POWDER RIVER COMING TO AM/FM STATIONS

CRT has made an agreement with JIM FRENCH PRODUCTIONS in Seattle, to broadcast POWDER RIVER as part of their IMAGINATION THEATRE program! We will be on the first weekend of each month on their affiliate stations! There's a hundred or so stations, so it will be fun bringing the series to a whole new audience!

We will be filling a one hour slot, so the episodes are being re-edited. Each hour will contain two episodes, re-cut to make a single, continuous program. They are also being re-mastered for a richer and fuller sound.

Jim French has been producing radio plays since 1965, and he has amassed over 600 programs. His company is best known for their detective series HARRY NILE, and they do a magnificent job with the ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, which is one of my favorites on XM. Here are just some of the stations we will be heard on-

1110 FM KFAB Omaha, NE. Sat. 7pm

860 AM KPAM, Portland, OR Sun. 9pm

760 AM, KFMB San Diego CA, Sun. 10pm

850 AM WRUF, Gainesville, FL Sun. 10pm

1360 AM, KRWC, Buffalo, MN Sat. 7pm

830 AM, WCCO, Minneapolis / St. Paul, Sat. 11pm, Sun. Midnight

- and many more. I am very happy that Imagination Theatre is giving POWDER RIVER this opportunity, and I hope the show does good numbers for them (so TUNE IN!!!). I'll publish a more precise schedule of stations when it is available. So remember - once a month - starting the first weekend in April!

More exciting POWDER RIVER news in a few days!

POWDER RIVER trailer

The trailer for POWDER RIVER - SEASON 4 is now live on Spoken Network! Check it out - you can download it free of charge. Episodes will be ready for download starting the week of March 19th, when the series plays its first run on XM, Ch. 163.

My 9 year old next door neighbor wrote his first book! It's a three page (maybe two and half) story that isn't that bad! He was hoping to get it put onto a CD, so I think we'll record it for him. I've been letting him and some of his friends snowboard in my back yard (It has a good hill for snowboarding) - so they've been out there for an hour or so each day having a ball.

Yesterday I wrote a 17 page "sample script" for a story we might do. We'll submit it to the 'powers that be' and see if it goes anywhere.

We have a television show in development, and it's now "pitch time" to the studios (and nail biting time for me). We are working with a top-notch animation studio who has worked very hard in developing this project, and everyone seems to think we have a good shot at it. Wish us luck!

I will have some cool POWDER RIVER news to announce soon - perhaps this week.

TOM SWIFT is the script I am working on today. It's just about finished. Can't wait to start this one.

MEET THE SWIFTS!

I am pleased to announce that we have cast Matthew Scott Robertson in the role of TOM SWIFT, and Hugh Metzler as his inventor-father, BARTON SWIFT. Matthew co-starred in our production of Ray Bradbury's SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES, and has an extensive list of theatre credits.

Hugh Metzler first appeared with us in POWDER RIVER where he played Judge Parker. He has also been heard in CAPTAIN BLOOD, DANDELION WINE, and our new series, THE FATHER BROWN MYSTERIES. Hugh has a vast history on the stage, and we know he's going to be great in this fun role.

CRT to dramatize TOM SWIFT by Victor Appleton.

This March, The Colonial Radio Theatre on the Air will start recording Victor Appleton's TOM SWIFT and his MOTOR CYCLE. Originally published in 1910 (when motor cycles were a new invention and a big deal), this drama had boys across the country on the edge of their seats, turning the pages to find out what happens next! It's an adventure story full of secret plans, spies, and daring escapes - all centered around a youngster "mechanical genius" named Tom Swift.

My Dad (now 87) was a fan of these books, and even has a first edition. I read the first in the series (there are 25 by the original author), and immediately saw great potential for a radio play. I talked with Chris Snyder to see how difficult it would be to create 1910 in sound, and after taking inventory, it appears we have everything we need.

It seems the books were written by many ghost writers, in fact, I think Victor Appleton never actually existed - it was just a name invented to keep the books as a common thread by a single author. I may be wrong on this, but I am pretty sure that's what I read.

It doesn't matter though, because all I am interested in is bringing these wonderful stories alive in sound - and that's just what we're going to do. Are they dated? Yes - but they are still exciting. Adventure never dates itself.

TOM SWIFT and his MOTOR CYCLE IS the first in what we hope will be a long running series. It will be release it as a multi-CD set under it's original title, and it will also be edited for our radio series under the title THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SWIFT, and will debut this summer.

Had our final recording session last night (for a couple of months anyway) for the FATHER BROWN series. M J Elliott has written some wonderful scripts, and this is a fun series. So these first 8 episodes will make up "Volume 1!" Exciting! Matt McLaren sent over the final edit for episode 3, and he's doing a great job.

On the western front, Chris Snyder has turned in the final episode for POWDER RIVER season 4! They will start running on our XM show in five weeks. We now have a total of 60 episodes! After a break, I am sure I'll write a few more. Hope so, anyway. The trailer should be out early next week.

***BREAKING NEWS***

Later this week, I'll announce a brand new series that we start work on in March (hopefully for a summer or fall release). I'm very excited about this one! Hint - it is set in the year 1910 (and that's not a very good hint I'm sorry to say)

***

DANDELION WINE is still on Blackstones Bestseller List on their home page! It's in 5th place (was in third yesterday), and it has been on this list since the first week in January - and it's the only title still on the list from their January releases. Pretty exciting!

Work continues on Ray''s SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES, and we should have a "teaser" out in a couple of weeks.

TO REMAKE, OR NOT TO REMAKE

Very soon, CRT will record its 220th production. I've been lucky enough to have been able to record some of my all-time favorite books as radio plays (Captain Blood, Treasure Island, The Wizard of Oz, Kidnapped, Sleepy Hollow, Something Wicked This Way Comes,) and for the most part, I am happy with the end results. However, in some cases, there are little things that nag me about some of the programs. After a few years, the nagging doesnt get better, and decide to record the entire production over again! This was the case with TREASURE ISLAND, and A CHRISTMAS CAROL. The versions in release now are the versions I'm happy with (except the old TREASURE ISLAND is still on Audible. Try getting Audible to change anything in a year or less). So, today I tune in to a small section of our RED BADGE OF COURAGE, and the nagging in my head began again!! I know I could cast the lead role better if I were to do the show over, however I think I would still stick with my "no music score" concept, as I want the show to have a documentary feel to it .... but the pace would move faster. Its a good production as it is now - but I would rather have a great one.

Our first round of FATHER BROWN episodes wrap on Monday night after five weeks of recording. More on the way, but I won't be going right into them; we'll start up late Spring on those. These will be released as "Vol.1," so I'll keep you posted as to when.

RANDOM THOUGHTS:

Recent Movies I've seen -

VENUS- with my all-time favorite, Peter O'Toole. I couldn't get into this one; it tries hard, but the girl was just plain annoying, and I've seen this story premise somewhere else ... but I cant recall it. Should Peter win the Oscar? Yes, I think he should. It may not be his best picture, but he is still one of the worlds greatest actors and turns in a masterful performance here. Hollywood should make the other contenders wait 40 years or so, as they have this man. But they wont. Most of the voting academy are under 40 and have no idea of Hollywood history; just what's hot at the moment.

LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA. Magnificent. Magnificent. Nuff said.

ELIZABETH 1st. An HBO DVD I just watched. You know - I really like the older movies when they would cut off Mary Queen Of Scots' head and we didn't see it up close and personal - not to mention the drawing and quartering scene .... too much for me. The acting was fantastic though, and next time I know when to fast forward.

New Programs

We've been running some new programs on our XM show. The first - A PHIL BYRNES MYSTERY had a run of 7 episodes last week, followed by THE DEAD LINE for three episodes. DEAD LINE is produced in Canada by Sonic Cinema. Anyone hear the broadcasts? What do you think?

Tonight we continue recording THE FATHER BROWN MYSTERIES with two new episodes; this will bring our total to 7 episodes, and we record the final one next week. Well, there will be more, but as far as a CD release, Vol. 1 goes - we're done! We'll continue recording in April or May most likely.

POWDER RIVER, SEASON FOUR is just about wrapped up with post-production. It airs on XM in just about five weeks (after season three repeats, starting this Wednesday).
Sixty episodes total! I never thought we would do more than 15!

BACK ON THE BOARDS

It's hard to believe that it's been five years since we first did BARRYMORE by William Luce at the Lyric West Theatre. And now, we're taking it out again for a couple of performances at the WEST END THEATER in Gloucester,MA on April 27 & 28th! It's not on their website yet, but should be soon. I hope you CRT fans in the area come to see it! Ticket info will be posted soon. We have done the show several times in the last several years, and I'm looking forward to doing it again. Joseph Zamparelli is directing, and we are hoping to get award winning actor (and CRT player) Judson Pierce to play the role of "Frank -" but that's not set in stone yet. I hope you can come see us in Gloucester, and make sure you say HI after the show!

what a day

It's about -2 here in Bawstun, and the day has been full of fun and games. The best part was my water pipe burst from the cold, and did a fair amount of damp damage to some things (not the mention the ceiling). Some other little incidents topped everything off, and then we had a recording session in the evening. All in all, a day that I am happy to see leave. We recorded two more FATHER BROWN episodes tonight, and next week - two more. After that, we do one more episode and VOL. 1 is finished. We record every week this month (the western tapes at the end of the Feb.)just like the old days in the 90's banging out one a week for an entire year.
We now have 200 titles on Spoken Network - and now that they have expanded to 5000 plus titles, we are buried under the mass of items from Random House and BBC. So, nice while it lasted but no one knows we're in there unless they dig for us.
And to all you Colts Fans - congrats! And I must say Peyton wasn't acting like too much of a crybaby! ;)

Powder River Lawsuit?

No, not the radio show. the real thing.

New Release

Just released our first FATHER BROWN episode, THE BLUE CROSS. It's on Spoken Network. Check it out!
We're recoding these episodes for the next three weeks, for a total of eight episodes. We'll do another eight after that, as soon as the scripts are underway.
Our newest editor, Matthew McLaren is the producer on this series, and he's doing an outstanding job! I think this will be a fun series, and we have a lot of new actors.