rcf music | Nutmeg Junction

IMG_5414 (2) — Serendip-History Nutmeg Junction recorded two episodes on this day. The cast from left to right is Joel Benson, Josh Newey, David Macharelli, Kurt Boucher, Jandi Hanna, Conrad Sienkiewicz, Olivia Wadsworth, Robert C. Fullerton

This story features the vocal talent of Olivia Wadsworth and David Macharelli who portray two strangers who meet on the trolley and together they find they share much more than a destination.

Within the program are two stories featuring the incomparable Josh Newey as Washington Irving, who gifts to the listening audience the best performance of a fictional Washington Irving ever produced on radio.

David Macharelli’s ad-lib as Charles Dickens to Newey’s Washington Irving, “You put the Ass in Amb-ASS-adore” was enormously popular in the recording studio but we opted not to have that in the broadcast of the show. Perhaps a later version may include it!

Directed by Conrad Sienkiewicz, this episode was rehearsed once at Trinity Episcopal Church and then again before recording the episode.

Rich Cyr was at the rehearsal but could not be at studio on the recording date so we recorded his work separately a day earlier. As a production note, Cyr had studied how Edgar Allan Poe probably sounded with research via youtube videos but during the rehearsal was informed that the author had written the role with Cyr’s own voice in mind.

Quirk performed Cyr’s role during the main recording session and reversed the process when recording Cyr alone, then edited the two recordings together.

Jandi Hanna took on dual roles as the prim and proper Alice Dare-Crook (there was discussion on the name of this narrator character. I considered a George Plympton reference but we settled with an Alistair Cooke one.

There are too many references to count for the Dickens/Irving interaction. yes, Washington Irving had a brother Ebenezer who had a shop that burned. i can’t help but think that Bracebridge hall actually did have an inspiration for Dickens for the Christmas Carol. Barnaby Rudge was a work that wasn’t exactly a barn burner for Dickens. References to Great Expectations, Hard Times, Bleak House, etc are all in there as well as many references involving Christmas Carol.

For the Poe story, the idea of “Helen” at Sunnyside came from the idea of wanting Poe to get the idea of Lenore for The Raven but didn’t want it obvious at the beginning. Researching Irving just a little i did find a relative named Helen who may have lived in western part of New York so I justified it that way. The idea of being hard of hearing so someone can hear the LEN sound more than the HE” in Helen sound worked for me.

Fans of Poe will recognize all the references from “The philosophy of Furniture”, “Three Sundays in a Week”, obviously the Murders in the Rue Morgue (and if you haven’t read it, there’s an additional pun in how we referenced it.

Poe actually did write to Washington Irving who responded in writing.

I see no evidence they actually met in person but Poe was a mysterious figure and he didn’t live so far away that such a trip would be out of the question so I like the fable aspect of this meeting.

A “star” of this program is the music by Robert C. Fullerton. He recorded the song twice, once with vocals and instrument and once just instrumental. Then I used the instrumental underneath the two characters (Kristen and Steve) as a musical emphasis which I think was a rather special aspect of this program.

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CREDITS

STARRING:

OLIVIA WADSWORTH AS KRISTEN

DAVID MACHARELLI AS STEVE AND CHARLES DICKENS

JOSH NEWEY AS WASHINGTON IRVING

JANDI HANNA AS ALICE DARE-CROOK AND HELEN

RICH CYR AS EDGAR ALLAN POE

J. TIMOTHY QUIRK AS CONDUCTOR JT

ROBERT C. FULLERTON AS HIMSELF

MUSIC

THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION. THE PROGRAM DOES NOT PURPORT TO PRESENT ACTUAL EVENTS.

Show Notes

“Tex Bijou: Cinema’s Singing Cowboy ™” was one of the original character creations that the came straight from the idea of doing a new “golden age of radio” style program in the first place. Westerns have a long and storied history in entertainment in all forms (novels, comic books, radio, tv and film) and the “singing cowboy” idea was a special form of that sort of hero. The two singing cowboys I always enjoyed were Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. Oh, the “tm” portion pf Tex Bijou: Cinema’s Singing Cowboy ™ is part of the joke of the character and show, we’re not trying to be precious here!

The rehearsal for Tex Bijou. On stairs: Kurt Boucher (Sheriff) Josh Newey (Jesse) Olivia Wadsworth (Jess) Jandi Hanna (Deputy Jones) Rich Cyr (who rehearsed on the subsequent episode) Below: Robert C Fullerton (Tex Bijou), Joel Benson (Bobby Gutcheck) and Conrad Sienkiewicz (Pecos Sam and Narrator)

Robert C. Fullerton, a founding cast member of Nutmeg Junction, is not only a voice actor but is our primary musician on the show. He created the Nutmeg Junction theme, the Mr. JT theme and numerous other songs already on the show. So I thought it would be fun for his primary character to portray “Tex Bijou: Cinema’s Singing Cowboy (TM)” and the wanted Tex to be a surprising creation as the story unfolded. I wrote the Mise En Scene lyrics and he put those lyrics to music and improvised the theme to Tex Bijou. I added my whistling to that number!

IMG_5443 (2) — Robert C Fullerton as Tex Bijou: Cinema’s Singing Cowboy ™

As Sheriff and Deputy, the team of Kurt Boucher and Jandi Hanna was a joyous discovery and their characters eventual contempt of the Hollywood status of the main character grows funnier with every listen.

Jess and Jesse are the PAs portrayed by Olivia Wadsworth and Josh Newey. They have to carry the show’s premise and I enjoy how they succeeded in that task. Both Josh and Olivia brought nuances to the roles that improved the words on the page. For instance every time the Deputy wishes to chastise the PAs, Josh Newey’s Jesse always redirects back to the Sheriff. As memory serves that was not an intentional aspect of the script but Josh brought it to life and it works very well.

Josh Newey as Jesse with Jandi Hanna as Deputy Jones

This episode was Olivia’s first real foray into our world of audio theater (she did play a minor role in the Professor episode with two lines but this was the first script that really showcased her talent). Her portrayal of Jess as an efficient PA who provides the list of options for the star of the show is a lot of fun!

And what can I say about Joel Benson! Joel had a few lines (just like Olivia had a few lines her first time out with us) but he sold every one of them! What makes this character work is how completely opposite his voice is to Tex Bijou’s (and Joel plays his stunt double. With Joel’s sense of humor, we’re lucky we have him in a subsequent episode (The Grey Whisper Returns) and we’ll have him come back for more! Joel has a radio show on WAPJ called “Unhinged” which airs Thursdays noon to 2pm.

CREDITS

Episode 8 in recording and release

The Program Was Created/Written/Produced/Edited by J. Timothy Quirk

Musical Guest: Robert C. Fullerton as Tex Bijou

Starring:

ROBERT C.. FULLERTON AS TEX BIJOU

KURT BOUCHER AS SHERIFF/KENT FLASHMAN

JANDI HANNA AS DEPUTY JONES

OLIVIA WADSWORTH AS JESS

JOSH NEWEY AS JESSE/BAXTER

CONRAD SIENKIEWICZ: AS ANNOUNCER

DIRECTED BY CONRAD SIENKIEWICZ

Rehearsed at Trinity Episcopal Church in Torrington

Recorded at WAPJ Torrington Community Radio

MUSIC:

Additional music and foley courtesy of Youtube royalty free music or otherwise obtained in the environment by J. Timothy Quirk

Nutmeg Junction

Tag Archives: rcf music

Episode 10: Serendip-History

Episode 8: Tex Bijou Cinema’s Singing Cowboy

America's New Old Time Radio Program