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EPISODE 12: SERENDIP-HISTORY 2

June 20, 2018 jtimothyquirk Leave a comment

THE AUDIO TO THE SHOW

http://nutmegjunction.buzzsprout.com/168185/731835-episode-12-serendip-history-part-two

SHOW NOTES

This was a fun episode as we return to the idea of serendipitous moments in history otherwise known as “Serendip-History”. Our guest was Nancy Sasso Janis, the theater reviewer. As an interesting side note, when Conrad Sienkiewicz, Robert C. Fullerton and I met at WAPJ and sat at the table discussing the ideas for Nutmeg Junction the radio show, Nancy arrived at the tail end of that discussion as she and I had scheduled a Nutmeg CHATTER radio interview and she was early. So she got to witness the birth of the Nutmeg Junction radio show when it happened.

And I knew from our interview that Nancy had acted before but most of her time was spent reviewing and with such a schedule it would be difficult for her to take on a full production of a show but our show was different, needing a rehearsal and a recording time and they’re usually during off times (as often our cast are parts of other local productions! So I asked if she was interested in participating and she was and I had the perfect role for her: Harriet Beecher Stowe!

In addition I had the idea of a public relations person trying to sell Louisa May Alcott on a sequel to Little Women. I reached out to my friend, comedienne KJ Johansen who was my co-host on a prior radio program to see if she was interested in being the PR person and she was!

Olivia Wadsworth and Jandi Hanna were slated to be part of the show as Ava and Evelyn and I knew Olivia could portray Louisa May Alcott and Jandi’s character in Serendip-History is the narrator. This left only Samuel Clemens. Fortunately we have a Southern gentleman of distinction in our cast; Robert C. Fullerton!

Conrad Sienkiewicz directed and it was great that he had some “book end” narration which held the story together.

This was an episode that we rehearsed and recorded on the same day which, when we only have one episode to record, works out fairly well.

The story of Louisa May Alcott and Virginia Wyles worked as I already had the punchline in my head before I wrote it.

The Harriet Beecher Stowe and Samuel Clemens story was based on a recollection of a tour I had either at the Twain Center or at the Stowe center. I couldn’t find any reference to it online, but I recall hearing of a time Clemens met Stowe on the grounds and discussed something and then later sent up his suit. It’s a particularly peculiar idea that I do not know if it’s true or if my memory is flawed but I thought it was a story worth fictionalizing. The dialogue however are often quotes attributed to both authors at different times and contexts.

Credits

Episode 12: Serendip-History Part Two

Directed by Conrad Sienkiewicz

Starring

Olivia Wadsworth as Ava/Louisa May Alcott

Jandi Hanna as Evelyn/Alice Dare Crook

KJ Johansen as Virginia Wyles/Waitstaff

Nancy Sasso Janis as Harriet Beecher Stowe and herself

Robert C. Fullerton as Samuel Clemens

Conrad Sienkiewicz as Announcer

Nutmeg Junction Theme written and performed by Robert C. Fullerton and used with permission.

All other music and sounds from youtube royalty free music or otherwise found in the field by J. Timothy Quirk

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Episode 10: Serendip-History

June 4, 2018 jtimothyquirk Leave a comment

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.

‘

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.

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Episode 8: Tex Bijou Cinema’s Singing Cowboy

May 23, 2018 jtimothyquirk Leave a comment

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

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Episode 4: The Grey Whisper

April 20, 2018 jtimothyquirk Leave a comment

In this episode we meet Nutmeg Junction trolley line’s Quality Reviewer Kent Flashman as Ella becomes Lead Conductor for the first time. We enjoy music from Robert C. Fullerton and meet VIP guest Leslie Elias of The Grumbling Gryphons Traveling Children’s Theatre group. In our passenger story we introduce The Grey Whisper who is a master of disguise, fighter of crime and a wonderful knitter!

Jandi Hanna as Madeline Forthright/The Grey Whisper

Kurt Boucher as “Ox” Rich Cyr as “Rusty” and Robert C Fullerton as Dr. Unhippa

The Grey Whisper idea was the “proof of concept” piece that I edited first and used to send to WAPJ and to Robin Hood Radio which led to their acceptance of our program. It’s a wonderful romp through a story line that’s reminiscent of the pulp hero stories that

The interaction between Lana Peck (as Twomley) and Kurt Boucher (as Ox) especially when dealing with Josh Newey’s Whiddlebury makes me laugh every time I listen to it.

This is the last episode from the first recording session. It was a wonderful evening but we found in future recordings that it would be best to have a Sunday afternoon recording session moving forward and only rehearsals at night.

We recorded Robert C Fullerton’s musical performance separately and it was an honor to have as our guest Leslie Elias of the Grumbling Gryphons come to the studio for an interview.

Every character in a passenger story has the opportunity to come back for an encore episode but The Grey Whisper especially is intended to be a recurring character and I’m already well under way in writing The Grey Whisper Returns which may be Episode 10.

CREDITS

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

Guest Passenger: Leslie Elias

Musical Guest: Robert C. Fullerton

Starring:

LANA PECK AS CONDUCTOR ELLA AND TWOMLEY

KURT BOUCHER AS KENT FLASHMAN AND “OX”

JANDI HANNA AS LEAD CONDUCTOR MARGOT MUELLER AND THE GREY WHISPER

J. TIMOTHY QUIRK AS “JT”

RICH CYR AS RUSTY

JOSH NEWEY AS WHIDDLEBURY

ROBERT C. FULLERTON AS DR. UNHIPPA

CONRAD SIENKIEWICZ AS NARRATOR

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

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Episode 3: A Case of A Little Light Murder

April 16, 2018 jtimothyquirk Leave a comment

The Audio, Show Notes, Photos and more

This episode was the second of the first three episodes which we recorded on the same date in January. The recording session was fun but also a learning experience. For one thing it was the first full cast passenger story where everyone fit into the small room of Studio B at WAPJ station in Torrington.

The impetus of the story was to capture the familiar concept of a husband and wife mystery team as exemplified in the William Powell and Myrna Loy era. The characters of Nathaniel and Netta Chase were voiced by Kurt Boucher and Lana Peck who have worked together many times before and have a natural rapport.

Now as it is an approximately 10 minute mini-mystery the fun was in the creation of the sound effects and music to accompany the voices. We were very happy that State Representative Michelle Cook was willing to be a guest on our show and while there, she was asked to voice a role in the mystery which she was very gracious enough to do for us.

Rich Cyr and Jandi Hanna were the Rowlings, and they become an even more formidable team in the next episode (Episode 4: The Grey Whisper).

Josh Newey and Robert C Fullerton provide stand out supporting voices in the piece as Benjamin Marley and the butler, Jennings.

photo by lsgoriginal

Robert C Fullerton then joined Emily Victoria. Emily Victoria is an extraordinary young talent and both songs “Unafraid” and “Cruel Intentions”

As for the mini-drama on the trolley involving conductor JT thinking he will be the new Lead Conductor, consider that this was written at the same time and in the same voice as the prior episode and the tone was considered from my perspective the way of a Jack Benny show which enjoys some playful banter and teasing of characters.

CREDITS

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

Guest Passenger: State Representative Michelle Cook

Musical Guest: Emily Victoria

Starring:

LANA PECK AS CONDUCTOR ELLA AND NETTA CHANCE

KURT BOUCHER AS NATHANIEL CHANCE

JANDI HANNA AS LEAD CONDUCTOR MARGOT MUELLER AND MRS. ROWLING

J. TIMOTHY QUIRK AS “JT” AND JAMES CROMWELL

RICH CYR AS MR. ROWLING

JOSH NEWEY AS BENJAMIN MARLEY

MICHELLE COOK AS TABITHA MARLEY

CONRAD SIENKIEWICZ AS NARRATOR

DIRECTED BY CONRAD SIENKIEWICZ

Rehearsed at Trinity Episcopal Church in Torrington

Recorded at WAPJ Torrington Community Radio

MUSIC:

Unafraid (c) Emily Victoria

Cruel Intentions (C) Emily Victoria

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

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