Visit our photo gallery

/

Read our Pioneer Press Review

/

Sign up for our monthly Newsletter

/

What do people say about us?

/

Information on our next show

NOTE: The first notes for each show are by producer Ben Dooley and are in basic black. Any following notes are by other cast members and are in pretty colors.

General Comments, thoughts and memories.
My memories of doing the shows are not about actually being in front of the microphone. When I was not acting, I loved to look out at the audience and watch their reactions. No matter what ages the people were, they all seemed to be paying rapt attention, I believe more so than they would if they were watching a regular play. It’s always been very rewarding to see that and feel the appreciation of the audience at the end.
A fellow actor asked me recently about why I did these shows. There was no money involved, and certainly we weren’t playing to a big crowd. All I could say was that it was great fun, I loved the people I was working with and giving the kind of simple pleasure we do was enriching beyond words.
-Greg Lackner

in general, having opportunity to watch the audience is the most rewarding part of these performances. whether acting or doing sound effects, the before-during-after performance responses are heart-warming and fun. the 4th wall is not usually allowed to be broken when performing, but the radio performances count on audience as a vital ingredient in successful performances.
-Joy Kenyon

September 2002- The Life of Riley: "Bean Contest/ Are We Ever Going to Get a Car?"

COMMENTS:

"This was the first show we ever did. I had no idea what I was doing or if it would work. We cast Tim Baker as Riley and Craig Gustafson knew exactly how to portray "Digger" O'Dell, the friendly undertaker.
The Show centers around Riley trying to win a car in a "guess how many beans in the bowl" contest, so he buys a bowl, fills it with beans, and spends his days counting them. After losing count the first time, he is even more determined and unfortunately has to run out with his last handful to count.
Meanwhile his wife (played by Pam Turlow) is making dinner for some guests and comes across the bowl of beans. Thinking they are some crazy bulk purchase her husband made, she begins preparing them.
As I said, I had no idea if this show would work, but the minute Babs came across the beans, I heard the audience let out a collective, "Ohhhh!" already anticipating the commotion this would create.
They got it. They were totally with us.
And we were hooked as well from that point on."

"I remember our very first show. I was scared to death because I had to sing all by myself, even if it was just a Prell shampoo jingle. But I rose to the occasion and sang out, "P-R-E-L-L,Prell Shampoo!". I even managed to stay on key. The audience laughed and applauded and I was very relieved and happy. I'll never forget that show-or that jingle."
-MARGIE GUSTAFSON

October 2002- Inner Sanctum: "Ghosts Always Get the Last Laugh", Baby Snooks: "Halloween"

COMMENTS:

Our second show.
Clearly in our early stages still, but even then the cast was starting to gel together. I cast newcomer Gary Price in the lead role about a judge who sentences a man to death, and then kills his own wife to be with his mistress. Our first drama-type show, and I think we pulled it off well. But I'll be danged if I'll ever be able to recreate that incredible squeaking door at the beginning of the show. Even all the recordings of a squeaking door that I could find weren't that good.
I now intentionally avoid doing any shows that have a creaking door.
The second show paired up Pam Turlow and John Corona as that lovable brat Snooks and her tolerant daddy. It was a fun episode and Pam dressed the part even down to the big bow in her hair.
A special thanks goes to my friend Jon, who despite his complete disinterest in playing for our troupe, he agreed to help me out. His piano playing skills are good and his piano improvising is fantastic (he's played for Second City and Boom Chicago)
He brought in his synthesizer and added a real spooky sound to it all.

December 2002- The Campbell Playhouse: "A Christmas Carol"
"This very well might be considered out first successfully impressive production. Pam Turlow directed John Corona who seemed to vocally embody Lionel Barrymore himself.

COMMENTS:

A few highlights were Craig Gustafson as the Marley's ghost. When he started to howl, I kicked up the echo and Pam started rattling this heavy and rusty metal chain. I looked out into the audience and noticed my two 4-year old cousins had jumped out of their seats and into the laps of "safe" adults. Craig was proud of himself.
Also, I needed something metal to bang on to create the sound effect of the church bells in the distance. A friend of mine had something that I borrowed and so I wrapped it in a sheet and began pounding away. The sound was absolutely perfect and the audience could hear the echoing tones of the bells in the distance.
What they could not see was that I was slamming a padded hammer into the side of a diffused WWII bomb that came up to my chest.
Also, special mention goes to he dad, Dan Turlow, who was wonderful as the ghost of Christmas Past, old and tired. This is my wife's favorite show that we have done so far. She also did a great job of directing. "

February 2003- Lux Radio Theater: "Casablanca"

COMMENTS:

"When I started this troupe, I knew in the back of my head that I wanted to attempt some bigger things. This was our stab at it. "A Christmas Carol" was big enough, but then I insisted on following it up with a Lux Radio Theater movie adaptation. And nothing said "Valentine's Day" more than one of the most famous love stories of them all, "Casablanca."
Premiere member Gary Price is no longer part of the group--his schedule was to conflicting--but I will always remember the amazing job he did as Rick.
I also delighted in being able to cast real life married couple Linda and Lars Timpa as the revolutionary fighters, Ilsa and Victor Laslo. Lars has a great ability to either speak in a great European dialect, or make you think he's speaking in a European dialect. So he was perfect, and newcomer to the group Greg Lackner took the role of Captain Renault.

By the way, the poster to the left is an example of what the posters of the first two years looked like. Basically, the same two people and the titles stuff and graphics, and then I would simply change the dates and shows. Sometimes adding in other little icons, like dice and a roulette wheel for the forthcoming gambling show. But for the most part, they were all pretty simple.

April 2003- Suspense: "The Dark Tower", Pat Novak For Hire: "Agnes Bolton"

COMMENTS:

"Craig, my fellow enthusiast, wanted to try a couple episodes and so selected these two shows. I do remember having some frustrating problems with the recorded sound effects, especially the rain I had recorded for the end. In rehearsal, I noted that I needed it to be longer, but forgot to fix it. So come show time, the rain suddenly stopped halfway through the scene.
Ah, Live radio."

June 2003- "When the Students Take Over" featuring Our Miss Brooks: "Student Government Day", Suspense: Ray Bradbury's "Zero Hour"

COMMENTS:

"I started pairing up our shows with similar themes, and although I realized this was a bit of a stretch, I still think it worked. Especially "Zero Hour." I realize that it's one of the more often done scripts and I usually try to do stay off the beaten path, but we had such fun coming up with the buzzing sound effects of the space ships landing.
Craig brought in about 4 old electric razors and tied them together. They were all at a different pitch and the resulting sound was quite spooky.
joy Kenyon did a great job as well as the sweet innocent girl who scares the pants off of everyone by the end of the show.
On a side note, I was delighted to again cast Linda and Lars Timpa, true life husband and wife, as husband and wife. At the end, they let out this bloodcurdling scream and Linda couldn't do it, so Pam stepped in as "stunt screamer".
The earlier script of Our Miss Brooks, featured Pam Turlow who matched wonderfully the dry-witted and romantically desperate Eve Arden. But the uncanniness really hit when John Corona stepped to the mike and gave a spot on "Walter Denton." My father insisted that "he sounded more like Walter Denton than Walter Denton."
And this from the same man who would later scare the pudding out of us in Dracula (see below)

November 2003- "The Trouble with Gambling" featuring the Adventures of Maisie: "In Las Vegas", Abbott & Costello: "Shootin' Dice" (from "Buck Privates"), The Life of Riley: "Riley Teaches Junior a Gambling lesson"

COMMENTS:

Craig Gustafson continually surprises me with what he can do, and his Costello was immaculate. I was also greatly delighted to have Greg Lackner do a marvelous Abbott. They blended and complimented each other so well--they instantly got the timing. As they said, "Abbott never lets Lou finish a sentence.
Meanwhile, Joy Kenyon turned around from her evil little girl to a saucy New York girl out on her own on the big strip. Complete with gangsters and guns and bombs blowing up cars, it was a bit of a sound effects nightmare. But it pulled off quite well.
We also pulled in Tim Baker to reprise his role as Riley, this time trying to teach Junior (John Corona) the evils of gambling."

December 2003- Lux Radio Theater: "It's a Wonderful Life"

COMMENTS:

After all this time of giving everyone else plush roles, I wanted to step in, and I had my sights on honoring Jimmy Stewart's work in this show. I didn't set out to imitate Stewart, as I fear so many try to do--it always comes off as some bad SNL sketch--but more adopt his vocal gait and style. I like to think I succeeded. It was an even bigger treat to play opposite my own wife, Pam, who shone so Donna Reed like, it made the love and passion of the characters flow so easily.
Other notable performances were Craig as Clarence, Gary Joy as the lighthouse keeper, who sounded a lot like the Mrs. Paul's fisherman, Dan Turlow as Uncle Billy, and the first appearance of my young cousin Jim Dooley as one of my kids. I think he was about 7 or 8 at the time, and, although a little quiet at the microphone, did a great job. He's appeared in further shows and has gotten better with each time. Pam directed this one, while also covering the Donna Reed role quite well (I always love playing opposite her) and she cast her dad, Dan Turlow, as Uncle Billy. It was a little difficult for me, as George, to blow up at him after he looses the money, and even harder for Pam to listen to it. But Dan carried the role well.
This was also the first time real work was put into the poster. The image is an actual poster for the movie, which I painstakingly cleaned out all the movie connections with Photoshop and then added in our stuff. Hard to do when you have mixed colors fading in the background. Which explains the blotchy colors.

March 2004- "Tribute to Sci-Fi Writers" featuring Exploring Tomorrow: Isaac Asimov's "The Liar", X-Minus One: Ray Bradbury's "Mars is Heaven"

COMMENTS:

"John Corona was haunting, almost a perfect blend of HAL and David Hyde Pierce, and Pam got a chance to get somewhat over dramatic. And Pam got a chance to finally do something she hasn't done yet with this group, be over dramatic and hysterical.
"Mars is Heaven" was the beginning of a series of technically challenging shows for me, especially with sound effects. I had to track down (and sometimes create) rocket blasts, sci-fi electronic sounds and several different surfaces of footsteps. This isn't such a big deal, but we try to do as many as we can live.
This also marks as our introduction to classic radio sound blunders.
While the explorers are walking around Mars, they suddenly hear a rooster crowing off in the distance. But the recorded sound player I had suddenly shut off and I had to desperately try to relocate the track.

CAPTAIN: Quiet. You don't now what's out here. All right come on.
(F/X: FOOTSTEPS on DIRT)
(F/X: ROOSTER CROW should be here, but instead there's silence.)
(the actors pause a bit, waiting for the sound. Finally John Corona looks over and sees me freaking out over the sound player and decides to continue. The actors are altering the script a little.)
LUSTIG: Captain I could swear that I heard a rooster.
CAPTAIN: I don't hear anything.
HORST: (improvising a bit) It's way off in the distance (and then back to the script) A rooster crowing on Mars.
(SFX: suddenly the sound effect of a machine gun firing that was for later in the show starts playing)
CAPTAIN: Kingston.
KINGSTON: Aye, sir.
CAPTAIN: (improvising) Stop firing that machine gun and take it (back to the script) twenty-five yards to the flank. We'll stay here till the ground mist lifts.
KINGSTON: Aye, sir.

Ah, live radio."

August 2004"- "Game Shows" featuring It Pays to Be Ignorant and You Bet Your Life.

COMMENTS:

"Always up for trying something different, something off the beaten path, I thought we' d try our hand at Game Shows. The first was "It Pays To Be Ignorant." A show which consisted of a panel of old vaudvillians tossing off one liners and bag gags while masquerading as a game shoe.
Certainly with every one of our shows, the piano player does a fantastic job adding such dimension and color to the show. But this time, Chris Maihew went above and beyond with his warped off-kilter and massively intentionally out of tune rendition of the "Spring Song" from Midsummer's Night Dream.
We followed that show with "You Bet Your Life." When I heard it several months prior, I immediately cast two people. Craig Gustafson was the only person in the cast who could do Groucho justice. In fact, in my opinion, of just about anyone I know. It's not so much that he has the exact voice (although he did a pretty darn close match) but he gets the style, the timing, the inflections. Listening to him, I felt we could have done no better. I also instantly cast his wife Margie, who has done a wonderful job of filling in the roles where we need her. I wanted to give her something a little fun to play with, and the role of the engaged contestant who wins the jackpot prize with her husband "Punky" was perfect. Young and innocent sounding, I know it matched Margie's tone perfectly.

"I've done many different voices for TTDY, some of them semi-famous - The Life of Riley's Digger O'Dell, Fibber McGee & Molly's Wallace Wimple (Bill Thompson doing the voice he later used as Droopy in MGM cartoons) or really famous - Lou Costello or Frank Morgan. Nothing scared me like doing Groucho. Anybody can do the young Groucho -- "One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas; how he got in my pajamas, I don't know" -- easy stuff. But the older Groucho, slower, more soft-spoken and dealing with real people, AND keeping it up for a half hour. Scared the willies out of me. Pam said she'd never seen me sweat like that before a show. I needed windshield wipers on my glasses. I guess it came off ok -- nobody stoned me, although being stoned seemed like a reasonable aspiration at the time. But that was the scariest thing I've ever done with the group."
-CRAIG GUSTAFSON.

September 2004- "Back To School" featuring Fibber McGee & Molly "Grammar" and The Harold Peary Show "First Day of School"

COMMENTS:

Rarely do I actually cast a show ahead of time and insist that those folks be available. Occasionally, I know who I want to play certain roles, but I always keep it flexible due to schedule conflicts.
That said, when Gary Joy first joined the group for "It's a Wonderful Life" I knew at some point I'd have to do a Fibber show. His voice quality is almost a dead match. Normally, I try to avoid doing "legendary personalities", mainly because no matter how good you are, there's always the risk of suffering comparison. However, with Gary, i knew I had the Fibber ace in the hole. Pam did a great job taking on the delightful Molly and Joy was Teeney.
When I first heard this episode, I found it to be so playful and fun that it had to be done. Normally I like to find complementary shows to pair up--sharing common themes, so I immediately began hunting my archives for something that had to do with school and higher education. At the same time, I realized that since I was already choosing a radio icon to duplicate, I may as well match it with another.
Looking at our cast, I knew that, Like Gary, Steve Schroeder is the modern day equivilent of Harold Peary, also known as the Great Guildersleeves.
Castingwise, I could not have been more dead on. Both wore the roles well. I also called in my younger cousin, Jim to play a young schoolboy opposite myself. It was a little strange, mind you, to be playing the same age as him, and me being 30 years older. If this were truly radio, I wonder if anyone would've noticed. The rest of the supporting cast, as always, did a great job, but what seemed to get the most comments afterwards was Pam's cute little puppy. Apparently for all the great vocal acting we could do, none were a match for Pam's sweet Beagle-type howling.
W.C. Fields was right.

October 2004 - Canadian Broadcast Company's Stage Series "Dracula"

COMMENTS:

Sound effects nightmare, and a spectacular success.
I'll preface this by saying that ever since I started this group, I hear people asking if we do "The War of the Worlds." Quite frankly, aside from the nostalgia of it all, I find the piece a tad boring. But I did notice that the Mercury Theater has done an adaptation of Dracula. I was all excited. "Now THIS will be good," I exclaimed.
But when Pam and I listened to it, we nearly fell asleep. Orson Welles just talks through all of it, reciting long drawn out boring passages from the book, instead of having his talented cast act it out. There was no way we could do this pompous audio disaster.
Almost despondent, I discovered a 1949 production of Dracula by the Canadian Broadcasting Company. Just listening to a five minute snippet sold me. THIS was the one to do.
If you've seen the 1992 movie with Gary Oldman, imagine listening to a 50 minute version of that without the picture. This was one intense show--and from 1949, no less!
The audience got their share of chills--from the haunting echoes of the vampire brides, to John Corona himself as the evil and dark master of the night. Walking into crypts in the middle of the night, being swarmed by thousands of rats (another sound effects nightmare that resulted in my taking several single rats and altering the pitch slightly and looping them en masse) to actual stakes pounding into pumpkins for the piercing flesh sound effect.
A favorite moment of mine in the show was hearing our piano player, Chris, reach over and eerily stroke the strings inside the piano while his other hand pumped out the organ sound on the synthesizer, as Van Helsing spouted his Latin prayers while Dr. Seward drove the stake into his hissing and howling undead wife, Lucy. When all had subsided, the audience burst into applause.
We had done our deed in taking them on a fantastic journey of the imagination."

December 2004- Lux Radio Theater: "Miracle On 34th Street."

COMMENTS:

"Pam really wanted to reprise "A Christmas Carol", and as much of a fan as I was of that show, I know that there were so many Christmas shows left to do. We had the rest of the cast but we still needed our two main characters.
A few weeks before the show, Pam and I did a job with a young girl. Well, actually she was 27, but she sounded even younger. We were telling her about the troupe and she was very interested. Pam and I knew she had to be our young precocious Susan Walker. She asked if she needed to audition, but Pam and I already knew she could handle it. And Kim Plastina joined the troupe.
Still on the lookout for a Santa, Pam came home from a job and told me about this guy, Dennis Stewart, that she had worked with. He knew Craig and seemed interested in our group as well. A quick check in with Craig was enough to convince me that we had found our Santa.
Both new members were great. And for having jumped in new to the cast, they rose to the occasion and performed beautifully. Especially the scene where Kris teaches Susan how to visit the land of Imagi-Nation and they pretend to be monkeys. Dennis was so sweet and loving, and you could just hear Kim opening up to the world of being a child.
I will also mention that I believe newcomers Kim and Dennis (along with other newcomers Aaron Wolfenson and Aimee Kohler) were able to rise to the occasion because the rest of the cast came to the read through ready to raise the bar. We have a great cast with some truly exceptional actors who have never let me down in our shows.
Young cousin, Jim, appeared again along with another new addition to the cast, my other young cousin, Maryrose, whom I cast as a little girl asking Santa for presents. During the day of the show, I thanked her for being a part of the show and she mentioned that she had watched the movie the night before and noticed that her character was not in the movie. Interestingly enough, the Lux writers created the character of the little girl. So her's was special. She did a great job, too."

February 2005-"The Trouble With Love" featuring Baby Snooks: "The Ugly Duckling" and My Favorite Husband: "Valentine's Day"
This was probably my least favorite production we did. And not really for the material. The audience loved it. Joy Kenyon was great taking over the role of "Snooks", and Diane Ladley sounded exactly like the original recording with young Lucille Ball--and she had never listened to it.
Nope, I felt we should try to incorporate jingles into the show. Commercials with songs. Simple ones, though, for Jell-O and Post Toasties. The only trouble is, we're actors, and only some of us are singers, and singing jingles that we don't really know. So... I'll just leave it at that.
Other than that the show went fine. Aaron Wolfenson, a newer member, did a good job as Liz' husband and our long term member, Margie Gustafson, finally got to do some fun character work as Liz' neighbor.
I had typed up the script nearly three years ago when I first put the troupe together, in fact, I had already cast Pam as Snooks and Julie and Linda as her two girlfriends. Well, Pam opted to pass so she could do the next show, and we gave Snooks to our resent adult with a seven year old voice, joy Kenyon. She nailed it perfectly, and Julie Rodgers-Baker made her triumphant return to the radio stage as her best friend Henrietta."

April 2005-Lux Radio Theater's "The Wizard of Oz"

COMMENTS:

"This show has been a challenge from the start back in November when I started planning for it. First off I had the great idea of partnering with the local High School band. It seemed like a simple enough idea. Get the sheet music, rehearse a little, and send it on it's way.
Well, sheet music for this show any more complex than flue solo or E-Z Guitar is not possible for under $600--a budget we just don't have, considering we don't charge admission for our shows.
So plan "B" was to use our regular (and extremely talented) piano player, Chris Maihew.
Despite all the set backs--cast members getting sick, the road outside was under complete construction and my printer crashed (hard to print scripts for everyone without) This show ended as a great success.
First, it is always a treat to hear my wife, Pam, sing. And to top it off, she does a great Judy Garland.
In fact the whole major cast was in rare form.
John Corona melted hearts as the Tin Man in search of one
Greg Lackner filled the stage with such Burt Lahrsian bravado as the Cowardly Lion
And Craig Gustafson, when he stepped up to the mic as Professor Marvel (aka, the Wizard), I could swear he was channeling Frank Morgan.
It was also a great treat for me to step in as the Scarecrow, a role I've always loved.
I also have to give accolades to the rest of the cast, because this was indeed an ensemble performance. Joy Kenyon and Dianne Ladley were the ultimate of the good and bad witches, while the rest of the cast added such great color and layers as the Munchkins and Emerald City townsfolk.
This was also the birth of our new sound machine, crafted by cast member Lars Timpa. And it was the first show we have ever done without any recorded sound effects, walking shoes and our door.
All the singing was top notch, and I have to admit that during "Ding Dong, the witch is dead" i stopped singing and just delighted for a moment listening to the cast. Just by listening, I could see the hundred little people, all in their funny colorful costumes, singing with glee and celebration in this magical land of theirs. It was the beauty of radio. The rich sound was there, and my imagination had no choice but to explode with images.
What a cast.
Truly, this was a show that lands in my top three, and is the first that I'm seriously contemplating reviving in the future."

"All of the shows are memorable and special in different ways, but some shine. "The Wizard of Oz" for instance. Seeing faces out in the audience, of all ages, with a childlike innocence about them, while one of their favorite stories from long ago played out. Getting the chance to be Judy Garland was an emotional one, more emotional than I bargained for. Being hit with how much the song "Over the Rainbow" means to so many people. It's times like these that bringing the old time radio shows to people goes beyond a simple afternoon's entertainment, when it spans ages and backgrounds and brings us all together to delight in a jewel of musical cinema. It's overwhelming"
-PAM TURLOW

"My favorite performance to do so far was in 'The Wizard of Oz'- got to do all of the sound effects, be Glinda AND TOTO! sometimes all at once! i think the audience liked Toto the most.
Also, working sound effects is a GAS! not the recorded effects so much (like the fateful machine-gun toting rooster from mars), but working and helping create the tools and gadgetry- chimes, doors, walking, leaves rustling, bangs, booms, you name it! THAT's what i always think of with old-time radio, that's what is fun for the audience to see (they COULDN'T years back when these shows were new) and that is what is fun to do!
-JOY KENYON

June 2005- "Dark Humor from classic literature" featuring Escape: "Evening Primrose" and Damon Runyon: "Sense of Humor"

COMMENTS:

"Craig Gustafson took over the helm for this one, choosing the shows, hashing out the scripts, and directing them."
I was delighted that he gave me some juicy roles to play with. I always love checking in with the audience, either working sound effects or standing at the microphone, and hearing gasps and laughter from the audience. It tells me that they "get it."
Incidentally, Craig also not only did the fantastic poster, but provided me with the radio logo that I now use in every poster.
Thanks, Craig."

August 2005-"Beware of the Backseat" featuring Suspense: "the back Seat Driver," and "On a Country Road."

COMMENTS:

"I first listened to "Country Road" over a year ago, and patiently waited for the right moment. In fact, while on vacation with Pam, I played it for her as we were driving late at night through the Indian interstate.
There's a scene in "Country Road," where the rain is pouring on the stranded car, the wind is howling (from our very own garden hose wind machine made by Lars Timpa) and suddenly the thunder crashes and the lighting flashes and there is a crazy women dripping wet pounding on the car window, screaming to be let in... and commercial.
I love those moments. That's when, during the show, I take a second to look out into the audience and I can tell how much they're into it. Pam, John and Kristen did a marvelous job.
I also was able to match it with another Suspense, that starts off similarly, but goes in a completely different direction. I like finding fun things for Greg Lakner to take on, and he added such a layer to his menacing killer. Sadly, I recorded this one, but then it got accidentally erased. I think it's one of the finest acting ones we've done."

October 2005- "Tricks and Treats," featuring the Life of Riley: "The Haunted House" and My Friend Irma: "Irma and Jane See a Ghost"

COMMENTS:

"After the struggle it took to find Dracula last year, I wasn't looking forward to having to find good scary shows again.
The trouble is, that many of them, although scary, either don't have a good cast, are aren't that well written, or wouldn't translate well for us. And I already just did not one, but two Suspense episodes, so I couldn't use that as a resource.
So I decided to give up the scary route, and go comedy. We hadn't done one in a while anyway.
Ever since I heard "My Friend Irma," I knew that I had to have Margie play it opposite Pam. Sure enough, I found an episode that fit the Halloween theme. Of course, they were perfectly cast, along with Lars, our resident European accent actor.
I was also able to match it with another "Life of Riley" which I heard over a year ago and knew we had to do it. This makes the third time Riley has graced our stage, and Tim Baker and John Corona hit their roles delightfully.
I'd have to say, though my heart broke when Kristen appeared at the lonely widow. From hysterical crazy lady in the last show to sad and alone wife. She's got some range.

That's actually something that I'm quite proud of with our cast. Many of us have quite a great range, while others are perfectly suited for particular roles. for the most part, it's really pretty easy to cast each show and feel confident that the actors can handle the roles."

December 2005-

"Santa & Scrooge" featuring the Campbell Theater Playhouse: "A Christmas Carol" and the CBS Radio Christmas Special: "A Visit from St. Nick."
"This is the first time that we ended up repeating a show.

COMMENTS:

What I recall from my first show, last December's A Christmas Carol, was that Rob Lamont sounded just like Patrick Stewart. When we were doing the show, I was following along with the script, not even bothering to look up. And I swear, Rob sounded just like Patrick Stewart when I saw him play Scrooge on a recent A Christmas Carol television special a few years ago.
Steve did a great Orsen Wells in that show, too.
-DOUG PAGE

February 2006-"Will you wait for me?" featuring Make Believe Town, Hollywood: "A Very Important Appointment" and A Day In the Life Of Dennis Day: "Dennis Must Decide Between an Acting Career and His Girl friend."

COMMENTS:

"The Best show we've done to date. As much as I love doing this, part of me didn't want to be in the show because then I couldn't watch it.
This is another example of how I heard a show (Make Believe Town, Hollywood) something like two years ago and I just tucked it away for the perfect time. Finding the perfect companion was tricky, until I came across Dennis Day. Pam was fantastic as both young and old Eva, as I knew she would be, she nailed the sweet innocence of an awkward 14-year old girl as well as the older professional woman clinging to a memory. Originally I was looking to play opposite Pam as Lee, but I also knew that I was pretty much the only one in our troop who could tackle Dennis (the voice is so stylized and specific, we'd be dead if it was done so-so, which is why I'm very hesitant in doing Jack Benny until I find a really good Jack) so I passed the role to Tony. Boy was I glad I did. He did such a fine job with the role. In fact, everyone in the show really stepped up and hit bulls eyes every time. Margie was cast as my girl friend, Mildred and she has such a natural innocence to her voice, it's what she does well, a perfect match for Dennis Day.
I could go on for a while about how everyone was marvelous; Doug Page--a new member--really nailed the announcing style, not an easy thing to do, and John Corona crooned our hearts all the while really selling shampoo. But it was Gary joy, again, I knew he was crucial to casting him as Mildred's father, and when we went out as the Ink Spots, I had to concentrate really heard on singing my "Ooo, ooo, ooo's" while he's reciting in his nebbish southern drawl, "Way down inside 'a me, darlin' I have only one desire. And that one desire is you, poopsie-gal."
Oh yes, and I had a blast singing all those songs in all the different styles, from Ted Lewis to the Ink Spots and classic 20's style all the way.
The bar has certainly been set, and I wouldn't be surprised if we mounted this again sometime."

"This was an exceptionally tight and focused show, with all performers pulling out all the stops. The essence of old time radio was alive and well on that little stage that day. I adored Ben's Dennis O'Day and his sidekick Herbie, played by Gary Joy, as they emulated the vocal styles of various pop artists from the early half of the 20th century. A gem."
I loved doing this show -- "A Very Important Appointment", was a heart-rending piece, perfectly offset by the zaniness of the Dennis Day show. I still wonder who the actress was whose life was chronicled in, "... Important Appointment."
PAM TURLOW

May 2006-"They Seem so Lifelike": featuring Dimension X, "Marionettes Inc." and X-Minus-One, "Perigi's Wonderful Dolls."

COMMENTS:

One of our members, Margie, couldn't be in the show, but came to watch the performance.
"You get a different perspective sitting in the audience. Originally the people sitting next to me and in back of me thought, due to a mistake in the Oak Park Arms advertising, that they were going to hear a jazz band and have dancing. So part of the audience was potentially hostile. Which you proceeded to completely win over. Well played.
-MARGIE GUSTAFSON

July 2006-"The Clowns who Came to Dinner": featuring My Friend Irma, "Irma Meets Jane" and The Magnificent Montague, "Boo Boo Foo Foo."

COMMENTS:

September 2006- Lux Radio Theater: "Destry Rides Again."

COMMENTS:

Another triumph! Ever since we began this little hobby, I've always wanted to do a western. There's so many great ones to choose from--The Lone Ranger, The Six Shooter, Have Gun Will Travel, Gunsmoke and the list goes on. The problem is, there are so many to sort through, that it becomes difficult to find common themes. And then there are the gunshots--a sound effect that I still haven't been completely comfortable with. There are so many options from the old days--from cap guns to actual recordings. But there's nothing like a live sound. Finally, someone had suggested slapping a clipboard and that was it. At least close enough.
I also love doing the Movie adaptations, and when I had come across this movie on TMC, I quickly ran to my computer to see if there was a Lux version. As luck would have it, there was.
Casting was easy, I had already acquired the Jimmy Stewart character from when we did "It's a wonderful life," and Pam was an easy call for the Marlene Detrich role. Plus she got to sing, which is always a joy. However, the songs, "Boys in the Backroom" and "Little Joe the Wrangler" is not part of the radio version. They were too good to pass up, so i took the liberty of putting them back in the script.
Greg Lackner nailed "Wash" and, well, we've got such a great cast that all the roles were filled in perfectly.
A sound effects story--In the beginning of the show, there is a big bar room brawl. I gave Don a plate of glass to smash. It was loosely wrapped, because I normally whack it with a hammer, but this time, I told him to hit it on the small door that we use for SFX. The moment came, and everybody started yelling, and guns firing and sticks breaking, and Don swung down and up with the glass pane and it shattered and sprayed all over the place. Luckily no one was hurt, but it was quite amazing to see.
I couldn't wait to listen to the recording, especially at the end with the wagons rumbling and the gunshots firing, and the angry townspeople and all the clamor, but when I got home, the recorder jammed and the recording was lost.
Sad. But (and It seems I say this a lot with these shows) that's that magic of live theater.

Great fun -- the sound effects extravaganza of the year! I especially liked orchestrating the crowd noises in the bar scenes. Rowdy Old West folk, drunk as skunks.- PAM TURLOW

Don't let anyone fool you--the most fun part anyone can play is the villain. The only other time I got to play it was in a junior high melodrama. What a pleasure to be the "baddy"--it truly is a freeing and FUN experience! -Steve Schroeder

October 2006- "What's that Sound Coming From Behind the Door?": featuring TheScreen Director's Playouse, "The Uninvited" and Suspense, "The House at Cypress Gardens."

COMMENTS:

This was the first show that we ever had to cancel. OUr piano player called the morning of our dress rehearsal telling me he was sick with the flu. There was no way we could throw anyone into the show last minute to cover--the music is too much of an integral part of the script and is intertwined within several scenes to create mood. It's almost like the music was an additional character. Besides, I had gone through our whole list of piano players and just about all were busy. To find one at this hour was impossible. So we had to let it go.
Ah, the wonder of live theater.

We had to cancel this show, the first ever. Hope to at least be able to try Cypress Gardens at some point in the future!- PAM TURLOW

December 2006- "Plastic Tips, Metal Tips!": featuring two consecutive episodes of Jack Benny, "Jack Buys Shoelaces for Don," and "Jack Learns Don Already Had Metal Tips."

COMMENTS:

It's a two edged sword. Jack Benny is one of the greatest and funniest shows of the Golden Age of Radio, and in some ways, also the hardest. Because the characters and voices are so well known and identified in our history. There are so many people who do imitations of Jack, and they never seem to land. As Christmas was coming I kept thinking about the classic Jack Benny Shopping and driving Mel Blanc crazy episodes. Knowing the group of folks in the company, what their voices and abilities are, I began to secretly cast. I instantly knew Gary was Mel, I could already hear him throwing his crazed hysterical tantrum. I would reprise my role as Dennis, I got two songs this time. Steve was born to play Gildersleeves and Frank Nelson's floor walker. In fact, when we did the show, he got not just a laugh, but an applause from his "Yeeaaaaaaaaas?" Newcomer to the group was Don, and it was clear his vocal quality was a great match for Phil Harris, normally a tough voice to copy. Who was to play the very distinct (and difficult) voices of Jack and Rochester.
There were some contenders who I was considering, but seeing as they were unavailable for the show dates, I had to look within the group. I looked no further than John Corona, who's versatility is so understated. He's an impeccable Scrooge one day, and out Walter Denton's Walter Denton the next. But could he handle Jack? Well, I took the chance and trusted John's track record, and two minutes into the first read through I looked over to Pam and we exchanged a "Yep, good call" look.
Jack was easy compared to the vocal challenge of Rochester. His voice has been described as sounding like he, "gargled with Drain-O before every show." Where was I going to find that? Pam was telling her dad about the show--he's participated several times, once as a great Uncle Billy in "Wonderful Life."--He simply replied, "Well, hello there, Mistuh Benny." A little tweaking here and there, and he was a pretty good match.
Everyone else in the cast filled in, including Aaron, who is very eager, but is hard to cast sometimes. I couldn't find someone to cover Mr. Kissel, with his deep Western European Broken English. Aaron was having a hard time getting the voice and I was beginning to regret my decision, fearing I had given him something too difficult. But then he came through and really hit the role.
In some ways, this was the hardest show we've ever done, and the audience went bonkers. It was a huge hit. So much, that we may have to visit Jack and his gang again.
Oh, and special mention goes to Pam, once again, for her artful workings of the "APPLAUSE" sign. That certainly helped the show's success.

Probably our most hilarious show to date. The casting was masterful and John Corona did a splendid job of capturing the essence of Jack Benny. But everyone was fab. And can I just tell you how much I love Joanne's accompaniment work? Kudos also to Steve Schroeder with his bone-rattling "Yyyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssss???"- PAM TURLOW

An actor has to admit that one major dream is to receive "entrance applause"--I mean, who doesn't want recognition for just entering and being who you are? Probably the closest I'll ever get to that feeling was when I said Frank Nelson's now-classic entrance line "Yeeeeeeeeeeeesss?" and then having to hold while the audience applauded and laughed. I'll never be Frank Nelson, but it was sure fun to steal his personae and his recognition. - Steve Schroeder

February 2007- "All About Eve": featuring the Lux Radio Theater, "All About Eve."

COMMENTS:

What can I say? We have a terrific ensemble. Even at the read through, I knew we had yet another hit. Casting LInda and Pam as Margo and Eve was an easy one. They are both skilled actors and I knew could handle the subtlties of the characters with relative ease. What I had not counted on was how everyone else would tackle their roles so amazingly. Steve Schroeder commanded the stage as Addison deWitt, Joy Kenyon was the dear friend caught in this web of deceit and jelousy, and then John and Lars took their otherwise average roles and added such depth to them. I swear we had a top shelf performance.
I also shouldn't neglect to mention Aimee and Krystyn who covered all the smaller roles with vocal variety, while Greg and Don handled the host and announcer with ease--the way they shifted so smoothly into those Lux commercials. At many moments in the show, I sat back and allowed myself to just enjoy the amazing quality that we create time and again. In fact, it's one of the problems that I seem to be facing with these shows is that we are good, and I keep rising the bar of quality, and the rest of the gang fills right in.
The show ran without a hitch, hardly any sound effects to go wrong in the first place. However, I will note, that there is the role of Ken that has only one line. Rather than call in someone to read that line, I opted to do that myself. I figured I could easily monitor the few door slams and sound levels with ease. When the time came, there was silence. "Who's line is this?" I wondered to myself. Then I realized that it was my line. In fact, my only line, and I missed it. Linda, like a trouper, waited an appropriate amount of time for the goober to say his line, and then went right on with the show.

May 20, 2007
LUX RADIO THEATER - "Treasure Island"

September 9, 2007 - "When Storks Get Lost"
MY FAVORITE HUSBAND, "Knitting Baby Booties," Originally aired Sept 24, 1948
THE MAGNIFICENT MONTAGUE, "Baby in the House", originally aired May 12, 1951

October 2006- "What's that Sound Coming From Behind the Door?":
The Screen Director's Playouse, "The Uninvited"
Suspense, "The House at Cypress Gardens."

COMMENTS:

RETURN TO THE TOP OF THE PAGE

December 16, 2007
LUX RADIO THEATER - "Alice In Wonderland", originally aired December 24, 1951

February 17, 2008
LUX RADIO THEATER - "Sunset Boulevard"

March 30, 2008"Babysitting? What Could Go Wrong?"
THE PHIL HARRIS ALICE FAYE SHOW - "The Baby Sitter", Originally aired December 12, 1948
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF DENNIS DAY - "Dennis Tries to Prevent a Boy From Running Away", Originally aired October 2, 1948
Click to watch a video of our performance of this show

May 18, 2008, "Father's Day"
THE LONE RANGER - "The Return Of Butch Cavendish", Originally aired Jan 30, 1953
THE GREEN HORNET - Too Hot To Handle", Originally aired November 11, 1947

September 14, 2008, THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN - "Batman's Great Mystery"
Chapter 3 of 11, Originally aired February 5, 1948
Chapter 4 of 11 Originally aired February 6, 1948
Chapter 5 of 11 Originally aired February 9, 1948
Chapter 8 of 11 Originally aired February 11, 1948
Chapter 9 of 11 Originally aired February 12, 1948
Chapter 10 of 11 Originally aired February 16, 1948
Chapter 11 of 11 Originally aired February 17, 1948
Click to watch a video of our performance of this show

November 2, 2008 - "Election Comedy from the Golden Age of Radio"
THE HINES HONEY AND ALMOND CREAM SHOW, WITH GEORGE BURNS AND GRACIE ALLEN- "Government Jobs," originally aired February 20, 1940
THE JOHNSON WAX PROGRAM, WITH FIBBER McGEE AND MOLLY - "Election Day", originally aired November 5, 1940

December 14, 2008
LUX RADIO THEATER - "Pinocchio", originally aired December 26, 1939
Click to watch a video of our performance of this show

February 8, 2009 - "OTR Salutes the Academy Awards"
THE LUCKY STRIKE PROGRAM, STARRHING JACK BENNY: "High Noon", originally aired Sept 28, 1952
THE MAGNIFICENT MONTAGUE - "Lost in Hollywood", originally aired Jan 19, 1951
Click to watch a video of our performance of this show

March 15, 2009 - "Take a Bite out of Crime"
THE SHADOW- "The Circle of Death", Originally aired November 28, 1937
DRAGNET - "The Big Badge", Originally aired May 4, 1950
Click to watch a video of our performance of this show

September 13, 2009 - "Vacation Blues"
MY FAVORITE HUSBAND - "Vacation Time", Originally aired April 29, 1949
THE BICKERSONS - "John Goes to Las Vegas"
THE PHIL HARRIS, ALICE FAYE SHOW - "Vacation Plans", Originally aired, March 27, 1949
Click to watch a video of our performance of this show

November 1, 2009- "There's a Ghost in the House"
SUSPENSE - "The Furnished Floor" , Originally aired September 13, 1945
SUSPENSE - "Ghost Hunt", Originally aired June 23, 1949

December 20, 2009
LUX RADIO THEATER - "Snow White", Originally aired December 26, 1938

February 21, 2010
THE JACK BENNY PROGRAM - "To Have and Have Not", Originally aired, January 5, 1947
THE JACK BENNY PROGRAM - "Guests George Burns and Gracie Allen", Originally aired January 12, 1947
Click to watch a video of our performance of this show

April 11, 2010
THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES- "A Scandal in Bohemia", Originally aired, September 10, 1945
THE ADVENTURES OF SAM SPADE - "The Blood Money Caper", Originally aired September 29, 1946
Click to watch a video of our performance of this show

May 23, 2010The Best of Command Performance
RETURN TO THE TOP OF THE PAGE