Episode 258: A Christmas Special that Overrules a Horrendous Plot

Wanted: Santa Claus
Photo by kevin dooley

Yuletide greetings dramatites! We’re delighted to share with you a 2008 retelling of a treasure from the golden age of radio, Norman Corwin‘s “The Plot to Overthrow Christmas,” revamped for you by our good friend Richard Fish.

This 35 minute romp of rhyming verse introduces us to Nero, violining in hell, and co-opted into a plot to assassinate Santa Claus. Except Santa Claus is not all as it seems, and sometimes the cold can do more to warm the heart than the flames of hell…

We give time to celebrate the spirit of Christmas (and please, I hope you laugh as much as I did during the section about the congressional body in hell) and also think about the passing of audio great Norman Corwin, who passed to the next world this year at age 101. His work is as heartwarming about Christmas and as indicting of the odious as it was 73 years ago.

We also have a very special review from comrade Captain Radio, who reviews a suite of retellings of A Christmas Carol – the new Blackstone Audio production (with sound design by We’re Alive‘s co-creator Shane Salk), Quicksilver Radio Theatre‘s, Voices in the Wind and even Lifehouse Theater. It is indeed a classic tale! And the Capt’s splendid review gives you tastes of the range of them, from the rich and embellished, to the spare and haunting.

Finally, we launch a new donation program – FinalRune Fivers (won’t you consider donating $5 to this show?) – and give a special shout-out to our friends at the Wireless Theatre Company. Their ever increasing library of top-notch audio drama this year features some fantastic Christmas radio plays.

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Radio Drama Revival – Episode 258

Episode 257: The Monte Christoan Count Gets His Revenge

Count of Monte Christo Radio DramaThis week we have the second installment of the classic The Count of Monte Christo by Alexander Dumas, dramatized for you by Lifehouse Theatre on the Air.

With origins in California-based community theatre, LifeHouse Theater On-The-Air is a new effort to create dynamic audio drama to entertain and educate audiences of all ages and walks of life. They produce classic stories from literature, history, the Bible, and the biographies of quotable notables. Visit their website for over a half-dozen exciting titles.

In Count, we meet Edmond Dantes, a naïve youth whose promise to his dying mentor sends him to stony imprisonment on Château d’If. In our previous installment, he met “The Mad Priest” who taught him to read and to fight… skills which allow him to escape his prison and sail the seas in search on a fortune on the island of Monte Christo – a fortune which allows him to enact his vengeance. But as we learn, vengeance comes at a high, high price.

First up, a delicious Captain Radio review of the new post-apocalyptic sci-fi audio serial, Our Fair City, which combines campiness and cartoonish characters to paint a tainted picture of corporatism.

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Radio Drama Revival – Episode 257

Episode 256: A Swashbuckling Embarcation of the Holiday Season

Count of Monte Christo Radio DramaOK, so we’re not quite edging into what would be traditionally called “Holiday Programming” here, but we do have a wonderful treat – the swashbuckling classic The Count of Monte Christo by Alexander Dumas, dramatized for you by Lifehouse Theatre on the Air.

With origins in California-based community theatre, LifeHouse Theater On-The-Air is a new effort to create dynamic audio drama to entertain and educate audiences of all ages and walks of life. They produce classic stories from literature, history, the Bible, and the biographies of quotable notables. Visit their website for over a half-dozen exciting titles.

In Count, we meet Edmond Dantes, a naïve youth whose promise to his dying mentor sends him to stony imprisonment on the Isle of Monte Christo.

First up, a delicious Captain Radio review of the fantastic (in the truest sense of the word) Fruits Baskets radio drama based on the manga.

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Radio Drama Revival – Episode 256

Episode 255: Sweeney Todd’s Barbary Falls in a Trap

Sweeney Todd String of Pearls Audio DramaThis week we are thrilled to be featuring work by Grammy-nominated dramaturge Yuri Rasovsky, whose 2012 production The Mark of Zorro is up for Best Spoken Word Album of the Year. We hear a teaser from that new work available either through Blackstone Audiobooks or on Audible.

Also in this edition is Captain Radio, with a taste of Lifehouse Productions’ Count of Monte Christo.

And then week 4, the bloody culmination of Yuri’s 2007 production, Sweeney Todd and the String of PearlsSweeney Todd and the String of Pearls. Week 4 runs a starving pie shoppe baker, a curious kid and the gallant Martin Gestry into diabolical confrontation – and conclusion. The sensation of 19th century London has returned in plays, film, and now, audio drama, in this masterful rendering by radio great Yuri Rasovsky.

Yuri proves that audio drama offers storytelling tools unavailable in any other medium, mixing in grisly violence, unsettling performances, and sonic interludes.

With permission from the producer, here is Blackstone Audio‘s release of . If you like what you hear, find almost 2 dozen other titles by Yuri also available through Blackstone.

Part 4 of 4

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Radio Drama Revival – Episode 255

Episode 254: A Barbarous Black Friday with Sweeney Todd

Sweeney Todd String of Pearls Audio DramaWeek 3 continues our foray into 19th century London, where Fleet Street is home to the “Demon Barber” Sweeney Todd, a snickering, dour man whose customers mysteriously disappear, only to reappear in pies at the neighboring pie shoppe. But when a man bringing word of Martin Gestry – a lovesick sailor – disappears along with a string of precious pearls, inquiring minds look deeper into the goings-on of Sweeney’s shop.

The sensation of 19th century London has returned in plays, film, and now, audio drama, in this masterful rendering by radio great Yuri Rasovsky.

Yuri proves that audio drama offers storytelling tools unavailable in any other medium, mixing in grisly violence, unsettling performances, and sonic interludes.

With permission from the producer, here is Blackstone Audio‘s release of Sweeney Todd and the String of Pearls. If you like what you hear, find almost 2 dozen other titles by Yuri also available through Blackstone.

Part 3 of 4

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Radio Drama Revival – Episode 253

Episode 253: A Bit More Polishing Off from Olde Sweeney Todd

Sweeney Todd String of Pearls Audio DramaWe return again to 19th century London, where Fleet Street is home to the “Demon Barber” Sweeney Todd, a snickering, dour man whose customers mysteriously disappear, only to reappear in pies at the neighboring pie shoppe. But when a man bringing word of Martin Gestry – a lovesick sailor – disappears along with a string of precious pearls, inquiring minds look deeper into the goings-on of Sweeney’s shop.

The sensation of 19th century London has returned in plays, film, and now, audio drama, in this masterful rendering by radio great Yuri Rasovsky.

Yuri proves that audio drama offers storytelling tools unavailable in any other medium, mixing in grisly violence, unsettling performances, and sonic interludes.

With permission from the producer, here is Blackstone Audio‘s release of Sweeney Todd and the String of Pearls. If you like what you hear, find almost 2 dozen other titles by Yuri also available through Blackstone.

Part 2 of 3

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 253