In what has become a tradition for White Pine County, Ely Children’s Community Theater has partnered with KDSS 92.7 FM and Inline Studios to present its third Halloween radio drama. In 2023, the vocal talents of 16 children from across White Pine County, including Baker and Lund, are showcased in this eerie science fiction tale: The Color from Outer Space. Cast is made up of Emma Baker, Matthew Baker, Henry Bishop, Rebekah Bishop, Brindel Blades, Alric Crosby, Kathryn Crosby, Jack Fawcett, Zoey Fawcett, Sonora Moser, Catie Murphree, Rachel Murphree, Rebecca Murphree, Samantha Murphree, Thomas Murphree and Sierra “Lance” Rodriguez.
In 2020, with the suspension of live performances, the Theater struggled to find a way to proceed. In 2021, with the generous support of KDSS and Inline Studios, the Theater was able to present a radio presentation of The Canterville Ghost. The success of this initially encouraged the creation of a second production, in 2022, this time of Sherlock Holmes and the Sussex Vampire.
Audio dramas have been known for nearly 2000 years and with the development of radio technology such performances took to the airwaves. In the 1940s, radio drama was a leading form of entertainment, with Orson Wells, Laurence Olivier, Judy Garland, Humphrey Bogart, Lucille Ball and other famous personalities taking their talents to the airwaves. While War of the Worlds is the most famous of the radio dramas, Batman and Superman have both been broadcast on the airways, along with adaptations of cultural classics from Shakespeare to Star Wars. Creation of a radio drama, however, is no easy task. Recording lines, selecting the best of multiple takes, adding sound effects, editing and polishing the final product is a time intensive process. For every minute of aired footage, approximately an hour is spent in the studio.
The Color from Outer Space is an original script based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft and involves an encounter with a cosmic horror from beyond the sky, “where things are not like they are here.” Lovecraft, best known for his creation of Arkham, Cthulhu and the Necronomicon, both of which have entered popular culture, lends his name to a subgenre of horror literature, which is characterized by an emphasis, not on gore or shock, but rather on the terror and dread of the unknowable and incomprehensible.
The Theater is a non-profit ministry of the Ely United Methodist Church. This eerie Halloween production is sponsored by the generous donations of airtime by KDSS 92.7 FM and recording studio time by Inline Studios. In the upcoming winter, auditions will begin for the Theater’s 2024 stage production, which will be performed in spring of 2024. For more information, including the recording of the 2022 radio production, and to learn how to support the Theater, visit: www.facebook.com/ElyChildrensCommunityTheater
The Color from Outer Space will air, at approximately 6:00 p.m., on Sundays in October, on KDSS 92.7 FM.
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