"Live Radio Dramas" Comedy Show at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts

"Live Radio Dramas" Comedy Show at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts

Radio Dramas are alive and well at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts. Thanks to Fairfield University's "Live Radio Dramas" series, the season of vintage radio shows continues in the Wien Experimental Theatre with "Odd Comedies," on Friday, Jan. 26 at 8 pm and Saturday, Jan. 27 at 3 pm and 8 pm.

Daniel Smith of New Haven has compiled an intriguing collection of unique, obscure and very funny comedy shows. Smith provides the obligatory live organ music so familiar to fans of old-time radio. Joining him is the dependably creative Ted Powell of Stratford, who produces live sound effects exactly as they were done in the radio studios of old. For years, Powell has been firing guns, slamming doors, using coconuts to duplicate the sound of horses hoof beats and generally utilizing his unerring ear to reproduce the authentic sounds essential to the realism of live radio.

The program consists of: "That's Rich," a show that revolves around a hapless young man who works at a paper cup factory and the complicated series of misunderstandings that befall him one morning; there are biting satirical sketches from a variety of programs, including one that skewers the emerging popularity of the "new television cowboy shows;" and a funny, if a bit unnerving, episode from the series, "Quiet, Please;" "The Man Who Knew Everything." The cleverly written dialogue defines a masterful script about an omniscient man named Charles W. Afternoon, played by Thomas Zingarelli of New Haven who is also the Quick Center's executive director.

Rounding out the cast are Smith as well as John Watson and Rob Rocke also of New Haven, Brianne Bresky and Stacey Bloxsom of Milford, and Joe Manganello of Beacon Falls.

For those who remember radio and for those who never had the pleasure, the Quick Center's "Live Radio Dramas" series and, in particular "Odd Comedies," offers the audience a rare opportunity to glimpse the bustling world of the radio station of the 1940s and 1950s, where under-rehearsed actors - who, if lucky enough to get steady work, often traveled between different stations throughout the day - and overworked technicians routinely pulled shows together, just in time for the live broadcast. Tickets for "Odd Comedies" are $15 and can now be purchased online at www.quickcenter.com or by calling the Box Office at (203) 254-4010. The toll free number is 1-877-ARTS-396. For more information, visit the website at www.quickcenter.com.

Posted On: 01-12-2007 10:01 AM

Volume: 39 Number: 120