Want to enjoy the whole of Transcontinental Terror? You can listen to all of it right here, with the streaming audio player embedded below!
Tag Archives: live
10th Anniversary Halloween Spectacular! Oct 31st 4 & 6 pm.
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:
- The Wireless Theatre Company (London, England)
- Electric Vicuna Productions (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
- FinalRune Productions (Portland, Maine)
- Chatterbox Audio Theater (Memphis, Tennessee)
- Icebox Radio Theater (International Falls, Minnesota)
UFO Festival Show — Starring Doctor Who!
Doctor Who: Proteus Rising by Joseph Medina
Deep in outer space, far in the future, an alien artifact lures a mad scientist and a band of extremists to an asteroid. And their battle for the artifact unleashes a monstrous evil. Now the only hope for the human race — for the galaxy — is a mysterious alien wanderer. He has had many faces, many names. But he’s known best as… the Doctor.  And he could really use a cup of tea.
12th ANNUAL UFO FESTIVAL
2pm Saturday, May 14, 2011
McMENAMINS HOTEL OREGON — McMinnville, OR
Matties Room (on the 2nd floor)
WRW is happy to once again join the UFO Festival for the 8th year. This year’s show brings Joseph Medina’s (whose rendition of The Thing at a previous UFO Fest was chilling) amazing continuation of the Doctor Who saga. With an original score by James Dineen, live Foley by David Ian and Dino de AElfweald (with assistance from Toni Lima and Amy Branson) as well as live sound from D. Neil Blake, Robert Kowal and the otherworldly audio assistance of Marc Rose.
Our special thanks go out to Claudine Knapp and Martin John Gallagher, our Resident Sound Designer and all round swell guy.
The show features the talents of: Mary Thomas, Alyson Ayn Osborn, Atticus Welles Mowry, Cobal Weaverli, Bruce Miles, Sam A. Mowry, Robert Kowal, D. Neil Blake, Marc Rose, David Ian, Dino de AElfweald, Toni Lima, Amy Branson and James Dineen as the Doctor.
2011 marks our 10th anniversary, starting with a late night War of the Worlds for Halloween. Thanks for listening! We are and have been having a blast.
Who’s Coming to the UFO Festival? Yes!
One of the greatest heroes in all of science fiction is coming to the McMenamins UFO Festival next month! Author of “The Thing,” a smash hit at the 2008 UFO Festival, Afterhell‘s own Joe Medina returns to WRW with a script featuring a new incarnation of the mysterious traveling Time Lord known only as “the Doctor.”
The “Doctor Who” series has been a staple of British television since it began in 1963. The newest season is beginning a run on BBC America this weekend.
More details to come soon, but in the meantime, need to get up to speed on the Doctor and his adventures? Try some of these links:
- Gallifrey One Convention 2012 — the premier Doctor Who fan convention in the USA
- The Two-Minute Time Lord podcast
- Doctor Who: Podshock
- Matt Smith (the newest Doctor) & Orbital Live, 2010
- Craig Ferguson’s DW cold open
- BBC Radiophon-A-Tron: Mix Your Own Doctor Who theme!
- Newsarama:  Doctor Who’s TARDIS of Fashion
Christmas Carol Special! Live Benefit Show!
For many years, members of the Willamette Radio Workshop have given special performances of “A Christmas Carol” for audiences around the Portland metro area who might not otherwise have had any holiday entertainment. Now we’re taking this tradition to the next level with a live performance, open to the public, to benefit the Oregon Food Bank.
On Monday, December 20, at 6pm, Willamette Radio Workshop presents a “live radio” performance of “A Christmas Carol,” adapted by Cynthia J. McGean from the Charles Dickens story and the Campbell Playhouse version. The show will be held at McMenamins Kennedy School. While admission is free, we ask for the donation of two cans of non-perishable food per person or an appropriate cash donation to the Oregon Food Bank. Envelopes will be available for cash donations.
The cast for this performance includes Chris Porter, James Dineen, Greg Alexander, Todd Tolces, Cynthia McGean, Renee Boutin King, Mary Thomas and Sam A. Mowry. Live music and carols will be provided by The Holly Jolly Radio Choir, directed by Bennett Bailey and featuring over twenty singers!
Kennedy School Becomes the “Theater of Blood” for Halloween!
LIVE 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.
WRW and Filmusik Present “Turkish Star Wars”
Members of WRW including Sam A. Mowry, Mary Thomas, Mark Houmayoun and James Dineen lend their voices to the 1982 classic. Click on the poster to see the trailer and get more details, including how to buy tickets for this one-time-only show!
WRW and Filmusik Visit The Lost World
The “Movies in the Park” series from Portland Parks & Recreation continues, offering this weekend the ambitious presentation of the silent classic The Lost World, featuring an original score performed by Filmusik Chamber Orchestra, joined by Willamette Radio Workshop, (Mark Homayoun, Sara Rae, Tim Riley and Sam A. Mowry) plus live Foley sound effects by David Ian and Dino de AElfweald. This masterwork from 1925, a simpler time when claymation monsters ruled the earth and hunted unwitting saps in bowler hats, offers a new challenge to the Filmusik/WRW collaboration. Our group of musicians and actors recreate this classic in the open air under the mega-screen for this one-time-only performance.
Co-sponsored by the Richmond Neighborhood Association, the screening happens at Sewallcrest Park, Southeast 31st Avenue and Market Street. Pre-movie entertainment (Music by Megafauna and a Live Radio Drama intro to the movie) starts 6 p.m.-ish, and movies begin at dark. Admission to Movies in the Park events is free.
Filmusik Present “Gulliver’s Travels”
The collaboration between WRW and Filmusik continues in July with the presentation of the 1939 Fleischer brothers animated feature “Gulliver’s Travels.” WRW Director Sam A. Mowry will direct the voice acting cast to provide the voices of adventurer Gulliver and the hundreds of tiny citizens of the fairy-tale land of Lilliput.
David Ian will lead a team of foley artists to create live sound effects, while Marc Rose is sound designer. Filmusik founder Galen Huckins has composed an entirely new score for the film, which will also be performed live. There will even be opportunities for the audience to be a part of the show — follow the bouncing ball and sing along!
The show promises that you’ll never look at cartoons the same way again!
Filmusik: Gulliver’s Travels plays at the Hollywood Theatre July 16th, 21st and 23rd at 7:00pm, with a 2:00pm matinee show on July 18th. Tickets are $12, $10 for students and seniors, and are available at the Filmusik website or at the door (though be cautioned — past Filmusik shows have sold out!)
Flash Gordon Returns!
WRW celebrates the 11th annual McMenamins UFO Festival with the classic sci-fi adventure serial, “The Amazing Interplanetary adventures of Flash Gordon.” A special compilation of the first four episodes of the 1935 weekly serial, which we are calling “Marooned on Planet Mongo!” will be presented at 2pm Saturday, May 15 in Mattie’s Room at McMenamins Hotel Oregon in McMinnville. The show is free.
The cast includes Scott Jamieson, Mary Thomas, James Dineen, Mark Homayoun, Carole Dane, Matthew Richards and Sam A. Mowry.
Originally aired in the spring and summer of 1935, “The Amazing Interplanetary Adventures of Flash Gordon” was a very faithful adaptation of the Alex Raymond comic strip, starring Gale Gordon as the heroic Flash, Maurice Franklin as brilliant scientist Dr. Zarkov, and Bruno Wick as evil overlord Ming the Merciless.
WRW has presented individual episodes of “Flash Gordon” at past UFO Festivals, most recently in 2007, but this is the first time the “Brave Earth man” has been at the top of the bill!
For more information about the UFO Festival, check out the McMenamins site. There’s no charge to attend “Marooned on Planet Mongo!” but if you’d like to support WRW, we will have CDs of other WRW shows available for sale before and after.