Busy week ahead

We have a recording session for THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES in just a couple of hours; and on Wednesday of this week we have two new CD's being released: PERRY MASON and the CASE OF THE VELVET CLAWS, and also BARRYMORE. Hope you check them out!

Jeff Gage is in a recording session at this very moment, recording Shonna McEachern's song for our Christmas Special which airs on Dec. 24th on Sirius XM. We will be recording more of the songs in the show on Monday and Wednesday, then we're done. Most of the show was recorded in September, so we're just in the finishing touches stage right now.

THE COLONIAL RADIO VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS SPECIAL will air on Dec. 24th and 25th, ONLY on Sirius XM. It will not be available for download.

ALSO
Sirius XM will be repeating DIBBLE'S CHRISTMAS SPECIAL from 2003. Wow. Seven years since we did this one!?

Also broadcasting Christmas weekend will be our 2004 production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL. This is the same version that was just released by Brilliance Audio - but it was cut from 67 minutes to 55 minutes for broadcast - so if you want to hear the entire show you gotta get the CD or download :)

In a couple of weeks we will start pre-production on LOGAN'S RUN - LAST DAY. We plan on recording it in mid to late January, and the release date tentatively set for June 7th. RUNNER! Here is hoping that winter snowstorms do not cancel too many recording sessions this year! We have too much to do!

OZ on CD

Here is the cover to our upcoming release of THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ - by Ron Boyd! We recorded this production in November of 2000. We did the first five OZ books that year, and this was actually the last one to be recorded. We had recorded it in May of 1999, but I didn't like it (and the publisher didn't like it either), scrapped it, and did it over after we had completed the others.
Up till now, it has only been available on Audio Cassettes, or download; so we are excited to get it out at last on CD! JAN. 11th is the date!

I think I mentioned before, that we will be continuing the OZ series with book 6, THE EMERALD CITY OF OZ! Which we will be recording soon.

Updates

December already! We're ready for it! We recorded our annual Christmas Special for Sirius XM back in late September, and it should air on Dec. 24th and 25th (not sure of the times yet). December 15th we release PERRY MASON AND THE CASE OF THE VELVET CLAWS and also BARRYMORE by William Luce. I spoke with Bill tonight, and in the morning he is flying to Toronto where Christopher Plummer is in rehearsals for his revival of the play - very exciting! I'll be going in January to see a preview before opening. Can't wait!

And some of you have asked about our production of THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES! Well, it's in editing and we still have some sequences to record, and I hope you will find it worth the wait :)

SPECIAL HOLIDAY PRESENTATION

I hope all you Sirius XM listeners get a chance to hear our newest production when it airs this weekend!

What's in a name?

I was asked in an interview why we call ourselves Colonial Radio Theatre, and not the Colonial Audio Theatre.

To me, Radio Theatre is a classic term. It is instantly identifiable. "But it sounds old" Well, in 15 years we have not had a problem selling them - and I get MANY letters and emails from grade school, middle school, High School kids saying how they enjoy this 'n that (and Dibble gets even more fan mail); so that's not really a worry. If they like the show, they will listen. If they don't like the show, they wont listen, not matter what you call it.

Radio Theatre has a classic sound to it. Audio Theatre sounds like something you buy at Wal Mart for your DVD set-up. So, we call ourselves Radio Theatre. It's not dead, it's not old, it's alive and kicking and not stuck in the 40's or 50's. Bottom line, it's not about what you call yourself - it's about keeping the listener listening.

BUCK ALICE RELEASE

We had a GREAT opening day on Amazon with WALTER KOENIG'S BUCK ALICE AND THE ACTOR-ROBOT - selling out in the first day! The Amazon site is now saying new copies available in 1 to 2 months, but that is a standard posting - they should have new copies by the end of the week - so if you want to order - JUST CLICK RIGHT HERE!

It's also on most of the main download sites, and also Barnes and Noble and Borders. You can still hear the trailer on the CRT website.

What an honor it was to have been able to work with Walter - a Star Trek, Babylon 5 Legend - a wonderful writer, and a great guy!

*Illustration by Ron Boyd

PERRY MASON on CD

FINALLY we are going to be releasing our PERRY MASON series on CD with a dramatization of the very first novel, THE CASE OF THE VELVET CLAWS. Although we recorded this production in 2008, I wasn't happy with our publisher at the time, and decided to hold off giving it to them for release - I didn't want this series to be buried in thumbnail size on page 35 of a 36 page catalog, not to mention zero publicity or the slightest acknowledgment of its existence - so we put it up for sale on a couple of download sites, thinking that once we had a few more titles they would give it a bigger push. Well, other circumstances came along, and we are now with an awesome publisher who rocks! With that, we will be releasing a new PERRY MASON case every other month, starting with THE CASE OF THE VELVET CLAWS - now for pre-sale on Amazon, with a release date of WED. DEC. 15th.

Here's hoping for a long run with the incredible PERRY MASON stories!

M is for MILLIGINIAN!

Yes, in just three days the Milliginians,from the planet Milligan, will invade Earth with Walter Koenig's BUCK ALICE AND THE ACTOR ROBOT! You can get the CD and downloads pretty much anywhere, including Amazon, i-tunes, Audio Editions, Audio Bookstand, Audible.Com - and many more. There will also be copies on the shelf in bookstores (if yours doesnt have it, they can order it for you!). This is a picture of the character I play in the show, Imhor. Ron Boyd did the drawing for the poster. Fun stuff!!

We were originally going to run it over seven consecutive nights, but we now will be running on Wednesday nights for seven weeks, starting November 17th at 7pm EST, followed by an encore broadcast (that's the new word for re-runs) each Saturday at 6pm.

Also, we got a schedule change today for THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER which was to run on Thanksgiving Day. There is going to be a "storytelling marathon" on the station for the entire day, so we will now air on FRIDAY, NOV. 26th. The time will be announced soon. This production will be released on March 16th.

This weekend we'll be adding a new COLONIAL RADIO TALK episode to the website and i-tunes; in this episode I got to speak with SAM DONATO about his time on Powder River, The Dibble Show, Buck Alice, and his years on television in Rex Trailers BOOMTOWN! This is a longer than usual podcast because we were having such a fun time! Sam lives in Florida now, but he was up in Beantown for a week and got to record a VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS episode with us in studio. Good times.

That's all for now! ~JR

ZORRO hits the streets and BUCK ALICE is in the wings

Our production of ZORRO AND THE PIRATE RAIDERS is now available - you can get it on Amazon, and every other place that sells CD's and downloads. It sold out at Amazon the first day, but new copies should be in in just a couple of days. We're all set with the sequel as well, ZORRO RIDES AGAIN, which will be released FEB.15th.

Walter Koenig's BUCK ALICE AND THE ACTOR ROBOT will be released next Monday - Nov. 15th! This is a different kind of show for Colonial; very much a black comedy, and our second that would carry the rating R if it were a motion picture (the first being BARRYMORE).

It's a fun show, with some really great performances. We had over 50 performers in this epic, headed by Walter Koenig himself, who flew into Boston for the recording sessions.

Sirius XM will run it as a 7 part mini-series, starting the 15th. I'll post the times as soon as I get them.

Walter will be a guest on Maggie Linton's COVER TO COVER show on Nov. 16th at 3pm EST, and then on WBZ radios THE JORDAN RICH SHOW, Nov. 19, at 1AM (10pm Pacific). Both shows are live.

More later. cheers

Busy day, but wanted to do a quick update. We're getting BUCK ALICE AND THE ACTOR-ROBOT ready for broadcast (starting Nov. 15th for 7 nights), and MJ is editing the final three JARREM LEE episodes.

This week we record the final 4 episodes of PROJECT-X, which we will announce soon. This will go on the air in January, on weekends. We did 36 episodes in just a little over three months, so I think we'll have a wrap party to send this one on its merry way to editing land. Congrats to Deniz Cordell for cranking out 36 scripts (well over 1,200 pages) since early July. Quite amazing.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL is now in release! Our first release with Brilliance Audio. This is the first time it has been available on CD (except for a box set with three other Dickens titles) and we're hoping it does well in retail.

Check out the incredible new cover art illustrations from Jeff Hayes (Guns of Powder River, Father Brown, Prince and the Pauper, Treasure Island) Jeff, along with Ron Boyd (Buck Alice), are creating some great covers for our upcoming releases!

Got some really great emails from folks who said they enjoyed the VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS episodes we ran over Halloween weekend! We'll be recording a few more this month, and we'll most likely run them on our Sirius XM show late winter or so. We are hoping to have a set out on CD in early Spring.

Our new production of Mark Twain's THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER is scheduled to be broadcast on Thanksgiving Day. We're very excited about this production, and the music is outstanding. Headlining the cast are Anastas Varinos, Isaac Bean, JT Turner, Joseph Zamparelli Jeremy Benson and Shana Dirik.

We recorded our annual Christmas Special for our show on Sirius XM back in September, and we're getting it ready for broadcast. Music legend Neil Sedaka granted us permission to perform some of his new Christmas songs, and they are fantastic. Can't wait till you hear them (they are also on his Christmas CD - check it out!) My guests on the show this year are Shonna McEachern (one of the best voices in Boston), Anastas Varinos (not only can he act, he's a great singer too!) and Dibble (we needed a third guest and he was all we could get).

Thats all for now! cheers ~ JR

NOVEMBER AND A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Well, as Marjorie Main said, "Another Halloween and we're all a year older!" Thanks to everyone who emailed me, or wrote on my facebook page about the VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS broadcast this weekend. Lots of great comments and it seems folks enjoyed it! We will re-run them late winter on our Sirius XM show along with two new episodes in the series. The series is literally just getting under way, so it will take some time to ramp up with episodes - but we're working on it!

TODAY is an exciting day - our CD of A CHRISTMAS CAROL is released! Our first release by Brilliance Audio. It's in stores, and online everywhere.

Our new production of THE PRICE AND THE PAUPER will air on Sirius 117, and XM 163 on Thanksgiving Day! Hope you tune in! It has a March release on CD. Great poster by Jeff Hayes. The show stars Anastas Varinos and Isaac Bean as the Prince, and the Pauper.

This'n'That

We've done A LOT of recording in October, 10 episodes of a new PROJECT-X series, 4 episodes of VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS, and a segment of a new PROJECT X. Looking forward to next weeks release of A CHRISTMAS CAROL from Brilliance. We did the show six years ago, but its only CD release was in a set of 4 Dickens stories; so this is the first time it has been out on its own. It's priced great for mass retail so we're hoping it does good biz. J.T. Turner is our Scrooge! Those of you in the Boston area can see J.T. on stage in the role of Fezziwig, in the spectacular production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL at the NORTH SHORE MUSIC THEATER in Beverly, opening the first week in December for 28 performances.

Jeff Hayes and Ron Boyd continue to produce the best cover art we've ever had! Right now Jeff is working on the cover art for POWDER RIVER AND THE MOUNTAIN OF GOLD that will be released on April 19th, and Ron is illustrating an amazing cover for THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ that hits the stores on Jan. 15th. These two artists are really amazing and at some point we will make prints of their art available on our website.

SPEAKING OF WEBSITES - we will be updating ours soon. It's on the list of things to do. The original design of the site was done by Sean Timberlake, 15 years ago. It was less crowded then as we had about 10 titles at the time. Now we have over 300 and we really need to make it easier to find them; so yep, we're working on it!

ALL READY FOR HALLOWEEN? I went to "Spookyworld" with my friend Curly a couple of weeks back, and it sure was SCARY! I think it's rated one of the top 10 horror theme parks in the county. Lots of fun.

As I mentioned in my last post, this weekend we air two episodes of our new series,
VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS on SIRIUS XM. The CD release is not until the spring, but how could we let Halloween sneak by without airing a couple of episodes?

LAST but not least, we have created a youtube channel for Dibble. We will be youtubing episodes of THE NEW DIBBLE SHOW on rotation; the shows won't be up for all time - just a week or two. You can see the channel at

http://www.youtube.com/user/dibblestaa

First up is Dibble's Halloween Show from 2005.

My Maple tree hasn't changed color yet!
What's up with that?

That's all for now.
cheers

COLONIAL RADIO HALLOWEEN

CRT has certainly produced a fair share of programs fit for Halloween listening, and this year we add two more to the list.
Our collaboration with Bluewater Productions on the VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS series will be heard for the first time on a SIRIUS XM Book Radio Special Halloween Weekend.
Broadcast times are SAT. OCT. 30 at 5AM and 5PM, and SUN. OCT. 31 at 8PM - all times Eastern. Both these episodes were dramatized for radio by MJ Elliott and produced by Bryan Rothrock. Jeff Gage composed the music.

JARREM LEE WRAPS

On March 30, 2009 we recorded the first episode of JARREM LEE - GHOST HUNTER, and tonight, we recorded the final three episodes. In that time, we had three co-stars in the role of Arthur Bennett. The first, David Ally, got a tv series in Hawaii after we recorded episode 6. He was then replaced by Jeremy Benson, who played the role to Episode 12, when he was cast in the lead role of MacBeth on stage. Joe Caliendo Jr. took on the role for the final episodes. Many of the CRT Players appeared in the series, and it was a lot of fun. A big thank you to Gareth Tilley in England for creating the series and turning out 24 scripts! Our Producers were Bryan Rothrock and M.J. Cogburn.

The end of a very busy day. Hard to believe that after many, many months, our first Brilliance Audio release is only 4 weeks away! A CHRISTMAS CAROL will be our first release. So far, this has only been available as a download or in a 4-CD set from our previous publisher - but now it's gone solo! Also in November, Zorro is ready to cross-swords with some pirates, and Buck Alice will be plotting against the Actor-Robot in Walter Koenig's new release: BUCK ALICE AND THE ACTOR-ROBOT

Q: How cool was it for CRT to work with a Star Trek Legend?
A: Pretty damned cool.

What else? OH - next week on our Sirius XM show on Book Radio, they will be broadcasting OLD IRONSIDES AND THE BARBARY PIRATES and OLD IRONSIDES - ESCAPE TO THE WIND.

SPEAKING OF WHICH

Many years ago, at an Officers Mess Dinner at the Billionaires Boys CLub (AKA The Lannam Club in ritzy Andover - and no, I am not a billionaire, we just looked that way in our dinner jackets) I was sitting next to the then Captain of the USS Constitution - Old Ironsides, the oldest commissioned warship in the world. Every year tug boats pull it into the harbor to turn it around in its berth (so it weathers evenly).
So, I asked this Captain (his name escapes me) if the ship was capable if being under sail - for real - with no tugs.

"Yes" he replied.

I took another swig of port (and I hate port, but that's what you do at the billionaires boys club before the cigars come out)

"So, why doesn't it sail?" I asked.

He then said something amazing. "Because" - said he - "No Captain wants the responsibility, should something go wrong, of being the commander who lost Old Ironsides."

I looked at him and said with astonishment - "Huh! That's too bad."

Well, low and behold - some time later, it was announced that Old Ironsides was being rigged for sail.

I - kid - you - not.

Special riggers were called in from the Coast Guard, and the crew of the Constitution was drilled in setting canvas and all that is required of sailing under sail.

In July of 1997 she sailed under her own power to Marblehead, Ma. before returning to Boston. What an amazing site it was. What was more amazing was that it was her 200th Anniversary.

I often wonder if it all started with a glass of port.

How 18th Century that would be.

A Quick update

Oh, Lord it's 3:30 in the morning, and I'm actually starting to get tired. Normally, this is "early evening" for me, but tonight I actually think I'll be turning in before the birds start chirping (early for ME anyway).
Tonight we had a good recording session for JARREM LEE, recording three episodes - and now only three remain in the series, and we'll be taping those on October 5th.

I just posted a press release from the folks at Bluewater about two new shows we are signed to do! We're headed back into darkest Africa with QUATERMAIN - a nice follow-up to our 2008 production KING SOLOMON'S MINES. Another story, WAR OF THE ELEMENTALS is sure to be a fun one as well!

Our VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS series is coming along - Bryan Rothrock is just about finished editing THE TINGLERS, and WOW is it cool! He has really captured the sound and feel of a 1950's horror movie and he has done an incredible job on this. We have taped two other episodes and will do a few more in October. I am thinking about going to St.Louis for the 100th Anniversary of Vincent Prices' birthday. Any CRT fans in St. Louis!??

Another big recording session lined up on Saturday - three shows actually - two "Project X's, and then we record our annual Christmas Special for Sirius/XM, which, this year will air on Dec.24&25.

LAST MOVIE I SAW: Last night, watched "Requiem for a Heavyweight" - Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Mickey Rooney, Julie Harris. Have you seen this picture!?? Amazing. Loved it. Don't know how I missed this one for so many years.

New Press Release from Bluewater

COLONIAL RADIO THEATRE EXPANDS THE BLUEWATER RADIO PROGRAM LINE-UP WITH “WAR OF THE ELEMENTALS” & QUARTERMAIN”

Months ago Bluewater announced that both Logan's Run and Vincent Price Presents are becoming radio shows! Colonial Radio Theater on the Air announced today that they have entered into an agreement with the comic book publishers Bluewater Productions to also produce "War of the Elementals" & “Quatermain”.

Explained producer Jerry Robbins: ""I am very excited to get the chance to record this amazing graphic novel as a radio drama. We had a hit with our production of the original KING SOLOMON'S MINES in 2008, and this story is every bit as exciting and adventurous. I can't wait to get it into production!"

As for WAR OF THE ELEMENTALS Robbins continued, "The cover art alone on this story grabbed me! How great a concept is this!? The Royal Flying Corps' 5th Squadron is fighting in WWI when they are suddenly transported to a world dominated by giant flying bat-creatures! This is the stuff that makes for fantastic radio theater! We get letters and emails from kids who are just discovering our shows and they rave about how much fun they are, and how much they enjoy them. Radio drama has been around for many, many years - and it is great when kids are discovering it for the first time. They are forced to use their imagination. No movie can ever capture the world that you create in the theater of your own mind - we supply the sound to your minds picture, and the combination is unbeatable. I think WAR OF THE ELEMENTALS is one of those stories that is going to be incredible as a radio adventure! "

Both are based off the comic book series from Bluewater Productions. War of the Elementals was written by Scott Davis and Quatermain the graphic novel is out in the Fall and written by Clay and Susan Griffith. To pre-order it go to Amazon: http://amzn.to/cREdOu

Celebrating it's 15th year, the award winning Colonial Radio Theatre on the Air's goal is to resurrect an old medium - making it modern and relevant - in a new and unique way for people to enjoy. With people's busy schedules keeping them on the road and limiting their time to read, "This is the future," said Vander Berg, "audio drama is the next wave."

More information can be obtained by visiting http://www.colonialradio.com/

High-resolution images and interview opportunities are available upon request.

About Bluewater Productions

Bluewater Productions Inc. is one of the top independent production studios of comic books, young adult books and graphic novels. Its extensive catalog of titles includes the bestsellers “10th Muse” and “The Legend of Isis” ”Bluewater publishes comic books in partnership with entertainment icon William Shatner (“TekWar Chronicles”), legendary filmmaker Ray Harryhausen (“Wrath of the Titans,” “Sinbad: Rogue of Mars,” “Jason and the Argonauts,” et al) and celebrated actor Vincent Price (“Vincent Price Presents”), Additionally, Bluewater publishes a highly successful line of biographical comics under the titles “Female Force” and “Political Power.”

Bluewater aims to unite cutting-edge art and engaging stories produced by its stable of the publishing industry's top artists and writers.

For more information, visit www.bluewaterprod.com.

BUCK ALICE IS AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDERS

Our production of Walter Koenig's BUCK ALICE AND THE ACTOR-ROBOT will be released by Brilliance Audio on NOV. 15th, 2010! Jeffrey Gage composed and produced the music score, and the production was edited by Jim Hamilton, Seth Adam Sher, and MJ Cogburn.

Walter Koenig heads a cast of over 50 actors in this 6.5 hour long adventure, and it interview recorded during a session break with Boston Radio personality Jordan Rich talking to Walter on how he came to write BUCK ALICE, and his days on Star Trek.

BUCK ALICE AND THE ACTOR-ROBOT on AMAZON

You can hear the trailer at colonialradio.com

Remembering.

BEWARE OF PRICE GOUGERS

Once a month I try to check on the internet to see what is going on with CRT at various sites. Some of the "satellite sellers" or whatever they are called, on Amazon, are selling some of our titles for outrageous amounts.

I have seen our LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW for as much as $900.00 for the CD's! That is just plain WRONG. Even now it is at $40.00 for a used copy. You can buy the download on Audible for $8.95! Now that the show is no longer available they think they have some kind of rare recording - which is ridiculous. It will be released again, this time from our new publisher, Brilliance Audio, and will be better distributed than it ever was with our old publisher. Same goes for CAPTAIN BLOOD, THE FATHER BROWN MYSTERIES,KING SOLOMON'S MINES, BARRYMORE. They may be unavailable at the moment from Amazon, but that's just temporary, to be sure.

A QUICK CHECK IN

It's SEPTEMBER ALREADY!? Well, lots going on. We have recorded two episodes of the upcoming VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS series; ongoing with JARREM LEE - GHOST HUNTER, and since July we have been recording PROJECT-X that I will announce soon. In Marks department, contracts are flying out the door left and right: watch for
WAR OF THE ELEMENTALS and QUATERMAIN, both in association with Bluewater Productions, coming your way in 2011.

Speaking of VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS, I am hoping to attend his Centennial Celebration in St. Louis in May.

I am also planning on being in Toronto early next year for Christopher Plummers revival of BARRYMORE, by William Luce. It will be great to finally meet Bill in person after working with him on the audio production of this great play. We have become good friends and we've never met!

I pulled out of the planned stage production of THE LION IN WINTER that I had mentioned for January. I just don't have the time anymore, I'm sorry to say. Would have been fun, though, under different circumstances.

Sound rolls on LOGAN'S RUN in November, and also in November, watch for our first titles being released by Brilliance Audio!

NOV. 1: CHARLES DICKENS' A CHRISTMAS CAROL.

NOV. 7: ZORRO AND THE PIRATE RAIDERS

NOV. 15: WALTER KOENIG'S BUCK ALICE AND THE ACTOR-ROBOT

I saw the cover art for ZORRO and it's fantastic! Really pops!

Ron Boyd, in Toronto, is designing the cover art for BUCK ALICE, and will be ready by Monday!

Time to call it a day. It's been a very long one.

Next time!
cheers - J

JEFF GAGE VISITS THE XM STUDIOS

Considering that next month we start our 6th Season on Sirius/XM, I think it's GREAT that someone from CRT finally went there in person! Jeff Gage, who many of you know writes those incredible scores that you hear in 99% of our shows, was in Washington DC last week, and got a tour of the studios at 1500 Eckington Place.


And here is in in the studio with our FANTASTIC program Director Maggie Linton (L) and Assistant Program Director, Kim Alexander!



Jeff had a great time, and even got say HI on the air at 60's on 6 when Maggie popped in the studio during the tour for an impromptu Book Radio plug! I hope to visit the studios in the Spring!

SPEAKING OF WALTER -

Walter Koenig has inked a deal with Bluewater Productions for a series of comic books and graphic novels!
The first revisits a character he created in 1993 called RAVER, and the second is a fantastic tale of Vampires, called THINGS TO COME (These are not your Twilight Vampires!).
Walter is appearing in Chicago this weekend at Comic-Con and has given a few press interviews on the new deal. I am very happy for Walter, and I can't wait to read these stories. I know they are going to be a blast!

BUCK ALICE AND THE ACTOR-ROBOT ON THE LAUNCHING PAD!

We have finished post-production on WALTER KOENIG'S BUCK ALICE AND THE ACTOR-ROBOT! Walter may have some more post-production notes for a change here and there, but all in all, it's completed! We released the first trailer for the show today on the CRT Yahoo Fan site, and will release it on our website during the week. Jim and Seth worked overtime this path month to bring this massive production to completion, and the end result is incredible; not to mention the fact that Jeff has once again delivered a stunning score. Release date is set for Nov.15th. Walter will be a guest on Boston's Jordan Rich Show, and also on The Maggie Linton Show on Sirius/XM.

IF IT'S AUGUST -

- I must be getting older.

Busy, busy, busy.

Our production of Walter Koenig's BUCK ALICE AND THE ACTOR-ROBOT is edited! Now we are mixing and doing some final corrections; but I expect to run a preview of the entire program on Sunday. I am very, very happy with this one, and hope that Walter's fans enjoy it. Jeff has turned in another great score,and Jim Hamilton and Seth Adam Sher have done a magnificent job in post. Release date is November 15th! Walter will be appearing on Bostons THE JORDAN RICH SHOW sometime late fall, and he will also be guest on Maggie Linton's show COVER TO COVER on Sirius/XM Book Radio. I'll post the dates when we lock them in. ALSO - BUCK ALICE will run as a mini-series on Sirius/XM Book Radio. So keep tuned!

Our 2008 series JERRY AND THE PIRATES had a fun 24 episode on our Sirius/XM show this summer, and now TICONDEROGA will play Mon-Fri. thru Sept. 10th.

Lots of other projects going on, and I can't talk about any of them yet. Soon though.

It has been HOT as #$!! here in Boston these last two weeks. What's it like where you are?

LOGAN'S RUN and VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS

Check it out!

BIG RECORDING DAY TODAY

Today we start recording ... PROJECT X. No, thats not really the title, but Project X is what we call EVERYTHING now that we don't want snoopy people finding out about and then going behind our backs to cut their own deals ... THAT ain't gonna happen again, you can bet on that. ANYWAY, we'll announce it soon, and it will then be replaced by ANOTHER Project X.

AUG. 4th we start rolling on VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS! Cool horror episode set in the Amazon! Gonna be a scary one.

MJ turned in the revised FATHER BROWN - THE ARROW FROM HEAVEN (which will replace the version recorded in 2007), and also JARREM LEE EPISODE 18. I did one more round of notes.

VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS begins production

Our new series has begun production! Produced in association with Bluewater productions, it's VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS. The first episode, adapted for audio by MJ Elliott, will record on Aug. 4th!

THURSDAY

Recording session with Anastas at high noon; we should wrap this project next week. This kid gets better and better. He's come a long way since SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES four years ago!

Then I continued with notes for BUCK ALICE and also some notes on upcoming scripts, followed by scheduling sessions through August. We will be recording our 1st VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS the first week in August! Grab your Pith Helmet or Solar Topee - we're going to the Amazon!

ON THE TRAIL OF THE BIG HORN

This week on IMAGINATION THEATER, Jim French presents CRT's POWDER RIVER - ON THE TRAIL OF THE BIG HORN. Free streaming till next Monday.

POWDER RIVER - ON THE TRAIL OF THE BIG HORN

RITA'S

Anyone who listens to CRT's THE DIBBLE SHOW will get a kick out of this! Just as I imagined it would look!

IF IT'S TUESDAY, IT MUST BE WEDNESDAY

Spoke again with Walter Koenig about the Buck Alice credits, and ideas on the cover art, and Walter sent some notes for editing. This project is very exciting! Regarding other shows - casting completed for the next session and the scripts will go out in the wee small hours of Wednesday morning for Saturday recording(oh, that's today - Tuesday is over), and Wednesday I need to start the voice casting for PROJECT-X which starts taping in a week and a half.

Monday, Monday.

Recording session today for two more JARREM LEE episodes. Always nice to see Marcia and Leigh! Mark did the proposals for some upcoming projects, Jim continues to make great magic with BUCK ALICE, and I spoke with Walter Koenig about the credits that will be recorded on Tuesday, and Deniz continues working on the 7th script for PROJECT X. MJ turned in some more FATHER BROWN as well. All in all - things are moving right along! (Okay, so it's Tuesday, but we recorded on Monday!)

A NEW THUNDER AND SAHARAH!

A Powder River fan sent me this photo of her cats! They are a father and son, and were adopted a few years ago. They named them after Thunder and Saharah - Chad and Britt's horses in POWDER RIVER (they were going to name them Britt and Chad, but her sons thought the others were more exciting!). This is the first time someone has named a pet after a POWDER RIVER character, and I think it's cool! Thanks so much, Michele for sending the photo! Made my day!

HEY CRT FANS!

Things are really in a whirlwind here - which is good! We continue with our summer recording schedule, heavier than usual, and getting the job done. We are very excited to announce a new series - VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS.
In celebration of his 100th birthday in 2011, we are producing this series with Bluewater Productions, based on their line of comics.
One of classic Hollywood's most famous scary men, Vincent Price made a name for himself in classic mysteries and thrillers throughout the 1940's, 50's and 60's. We will produce 30 half hour episodes. The series will feature audio dramatizations of some of Prices’s films as well as developing new frightening ones with his estate. Welcome back to the macabre world of Vincent Price!

FINAL SHOW OF THE SEASON

All you Sirius/XM Subscribers - DON'T MISS THE FINAL "FIRST RUN FRIDAY" episode of the season on our Sirius/XM show today at 12pm (Eastern). Our 5th season finishes off with JARREM LEE - GHOST HUNTER - The Last Stand! This year we brought 47 new half hour programs to the air! JERRY AND THE PIRATES begins a summer run Mon-Fri. starting July 5th, and ...we'll be back with new shows with our 6th Season premier on SEPT. 23!

GETTYSBURG MINI-SERIES THIS WEEKEND

To commemorate the 147th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg, SIRIUS/XM Book Radio will present CRT's 1999 mini-series, GETTYSBURG.
"This is a high quality, digitally recorded production features top-notch actors and music... a great selection for Civil War buffs... and students." - Elaine Hanson - BOOKLIST.

" The sound effects are good, the narration clear and crisp, the various voices even better ...an endless spectacle of blood and dust and insects and carnage. That's what the war itself was like, of course. Here are the fatigue, the despair, the pain, the screams, the deafening cannon plowing through human ranks, death, and dismemberment. Sometimes the politicians are heard. More often the generals and officers and foot soldiers. One would swear that a newspaper reporter with cassette recorder in hand was dashing around the battlefield in the thick of it" - AudioFile

In the tradition of classic radio plays, with a full cast, music and sound effects. The Colonial Radio Theatre On The Air is proud to present this spectacular three part production - "Gettysburg." Highly detailed and accurate, you will find yourself in the middle of General Buford's skirmish line, Little Round Top.The Wheatfield, Pickett's Charge, and listen while President Lincoln delivers his address some four months later. No matter which side you are loyal to... "Gettysburg" will have your heart pounding with its action, adventure and suspense.

SAT. JULY 3 at 8pm - "Good Ground"
SUN. JULY 4 at 4pm - " SEA OF ANGUISH"
MON. JULY 5 at 8pm - " ARMY OF THE LIVING GOD"

All times Eastern. Sirius Ch. 117 / XM Ch. 163

GET READY TO RUN .........

COOL NEWS! CRT will have the honor of bringing William F. Nolan's LOGAN'S RUN - LAST DAY - to audio! Based on the classic book by Mr. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson, we are very excited to get the chance to bring this incredible story to life with a full cast, full music score, and a couple of hundred thousand sound effects!

LOGAN'S RUN - FINAL DAY depicts a dystopic ageist future society in which both population and the consumption of resources are maintained in equilibrium by requiring the death of everyone reaching a particular age. The story follows the actions of Logan, a Sandman charged with enforcing the rule, as he tracks down and kills citizens who "run" from society's lethal demand — only to end up "running" himself.

CRT will produce the show in association with Bluewater Productions.

Congrats to our Publisher!

Congratulations are in order for our publisher, BRILLIANCE AUDIO for being named Business of the Year, in their home town of Grand Haven.

a little update

Working on THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES script this weekend. Need to get it to Ray for approval in July, and then hopefully we can record in August and have it out on time. MJ has finished editing on THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER, which now awaits music. Jim and Seth continue editing on BUCK ALICE AND THE ACTOR-ROBOT, and we are getting close to completion. Lots of other projects in the works that we can't announce yet; but we will be announcing a big one within a couple of weeks. Stay tuned!

A Thursday Update!

Had a good meeting with Brilliance yesterday, mapping out how to go about digging into our catalog of 300 plus titles :) 300! No wonder I have dark circles under my eyes!
Today I have a 3:30pm recording session for LORENZO AND THE PIRATE, and then working on a Powder River script.
Some amazing things on the horizon that I can't wait to tell you about! A new 36 episode series is barreling down the pike right at ya, and it's like nothing we have ever done before! We start recording on July 24th and have a air date premier of Nov.6th on Sirius/XM (yep, the show will be broadcast on weekends, outside our normal time slot).
Exciting!

RANDOM THOUGHTS:

Saw the schedule for the CAPE COD MELODY TENT in Hyannis. I must be getting old because I only knew about four of the "stars" playing there this summer. The days of Liberace, Bob Hope, Robert Goulet, Rosemary Clooney, Martha Ray, Angela Lansbury, Victor Borge performing on that stage are long gone; behold the era of foul mouthed stand up.

JAWS is still an amazing movie to behold. Can't wait till it's on Blu-Ray. Is it??

The MGM lion at the start of a movie still has the most class of any movie logo, but the triumphant trumpets of 20th Century Fox really get the blood going and screams out HOLLYWOOD!

I think Colonial Radio needs to do the 6th L.Frank Baum OZ book as a radio drama.

Am I the only person who did not like AVATAR?

JARREM LEE and such

We had a GREAT recording session on Monday for JARREM LEE - GHOST HUNTER, completing two new episodes. There will be 24 episodes in all. Joe Caliendo Jr. has taken on the role of Arthur Bennett, due to Jeremy Benson who needed to bow out since he will be playing the title role in the Scottish Play! Joe first recorded with CRT back in 1997 with THE STORM BREEDER, followed quickly by our Dickens Holiday offering for that year, THE SEVEN POOR TRAVELLERS. Nice to have Joe back behind the CRT microphones. We have aired the first 12 episodes on our show, and we're recording / editing the final batch now. Bryan Rothrock is doing a fantastic job on this series.

MJ continues to edit on THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER, which will be broadcast as a special on Sirius/XM Radio on Thanksgiving Day. I think the CD release will be in the spring of 2011. So far 75 minutes has been edited; I'm taking a guess and predicting a final cut of 100min. Let's see if I'm right!

OH - and a note on the posters on this site; these are temporary ones that I create just to get the buzz going. Our publishers art department will produce the actual cover art for the CD's - so don't worry, they will look a bit more slick in the end :)

That's all for now,
cheers from Boston.

NEW PODCAST

New COLONIAL RADIO TALK podcast, with Deniz Cordell. Deniz plays Clay Tucker in the POWDER RIVER series, and also starred in CRT's 2005 production KIDNAPPED. He is currently writing a new series which will premier this fall, and is composing the score to THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER, scheduled for broadcast on Thanksgiving Day.

NEW PODCAST

Check out the newest CRT TALK podcast, with guest Anastas Varinos (Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Halloween Tree, The Prince and the Pauper, Treasure Island).

OUR NEW PUBLISHER

We are THRILLED to announce that we have a NEW PUBLISHER! CRT has signed with BRILLIANCE AUDIO, the largest audio book publisher in the United States! We have a great line-up of releases coming up - it's all very exciting!

BUCK ALICE ZOOMING ALONG

Walter Koenig's BUCK ALICE AND THE ACTOR ROBOT. Although this show has been a long time in the making, I think it will be worth waiting for. It's a fun production: theater of the absurd, black comedy, and some great writing. After a long delay we are finally on track and have two editors on the project, Seth Adam Sher and Jim Hamilton, and Walter Koenig is very much involved with the editing and pacing of the show.

This is not the typical CRT show, and already I found a "critic" who wrote about it, pretty much blasting it before hearing it - which is amazing to me. Judging it before it is even released. Then again, we have come to expect that sort of thing these days. People hear what they want to hear. I remember a review we got when we released THE ALAMO back in 1999. A critic mentioned how he "rolled his eyes when Travis drew a line in the dirt for the defenders to cross." Well, the amazing thing is, that never happens in our production! It wasn't even in the script because I knew it was legend and not fact - and yet - here was this guy accusing us of having it in our show. Incredible. You can still see the review online where it has been misleading potential listeners for 11 years.
BUCK ALICE is one-fun-show. I am loving what I am hearing so far! Walters fans will really enjoy this one.

Last week we recorded THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER with a great script by MJ Elliott (Father Brown Mysteries, Perry Mason Radio Dramas) and a wonderful cast headed by CRT teen stars Anastas Varinos and Isaac Bean. We hope to have this one ready for a Thanksgiving Day Broadcast on Sirius/XM.

The world of contracts and negotiations have been dominating the CRT agenda for a few months and I am hoping that we are just about set and ready to make some exciting announcements. Yes, I have been talking about a new publisher since last October, and yes, it has taken this long to get biz done and ready for the dotted line. It will be well worth it though, and we are excited about it.

May will be a quiet recording month as we focus on getting BUCK ALICE ready for release. In fact, I'm not sure I will be recording at all until June. Gives me some time to catch up on my scripts which have taken a slow turn these past few weeks.

Not a week goes by that I do not get emails about Powder River Season 5. We will start recording new episodes this summer! These will be our final episodes in the series, and when completed (and assuming I get all the episodes done I want for the final season) we should have a grand total of 75 half hour episodes and 2 feature length productions. I'd love to hit 105 episodes, but someone else would have to write the 30 scripts to get there. Still, 75 is not a bad run at all. :)

Onward!

April already?

Well, I have been out of touch lately - both here and in the "real world" as things at CRT are incredibly busy. Two of our editors are working on getting BUCK ALICE completed, while MJ and Bryan work on FATHER BROWN and JARREM LEE.

We are ramping up with our new publisher (who we will announce soon) and are in talks for some heavy duty titles that will surprise just about all of our fans (again, announcement to come). I HATE not being able to spill the beans, but until the deals are set, we can't talk about it.

Add to this my trying to get some scripts done, and not having taken a break in about 9 years, I'm a little out of steam. So, I need to get off facebook, and blogger, and just take it easy for a while - because when the new publisher launches our titles, there won't be a moment of peace around here. Only one recording session is planned this month, for THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER, and after that, I most likely will not turn the CRT mics on again until June.

Lots of amazing things about to happen. Just wait and see :)
cheers
~J

Busy times

Is this the longest I've gone without posting? I think so. It's been a busy month with CRT and life in general. We are trying to get some productions wrapped up and ready for release, and planning new ones. We have a few sessions being scheduled for April, and most of these productions will air in the fall.
This week we should be releasing two new programs; a new FATHER BROWN MYSTERY called The Eye of Apollo, and episode 10 of JARREM LEE - GHOST HUNTER.

Our new audio book sideline has been very busy as well. We have one book in release, THE BOOK OF NONSENSE; and two more have been completed and will be out soon; KICHI IN JUMGLE JEOPARDY and also Earl Murray's MOUNTAIN SHERIFF (the first in a series of four). We have a lot of books in line for recording - a lot.

thats all for now. More later :) cheers

NEW RELEASE! SHAKESPEARE'S GHOST

The Bard himself has returned to comment on his life, his works, and how the centuries have treated him. J.T. Turner brings Shakespeare to life, and this audio presentation (based on his stage play) is filled with stories about Shakespeare, his works, productions through the ages, and passages from many of the Bard's best works. Created and Written by J.T. TURNER, this is the first production from our newest producer at CRT, Jim Hamilton. The show is now on Lulu.Com, and will be coming soon to Spoken Network, Amazon, Audible and i-Tunes.
SHAKESPEARE'S GHOST

TICONDEROGA COMPLETED

We started recording on Nov. 10th 2008 and finished taping in February of 2009, and now, on Feb. 28th a year after, the entire TICONDEROGA production has been completed! Bagpipes, fifes and drums, a few thousand muskets and Highlanders, and we're good to go! CRT's first historical program in almost 10 years.All 24 episodes are now at the CRT store on LULU.COM and the CD release will be this summer. If you don't like single episodes, we will soon have a continuous version available.

COLONIAL RADIO TALK seems to be catching on. We have had quite a few downloads to the podcast, and MJ Cogburn has set us up as a RSS feed; you can download the show from various podcast sites, or have it delivered to you each week via your email. All the info is at CRT PODCAST

Monday, so we're recording tonight. Three more episodes of SOLUTIONS, INC. We will wrap the series on the 15th of this month.

More later!
cheers

NEW FATHER BROWN RELEASE

Today we released the second to last episode in our FATHER BROWN series.

THE INSOLUBLE PROBLEM


From London to Cornwall, then to Italy and France, a short, shabby priest takes on bandits, traitors and killers. Why is he so successful? The reason is that after years spent in the priesthood, Father Brown knows human nature and is not afraid of its dark side. Thus he understands criminal motivation and how to deal with it.

EPISODE 15: THE INSOLUBLE PROBLEM - Father Brown's best friend is a master thief, who's been assigned the task of catching another thief. But first the pair must solve a murder that couldn't possibly have happened.

THE FATHER BROWN MYSTERIES

Starring J.T. TURNER as Father Brown. HUGH METZLER as Inspector Craven.

From the FATHER BROWN short stories by G K Chesterton

Dramatized by M J Elliott

Executive Producer MARK VANDER BERG. Directed by JERRY ROBBINS. Produced by M.J. COGBURN

Music by KEVIN McLEOD

QUESTIONS FOR LINCOLN CLARK?

QUESTIONS FOR LINCOLN CLARK?? Lincoln will be my guest on COLONIAL RADIO TALK, our new podcast, recording Mon. Feb. 15th. Lincoln has been with CRT for 20 years, and is perhaps best known as "Doc" in POWDER RIVER. If you have anything you would like to ask Lincoln, please post your questions in the CRT Forum in the catagory of QUESTIONS FOR THE CRT PODCAST. This show will be posted March 5th

NEW COLONIAL RADIO PODCAST

Check out the brand new COLONIAL RADIO PODCAST! This is going to be a "behind the scenes" look at CRT shows past, present and future with the actors of the CRT Players. This week, my guest is J.T. Turner in the first of a two-part interview!

THE COLONIAL RADIO PODCAST

PLUGGING AWAY

Been a busy month here at CRT, including finishing off our 12 hour production of TICONDEROGA. We've recorded the bagpipes and drums and putting the finishing touches on the battle scenes - which are rather extensive! The show began broadcasting Dec.4th on our Sirius/XM Radio Show, and will continue through May.

Also this month we recorded a book, KICHI in JUNGLE JEOPARDY, which is a fun story that I think kids will love. J.T. Turner performed this one, and we managed to record the entire story in one day!

Also on our new Audio Book front, Anastas Varinos continues recording LORENZO AND THE PIRATE, and Sam Donato is hard at work recording Earl Murray's MOUNTAIN SHERIFF.

Also in production is our PROJECT-X; a feature that we will announce the title of when it is completed, and also a new series SOLUTIONS, INC. began recording and will continue through March.

Pictured is J.T. Turner at the session for KICHI!

SPOKANE ANYONE?

Just saw that the Spokane County Library District has a few of our shows in circulation. THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE is one of them. For this, I wanted a "documentary" feel, and we did the entire show with no music underscore. It's an odd production from CRT, and by odd I just mean different. However,now in its 10th year of release, it continues to sell in downloads, and we are looking forward to its first CD release later this year. They also have our 2004 mini-musical production of JACK AND THE BEANSTALK, and POWDER RIVER. However, for PR, you need to search the title, as our former publisher never saw it fit to actually mention our name anywhere in print. The little darlings. ;)

COLONIAL IN SPOKANE

NEW PRODUCTION

M.J. Elliott (Father Brown, Perry Mason) will be writing the script for CRT's upcoming production of Mark Twain's THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER. Hopefully production will begin in the spring for a fall release.

SNOWY DAY IN TOWN

Well, tonight we are supposed to start recording a new series, SOLUTIONS, INC. and this is the view from my writing desk. A nice heavy, wet, icy snow. I'll see how the day pans out and how the roads look before deciding if we are on or off. We recorded KING SOLOMON'S MINES during the winter of 2008, and TICONDEROGA las winter, and never had to cancel for snow. In fact, the last time we canceled for snow was in 2005 for the three Custer episodes in POWDER RIVER! So, I guess I can't complain. We've been lucky as far as the weather.

NEW TITLES ON SPOKEN NETWORK

It's been a while since we released new titles to Spoken Network! Our 2004 production of TOBY TYLER has been on the site for six years, however, it was only available in its broadcast form - 7 half hour episodes. We have re-cut the program to run as a continuous feature. This is one of my favorite shows, and captures the mood of circus life in the 1880's.
CAPTAIN BLOOD, our 2006 production, has also only been available for download in episodes. It is now on Spoken Network as it was released on CD - in a continuous 7 hour program. There is also a new FATHER BROWN episode (the series will be completed in March), as well as a new episode of JARREM LEE - GHOST HUNTER.

Here are the links

ZORRO AND THE PIRATE RAIDERS

PERRY MASON AND THE CASE OF THE HOWLING DOG

TOBY TYLER or TEN WEEKS WITH A CIRCUS

JARREM LEE - GHOST HUNTER

CAPTAIN BLOOD

THE BOOK OF NONSENSE

THE FATHER BROWN MYSTERIES

Today we record our final two episodes in the JARREM LEE series, and next week we begin a new series by Mike Murphy, called SOLUTIONS, INC. More on that later.