DIBBLE ANIMATED PROJECT

Well, after almost two years of talk and development, I can finally mention that CRT's THE NEW DIBBLE SHOW is in development as a TV series! A production of "The House of Cool" in Toronto, Canada, the studio was formed by Ricardo Curtis. Ricardo has worked on such pictures as THE INCREDIBLES, THE IRON GIANT, ROAD TO EL DORADO, and MONSTERS INC. to name a few. These are world class animators and we are very fortunate to have crossed paths with them! In just a couple of weeks, the series will be pitched to the studios, and we keep our fingers crossed that they (the studios) like the show. You can check it out at their website HERE Click on "The New Dibble Show" to see some drawings.

thanks!

Thanks to all of you who came to see BARRYMORE this past weekend! It was great seeing you after the show, and I had a great time working the QP stage once more. I really love performing this great play by William Luce (who sent a FANTASTIC email!!) andI am looking forward to playing it at the end of the month at the West End Theatre in Gloucester, MA - right at the sea shore (I just hope a fog horn doesnt chime in during the 'to be or not to be' bit!).

POWDER RIVER - CD RELEASE

The first season of our POWDER RIVER series is being released this week from BLACKSTONE AUDIO It's a little on the pricy side (plastic clam shell packaging), but they should be releasing a value pack edition soon.

These are the first 15 episodes of a series I thought would end with episode 15; but that was 60 episodes ago! These have been re-mastered and they sound GREAT for their CD debut! This is the release schedule;

SEASON 1: April 1, 2007

SEASON 2: May 1,2007

SEASON 3: June 1, 2007

SEASON 4: July 1, 2007

And guess what? Season 5 begins taping in June! 15 episodes are planned.

BARRYMORE this weekend!

Anyone in the Boston area this weekend? Come to the QP PLAYHOUSE Sunday, April 1st, for BARRYMORE. This is a fantastic play by WIlliam Luce about one of my Hollywood / Broadway idols, John Barrymore. Joe Zamparelli directs, and CRT player Mark Cafazzo plays the role of "Frank." We've been doing this play on and off for five years and I never get tired of it. Hope to see you there!

I think this is the longest I've gone without posting a post. As you can guess, things are hectic, busy and ... more busy. Trying to make deadlines, re-edit old programs for broadcast, writing, post production on SOMETHING WICKED, a show in development for television, and getting ready to do a few BARRYMORE performances starting April 1st. A family illness is the most important thing I am dealing with right now, so that takes precedent over all.

The new POWDER RIVER episodes are airing, and the chat in the CRT fan site looks positive! We release Season 1 on CD April 1st, so I am hoping we find new listeners and that the show will make money, and that way I will continue with the series. It's the most popular show we have, but its tough to produce it for download only when we have massive productions like CAPTAIN BLOOD and SOMETHING WICKED we are doing at the same time. Anyway, I hope all that will change when we release it on CD.

Happy Birthday, Samantha!! I can't believe you are 10!!!

Thats all for now - I'm not in a very chatty mood, and I need to get back to work here anyway. Anyone in the Boston area on April 1st, I hope you come see me at the play! Mark Cafazzo is doing the show with me that day (he was in Captain Blood, and 2 Powder River episodes playing the bad guy who bought the saloon) and Joe Z is directing. Stop by and say Howdy! I'll post info here later.

OGLE AWARDS

Last July CRT won the Gold Ogle Award for the Best Fantasty Production of 2005 with our THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW. It was SO COOL winning, especially since it was such a difficult program to make.

The award is named after Charles Ogle (pictured left, as the Monster) who played the very first Frankensteins Monster in the 1910 Edison production.

This year we have entered our production of DANDELION WINE, which was scripted by Ray Bradbury, for the Fantasy catagory. We were never able to enter the Ogle's before, because we had never produced any sci-fi or fantasy until SLEEPY HOLLOW; so it's fun to be able to enter a show!

Heard some of POWDER RIVER tonight on XM. I don't get a chance to listen too much these days. It was an episode called THE WAGON BOY, which is one of my personal favorites, mainly due to the performance by James McLean. He's only 11, but MAN, can he pull off the dramatic stuff! After hearing him in this, it was a no-brainer that we needed to add him to the cast of regulars. Anyway, it was nice hearing a little of it tonight.

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.