4 More Days

It has been a hectic 2 weeks for show production but we are still on schedule to present a totally awesome show on Saturday.
What do we got this year?
The Sauerkraut Singer, an ukulele, Sonny (remember him, dude), more Rinzo, Greta Garbo, and McGervold. It's all wrapped up in about 90 minutes. Nifty.

Oh and we've got a website: http://www.hcc-fargo.com/radioshow/

Remember: Saturday December 5th, 7:00 PM, 608 Main Ave

Right On Schedule

Auditions were completed last night and a tentative plan of show was created. It won't be like previous shows at least that's how it looks on paper. We will be revisiting the O. Henry story, Gift of the Magi. If you recall the story was mashed with a little of The Maltese Falcon for the 2008 2007 show entitled- A Nutcracker, My Sweet. It will certainly be revised a bit since once again we lost some precious cast members from the previous year. We'll get by. The cast this year is shaping up to be small but versatile. I am hoping to further include musical numbers and some zany sketches. I was hoping to get an accordion solo but haven't found anyone yet.

Let's rewind and remember the past few shows
2009- It's Christmas and Who Carols - husband and wife help some people they weren't expecting for Christmas
2008- It's a Wonderful Miracle on Main Street- store owner gets caught up in the commercial trappings of Christmas only to come to the end of his wits and realize his life is more important. Mash up of It's A Wonderful Life with A Miracle on 34th Street
2007- A Nutcracker, My Sweet- man gets caught up in a smuggling scheme while trying to get a gift for his wife
2006- Who Moved My Fruitcake- fruitcake salesman on the run from his past helps town celebrate Christmas even though the Yuletide festivities have been outlawed.

I am unsure of when the so called Twinkle, Twinkle Tinsel Ball show happened- was it 2005 or 2004. It is memorable because the story revolved around the explosion of the largest tinsel ball ever made and a visit from the King of Norway. It included the oft quoted line- "But the tinsel ball!" It was once of most exciting stories I ever wrote.

Is there a lost show out there? One I forgot. I think so.

2003- Christmas Treasure- people search for the so-called Magi's treasure. This sort of had an X-files bent. I count it as one the most woeful scripts I wrote.

2002- It's Christmas and Who Carols (original edition)- Shorter version of the 2009 show.

2010 Radio Show

The show will be coming December 11.
Auditions are already in progress.

2009 Radio Show recording is now online

For those of you who missed it this year, we got the show recorded for your listening pleasures.

You can find the MP3 here. (Right click and "Save As" to download to computer.)

And, the M3U link for playlist goodness-

http://www.hcc-fargo.com/media/RadioShow/RadioShow2009.m3u

It's Christmas and who carols?

Not long now. About 3 weeks before the show.
We've had a week of rehearsals and things are coming together.
More musical numbers this year. A saurkraut Christmas number is in on the bill. And Mr. Clean gets dumped and yet again Rinzo demonstrates how it gets your clothes clean and smelly.
So when is this show, you ask?

Saturday December 12

7 PM

Harvest Community Church

608 Main Ave

Fargo, ND

Half block west of intersection of Main and Broadway

First reading of script

Had the first cast read through last night. I had to play almost half the roles because of missing people. Overall it was an uproarious success. And that's without huge pieces of characterization on the part of the actors.

So this potentially can be a great show this year, don't hesitate about going.

Save that date- the evening December 12th.

Ahead of schedule

We held auditions 2 weekends ago- a first. Nobody was really turned away. I just wanted to get a feel as to what kind of acting resources we had. Prior, I was nearing a point where I thought there would not be enough interest.
Thanks to my production team we are one schedule for the December 12 peformance. I also got surprised when I heard back from some friends from the Twin Cities who are available to be special guest stars.
Now I face the deadline for the first draft of the script this week. I hope I get it done. Haven't had the quality time to tackle the task of revising. However, for now, I feel we will be having a great show. I would never have thought I say it the 1st week in November- but we are ahead of schedule.

Leo Tolstoy story to be featured in 2009 Radio Show

Some of you may not have known but the radio show for 2009 was in jeopardy. It's mostly an issue of how many hands we have to put on the show. Initial surveys did not produce much interest although we were well ahead of schedule for planning. It appeared from the surveys that people enjoyed the show but were not interested in producing it.
Well, today we've just passed our first hurdle. Auditions went well. We have enough actors for the roles. Hopefully other commitments will not diminish the handful we have in mind. Since last year's show we have lost roughly 50% of prospective cast members.
Anyways this year's show will revisit the first year's show. Most will probably not recall that show since only 10 were in attendance. (I never enjoyed performing in the Black Building's Basement.)
The show was influenced by a Leo Tolstoy Christmas story- Where There Is Love, God Will Be There Too. There will be a bit of revision from the original interpretation, but it should be an entertaining retelling.
Tentative performance: 12 December 2009.
Hopefully we'll get over the other hurdles that lie ahead.

Tenative Date for 2009

12 December 2009 could be the date of the "radio" show. At the moment we are still in planning stages. However, it does look like we'll be reviving and revising the show from 2002. About a dozen people saw the show in the lower level of the Black Building. In those days, the show was hardly developed beyond just a script. There were no commercials. No Rinzo. No Riparian Bird Habitats. No Sour Kraut Singer. Yet a few offerings of live music were performed.
No extant photos of the event exist. So you are just going to have to trust me on this memory.

Radio Show 2008 recording

Finally for your listening pleasure the 2008 HCC Radio Show "It's a Wonderful Miracle on Main Street" is now available here.

Sound Effects Artists

Emily and Andrea await the next sound effects cue during the dress rehearsal.

HCC-video

We also do video. See link at bottom of this page.
Still no word on availability of 2008 show recording. In fact I can't even find the 2007 recording.

The Pirate is Right

One the game shows this year was called The Pirate is Right, a parody of the Price is Right. The object of the game is to determine the price of a product in 17th or 18th century coinage. However, the contestant must be aware that the Pirate is right. Always!
Planko, a version of Plinko, was the game of skill the contestant would play to win prizes. If you guess the price correctly (or just appeased the pirate) you would get more chances to play Planko and perhaps win more prizes.

Let the Snow Go On: 2008 Show Recap

It's been a busy month of December. The weather left many in peril. But the radio show still went on. At 2 hours it was the longest show to date. No one complained
The winter weather advisory probably kept many people away. We where expecting upwards of 50-75. I think we may have had around 35 in attendance. Nonetheless it was a great show for those who attended.
A recording will be made available if we can find out what happened to it. The recording device was gone after we cleaned up.
Even while the show was going, I cut lots of parts. Some of those may be recorded for a future feature.

The surprise hit of the night was The Pirate is Right game show. The original pirate could not make it to the show due to the weather so Aric stepped in and did a phenomenal job. Aric is a real veteran trouper. He's been with the show since the original 2003. This year he wrote about half of it, too!

Making their first show appearances that night were Emily and John. Our band was also made up of first timers- Ellie, Amanda, and Lydia.

2008 Show- one week away

It's been a pretty busy 2 weeks thus far with lots of production work and a complete re-write of the script. Thanks to Cindy and Jaime and Ellie quite a few things are not my immediate responsibility. Today, we've begun some official publicity with the postcards and posters having been made. Time is ticking so let me give you a preview of the show.
This year's main feature is entitled "It's a Wonderful Miracle on Main Street." As you may surmise it will be as if "It's a Wonderful Life" got spliced into "A Miracle on 34th Street" and vice versa. It took me a while to get a script I liked. I've been working on it since late October and the script did find its truest expression until last weekend. As always, some of the regular characters from previous years will return.
The other part of the show (which we call pre-show but really is an integral part of the whole these days ) will include the Sour Kraut Singer, a few game shows (with prizes!), and everybody's favorite bird show- "Riparian Bird Habitats." We will also feature a larger band this year and some fine singing.
I am expecting an audience of upwards of 50, but please come and surprise me and the cast and crew. See if we can fit nearly 100 in the performance space this year.

"It's A Wonderful Miracle on Main Street"
a night of radio theater

Saturday, December 13th 2008

7:00 PM

608 Main Ave, Fargo, ND

Do your own radio show

Ruyasonic site has plenty of stuff about how to create radio theater. It's author and compiler, Tony Palermo, a modern day old time sound man. Sounds ironic, but Tony has resurrected what many thought had died in the 50s. Maybe no single handedly but his talents have definitely caught the attention of some folks on the west coast. Just look at his schedule the past few years. He's even working with Erc Idle on a kind of radio show with live sound effects. Goes to show you that sound will be with us even if things go virtual reality. I've learned much from his site.

First Creative Planning Meeting

Just had the first writers meeting for the show last week. We want to get a jump on the show this year; make it better and funnier. I have a general framework for the main part (i.e. Frostbite Falls story.) and we have in the works a gameshow again and perhaps a type of talent contest a la American idol.
I also suggested having an art showing in the lobby to involve more visual artists.
My goal is to have a majority of the script done by mid October.

Date set for 2008 show

In a move to improve on planning and making the show a smashing success, a date has been set for the 2008 radio show.
Saturday December 13, 2008
Time: TBD
Location: 608 Main Ave, Fargo, ND

With all this planning happening, I was also pondering whether or not to take the show on the road to Morris. Who knows, I'd need a bit of production help to pull that off.

We want more...

The show may be over but you can listen to it to your hearts desire. Follow this link to the MP3 recording of the complete show. Hopefully we will have a poll up and running for best sketch of the 2007 show.

The tools of a sound effects performer

Here's the SFX table from the show.