10th Anniversary Halloween Spectacular! Oct 31st 4 & 6 pm.

Featuring the Works of Edgar Allan Poe

WRW celebrates our 10th Anniversary with “An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe!” The master works of the master of the macabre. Selections include “The Pit and the Pendulum,” “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “Hop-Frog,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Raven” and “Annabel Lee.” Classic radio adaptations, a new adaptation by William S. Gregory and the Vox Poetry stylings of Eric Hull. Live music performed by Galen Huckins and the Filmusik All Stars. Event Stylist Kate Dineen. Performed live by The Willamette Radio Workshop! Winners of 9 National Audio Drama Awards.
Performed at the McMenamins Kennedy School!  Live Radio shows at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Free Trick or Treating from 4:30 ’til 6:30 p.m.; All ages welcome; kids with adults only please.

Bring your kids-in-costume for trick or treating so you enjoy a handcrafted ale, wine or spirit as you wander the halls together! Afterwards (before they get too far into their bags of loot), have dinner at the Courtyard Restaurant, which has a kids’ menu — nothing like a grilled cheese sandwich or a corn dog followed up with candycandycandyyeeahhhh!!!!!

After trick-or-treating, check out two free performances of “An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe” performed by Willamette Radio Workshop. The shows will begin at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. CDs of past performances and the work of other local Audio Dramatists will be available for purchase at the show.

CAST AND CREW FOR THE HALLOWEEN SHOW

Alyson Osborn,James Dineen, Sarah Rea, Bruce Miles and Sam A. Mowry. Sam A. Mowry is the producer and director. Joe Medina is indispensable. Cynthia J. McGean is our Dramaturge. Rob Kowal is Associate Producer of the Workshop. David Ian & Dino de AElfweald- Foley Artists and Designers. Galen Huckins– Musical Director/Composer.

Special thanks to Jamie Lawson and Joe Medina/ Afterhell, Dry Smoke and Whispers, Martin J. Gallagher, Atticus Welles Mowry, Jerrel McQuen, Claudine Hemminway, Tapestry Theater and Judy Straasland, Filmusik, PDX Classical Revolution and all our families and friends who make this possible.

We are also proud to be a part of the Transcontinental Terror: An Express Train to Audio Horror. Our submission this year will be the Mercury Theater on the Air’s first program, DRACULA by Bram Stoker, adapted by Orson Welles and John Houseman.

This is the single largest event in the world of audio theater, and the only time each year a group of independent producers unite to create a whopping five hours of original programming. And you can hear it all hear on Halloween night—Monday, October 31st, 2011. In addition to WRW, contributing production companies include:

Who’s Coming to the UFO Festival? Yes!

Doctor Who at the UFO FestivalOne of the greatest heroes in all of science fiction is coming to the McMenamins UFO Festival next month!  Author of “The Thing,” a smash hit at the 2008 UFO Festival,  Afterhell‘s own Joe Medina returns to WRW with a script featuring a new incarnation of the mysterious traveling Time Lord known only as “the Doctor.”

The “Doctor Who” series has been a staple of British television since it began in 1963.  The newest season is beginning a run on BBC America this weekend.

More details to come soon, but in the meantime, need to get up to speed on the Doctor and his adventures?  Try some of these links:

Christmas Carol Special! Live Benefit Show!

WRW Christmas Carol posterFor many years, members of the Willamette Radio Workshop have given special performances of “A Christmas Carol” for audiences around the Portland metro area who might not otherwise have had any holiday entertainment.  Now we’re taking this tradition to the next level with a live performance, open to the public, to benefit the Oregon Food Bank.

On Monday, December 20, at 6pm, Willamette Radio Workshop presents a “live radio” performance of “A Christmas Carol,” adapted by Cynthia J. McGean from the Charles Dickens story and the Campbell Playhouse version.  The show will be held at McMenamins Kennedy School.  While admission is free, we ask for the donation of two cans of non-perishable food per person or an appropriate cash donation to the Oregon Food Bank.  Envelopes will be available for cash donations.

The cast for this performance includes Chris Porter, James Dineen, Greg Alexander, Todd Tolces, Cynthia McGean, Renee Boutin King, Mary Thomas and Sam A. Mowry. Live music and carols will be provided by The Holly Jolly Radio Choir, directed by Bennett Bailey and featuring over twenty singers!

Kennedy School Becomes the “Theater of Blood” for Halloween!

Theater of Blood posterLIVE RADIO and HALLOWEEN TRICK OR TREATING Featuring THEATER OF BLOOD!

Freely and affectionately adapted from the 70’s Vincent Price Classic film by Cynthia J. McGean.

as performed live by The Willamette Radio Workshop!

Where you ask? At McMenamins Kennedy School, in the Gymnasium.

A special treat for the kids, avoid the rain and still get candy. Trick or Treating from 4:30 ’til 6:30 p.m.; Live Radio shows at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Free!  All ages welcome; kids with adults only.

Bring your kids-in-costume for trick or treating so you enjoy a handcrafted ale, wine or spirit as you wander the halls together! Afterwards (before they get too far into their bags of loot), have dinner at the Courtyard Restaurant, which has a kids’ menu — nothing like a grilled cheese sandwich or a corn dog followed up with candycandycandyyeeahhhh!!!!!

After trick-or-treating, check out two free performances of “Theater of Blood” performed by Willamette Radio Workshop. The shows will begin at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.

The Willamette Radio Workshop is happy to present a live radio adaptation of the stylish 70s Vincent Price horror movie “Theatre of Blood”. A show to delight Shakespeare-lovers and horror-fans alike.  The quotes and bodies fly about like autumn leaves. What could be better for Halloween?

Spurned by the Theatre Critics Circle, aging Shakespearean actor Edward Lionheart takes bloody revenge in a series of murders inspired by Shakespeare’s greatest plays. The critics variously meet their theatrical ends by stabbing, strangling, having their heart cut out, and being forced to eat a pie with their pet dogs. Will Lionheart finish his greatest work before the police tie together the grisly clues?  Join us this Halloween for the surprising answer.

This murderous tale of full blooded Shakespeare and artistic retribution is freely and fondly adapted by Cynthia J. McGean and directed by Sam A. Mowry. Original music is composed by Marc Rose and Galen Huckins. Live Foley by David Ian and Dino de AElfweald. Live sound by Robert Kowal. The cast includes Chris Porter, Mark Homayoun, Bill Barry, James Dineen, Lindsae Kline, Megan Murphy Ruckman and Sam A. Mowry as Edward Lionheart.

As if that weren’t enough, we are also participating in a transcontinental Halloween festival on the air, so to speak. The Transcontinental Terror Train. Details below.

This Halloween, six audio theater companies from around the world are teaming up to present a full evening of original audio horror! “Transcontinental Terror: An Express Train to Audio Horror” will feature six hour-long productions by contemporary audio theater’s most exciting, inventive production companies — companies spanning half the globe. The programs will stream online at www.transcontinentalterror.com, beginning at 5:00pm EDT and running until 11:00pm EDT.

The six production companies involved in the project are: The Wireless Theatre Company from London, England; Electric Vicuna Productions from Halifax, Nova Scotia; FinalRune Productions from Portland, Maine; Chatterbox Audio Theater from Memphis, Tennessee; Icebox Radio Theater from International Falls, Minnesota; and The Willamette Radio Workshop from Portland, Oregon.  The numerous accolades earned by this group include Gold Ogle and Mark Time Awards, and features in numerous local and national papers including the Guardian and The Wall Street Journal.  This collaboration marks the first live web-based audio horror marathon, which debuts 6 hours of new material by these artists.

The event is timed to celebrate October, the National Audio Theater Month.  “Since Orson Welles’ legendary War of the Worlds broadcast Halloween has held a special place for audio drama,” says Sam A. Mowry, director of the Willamette Radio Workshop.  “It’s a time of year when people love to hear a good scary story, and no medium better
scares than audio.  You create the images in your mind and who better knows what you are terrified by?”

This year we are producing six original shows, the result of a months-long collaboration among the groups.  Some of the shows will be recorded, using state-of-the-art production methods, field recording, and actors from across the globe. Others, including the Willamette Radio Workshop, will be performed live in front of a live audience with manual sound effects, just as in the Golden Age of Radio Drama. Though terrifying, all of the evening’s content will be radio-friendly. Radio stations are encouraged to broadcast the online feed.

For more information on the show itself each participating group, scheduling, and more, visit www.transcontinentalterror.com.

“The Fall of the City” comes to KBOO!

Fall of the City DVD cover The Willamette Radio Workshop’s production of “The Fall of the City” will be featured on the Radio Theater Spotlight show on KBOO, 90.7 FM this Monday, October 11, at 11pm.  WRW Director Sam A. Mowry will be in the KBOO studio, speaking with host Rascho (aka Randall Howington) via Skype about the production.  Rolf Semprebon will engineer the session.

“The Fall of the City,” first produced in 1937 by the Columbia Workshop for CBS Radio, is a verse drama by Archibald MacLeish.  A brilliant allegory about the rise of Fascism on the eve of the Second World War, it has a powerful resonance in our own time.  WRW’s 2004 production is a winner of the Crystal Communicator Award.

This powerful play was produced again by the Night Kitchen Radio Theater for the opening of WNYC’s Jerome L. Greene Performance Space.  Produced and directed by Sarah Montague, this production won a 2009 Gracie Award for Best Drama.  A streaming audio can be found at the New York Festivals website.

Filmusik Present “Gulliver’s Travels”

Filmusik Presents: Gulliver's TravelsThe collaboration between WRW and Filmusik continues in July with the presentation of the 1939 Fleischer brothers animated feature “Gulliver’s Travels.”  WRW Director Sam A. Mowry will direct the voice acting cast to provide the voices of adventurer Gulliver and the hundreds of tiny citizens of the fairy-tale land of Lilliput.

David Ian will lead a team of foley artists to create live sound effects, while Marc Rose is sound designer.  Filmusik founder Galen Huckins has composed an entirely new score for the film, which will also be performed live.  There will even be opportunities for the audience to be a part of the show — follow the bouncing ball and sing along!

The show promises that you’ll never look at cartoons the same way again!

Filmusik: Gulliver’s Travels plays at the Hollywood Theatre July 16th, 21st and 23rd at 7:00pm, with a 2:00pm matinee show on July 18th.  Tickets are $12, $10 for students and seniors, and are available at the Filmusik website or at the door (though be cautioned — past Filmusik shows have sold out!)