as interviews with voice actors of the era (including Edith Ivey and Rosemary Rice).

As the new generation learns more about the art form they soon realize that it was real work to make this happen, and the historians highlight the professional qualities needed to succeed in the Golden Age of Radio. Both Ms. Ivey and Ms. Rice have some great anecdotes to share about working on the air, and how the get into broadcasting to begin with.

Running at just over 20 minutes and created in just a few months, it’s again only a flavor, not a full meal. One feature I felt was sorely overlooked was the creation of live sound effects — what an opportunity to show visually what can be created in audio! I would’ve love to have seen a sound effects demo with a professional, either from the day or a modern equivalent.

I do hope “Theater of the Mind” gets wide circulation, and even more, I hope it sparks a more in-depth series that deeply examines the terrain that this merely skips across. This could easily be a multi-part PBS style documentary, and radio is well worth. Georgia Southern, I hope you’ve started that effort!

Read more on James Kicklighter’s Blog.

Hot off the presses from Ireland I’ve gotten word that Roger Gregg’s shockingly original adaptation of Gerry Murphy’s poetry will be returning the stage in Cork, Ireland. Here’s what the jacket has to say:

All the colourful personas that infamously stalk through Murphy’s satirical writing: from his vicious portraits of demented despots and torturers, to his passionate erotic encounters, to his highly personal confessions on love and loss, will come to life in an evening of riotous musical entertainment!

It may be a bit of a swim for most of us to get there, but if you happen to be across the pond already, don’t miss the show, running June 23-June 27, 2009 at the Everyman Palace Theatre in Cork, Ireland. Shows kick off at 8pm.

Possibly more exciting, at least for us distant audio listeners, is a fresh CD that Roger’s pressed from the last time the show was performed… Including some great bonus tracks. I had the pleasure to listen to the pre-release copy and the material’s taken on an even greater sheen since then.

Here’s a taste of it, with a song that may sound oh-so-vaguely familiar:

Download audio file (gerry-murphy-poetry-if.mp3)

I assume that the CD will be available on ZBS, as have previous Crazy Dog CDs. I’ll also may an effort to continue posting excerpts, as this is excellent stuff not to be missed.

Just in case you thought poetry was the realm of dust-covered English professors, think again. And don’t miss the clips of the Gerry Murphy Poetry show available on YouTube.

Our friends at Quicksilver Radio Theater are bringing back their docudrama, Good Friday, 1865, Licoln’s Last Day to the stage. As I’ve said before, this is a great play, and if you’re anywhere near NYC, you should make an effort to check it out!

“Really first rate…a terrific job, both in adapting and performing…wonderful work!”- Leonard Maltin, author of “The Great American Broadcast.”

In this audio docudrama (recipient of the National Audio Theatre’s “Best Script” award), the character of a country, and its President, are revealed — as a traumatic war winds down, and eerie events presage Abraham Lincoln’s own end…

Live on stage with a full cast, live sound effects, and original music composed by Tony-Award winner MARK HOLLMANN, and performed by members of the New York Repertory Orchestra.

Quicksilver Radio Theater, founded by actor CRAIG WICHMAN in 1995, is a group of seasoned New York performing artists that has taken the National Federation of Community Broadcasters’ “Gold Reel” award, and is nationally syndicated by the Public Radio Exchange. This production is directed by JAY STERN, and the cast includes BERNADETTE FIORELLA, RAMONA FLOYD, JOSEPH FRANCHINI, DEREK LIVELY, JOHN PRAVE, and MICKEY RYAN.

New York Repertory Orchestra, founded by DAVID LEIBOWITZ in 1991, is New York’s leading community-based, all-volunteer orchestra and is made up of talented professional and amateur musicians who present a series of free concerts each season.

The show is being held, Thursday, July 9, 8PM at:

galapagos art space
16 Main Street
Brooklyn, New York 11201
718-222-8500

Tickets are available for $12 online of $15 at the door.

Can’t make it to NYC? Check out Lincoln’s Last Day when it last appeared on RDR.

As Lance and I announced a couple weeks ago, my short play, “A Drink Before the Dark,” has won in the “You Have Five Minutes” short audio drama script contest. The play will be produced with the other winners at The Filling Station Arts Center the week of June 15.

The show is being produced in association with KUNM and will be broadcast, recorded, and hopefully available for release on Radio Drama Revival once it’s complete. “A Drink Before the Dark” is a short prelude/spin-off of FinalRune‘s upcoming “Some Road Through the Desert.”

Okay, well I’m going to go out on a limb and say only a handful of people from London will actually read this, but I do think the Wireless Theatre Company’s next live radio play sounds pretty killer:

Come with the Wireless Theatre Company as we take you on a journey of madness, terror and gruesome, GRUESOME MURDER! The decaying walls of Stottesden Hall are the setting for our latest LIVE recording of a new radio play by Stuart Price based on the works of Edgar Allen Poe, and we would love to see you there for an evening of comedy, terror and sinister plinky-plonky piano music. Dare you miss it..?

Thursday 7th May, 7.30pm

Headliners Comedy Club, George IV, 185 Chiswick High Road, Chiswick, London, W4 2DR

Should you actually be able to make it, you can buy tickets here!

I can’t believe? I haven’t posted about this yet, but the time is fast approaching for the National Audio Theater Festivals‘ weeklong audio drama workshop.

If you’re new to audio drama production or want to amp up your skills, you won’t find a better environment than in this intense week of audio goodness.? West Plains, Missouri might not look like much on the map, but it draws a great crowd of audio folks, young and old, amateur and vets, with the shared passion of this “not dead yet!” medium.

I attended the conference in 2007, and you can get a taste of what it’s like by seeing my RDR exclusive coverage.

Particularly exciting this year is an Edgar Allan Poe adaptation workshop lead by Bill Dufris and Lance Axt, especially exciting because it’ll be available for newcomers.? Don’t miss an opportunity to work with two extremely talented people!

Early Bird Discount only lasts to this Friday, so check out the website and download the application today.? If you do miss the special, you’ve got until June 1 to lock in an application rate of $575.

Hello everyone,

I’ve been gone for a long, long time, but I’m gearing up for a big comeback.

Over the next several weeks I will be running a series of articles on the strange history of the Faction Paradox audio dramas, featuring a critical overview of the series, transcribed interviews with directors, and audio excerpts. Faction Paradox isn’t a typical sci-fi audio serial. While it isn’t flawless or easy, however, it is as beguiling as it is bewildering. If working your way through a dense thicket of rich characters, intricate ideas, and surprising touches of genuine emotion sounds enticing, I highly recommend you tune in.

Faction Paradox originally started as a supporting player in the Dr. Who novel Alien Bodies by Lawrence Miles. In later years, Miles would wean this anarchic, time-traveling voodoo cult / criminal organization away from its Dr. Who roots. Although Miles retained some concepts from the show under new names and auspices (the Time Lords became the Great Houses, timeships replaced Tardises, etc.) and reintroduced licensed villains (the Sontarans, Sutekh), Faction Paradox has since emerged as a genuinely unique and self-sustaining fictional creation.  Miles and other writers have advanced and expanded that creation through a line of novels, comics, and audio dramas.

The next several weeks will be devoted exclusively to the Faction Paradox audio dramas, but today I want to ground that in a brief primer on commercial Dr. Who audio drama spin-offs. In particular I want to introduce the “Big Three” spin-off companies to readers: BBV, Big Finish, and Magic Bullet. Again, this is just to provide a context for the articles that follow: it is not an exhaustive account. I will in all likelihood discuss these companies and their works in more depth later. 

The British television series Dr. Who is currently enjoying a renaissance on television. But before its rebirth it was off the air for well over a decade, and passionate Who fans were eager – even desperate – to consume the adventures of their hero in any form they could, be it books, comics, or yes, audio drama. Old series writers and new ones from fandom filled the television vaccuum with off-air stories, which they published however they could: through the Virgin or BBC book lines, via independent business ventures, or with zines or audio tapes circulated informally among friends. While there remain many amateur producers of Dr. Who audio drama, three British companies define(d) the scene with professional, licensed work featuring the original television actors: Big Finish, Magic Bullet, and the now defunct audio drama branch of BBV. (I don’t want to leave a snobby impression with this amateur / professional distinction. Both Big Finish and BBV had significant roots in the amateur fan audios produced under the “Audio Visuals” name. If there is one lesson for amateurs here, it is to persevere and hone your craft. Amateur work can be the foundation of later professional careers.)

BBV was the first of the three companies to market Dr. Who inspired audio dramas. Coming on the scene as a producer of Dr. Who-related fan films in 1991, BBV primarily focused on producing sci-fi adventure videos starring Dr. Who analogues and monsters. BBV began publishing audio drama spin-offs in 1998 and continued until 2004. As with the films, BBV’s Audio Adventures in Time and Space line consisted mostly of serials starring thinly-veiled analogues of the Doctor (The Stranger, The Professor, The Dominie) and his companion or of one-off adventures featuring popular Dr. Who monsters. BBV audio productions were often on the raw side, with variable success in sound design and casting. At their best, they had a crazy energy and a darker tone than the show that inspired them.

Big Finish locked up the actual Dr. Who license and began publishing official Dr. Who adventures with the original series actors in 1999. They are easily the largest of the three operations, producing 12 new mainline Doctor Who releases every year (starring the original Doctor actors) and numerous spin-off series, as well as serials derived from other t.v. properties like Dark Shadows, Stargate, Sapphire and Steel, and the Tomorrow People. Although small by book publishing standards, they may well be the largest privately owned producer of new, full-cast / full-script audio drama in the world. (Although there are probably a couple of German companies that could challenge that.) I will be covering their productions at a later date. Big Finish keeps a remarkable standard of quality considering the amount of work they publish per year, and their best efforts are classics. The relentless pace of production and the variety of hands working on each release means that there have been a fair share of lukewarm releases as well, and probably of necessity a “House style” has developed that, while solid enough, could stand some creative shaking up.

Magic Bullet established itself in 2000 as a small, sporadic boutique publisher of audio drama of the highest standard – the old cliche “quality, not quantity” applies here. Instead of focusing on the entire parent Dr. Who series, their line coalesced around a small corner of it: the characters, settings and concepts from Dr. Who / Blake’s 7 series writer Chris Boucher, particularly his classic Tom Baker arc, The Robots of Death and the later book sequel, Corpse Marker. Their impressive Kaldor City audio drama serial blended Blake’s 7 and The Robots of Death to create a dark future manipulated by intriguing bastards. There have been some mind-twisting releases, but as yet no duds from Magic Bullet. They just don’t do shoddy work.

Still another company, Cosmic Hobo, came on the scene in 2006 with their supernatural serial,The Scarifiers. The Scarifiers has no connection to Dr. Who content, but as with the productions mentioned above uses actors from the television show to lure fans. In this case Nicholas Courtney (Detective Inspector Lionheart, the Brigadier on Dr. Who) and Terry Molloy (Professor Edward Dunning, Davros on Dr. Who) create an endearingly quirky, gentlemanly atmosphere. These good-humored Lovecraftian serials are best listened to in an attic on a rainy night, but in pleasant company with comfy chairs, good tea, biscuits, toast and jam.

If you are already a Dr. Who fan, you most likely are already aware of these companies. (And if not, have at them!) If you aren’t a fan, you might dismiss anything Dr. Who-related out of hand. But the notion that Dr. Who is inherently second-tier on any level – creative, technical, or performance – is ill-considered. There are few ghost stories as well-crafted and haunting as Rob Shearman’s The Chimes of Midnight or as funny, moving, and horrific as the archetypal Shakespearean nightmare at the center of his The Holy Terror. I have yet to hear or read any circular narrative as compelling as Jonathan Morris’s existential black comedy, Flip Flop, an inventive 2 CD story that can be listened to in either CD order. No American audio sci-fi serial is smarter, slicker, or meaner than Kaldor City. While some match him, there are no sound designers in American audio drama superior to Alistair Locke. That’s no slight; he’s just that good.

Yes, many Dr. Who audio releases are flaccid and uninspired. This is true of anything. But many other works in the genre demonstrate intelligence, passion and creativity that can’t be denied. 

Faction Paradox boasts plenty of all three. Do you need to be a Dr. Who fan to appreciate it? It definitely helps, but if you invest a little time in it, I’d say no. Tune in next week for a series overview and sample tracks that will allow you to judge for yourself.

Okay, while the title may be cheeky the content will be hard hitting — this March on Radio Drama Revival we’ll be airing the Golden Age Story “Orders is Orders” by L Ron Hubbard in its entirety. ?Each Friday the podcast will feature an action-packed thirty minute episode of this story of two soldiers in a dangerous land, driven on by sheer determination, wit, and of course, their orders. ?

In the besieged city of Shunkien, China, only the American consulate remains standing, though their situation looks grim: food is running low and cholera threatens to break out. ?With the United States Army unable to make an official intervention, the fate of the consulate lies in the hands of two clever soldiers, Marine Gunnery Sergeant James Mitchell and Private First Class Spivits.

No one ever told them it would be easy, but the two-hundred mile march across war-torn China is harder than either of them could ever imagine…

Running: March 6, March 13, March 20, March 27

Followed up with an exclusive interview with the show’s creators… Also, stayed tuned for exclusive content from Dublin, Ireland, and short-shorts of my own urging you to donate money to WMPG, the station where Radio Drama Revival originates.

So ya thought Crazy Dog Audio Theater was only about audio drama, right?? About working in the long form drama format?? Think again:

In collaboration with a Tinpot Productions, this series of videos takes the poetry of Irish Poet Laureate Gerry Murphy and transforms into into slammish kinetic sound and visual synergy.

The poems range from the sexy to the fearsome to the subdued, and the team at Crazy Dog does an amazing job of expanding the emotional impact of the words. Extra extra kudos for the music… wish I could get some of this stuff on a CD!

Here’s the whole list of the videos, shareable from the wonder of YouTube!:

• Modern American Myths
• 21 Words For The Security Council
  
• And She Was Beautiful And She Was Ferociously Intelligent
• The Uninvited
• Too Lovely For Words
• Bedtime Story
• Kissing Maura O’Keeffe
• Up Yours Gay Byrne
• Liberation Sequence 1

Be sure to spread them as far and wide as your mouse can take you.

Oh, and let me let it leak that next month I’m headed to the Emerald Isle to see Roger Gregg myself.? With a bit of luck we’ll have even more exclusive interviews to share with you soon for the April line-up.

UPDATE: I did get to visit Roger Gregg in Dublin… and what a time it was! Hear the interview here.

Here we go — New Year’s Day two-fer! (Don’t miss this week’s podcast of Chicken Heart below.)

As mentioned, I had the huge pleasure of heading down to Boston’s First Night celebration to see the Post Meridian Radio Players perform two works — “Countdown to Chaos” the pilot episode of Red Shift, Interplanetary Do-gooder and a live rendition of Arch Oboler’s “Chicken Heart” (again, hear the studio version in this week’s ‘pod!).

When I say pleasure, I mean seeing the PMRP put on the play was great.

Digging myself out of the woods, driving through an onslaught of snow paired with slushy and grimy roads, then riding a train for over an hour and having to navigate some cold streets of Boston wasn’t the raddest experience ever. Luckily, I was with my girl and Scott Hickey of AM FM Theater (makers of the Grist Mill) so I had plenty of company and some great chats on the way!

The Orpheum is tucked into a little alleyway off from the major boulevards of New Year’s Eve craziness, and the funky, old-school artistic look cast a great mood for a live radio drama.

We got in just as the doors opened and set-up-shop with a shwag-stand operated by PMRP members. They were also doing a live SFX demonstration, and I couldn’t resist asking this fair lady with the propeller on her head what all the cool gadgets on this table were used for!

Download audio file (rdr-1st-night-live-sound-fx.mp3)
Joye Thaller Gives Us a Live SFX Demonstration

Oh, and we also found out the importance of Cosmoflakes thanks to narrator Gilly Rosenthol:

Download audio file (rdr-1st-night-cosmoflakes.mp3)

We got some decent seats near the front (thank goodness we were early — the place really did fill up!) and then sought out Neil Marsh, the “man behind the curtain” for this evening’s show, who was at the sound board when we first saw him.

I managed to catch up with him, not long enough to snap a photo, mind you, but long enough to capture this nice taste of what went into the hour-and-a-half live show:

Download audio file (rdr-1st-night-neil-marsh.mp3)
Interview with Neil Marsh of Post Meridian Radio Players

About 7:30, prompt, the lights went out and the show began…

“Countdown to Chaos,” a fantastical farce of science-fiction fervor was the lead, and a nice way to introduce the audience to the kind of performance they were to expect. I actually hadn’t heard an episode of Red Shift, but by design this was a nice way to start — the plot was not, uhm, overly complex, but delightfully lampoonish of B-rated sci-fi standards. Villians were particularly vile, the heroes goody to a fault, and the bumbling and curious people of Earth typecast enough to be familiar but unique enough to make it fresh, engaging, and original.

And then: thump-thump-thump-thump-thump!

Chicken Heart, the infamous tale, done with live foley effects and in true OTR style. They kept the script close to the original — Ionized Yeast ads and all — though the cast brought fresh energy to the performance and the SFX table (of which I failed to get any good photos at all) did a stellar job.

You should’ve seen the collection of goopy goodies and squishy squashes they had for the sounds of the “Heart”!

Another special mention goes to the ASL interpreters, who had the daunting task of converting a full-cast, sound-effect and music production into a visual form. But man, they were great!

They gesticulated wildly, played off each-other, and even conveyed mood of music and effects. For a completely “aural” medium, making this into an enjoyable visual experience was quite something.

On that same note, another hats-off to the performers who all dressed up in simple costumes to make the stage presence a little more interesting. The shimmery silvering things Red and Lumpy were wearing might not have made much difference on the radio, but it sure made watching the show more enjoyable!

Overall, it was a great night, well worth the travel, and gosh, does it make you wish more of this was being done. Good job, PMRP, and hope to see you next year!

Well, flurries be damned, I’ve just jammed 10 CDs of Radio Drama Revival Sampler CDs into my ditty bag with my Zoom H2 and other “must” audio gadgets and am jumping into a running car on my way to Boston’s First Night to see the Post Meridian Radio Players do “Chicken Heart” as part of First Night 2009.

If you’re going to be in Boston tonight, I highly recommend checking out the Orpheum Theater from 7:30-9PM — it’s a rare and awesome chance to see live radio drama performed at a highly visible venue. But if you do miss it, check out the show tomorrow for some photos, behind-the-scenes audio clips, and the studio version of PMRC’s rendition of “Chicken Heart”

Well, everyone, Merry Christmas eve, and if you’re celebrating something else, cheers to that, too! (We had some pretty serious snow for the Solstice so I was celebrating that longest of nights in my own way…)

Couple interesting things to say — first, you’ll note that Graphic Audio is now on the “Friends of Radio Drama Revival” section of this site, and yes, that is a paid placement.

I hope you won’t consider this compromising my artistic integrity because it isn’t. I’ve operated Radio Drama Revival for nearly two years completely as an effort of passion, and believe me, one ad, or a dozen, won’t nearly pay for the work it takes to get it on the air. However, I’m hoping that partnering with commercial audio outlets can help make the show a bit more sustainable, and maybe even sponsor some greater innovation.

I have received a variety of works by Graphic Audio, and yes, they will be reviewed and possibly featured on the podcast, but no, they will not receive different treatment because of a banner on the site.

Whether you’re the most beginning podcaster or hardened professional dramatist, you can expect your treatment to be the same. I listen to the works, gauge their merit, and see if they fit within the motif we’re exploring. It often takes months for shows to go between the auditioning phase to the broadcast simply because the show is only 30 minutes.

If you want a chance to be on the show, contact me and let me know what you’re up to, and either mail a CD or send me an mp3 link (I prefer mp3s, by the way).

So that’s that part. If you have questions or an opinion, hit me up in the comments.

Two Killer Christmas Offers

Speaking of Graphic Audio, they’re currently offering 30% off new releases (CD or MP3-CD only) and 40% off for a one time purchase for filling out a survey.

If you haven’t heard of them, you’ll find that they feature a whole range of semi-dramatized audiobooks from different comic book franchises. They have an astonishing array of titles, at least if you’re into the sci-fi/fantasy/comic range. Don’t look to them for hard literature.

There’s also an interesting deal by the Stories from the Golden Age — these are the people doing the L. Ron Hubbard pulp shorts audio dramas.

They’re offering a chance to win what they call a “Stories from the Golden Age iPod,” an iPod packed full with eighty L. Ron Hubbard audiobooks. Again, these ain’t for your grandmother, but if you want ball-fisted, tough-damed, action-packed surly drama, it’s great.

For your chance to enter you actually need to make a purchase (is that legal?) of $9.95 at galaxypress.com and then answer two questions of skill.

You can go to their site to enter the iPod contest or take advantage of their holiday offers, too.

More to Come

And yes, there’s plenty more audio where this came from. While these are paid goodies, tomorrow we’ll have a special extended two-hour episode for the Christmas holiday. How’s that for some extra cheer?

Thank you Google Alerts for turning me on to this one — today (that’s Dec 3) there will be a live dramatization of “A Christmas Carol” put on at the Brewer, Maine Middle School and broadcast online on WHSN-FM.

The Bangor Daily News covered the live dramatization in depth.

Brewer’s a bit of a haul, even for me, but I think you’ll be able to hear it streamed online at: WHSN’s website. There are also rumors that it’ll be podcast later on.

And in case you miss this for your Scrooge fix, note that Radio Drama Revival will be broadcasting Quicksilver Radio Theatre’s rendition of A Christmas Carol for the Christmas Day episode.

UPDATE: I don’t want to go into the sordid details but I found a piece of malware that was causing the RSS feed to invalidate and thus screw up iTunes and probably other podcatchers as well. I’m still looking into how it happened in the first place but as of now (4:40 EST on Sunday the 16th) the feed is up to date in iTunes.

Sorry for the inconvenience and please don’t hesitate to contact me if anything else seems amiss –
Fred

Well I’ve got to give another shout-out to my new friend Anne Cammon of NYC’s WKCR and the show “Art Waves” …. and not just because she plays my stuff (though admittedly, that does help!).

I’ve got to listen to some of her work and have to say that while it’s not always “hard” audio theater, it’s definitely storytelling in sound, and that’s what I’m all about. A style like This American Life with a gritty, literary tone.

We’re not talking about frou-frou writers in berets smoking cloves here, either, we’re talking about serious professionals and denizens of the underground.

Love it.

So tonight, here’s what I hear we’re in store for:

Celebrate the grit, glamour, fun and excitement of New York City with work
from Pulitzer Prize Winner Philip Schultz and poets Erik La Prade, Madeline
Artenberg and Iris N. Schwartz. Also, Jim Vescovi shares a tale of the old
world and the new as immigrant grandparents whose earliest form of
long-distance communication was yodeling from mountain to mountain try to
adapt to the telephone. And hear Catherine Conant tell the story of Maude,
who greeted Catherine in her first New York apartment, towel in hand,
explaining that she needs to use the shower.

It airs tonight on Art Waves, Friday, November 7th from 9:00-10:00 PM EST (89.9 FM in NYC, streamed at www.wkcr.org)

Sadly they don’t seem to have this being reliably archived or podcast, so do your mind a favor and try to tune into it live this evening.

Gosh, it makes me feel like a real celeb!

I just got a personalized letter from John Goodwin, President of Galaxy Press, publishers of the outstandingly vast collection of L. Ron Hubbard’s short stories in semi-dramatized format.

What? L. Ron Hubbard in audio? Well, if it’s news to you, it means you missed their awesome ink in the latest Audio File Magazine which is a bit of a crime for the audio drama enthusiast to begin with.

Anyhoo, the gig is that they’re releasing some 80+ audiobooks over the next six years, based on short stories Hubbard wrote in the 40s in the classic pulp style — you know, beefy dude and busty babes, situations of derring do and villians that are about as deep as a puddle and meaner than a pitbull.

The copy they sent me is “The Great Secret,” and so far I’ve gotten as far as the title track and was really impressed by the professional sound, tight writing and even, a little bit, by the story.

When I say “semi-dramatized,” I mean the story is told with a narrator, but spruced up with music and some effects (the haunting wind in this one). That lends to a more robust experience than the traditional audiobook but you’re still hearing one guy talking for most of it. But don’t worry — the narrator, Bruce Boxleitner, does a hell of a job at it.

I’m not sure if this is the kind of material for the ‘pod (or, indeed, if they’d even be game for having it on there) but it’s a great listen if you have an insatiable craving for above-average punch you in the guy genre stories. No fussy magic realism post-modern fuzzy limp-wristed nihilistic bohemian hip crap here.

There’s a great website at Golden Age Stories to learn more, and if you want a taste of it, you can hear their free podcast. They’ll even let you sit-in for a recording session if you’re in the LA area!

I hear there’s more to come, and stuff spanning mystery, adventure, fantasy and western in addition to sci-fi. For stories that have a real OTR/classic pulp flavor but take full advantage of modern recording, this stuff pulls it off better than anything I’ve heard so far.

And no, I don’t think you’re automatically converted to Scientology if you listen to it.

At least, I don’t think so. Yet.

Remember this from last year?? A video teaser of what horrible sounds are to come (9-11PM EST TONIGHT!)

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.

I mentioned earlier about the dawn of Echo Fiction, now I’m pleased to say that it is now live… Lest I say more, go over there and start listening!

Well, pull out that classic British idiom “And now for something completely different” for the latest from the Wireless Theatre Company. The thing is Davis & McQuillan, and it’s a musical comedy of an extraordinary absurdity that can only be achieved in audio.

Um. I’m not really sure if words can explain it. It’s bizarre, extravagant, strange, and even a bit weird. And yes it is funny. Is it traffic accident funny or truly funny?

Listen to it, only you can decide…

Well, the death toll for diversity has already been sounding for some time, but it still didn’t make it great news to hear that the XM and Sirius merger has been approved. I can’t applaud either company for making an exceptional effort at redefining the radio medium, but given that satellite seems destined to be “FM without commercials” I suppose the way things have gone is the only inevitable path.

Let’s just hope that Sonic Theater makes the transition and that there remains a place for full-cast audio production… but I’m not holding my breath.

I’m behind the curve on this, but I’d be dreadfully remiss if I didn’t put a shout-out for the National Audio Theater Festivals‘ week long summer audio drama workshop. I won’t be there this year, but my god, and I’m kinda wishing I was.

For example, listen to this juicy bit from their website:

Workshops lead by Dr. Hugh Morgan Hill, known throughout the world as Brother Blue. He is called by many the worlds’ greatest storyteller. He says he wants his stories “?to be bread for the mind, the imagination, the heart, the soul?.” He says, “I speak my stories from the middle of the middle of me to the middle of the middle of you.”

I would LOVE to become a better storyteller — you know, the kind of yarn you can just start spinning without any pre-scripting — and so meeting Dr. Hill sounds like one killer opportunity.

I would ALSO love to meet (face-to-face) Sam Mowry of the Willamette Radio Workshop — he, and Cynthia McGean, who runs the “Writers on the Air” workshop and blog — will be at NATF to run workshops in their respective areas of strength.

Gosh, and that’s only the beginning… There’s Cowboy Poetry, Shakespeare, and hey, did I mention the fact that you get to be personally involved in the production of a live feature-length audio play put together in less than a week’s time?

If you’re serious about this audio drama thing, and you haven’t made it out to West Plains yet, now’s the time. Check out the NATF website to make it happen!

P.S. You can also check out my coverage from last year’s workshop.

Great new stuff from the Wireless Theatre Company:

?The Youth Of Old Age? is the latest production from the Wireless Theatre Company. A gloriously offensive drama from controversial writer Stuart Price, which stars Prunella Scales (of Fawlty Tower fame) as Plutocrat Elizabeth Willem Gracie – possibly the most brutish, wicked, racist, sexist, ageist, lying, violent and loveable character she has played in recent years.

?The Youth Of Old Age? focuses on James (Edward Harrison), a trainee surgeon from an extremely wealthy background who returns home to ask his grandmothers permission to marry. His grandmother Elizabeth (Prunella Scales) is instantly suspicious as to why he has not brought the young lady with him. The ever-suffering man of the manor, Butler Edward (Knight Mantell) tries to sooth the situation but Elizabeth?s increasing attempts to meet the girl who will inherit her fortune lead her to go further than she even thought she dared?

Dangerous at best, wicked at all other times, ?The Youth Of Old Age? shows Prunella Scales at her acid-tongued best, bringing radio drama to today?s MP3 generation.

Sounds like really good stuff! And, stay tuned to the show, because we’ll be airing work from the Wireless Theatre Company starting Mid-May, after we conclude our ZBS-fest to commence this week.

In more audio drama news, the peculiar platitudes behind “The Many Men of Martha Manning” are up to more aural mischief:

Set in 1958, “MARTHA & DOTTY: MICROWAVE MAMBO!” is a multi-episode audio production that takes our heroines from their pastoral pine porch to the
Beat scene in Greenwich Village, to the casinos of Havana and to the bottom
of the ocean–with plenty of unexpected stops in between. And on the way,
they’ll delve into the mysteries of microwaves, multilingual love and a
pesky H-Bomb.

“MARTHA & DOTTY: MICROWAVE MAMBO” will again be directed by Grace
Gonglewski, choreographed by Karen Getz and written by David Witz. The show will feature guest players from the Philly Fringe, professional voice actors
and more than few surprise participants.

“The Many Men of Martha Manning” earned giddy reviews (“Hilarious–It
couldn’t be any better!” raved the Philadelphia Inquirer), thousands of
downloads from around the world and inspired college students to create
their own audio-theater pieces.

This year, “MARTHA & DOTTY: MICROWAVE MAMBO!” will be presented by BRAT Productions as a pay-per-download audio production.? Episodes will be available from iTunes and from http://MarthaAndDotty.com beginning in early August and throughout the 2008 Fringe.

Sounds like fun — and just to get you ready, you’ll be hearing Martha’s previous adventures sometime this spring.

Keeping apprised of radio drama headlines usually doesn’t net anything that wild and crazy, but LA Theatre Works Receives $250,000 Donation certainly caught my eye.

For those who aren’t familiar with LATW‘s work, they feature top-notch, serious theater productions which are distributed about as far and wide as any are in today’s market — this includes XM and public radio stations, and plenty to purchase online, though I’m pretty sure they don’t run a podcast or other taster/free content.

Anyways, their collection is huge, and the nature of the $250k grant seems to be archival in nature — creating a searchable database so that academics can? pick out scenes and selections of plays that interest them.? It also sounds like some new plays will be created with the money, which should be of stunning calibe, though I’m not sure what the article means by “new recordings aimed at the scholarly community.”

Congrats LATW, and I look forward to seeing where this one goes!