MERRY CHRISTMAS! Welcome, friends, to the Narada Radio Company's second year of performing -- LIVE, in front of an audience -- our adaptation of the 1947 broadcast of "The Lux Radio Theatre: 'It's a Wonderful Life'"! Once again, we performed at the historic Rialto Theater in Aransas Pass, Texas, over two weekends in December 2019, to small, yet appreciative audiences. (BUT -- this is not the same show as last year! It's an extended version: some lines from a 1947 "Camel Screen Players" radio broadcast, plus additional dialogue, were added to this production, for our audience's benefit.)
Please do your best to overlook the technical and sound anomalies present in this recording. They couldn't be helped, and couldn't be removed fully in post-production.
I want to thank all of you listeners, and my terrific Narada members, for helping us have a really wonderful year! We created seven new audio dramas in 2019 for "The Cellar", four for Sonic Summerstock, and two for World Audio Drama Day, and we brought live audio drama to three venues in South Texas. Not only all of this, but I put out nine episodes of our new podcast, "Old-Time Radio Essentials". What will 2020 bring? Tune in and find out!
CAST OF "IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE":
Dana Gonsalves as GEORGE BAILEY
Jessica Mathews as MARY BAILEY, A BOY and ZUZU
Michele Barnett as CLARENCE
Chuck Wilson as JOSEPH and the DOG
Pete Lutz as FRANKLIN, POP BAILEY, MR. POTTER, OLD MAN COLLINS, MR MARTINI, THE BRIDGEKEEPER, and NICK
John Bell (of the BELL'S IN THE BATFRY Podcast) as MR. GOWER, JOE, ERNIE BANKS, ED, THE ANGRY MAN, and CHARLIE
Tamara Merson Wren as DR. CAMPBELL, TOM, MR WELCH and COUSIN TILLY
Teddy Giggy as MRS. HATCH, EUSTACE and BERT THE COP
Russ Walker as ANNOUNCER 1 and HARRY BAILEY,
Geneva Aubrey as YOUNG GEORGE, MRS THOMPSON, JANIE BAILEY and THE WORRIED WOMAN
Dawn Robertson as A BOY, MA BAILEY and PETEY BAILEY
Gene Giggy as UNCLE BILLY
Royce Harrell as ANNOUNCER 2, SAM WAINWRIGHT, RANDALL, and the SHERIFF
Ross Bernhardt as BYSTANDER, HORACE and MR. CARTER
MUSIC BY: Dr. Ross Bernhardt
LIVE SOUND EFFECTS PERFORMED BY: Pete Lutz
FESTERSHIELD CIGARETTES commercials and jingles written by Pete Lutz
FESTERSHIELD PERFORMERS:
Russ Walker as THE PRIVATE
Pete Lutz as THE SERGEANT
Dawn Robertson as THE DRIVER and THE CRYING KID
Dana Gonsalves as THE COP
John Bell as THE DISPATCH VOICE
Gene Giggy as SANTA CLAUS and
FESTERSHIELD QUARTET: Ross Bernhardt, Chuck Wilson, Teddi Giggy, Geneva Aubrey
HUGE THANKS TO JOHN BELL (and the lovely Mrs. Bell) for traveling all the way from Alabama and spending two weeks in performance with us!
SPECIAL THANKS AND MAD LUV TO RUSS AND SUZY WALKER for making the historic Rialto Theater available for these performances. If you're in the Corpus Christi area, make the drive to Aransas Pass for a show at the Rialto. It's community theatre at its finest!
Episode 9 -- "Christmas Show 1950", The Bing Crosby Chesterfield Show
Welcome to Old-Time Radio Essentials, a new podcast wherein a specific episode from a selected OTR series is presented, and then discussed by three co-hosts: Pete Lutz, Jane St. John and Paul Arbisi; to determine whether or not it meets the following criteria:
1. Is it truly representative of that series? (Can anyone point to it and say, "Yes, that is what [NAME OF SERIES] was all about.")
2. Is it an episode worthy of inclusion in any and every OTR aficionado's private collection?
So with this in mind, we three bring you, as our ninth installment (and Pete's selection), this episode of The Bing Crosby Show from 1950. We'll introduce the show, play it in its entirety, then discuss it at length. Thanks for joining us, and we hope you enjoy it!
To comment on how we might improve this podcast, or give suggestions for future discussions, please write to us at f6point3@gmail.com . Put the word "Essentials" in the subject line.
Your feedback means a lot to us! A review at iTunes or at your usual podcatcher would be appreciated.
FIND THIS SHOW PLUS HUNDREDS OF OTHER WONDERFUL AUDIO DRAMAS AT www.mutualaudionetwork.com !
FANS OF 'THE CELLAR'...don't worry, Cadavera will be back soon. Our next number, "Skulls in the Stars" is being guest-produced by my friend John Bell, of the "Bell's in the Batfry" podcast.
But with luck an' if the creek don't rise, our next feature will be a special Jake Dimes, Range Detective Christmas show, "Santa's Stolen Sack". Watch for that before Christmas Day!