Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts' resident Live Radio Dramas troupe returns to the Wien Experimental Theatre to wrap up its season with "Murderers and Other Bad Guys" - four stories full of intrigue, a head scratching who done it and an appearance by 'The Shadow,' a character made legendary by Orson Welles. Performed live in front of microphones, this suspenseful event will take place on Friday, May 6 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, May 7 at 3 and 8 p.m. Tickets are $25. This presentation is part of the Arts & Minds Season.

New Haven resident and director Daniel Smith provides a replica of a classic radio program environment with an ensemble of seasoned actors performing a collection of original Golden-Age radio scripts.

"We do the shows all dressed up in 1940s clothes, and it is what a fly on the wall would have seen if they were at a radio station in the 1940s," Smith said. "We pretend it is back then... The parts the actors play are radio actors from the time, the musicians play radio station musicians. If you just listen, you hear the programs much as they were originally broadcast. The audience will see different radio actors arrive at work, do their parts, little fights or romances ensue between them."

The audience also will see live sound effects men smash things, and musicians will heighten the drama. Overblown vintage commercials and great writing make for a surprisingly vibrant evening.

The "Murderers and Other Bad Guys" series installment features an episode from "Suspense," entitled, "The Day I Died," about Welles Gallaway, a man who has been stealing money from his job and then kills his co-worker, only later to find out that his greedy wife might prefer him dead; a "Quiet, Please" episode, "The Evening and the Morning," takes viewers on a journey with an admitted murderer who is compelled to visit the grave of the woman he loved, and murdered; "The Shadow" episode, called "Poison Death," follows the Shadow (wealthy young man about town Lamont Cranston) and his partner Margot Lane as they try clear his name after he has been blamed for mass killings caused by a mysterious poison; and in a "Big Town" episode, in the vein of "Reefer Madness," dealers of marijuana stop at nothing, even murder, to continue their evil trade to America's youth and protect themselves.

Tickets are available online at fairfield.edu/quick or by calling the Box Office at (203) 254-4010. The toll free number is 1-877-ARTS-396. Special offers and discounts are available through the Quick Center's e-mail list. Join by contacting boxoffice@quickcenter.com . And become a fan of the Quick Center for the Arts on Facebook. Keep up-to-date with the latest performance news, plus special offers and discounts. Find the Quick Center at www.facebook.com/FairfieldQuickCenter.

Image: Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts' resident Live Radio Dramas troupe returns to the Wien Experimental Theatre to wrap up its season in May with "Murderers and Other Bad Guys."

Posted On: 04-25-2011 11:04 AM

Volume: 43 Number: 285