Here's part 1 of our fourth and final Sonic Summerstock Playhouse offering for 2020, a beautiful Norwegian folk tale interpreted by Louis MacNiece for BBC Radio and originally broadcast in 1959. There was no recording available for us to take inspiration from, so we did everything based on the script's dialogue and sound/music cues. In my humble opinion, this is one of the most lovely audio dramas I've ever produced, and I hope you enjoy it. Part 2 follows next week!

Angel Leigh McCoy as Helga

Karim C. Kronfli as Father and the North Wind’s Groom

Rachel Pulliam as Halvor and Longnose

Julia Eve as Mother and the Female Troll

Gareth Severn as the Prince and the Bear

Alex Moore as the Three Crones

Pete Lutz as the East Wind, the Parrot, and the Male Troll

Julie Hoverson as the West Wind and the Stepmother

Dana Gonsalves as the South Wind and the Prisoner 

Nick Wommack as the North Wind 

Additional voices by Alex Moore and Pete Lutz

Music composed and performed/sung by Dr. Ross Bernhardt

Produced & Directed by Pete Lutz

Created especially for Sonic Summerstock Playhouse 2020, we present a loving re-creation of several sketches from my favorite radio comedy duo, Bob & Ray. These sketches were drawn from their 1980s-era radio show for NPR. Directed by Pete Lutz and post-produced by John Bell, with music by Dr. Ross Bernhardt.

JOHN BELL as Bob Elliott

PETE LUTZ as Ray Goulding

Created especially for Sonic Summerstock 2020, we present a lost episode of the Old-Time Radio series, QUIET, PLEASE, entitled "Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall". Oliver is a man in an unhappy marriage, and under the thumb of his tyrannical boss. It seems the only way he can get any relief is to tell his troubles to his friend Eddie, over the phone. As we listen, we learn that someone else is listening, and has an unusual solution to Oliver's problems. Produced & directed by Pete Lutz

CAST:

OLIVER/ERNEST CHAPPELL: Pete Lutz

EVERWEIN: Dana Gonsalves

CAROLINE: Kristy Glick

DICTAGRAPH VOICE: Dawn Robertson

MUSIC: Dr. Ross Bernhardt

"Adventures of the Federated Tec"! A series of 8 initial episodes of 7 dramatized stories featuring Dashiell Hammett's nameless detective. We call him the Federated Tec ("Tec" being short for detective), but you probably know him as something else. We've chosen Hammett's first few stories that have moved into the public domain, and have done our best to stay true to the originals -- and why not? The originals are just fine, as far as we're concerned.

So here is episode two, "The Gatewood Caper", adapted by Pete Lutz from Hammett's second published story, in 1923. We hope you enjoy it and will join us for future episodes. 

ADVENTURES OF THE FEDERATED TEC WAS CONCEIVED BY PETE LUTZ AND DEVELOPED BY PETE LUTZ AND MARK SLADE. "The Gatewood Caper" was dramatized, directed and produced by Pete Lutz. Mixing and post-production was by Daniel French of Fishbonius Productions.

Our Cast consisted of the following players:

ANNOUNCER: Rich Wentworth

MR. GATEWOOD/MAN CALLING UP: John Bell 

THE FEDERATED TEC: Pete Lutz

MAID/APARTMENT MANAGER: Geri Elliff

SGT. O'GAR: Jason D. Johnson

DETECTIVE THODE: Mark Kalita 

AUDREY GATEWOOD: Angela Young

INSPECTOR LUSK: Paul Arbisi

THE OLD MAN: Joe Stofko

SALESPERSON: Frank Guglielmelli

TELEPHONE VOICE/"PENNY" QUAYLE:  Jeff Moon   

THEME/INCIDENTAL MUSIC: Dr. Ross Bernhardt

Join us next time for episode three, "Slippery Fingers"!

As a lifelong fan of the Marx Brothers, especially Groucho, I felt compelled during my "songwriting period" (1993-94, a time in my life where a lot of shit was hitting the fan, and all of these songs kept pushing their way out as a way to cope) to pen a tune about the man. This is it. The guitar is by my best friend at the time, Bart "Goat" Gauthreaux, who served with me in the Navy and never said no when it came time to help me with a song, or just to jam for hours, him playing, me singing. 

After a Persian Gulf cruise, where most of these songs were written, Goat and I met in his living room one afternoon and recorded all of the songs we'd made together on a tape recorder with a built-in microphone. High-class, right? But it was all we had, and I'm glad we did it. For Posterity. For the memories. For our friendship.

So...the sound quality isn't all that great, but the guitar melody comes out nicely and so does my nearly thirty-years-younger voice, like a sweet bell, I'm proud to say. This is my tribute to a great man who is still loved by many, not really forgotten, as I allude to in the song.

Every summer since 2015, the Narada Radio Company has produced at least one remake of an Old-Time Radio program in celebration of Sonic Summerstock Playhouse. About a month after they're initially launched at Mutual Audio Network, I generally re-launch them here for my regular audience. 

This year and for the two years previous, we've put out four remakes per season, each from a different radio series. It's a lot of work and it forces me to put the regular series on hiatus, because I'm just this one guy, you know? But I love doing it, and I love participating in these audio community projects. We're a family of creators, and if we can come together and collaborate at least once per year, then we are doing a wonderful thing, in my humble opinion.

So for Summerstock 2020, the first of Narada's four installments is this 1952 episode of the excellent OTR series, Night Beat, which starred Frank Lovejoy as Randy Stone, a reporter for the fictitious Chicago Star newspaper. I recommend you seek out this series, there are lots of free downloads available. You will love it, I guarantee. But listen to this one first. We have a top-notch cast which includes regular Narada players like Darren Rockhold and  Angela Young, plus Mutual Audio stalwarts like Lothar Tuppan, Jeff Billard, and John Bell. Next week's outlay will be another sample of a wonderful series, so don't miss it!

CAST:

ANNOUNCER – Darren Rockhold

RANDY STONE – Pete Lutz

EDIE – Angela Young

JIM GUTHRIE – Lothar Tuppan

RILEY JOHNSON – Jeffrey Billard

TINCHER – John Bell

FIRE CAPTAIN – James Scully

DOCTOR – Gareth Severn

P.A. SYSTEM VOICE  – Rachel Pulliam

MUSIC COMPOSED BY Dr. Ross Bernhardt

Season Two of Old-Time Radio Essentials continues! In this installment, Pete, Paul and Dave bring you this episode of THE SHADOW from 1946, "Gang Doctor", starring Bret Morrison! Will our post-show discussion have the ability to cloud men's minds? TUNE IN AND FIND OUT! 

And since we're on the subject of discussion, we hope to determine whether this entry meets the following criteria:

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 !