Robson Ranch residents Veronica Long and Jaine Toth are part of the ensemble of the Great Southwest Radio Theater Project (GSR) being brought to Robson Ranch by The BlackBox Foundation.
On April 24 at 7:00 p.m. in the Hermosa Ballroom the audience will be taken back in time to the days of old time radio. Scheduled are one drama and one comedy.
In I Saw Myself Running, from the Suspense radio series, the audience is gripped by the terror of a woman’s nightmares in which she sees someone, perhaps herself, frightened by a shadowy figure lurking at the top of a long staircase. The haunting tale keeps you in suspense right up until the surprise ending.
The actors will ease your fears by following the thriller with Fibber’s Chocolates, an episode from the light-hearted and very successful radio serial, Fibber McGee and Molly. Molly receives a box of chocolates that she assumes came from Fibber. In the midst of his efforts to solve the mystery of who sent the chocolates is a parade of friends and neighbors who drop in unannounced and whose visits may confound Fibber but will leave the audience laughing.
Radio plays, popular in the 1940s and 50s, were performed in front of live studio audiences. GSR uses the mikes, On Air and Applause signs that were common in those studios.
According to Ralph Swain, GSR’s founder and director, the group has performed “…around the Central Valley from Florence to Tucson since 2013 to audiences young and old. GSR uses the original radio scripts punctuated by dramatic recorded music and sound effects, both digital and hand-operated.” The latter are created by a Foley artist. The audience watches as the sound effects are created right onstage. Swain said, “All GSR performances include brief interludes with the actors singing commercial jingles from the Golden Age of Radio as well as lively Jazz songs from the era.”
Tickets are $15 or $13 for groups of 10 or more and can be purchased online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1316266.