Tag Archives: Halloween

DRACULA for Halloween 4 Shows at 3 venues, 3 prices.

by

Willamette Radio Workshop presents: Dracula, A Live Radio Drama. 4 performances at 3 venues. The Kiggins Theater in Vancouver on Thursday October 27th at 7pm for $5, at the Venetian Theater in Hillsboro on Sunday October 30th at 7pm  for $10  and Halloween night at the Kennedy School Movie Theater at 4pm and 5:30pm. Free and open to all ages.

dracula-2016-mcm_webshot dracula-poster-2016-kiggins-webshotKIGGINS– 1011 Main St, Vancouver, WA 98660

VENETIAN– 253 E Main St, Hillsboro, OR 97123

KENNEDY SCHOOL–  5736 NE 33rd Ave, Portland, OR 97211

WRW brings the ultimate story of the supernatural to the McMenamins Empire. First published in 1897, the novel Dracula by Irish author Bram Stoker has never been out of print. It has been reissued in over 300 editions, including dozens in foreign languages. The figure of Count Dracula has dominated twentieth-century culture, from movies to cereal boxes to radio.

This is the original radio adaptation by Orson Welles and John Houseman. It was the first broadcast of the Mercury Theater on the Air, the greatest of all radio companies and the inspiration for forming the Willamette Radio Workshop.

“Welles got the rights to it at the last minute — he was going to launch the season with ‘Treasure Island,’” Mowry says. “He and John Houseman sat in an all-night cafe cutting up seven copies of the book and gluing pages together to make the script. They argued around the clock for 36 hours, eating and drinking the whole time, then dropped off the pages at the typing pool and left Welles’ secretary to pay the bill.”

Bram Stoker, wrote the story in 1897 and made vampire a household word. Vampires continue to enthrall 100 years later, immortalized in movies and television.

dracula-2016-venitian_webshot“We accept the idea of vampires today, but when the story was written, nobody knew what they were. Here’s this great story: Basically, a real estate salesman goes to close a deal in Eastern Europe — and instead this evil is loosed on the world!”

Welles’ script runs 55 minutes and the adaptation rushes along, with foley sound effects creating the atmosphere of doom.

Halloween horror stories are perfect for radio drama, It’s the power of suggestion. Everybody carries their own private hell with them.

Our Cast includes James Dineen, Patricia Blem, Scott Jamieson, Carole Dane, Atticus Welles Mowry and Sam A. Mowry.  Live Foley by David Ian and Dino Deaelfweald. Original Music by Martin John Gallagher and Sound Design by Gallagher and Mowry. Magic Lantern Imagery by Joe Medina. Webmaster and Merchandizing by Jamie Lawson. Live Sound by D. Neil Blake. Live Sound at the Kiggins and Venetian by Joe Reed.

Halloween at McMenamins Kennedy School.

Monday October 31st 4 & 5:30pm  | Free admission | All ages welcome

Come celebrate the spookiest of holidays with us! Kids in costumes are invited for Trick-or-Treating! Bring those pumpkin buckets for gathering treats from 4:30 p.m. ‘til 6:30 p.m. in the hallways.

Live music by:

Freak Mountain Ramblers

Plus:

Willamette Radio Workshop presents: Dracula in the Movie Theater! at 4pm and 5:30pm.

and Trick-or-Treating

Kennedy School | Monday, October 31, 2016

Live music 7 p.m. ’til 10 p.m.

DRACULA AT THE KIGGINS Presented by Re-Imagined Radio and John and Dene Barber

Thursday October 27th at 7pm, doors open at 6:30. $5 tickets.

DRACULA AT THE VENETIAN Presented by Martin John Gallagher

Sunday October 30th @ 7pm Tickets $10

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

by

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:

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

by

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.

St. James Infirmary Halloween Extravaganza!

by

sji_poster_sm
The Willamette Radio Workshop is proud to present the 7th annual Halloween audio theater extravaganza at McMenamins Kennedy School on Saturday, October 31st at 4 and 6 pm. This year’s presentation is an original compilation of stories based on “The St. James Infirmary Blues”, featuring live music and foley, and streaming in real time on the internet. “Tales from St. James Infirmary” is a cross between ER, The X Files and EC Comics, featuring stories of zombies, lost loves, murder and revenge – in other words the perfect Halloween confection. You’ll never be unsatisfied with your HMO again.

There will be two programs with eleven stories split between the two. Here’s the schedule so you won’t miss a thing. All shows are free and open to everyone (who has the guts, that is).

First Show 4pm in the Kennedy School Gymnasium:

  • “St James Sisters” by Cynthia J. McGean. A Civil war tale of Old Man St. James and his seven daughters. Angels of mercy? Well, that’s what they say.
  • “Old Doc Haggard” by David Ian. The old gang is looking for something to do. Too bad they stumble upon the old, burned out infirmary. Nothing could live in there. Could it?
  • “Room 413” our first story from William S. Gregory. Join four nurses as they work the graveyard shift. Something bad needs attention in room 413.
  • “Raising Dan” by William E. Gregory. When you play poker in the bowels of St. James, you’d better be ready to bet your life on it.
  • “Case Study” 720 by Bryan Mackey. A disturbing case awaits Dr. Seward at the original St. James Infirmary in the White Chapel section of London. What could happen here? We visit an old friend in a new setting.

Second Show at 6pm in the Kennedy School Gymnasium:

  • “Delicious” by William S. Gregory. Script voted most terrifying by our dramaturge. Sam just thinks it’s a nice chat with an old friend. See who’s right.
  • “The Reason Why” another by William S. Gregory. Science, fame and fortune are all examined in one moment in time. Have you had your 15 minutes yet?
  • “The Real McCoy” by Angela McKennie. A jazz aged, snappy patter, fun house ride of love, double crossing and the St. James Infirmary. Somebody gets a happy ending.
  • “No Shelter” by Afterhell’s own Joe Medina. Raoul loves Jenny; he’d never do anything to hurt her. Well, Jenny might argue the point. If she could.
  • “The System” by Jan Bear. Every guy has a system. Some work better than others. Some work too well.
  • “Tesla” by Sam Spackman. Where is Jonathan? Who are those men in black? Questions will be the death of you. Haven’t you learned anything?

CAST AND CREW FOR THE HALLOWEEN SHOW

Tim McKennie, Lindsae Klein, Alyson Osborn, James Dineen, Mark Homayoun, David Loftus, Bryan Mackey, Sarah Rea and Mary Thomas.

Sam A. Mowry is the producer and director.

Cynthia J. McGean is our Dramaturge.

Marty Gallagher- Sound Co-ordinator/Auto harp, David Ian- Foley, Dino de AElfweald- Foley, Randall Howington- Grip/Foley, Lori Day-Reynolds-Mix, Marc Rose- Sound Special Effects and Abelton.

Galen Huckins- Musical Director/Composer. Megafauna and the Classic Revolution are the musicians.

Jeff Hylton-Simmonds- Streaming Mix for Radio 23. Listen in at:

http://radio23.org/#listen

Writers for the full recorded “Tales from the St. James Infirmary” (featuring additional stories) include: Jan Bear, Sandra De Helen, Fred Greenhalgh, William E. Gregory, William S. Gregory, David Ian, Craig Kenworthy, Bryan Mackey, Cynthia McGean, Angela McKennie, Joe Medina, Rolf Semprebon and Sam Spackman. Watch for the full collection of Tales next Halloween on a radio station near you.

Special thanks to Jamie Lawson and Joe Medina/Afterhell, Dry Smoke and Whispers, Jerrel McQuen, Claudine Hemminway, Tapestry Theater and Judy Straasland, West Hills Covenant Church, Filmusik, Classical Revolution, Joanne Gallagher and all our families and friends who make this possible. That means you, you listening audience!

WRW Goes Batty for The Old Church Benefit!

by

Bats in the Belfry Event Poster

“Bats in the Belfry: A Hair-Raising Fund-Raiser” is a Halloween-themed variety show at The Old Church on Sunday, October 25, at 3:00 p.m. Proceeds will benefit The Old Church attic to provide safer access and upgrades for better stage lighting and improved insulation/ventilation. Don your costume and bring the family for treats, wine, cider, door prizes, and a chance to win a professionally carved pumpkin.

The fun includes music from pianists Michael Allen Harrison and Susan DeWitt Smith, organist Tom Curry, and violinist Ron Blessinger, Director of Third Angle. PSU’s Student Opera Club will perform excerpts from “Maelstrom, A Zombie Opera”.

The Willamette Radio Workshop is happy to be able to add to the festivities by presenting William S. Gregory’s “Room 413,” especially commissioned for WRW’s Halloween show “Tales From St. James Infirmary.”

The cast includes Mary Thomas, Sarah Rea, Lindsae Klein, David Ian, Martin John Gallagher, Dino de AElfweald and Sam A. Mowry.

Advance tickets are $12.50 (adults), $5 (youth 6-17 years), and free (children 0-5 years) from www.PDXtix.net/oldchurch or 503-205-0715; tickets at the door are $17 (adults), $5 (youth 6-17 years), and free (children 0-5 years).

St. James Infirmary Opens Friday

by

WRW-TVThe unofficial “Audio Theater Month” begins with a preview of Willamette Radio Workshop’s Halloween spectacular, “Tales From St. James Infirmary.”  A special sampler of four of these original stories will be presented this Friday evening, Oct 2nd, as part of the “mediartZ: Art as Experiential, Art as Participatory, Art as Electronic” Kick Off Party @ North Bank Artists Gallery (http://www.northbankartistsgallery.com/), 1005 Main St., in downtown Vancouver.  This event is free and open to the public.

Willamette Radio Workshop will be doing these Halloween themed audio drama presentations starting at 6pm and then periodically during the evening.

All original stories from a collection of national and local radio dramatists are loosely based around the Jazz classic “St. James Infirmary Blues”. Friday evening’s plays will include “The Legend Of Old Doc Haggard” by David Ian, “In This Cornered” by Craig Kenworthy, “Leaving You is Hell” by Frederick Greenhalgh and “The Reason Why” by William S. Gregory.

The performance will include live Foley Sound Effects by David Ian and Dino de AElfweald Music and Ableton by Martin John Gallagher and Special Effect SFX by Marc Rose.

Our cast includes Mark Loring, Keith Cable, James Dineen, Bill Barry, Bryan Mackey, Mark Homayoun, Lindsae Klein, Sybil Johnson, Mary Thomas and is directed by Sam A. Mowry.

More “Tales From St. James Infirmary will be presented Halloween night at McMenamins Kennedy School at 4 and 6pm.

Looking Now for Halloween Scripts!

by

St James Infirmary Halloween SpecialCindy McGean, WRW’s Dramaturge, writes:

Willamette Radio Workshop is looking for original scripts for the 2009 Halloween show which will be the same format as our MURDER OF CROWS program from some years back. The show will be 2 one hour programs made up of about 8 original scripts all in some way inspired by the blues/jazz classic “St. James Infirmary Blues.” No script should be longer than 15 minutes, but short takes are fine. I am sending along a link to some information about the song and some great examples of the myriad different versions of it (see below). WRW is looking for pieces that are scary, suspenseful, eerie, haunting or otherwise Halloween appropriate. ER meets the X-Files meets EC Comics is how Sam sees the format. We would like first-draft scripts submitted by June 30, 2009. This will allow time for readings and rewrites.

This summer, in place of the summer Writers On-the-air Workshop, WRW will be organizing readings of the scripts submitted for this project. Director Sam A. Mowry will choose from those scripts for the live performances in October.

If you are thinking of submitting a piece, send a short description of your idea to Sam (SAMowry@aol.com) or me (cjmcgean@aol.com) so we have a feel for the ideas folks are working on and can prevent overlap (e.g. multiple zombie scripts). Cindy is also available on a limited basis now and more fully come June to work with any writers who’d like support.

We’re looking forward to the rich and varied stories that we know will spring forth from your imaginations for this project! Here’s the link I mentioned earlier: Honey, Where You Been So Long?

Halloween 2008 — From the Case Files of Dr. Moreau!

by

The Island of Dr. Moreau presented for Halloween at McMenamins Kennedy School by the award winning Willamette Radio Workshop. 2 performances at 5 pm and 6:30 pm. Admission is free, all ages welcome, children must have an accompanying adult. Food and beverages available. The show will be performed in the Gymnasium. The Kennedy School is located at:

5736 N.E. 33rd Ave, Portland, OR 97211  (Click here for map/directions!)

This Halloween WRW tackles the classic novel of terror and imagination, The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells. We are lucky to have the illustrious and talented William S. Gregory to adapt this classic novel for us. As with his past work with us, Mr. Gregory brings a spin to the classics of the past, his Ogle Award winning version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a case in point. Mr. Gregory re-imagines this classic story of science and biology and the limits of both. This story, From the Case Files of Dr. Moreau , uses the point of view of the manimals (as we like to call them) as opposed to the usual human point of view. The questions of freedom, nature, man’s rights and animal rights all come into play. The genius of Dr. Moreau takes on new depths and the story of his children, created by his own hand, follows new leads with classic results.

WRW has once again collected an amazing group of artists to help bring the jungles of Moreau’s island and the horrors of his laboratory to life. Sound designers with out peer, Martin John Gallagher, David Ian and Marc Rose (winners of s\a shelf full of national and local awards) are taking care of music, sound design and Foley that will fill your imaginations. The cast includes Mark Homayoun, Cindy McGean, Megan Murphy, Scott Jameison and Sam A. Mowry, who also produces and directs.

You can buy original audio drama at the show from WRW members Jamie Lawson (web mistress) and Joe Medina (Associate Producer). There will also be work from Afterhell, an audio horror series and the long running epic story of Emil Song, Psychic Detective from Dry Smoke and Whispers.

Halloween 2007

by

This year’s HALLOWEEN SHOW focuses on two classics of both the horror genre and Old Time Radio. The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs is a story we have either read or heard or saw in some form or another. The story is the perfect “Be careful what you wish for” type of tale. It has a story book feel but still carries a modern urban vibe at the same time. Our version is adapted by Written by W. W Jacobs for the long running Canadian Broadcast series Nightfall. An old family friend returns from the war carrying a wizened relic from another time. A monkey’s paw with magic powers from the Far East. The story sounds too strange to be real, but the lure of three wishes has held the imagination of mankind for as long as they have looked into a night sky searching for the answers to all life’s mysteries. The Monkey’s Paw is a perfect tale for audio theater. The images you create, the paw itself and what is on the other side of the door will leave you breathless.

Our second show needs no introduction, The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Alan Poe. The master of horror, the inventor of the modern detective novel, the poet of pain and sorrow without peer. This is another tale that lives so well in the imagination that you would think Poe was writing for radio scores of years before it was dreamt of. The Spanish Inquisition, scorching a path across Spain puts one of Bonaparte’s Captains on trail. His destruction of a church serving as an ammo dump leads the Grand Inquisitor to sentence him to a death so unimaginable, that the auto de fait seems like a charitable end.
Dramatized by John Dixon Carr (an amazing writer) for one of the greatest radio programs of all time, Suspense. The show delves into the mind of a man pushed to the brink of madness and beyond, tortured by rats, fire, starvation and of course The Pit and the Pendulum.

Come see these 2 mighty tales, together for one night and one night only. Halloween at McMenamin’s Kennedy School 5736 N.E. 33rd Ave. Portland, OR, October 31st at 5:00 and 6:30 pm. FREE and open to ALL AGES (kids must have an adult with them). Free treats for the kids from 4:30 pm until 7 pm. The subject matter might be too intense for younger listeners. Use your discretion.

The cast and crew includes: Marty Gallagher, David Ian, Marc Rose, Jan MacDonald, Autumn Lawrence, Linda Goertz, Mark Homayoun, Toni Lima, Curt Hanson and Sam A. Mowry.

The award winning Willamette Radio Workshop has been creating live and studio productions for over 7 years. We have been broadcast on stations around the world and perform live through out the McMenamin’s Empire. Find out more about us at
www.radiowork.com

Special thanks to Cindy McGean, Atticus Welles Mowry, Robert Kowal, Mary Kowal, Claudine Hemmingway and Liz.