Merry Christmas

Hi All: I just wanted to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

On Christmas Eve I took my 10 year old cousin Samantha to Symphony Hall to see the Boston Pops Christmas Concert. What an amazing time that was. I can't even decscribe how beautiful Symphony Hall looked all decked out with incredible decorations; and the concert was breathtaking. This was Samantha's first time to see an orchestra, so it was fitting she saw one of the best in the world!

We had a table close to the stage, and you could feel the floor vibrate from the 100 plus company. This Christmas is on the melancholy side for me, with the recent loss of my Dad, but seeing Sam with a huge smile on her face, all dressed up in her Christmas best, helped a lot ... and was a quiet reminder that life goes on.

Samantha made her CRT debute in A CHRISTMAS CAROL when she was a year and ahalf old. (she is the youngest Cratchit who says "HI" as Bob Cratchit enters his home), So, tonight she is home, waiting for Santa, and she showed me for the first time this year, the true magic of the Christmas Season. Merry Christmas to all of you, and the best of the holiday season.

Cheers- Jerry

COLONIAL CHRISTMAS

Colonial has produced a few Christmas shows between 1997 and 2004. Some of them are on the air next week! I hope you can tune them in.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL (2004)
Airing
XM Radio, Ch. 163, Mon. Dec. 24 at 5am, 6:30pm

WAMU 88.5FM Washington DC (with Internet stream) Mon. Dec. 24 at 7:00pm

KGOU Central Oklahoma. (With Internet stream - I'll post the air time on the CRT blog when it is announced)

CRICKET ON THE HEARTH (2000)
Airing on XM Radio, Ch. 163
Mon. Dec.24th at 12pm, 8am, and then in three parts, Wed.-Fri. at 4am, 12pm, 6:30pm

THE SEVEN POOR TRAVELLERS (1997)
Airing on XM Radio
Dec.24th at 4pm, Dec. 25th at 5:30am, 1:30pm

DIBBLE'S CHRISTMAS SPECIAL (2003)
Airing on XM Radio
Dec.24th at 2am, Dec. 25 at 7am, 3pm.

DIBBLE ON THE AIR and DROOD IN BOSTON with a couple of CRT Players

This TUESDAY, DEC. 18TH, John Lovering will air a Dibble episode from 2003 called THE PERFECT TREE on his RADIO THEATRE program. Originating out of Portsmouth NH, you can listen to the show on a live Internet stream.

Last night I was at the Speakeasy Stage Company in Boston to see THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD. One of our CRT Players, Andrew Glynn, had a role in it, so I wanted to check it out. He did a fantastic job, and I am looking forward to working with him in upcoming projects. That's him on the left in the picture. On the right in the same picture is David Krinitt, who played "The Cowardly Lion" in our WIZARD OF OZ series about seven years back! I didn't get to see David after the show, but I wish I had. He was great, and this was the first time I saw him on stage - before this is was always at the microphones. His performances was a
hi light. The show plays thru Dec. 30th and is well worth a visit if you are in Boston over the Christmas Season.

Speaking of upcoming projects, I am just about finished with my script for ZORRO AND THE PIRATE RAIDERS! I am hoping to get this project going in January. I haven't taped a show since GUNS OF POWDER RIVER in May!

Has everyone finished their Christmas Shopping yet? This is the first time I have done most of it by Internet.

I got my tree up though - and it's all decorated. This is the first time in seven years that I have had a tree. With the recent loss of my Dad, and my Mom gone since 2001, the holiday season is not very merry, but I am trying to just forge on and stay above water.

Other news - lets see ... I fell on some icy steps this past week; bruised my back, twisted an ankle, gashed my right arm and cut the back of my leg. Then we had that ridiculous snowstorm where everyone hit the panic button and clogged the roads so the plows couldn't get through, and it took me five and half hours to get home in a trip that normally takes 75 minutes. What did I do when I got home??

I STARTED TO LOOK AT PROPERTY IN FLORIDA!

We'll see about that!

Father Brown Coast to Coast!

Today our FATHER BROWN series begins a five day run on XM Radio! J.T. Turner is fantastic in the lead role, and I am very happy with the way this series has turned out. My thanks to writer M.J. Elliott for adapting the stories for radio, M.J. Cogburn and Matt Maclaren for editing, and Kevin McLeod for the music. Check it out!

JT TURNER in A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Hey folks - WHO LIVES IN THE BOSTON AREA??? Do yourself a favor and drive on up to the beautiful seaport city of GLOUCESTER to the WEST END THEATER and see CRT star J.T. TURNER in his incredible one man show of A CHRISTMAS CAROL. Dickens himself would tour the world reading from his book and acting out all the roles. Well, I've seen this show and JT doesnt read it - he has it memorized and acts it out as if Dickens himself were telling you the tale. I've seen the show and I can tell you its a great night out to celebrate the season. I may even see it again this weekend! Maybe I'll see you there?? If you have any CRT Cd's or tapes, I am sure JT will be around to autograph them after the performance. Here is a link the West End Theater Website for more information and directions. Performances are Fri. Dec. 7th at 7:30pm, and Saturday Dec. 8th at 3pm and 7:30pm.Tickets are $15.

FATHER BROWN - THE FLYING STARS

Another FATHER BROWN episode now available on Spokennetwork.com It's
THE FLYING STARS. Father Brown has been invited to a Christmas
masquerade, which becomes the target of another robbery. You can
download it here .

COLONIAL RADIO WILL PRODUCE ZORRO

Well, I've had to keep this under wraps until everything was signed,
but I am very happy to announce that Colonial has teamed with producer
John Gertz to bring ZORRO to the world of audio drama! Mr. Gertz owns
the copyright to Zorro (which was aquired by his father in 1940 from
Zorro's actual creator,Johnston McCulley), and he was co-producer on
the recent motion pictures with Antonio Banderas. The book I am
dramatizing for audio is ZORRO AND THE PIRATRE RAIDERS, and let me tell
you - this is going to be one exciting story! I am finishing up the
script now, and I hope to start production in January for a Springtime
release. The show is being produced in episode form for radio, and will
be released as a 2 CD set for retail. We'll produce it on a grand scale!
I'll post more updates (casting, recording, editing) as the project
takes shape.

POWDER RIVER RELEASE

GDL Multimedia is releasing POWDER RIVER Season 1 on December 20th. The
season is broken up into three CD packs, at the low cost of $9.95
per volume. These will soon be seen in truck stops and highway stops
across the country. There are also now on sale (Vols. 1 and 2) for pre-orders. Here is the link for Vol. 1

SEASON ONE. VOL. 1
and
SEASON ONE. VOL. 2

MARY POPPINS

On November 17th I took my favorite cousin Samantha (on the left), and her cousin, Jessica, to NYC to see their first Broadway show ever - MARY POPPINS, at the New Amsterdam Theater. Now, how lucky are these kids? ... After the performance, they got a private backstage tour with Mary Poppins (Ashley Brown), Bert (Gavin Lee), and Jane ( Alexandra Berro)and Michael Banks (Matthew Gumley) themselves! What a day!!

Wishing you all .....

A Happy Thanksgiving with your families, and especially to all our Armed Forces members around the world.

ON THE AIR

XM is running our RED BADGE OF COURAGE this week on Ch. 163. We did this one back in 2000, and it holds the honor of being the ONLY CRT show to be released without a music score! I was hoping for a "documentary feel" for the show. I don't know if it works or not - but there it is.

Over at JIM FRENCH PRODUCTIONS, you can hear an audio stream of POWDER RIVER; episode 8, NEW BEGINNINGS. This is actually two episodes edited together to form a single, one hour show. Works pretty good! Check it out, be sure to VOTE in their poll if you liked the show, or not!

Up in Portsmouth, NH, we will be heard on John Loverings Tuesday Night Show, WSCA-LP Radio Theatre. On Tue. Nov. 20th they will run THE PLIMOTH ADVENTURE - VOYAGE OF MAYFLOWER, from 1999! After which he will play a Dibble Thanksgiving Show from 2003 called THE GOOD OLD DAYS. Check them out - there is a live audio link on the station site so you can hear the broadcast anywhere in the world.

Then, on Dec. 18th, John will run Dibble's THE PERFECT TREE, and again, you can hear the broadcast on the stations website (you will find the links on the audio theater site I linked to above). After Dibble, he will run an awesome Grouch Marx show from 1954.