PUBLISHERS WEEKLY - ARE YOU REALLY LISTENING??

Just read a review from Publishers Weekly on our production of THE HALLOWEEN TREE. Now, have any of you reading this blog heard the show yet? For those who have, can you make sense of this line posted in the review ...
While there are sound effects, they are mostly limited to ambient vocals in the background and wind, never utilizing the more calm-fracturing accoutrements like slamming doors or dishes breaking.

Now, I don't think this critic listened to the show - for if they did, they would realize that this program is stuffed full of sound effects - the building of the kite scene alone has hundreds of effects, many created just for this sequence, which took an entire week to edit ... the building of Notre Dame, the scenes in Mexico ... I mean, HUH?? Never utilizing calm fracturing accoutrements like SLAMMING DOORS (um, did you hear the scenes in Moundshrouds house?? You wanna talk slamming doors??) and breaking dishes ... well, sorry, the script didn't call for any domestic dishes being smashed, but I thought the Samhain scene with Roman Soldiers and thousands of tiny animal ghosts taking flight would be a good fill-in for a dish or two. I mean, did you listen to the show?? Really??

A NEW GROUP, AND A NEW FORUM

We've just created two new sites for CRT fans! First, for the Powder River posse, we have a brand new Yahoo Group site all about the show. You can join it here:
POWDER RIVER FAN GOUP

Next, we have the COLONIAL RADIO TALK forum. Here you can discuss our productions (Father Brown, Powder River, Jerry and the Pirates,) and even create your own topics.

Hope to see you there!

TICONDEROGA - 1st Day!

Today was our first recording session for our new, 24 episode, French and Indian War Epic, Ticonderoga! And what a great session it was! Our new co-star, Paolo Settipane (pictured, left) did an OUTSTANDING job! In just three episodes we saw his character develope and he took to the mics like an old pro. A very natural actor, and one who has "it." Also in the picture is first time CRT player Evan Tanner, who you will certainly be hearing a lot from in our shows. Recently moved up from the south (I think Arkansas??), he's a great actor who I saw on stage last spring in True West, directed by Nancy Curran Willis (who directed our three Bradbury productions). Also in tonights episodes were J.T. Turner, Joseph Zamparelli Jr., Tom Berry, and Jud Pierce.
So a big WELCOME to Paolo and Evan, and HERE'S TO our new production, Ticonderoga!

FINAL WEEK FOR BARRYMORE DOWNLOAD

Saturday is the last day you can check out a sneak peek at our production of BARRYMORE, by William Luce. It will be released this coming April by Blackstone Audio, but you can hear it HERE, FIRST on Lulu.Com! So far, the feedback has been incredible, and we're hoping for a hit this spring!

THIS n THAT

OK, lets see .... do you ever find that there is so much to be done, that you feel like nothing is being done? I am writing the scripts for our new series, Ticonderoga, which starts recording tomorrow night. I am so excited about this show, and I wish I could write it faster than I am. Over the summer I wrote 24 half hour scripts for Jerry And The Pirates, and I was just thinking today that I should add up all the scripts I've written over the past 18 years - then again, maybe I shouldn't. Anyway, when I am closing in on the end of Ticonderoga, I'll start writing Season 5 of Powder River, which will be 15 episodes.

On the 17th we hold auditions for Zorro And The Pirate Raiders. Chris Snyder will be directing and producing this production, and the music has been assigned to Jeffrey Gage.

Buck Alice and the Actor Robot, turned out to be a much more complex project than we thought, but we are making progress! I am planning on some re-takes in the newxt few weeks, and the show is now in line assembly (picking out the best takes to assemble in a rough edit, with just the dialog, no effects yet.) This is going to be a good one, folks!

Our first Perry Mason production, The Case of the Sulky Girl is getting the final touches applied, and we should have it out on Lulu soon, followed by a CD release.

Our production of the William Luce play Barrymore, has been out in limited release since Nov. 1st, and the feedback has been better than we had hoped for! Everyone seems to love the production, and that's very exciting! I was hoping the show would make the transition from stage to audio with no problems, and Mr. Luce seems to have pulled it off with his incredible script! It's on Lulu.Com for another week, the 15th, and then we pull it out of release, and Blackstone Audio will release it on CD and Download in April.

I want to do this play on stage again. Mr. Luce has even mentioned he would like to add some of the new material into the stage version; so we're looking for a theater to try it out in.

We have two editors who are working on assembling the remaining episodes of Jerry And The Pirates, MJ Cogburn and Adam Seth Sher. I think we have 9 to go, and then MJ will be back on Moonfleet, and Adam will work on Ticonderoga.

I am thinking on returning to the editing deck. The last show I edited was Dandelion Wine, and that was over two years ago!

On the personal side, which I rarely talk about, I'm sorry to say that I lost my favorite Aunt last month, Dorothy Brown. What a classy lady she was. My Moms older sister. I last saw her on my birthday, Aug. 17, and she fell later that night, and never really recovered from that. Do you know I still have birthday cards she sent me when I was 1,2 and 3 years old??? They were these big, huge, gaudy beautiful cards that, in todays world, would cost around ten bucks! I even have a Halloween card she sent me in 1963 - a huge card in the shape of a black cat, covered in velvet, with two green rubies for eyes (fake, of course). My mom saved them through the years, and yes, I still have them.
Then, her daughter, Gerry, ended up in the hospital last week with some kine of infection, and HER son, my cousin Steven had a stroke! Steve is a few years younger than I am, and this is quite a shock. I took his daughter, Jessica, to NYC last year to see Mary Poppins on Broadway (with my fav kid, Samantha). I am wishing him the best, and a full recovery, and hope to get up to Hancock NH to visit him.

Back to writing. Cheers.

TICONDEROGA

Next week we start recording our new series, TICONDEROGA! This past weekend I was able to go to the fort for a private tour with the forts director, Nick Westbrook, and its director of marketing, Marci Hall. They were VERY generous with their time, and I came away with tons of notes, as well as printed material that will be of great help as I continue on the scripts. So many thanks to Nick and Marci!! The photo in the poster was taken by Mary Rogers, who took many pictures that will also help me as visual guides with my writing.

BE THE FIRST TO HEAR CRT'S BARRYMORE

BARRYMORE - CRT's new production of the Broadway Hit by William Luce
will be available for two weeks only - Nov. 1-15, and then will be
pulled until the Blackstone Audio CD release in April, 2009. BE THE
FIRST to hear this magnificent new production of William Luce's
amazing play!It is ONLY available on Lulu.Com. Please note- This
production is Rated R. Here is the LINK FOR BARRYMORE -


The Colonial Radio Theatre
On The Air
Presents

BARRYMORE

By
WILLIAM LUCE


Starring
JERRY ROBBINS

And Featuring
JUDSON PIERCE

And The Colonial Radio Players

The Spring of 1942.
One month before John Barrymore's death.

John Barrymore was the black sheep of America's most illustrious
acting family. Celebrated for his charisma and matinee idol looks, he
was for awhile America's most popular actor. Famous for his stage
roles in Richard III and Hamlet, he also made more than fifty films.
But alcoholism soon dissipated his talents, and he became known more
for his Falstaffian behavior and outrageous high jinx than for his
art. In CRT's Barrymore, William Luce has adapted his acclaimed
Broadway hit especially for audio in this stunning production.

About the Author -
WILLIAM LUCE wrote his Broadway and London success The Belle of
Amherst for Julie Harris, who won her fifth Tony Award for Best
Actress for her portrayal of Emily Dickinson. The record album
received a Grammy Award. The PBS production won three Christopher
Awards. Thames Television's production of Belle starred Claire Bloom
and won an International Emmy Award. Luce's plays include Brontë,
Lucifer's Child, Lillian, Bravo Caruso!, and The Last Flapper. Mr.
Luce is twice a Writers' Guild Award nominee for his CBS movies The
Last Days of Patton starring George C. Scott and Eva Marie Saint, and
The Woman He Loved, starring Jane Seymour, Anthony Andrews, Olivia de
Havilland and Julie Harris.

CRT presents BARRYMORE.
By William Luce.
Starring Jerry Robbins as John Barrymore. Judson Pierce as Frank.
With Matthew Scott Robertson. Marcia Friedman.
J.T. Turner. Amy Sheridan. Joseph Zamparelli Jr. Diane Capen.
Executive Producers Mark Vander Berg. Jerry Robbins. Produced by
Chris Snyder.
Music by Jeffrey Gage. Directed by Joseph Zamparelli Jr.

Grateful acknowledgement is made to Will Fowler for his generous co-
operation in supplying basic material for this play from his books,
articles and personal remembrances of John Barrymore.

Barrymore contains adult language and content. Not appropriate for
younger listeners.

NOW HOW COOL IS THIS

This is one scary looking Jack-O-Lantern! Janet Ross, from PA, made this Jack-O-Lantern with yours truly carved into it! I mean, AWESOME! I am really touched that someone would go through all this trouble! Thanks a ton, Janet. I wonder if, in a week, when it starts to sag and cave if that will be any indication as to what I may look like in thirty years!? :) Thanks again! It's great!

BARRYMORE - TWO WEEKS ONLY

For TWO WEEKS ONLY, NOV. 1-15, be the FIRST to hear CRT's newest
production, BARRYMORE, by William Luce. This is the Broadway Hit that
starred Christopher Plummer, and it has been adapted for audio for CRT
by the playwright himself, William Luce.
The show will be available for two weeks only, as a download, on Lulu, and then it
will be pulled until the CD release April 1, 2009.

Recording Again!

We haven't recorded anything since Sept.8th, as we were closed for renovations; and yesterday we started work on the Colonial Radio Christmas Special! We actually recorded in Westford, MA (music only), in a fantastic 10 hour session! We are back there today at 1pm, so Connor Doherty can record his parts, and then tomorrow night we're back at CRT-1 to record the dialog, and then back to Westford for solo numbers later in the week. Look for this one the day after Thanksgiving on Lulu.Com, and on XM in December. Last night I got home close to midnight, then watched a movie, then at 3:30am had a call with Chris Snyder as he finished the final assembly on two more Jerry and the Pirates episodes, and discussed the schedule for the work week. We've lost Byron Lee as a producer, so we are juggling things around to keep all our projects on schedule. So far, so good! Off to the races!

CAST IS SET FOR TICONDEROGA

CRT is ready to roll November 10th on our new action adventure series,
TICONDEROGA. Set during the French and Indian War, the series will have
rousing action, tremendous battles, and hair raising adventure and
suspense. Jerry Robbins plays Captain William Taylor, Chief of Scouts.
J.T. Turner will co-star as Degadawidah, the Indian Scout, Joseph
Zamparelli Jr. co-stars as Captain Carlton Campbell of the 42nd
Regiment (The famed Black Watch), and new-comer Paolo Settipane rounds
out the lead cast as Adam Cobbs, an indentured servant, set free by
Captain Taylor, and ready to begin life anew in the Colonies.
Many CRT players will be guest starring in various episodes. We
hope to have TICONDEROGA on the air in the Spring.