Wednesday, May 28, 2008

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

I am very happy to announce that The Colonial Radio Theatre will be doing THE PERRY MASON RADIO DRAMAS.We're still working out some final details, but the contract is done, and all looks good! This will be the first time the original books by Erle Stanley Gardner have been fully dramatized for audio theater, and let me tell you, they are exciting! We are starting with book 1, THE CASE OF THE VELVET CLAWS.

THE CASE OF THE VELVET CLAWS was the first Perry Mason mystery written by Erle Stanley Gardner and published in March 1933. For the first time, we meet Perry, his secretary Della Street, and his favorite detective Paul Drake. District Attorney Hamilton Burger and Lieutenant Tragg don't appear in this story. And most telling, there is no courtroom scene in the entire novel. CRT is doing the show as written, set in 1933!

The plot has to do with a mystery woman who calls herself Eva Griffin. She comes to Perry Mason claiming she is being blackmailed. She wants him to help her. But before things are done, she is accused of murder. And in turn, she puts the blame on Perry Mason himself! But Perry avoids being double-crossed, and valiently fights to see that she is cleared of the charges.

Diane Capen (Sandy from Powder River) stars as Della Street, J.T. Turner (Father Brown) is Detective Paul Drake, and yours truly is Perry Mason. Deniz Cordell adapted this book for audio, and it will produced by Chris Snyder. Expect to see it on XM very soon. A CD Release Date has not been decided upon yet. Two other PERRY MASON dramas are already in production.

5 comments:

Sharonmaggie said...

Love Perry Mason! We know you'll do a great job with it, too! Woo Hoo! Can't wait!

JR said...

thanks, Sharon. We hope to have the first one out in late June or early July.

Sharonmaggie said...

Will you record Perry Mason from a wheelchair for "character/mood?" lol!
I just remembered that Raymond Burr didn't begin the series in a wheelchair, did he? I don't remember how that plot element entered the telly series.
How will you characterize Della Street's fabulous legs on radio??
I can't believe your output lately! Are you twins??

JR said...

Nope, I always record standing up - but I think you are getting your Raymond Burr roles mixed up - he was never in a wheelchair for PERRY MASON - you are thinking of IRONSIDES, a different series, same actor.
No, not twins - but I have a great production crew, and that's how we get so much done. Glad you like the shows! cheers ~

Sharonmaggie said...

OMG! I am getting old... I've just merged Raymond Burr's two major roles into one! Sheesh This aging process isn't for whimps!
Having a great bunch of dependalbe people to work with can make all the difference in life... the difference between facing necessary labor to get the work done and creating an orderly and pleasant process to get to the same place, and it's nice when all the right elements come together to produce that! I'm glad you seem to have found that team, and hope you have fun along the way, too!
Sincerely,
Sharon