Spunky MacLean and the Murder at the Rockford Theatre

Spunky Maclean in: “Murder at the Rockford Theatre”

Written and Directed by Sonny Bynum. Set in the mid-1950’s, it’s an original story of a soft-boiled Greenwich Village detective named Spunky. While on a routine trail of a few unscrupulous characters, he suddenly discovers a bizarre murder.

Listen Here, find us on iTunes or log onto our podcast page.

THE CAST (in alphabetical order)

Shannon Atkinson - Fleurelle
Rich Baker - Dr. Hyrum Dickens, Officer Edwards, Zack Kelso, J.C. Guthries, Leonard Spivey, Ticket Seller, Annc 3
Kristina Denapolis - Rhonda Carlisle
Matt Ducey - Mr. Roberts, Luther Chesterton, Sailor, Bouncer
Desirée Fultz - Barbara Davies
Elliott Gilbert - Roger Edelsen, Julius Freeman, Red, Usher, Opera Man, Announcer 1
Rachel Golden - Darlene Lovejoy, Freddy, Scream
Peggy Bott-Kirby - Mama Rosette, Mamma Diana, Opera Woman
Jess Price - Officer Clemens, Dr. Preston, 'Sweet Bobby' Tyrell, Sylvester Underhill, Mario, Cabby, Announcer 2
Ken Raney - Sgt. William O'Doyle, Mr. Jackson, Enraged Patron
Holland Sanders - Darren, Jennifer Cromwell
Rodd Wayne - Spunky MacLean

THE CREW

Rich Frohlich - Creative Director and Executive Producer
Joshua Cox - Sound FX Chief and Sound Engineer
Brandon Brown - Musical Performance and Music Engineer
Sonny Bynum - Writer, Director and Conductor

Dragon Song

The Texas Radio Theatre Company in cooperation with the Arlington Museum of Art presents "Dragon Song" recorded in front of a studio audience on June 21st 2002.

Listen Here, find us on iTunes or log onto our podcast page.

Written by D.B. Humphries and directed by Louann Chapman.

Featuring the voice talents of Connie Crow, Robert (Bob) Erickson, Kathi Funston, Elliott Gilbert, Stephanie Knapp, Christine, Bernadette Muegel, Bill Shelton, Rodd Wayne

Live sound effects by Libby Millron

Guitar and original Music performed by Kyle MacConnell

Dragon Song is a story about Mothers and Mothering. They give so much to birth-love and give much more when they let that love wing away. But many times during the intermediate - they look up to the sky in frustration and wail, "What did I do to deserve this?" Then, they look once more upon the little Dragons that caused the frustration and fall in love all over again.

That's the Magic of Mothers and... Dragon Song.

This play runs approximately 1 hour.

For Halloween - The Brazilian Cat

The Brazilian Cat

Adapted for audio by Jim Cort from a short story by Arthur Conan Doyle.

Listen Here, find us on iTunes or log onto our podcast page.


One of the many stories Doyle wrote outside his famous Sherlock Holmes works. It's a horror-adventure story that begins with a young man with aristocratic connections, but no money hoping to live with, and possibly fend off some creditors with the help of his wealthy first cousin, a man who has the curious hobby of collecting strange and dangerous exotic pets.

The short story is part of Doyle's "Tales of Terror and Mystery" collection.

Voice talents by David Grant, Kevin Nash, Dale Leena Evans, Larry Groebe and Gary Layton.
Music by Lucien Désar.
Directed and Mixed by Richard Frohlich


Recorded in studio July 2004, in cooperation with the Arlington Museum of Art

H.G. Wells' The Time Machine

The Texas Radio Theatre Company adapts H.G. Wells' classic story, where we travel to the year 100,080 and a world where beauty and terror live side-by-side. Suddenly the time machine, our only exit, is missing. Could the docile and weak inhabitants called Eloi be something other than what they appear, or is there something lurking in the shadows.

Listen Here, find us on iTunes or log onto our podcast page.

This audio play was recorded at the Arlington Museum of Art on May 30th 2009 in front of a studio audience and includes the voice talents of Larry Groebe, Gary Layton, Tiffany Lonsdale-Hands, Ken Raney, Kelly Scott and Ric Spiegel.

Ken Raney provides the live sound effects and Richard Frohlich directs and engineers.

The play runs approximately 38 minutes.

Coming soon...

Son of Schlock!

Tales of Tomorrow Recreation

The Texas Radio Theatre Company recreates this lost ABC radio Tales of Tomorrow episode called "Syndrome Johnny" by Charles Dye about the world ravaged by pandemic after pandemic.

Listen Here, find us on iTunes or log onto our podcast page.

This radio play was recorded at the Arlington Museum of Art on May 30th 2009 in front of a studio audience and includes the voice talents of Larry Groebe, Gary Layton, Tiffany Lonsdale-Hands, Ken Raney, Kelly Scott and Ric Spiegel.

Ken Raney provides the live sound effects and Richard Frohlich directs and engineers.

The play runs approximately 30 minutes.

Happy Birthday TRTC...

After reading on Audio Drama Talk that Decoder Ring Theatre just turned four, I looked back to when Texas Radio Theatre first performed.

I knew it was sometime in October 2001... but I had to look back through my hard drive records and I found out that we were officially 8 years old YESTERDAY.

On October 15, 2001 we performed our first play in front of an audience at a Barnes and Nobel in North Richland Hills, Texas in cooperation with the Tarrant Area Guild of Storytellers.


We performed "Domingo Siete" it was an enormous hit, and no recordings exist.

We performed our second show, and OTR recreation of War of the Worlds at a the "Someplace Else Pub" in Arlington Texas on October 31st

The second show had us feeling a bit like the Blues Brothers... because the bar we performed in was filled with folks waiting for us to get done, because we were encroaching on their karaoke time.

So although we had been working on scripts and gathering people for nearly a year prior... we first performed 8 years ago yesterday -

so... Happy Birthday to us!

Teenagers from Outerspace on line!

Schlock Audio and Texas Radio Theatre have teamed up a second time to poke holes in the cheesiest efforts of cinema. Our newest target is the cheaply made, yet admirably ambitious "Teenagers from Outer Space" (1959 - Tom Graeff)

Listen Here, click the player below, find us on iTunes or log onto our podcast page.

Hosts Victor and Begore take you on an audio journey through the finer points (and holes) of the (alleged) plot, in half the time it takes you to get through the actual film.

It was adapted by Charles E Pratt Jr. It was directed recorded and edited by Richard Frohlich and featured the voice Talents of Reg Platt as Victor, Grandpa, Captain and Cop 1 / Bryan Douglas as Begore / Bryan Lockette as Derek / Kelly Scott as Betty / Larry Groebe as Thor, Astronomer and Cop 2 / Richard Milla as the Gas Station Attendant, Morel and Joe / Susan McMath Platt as Saul, an anonymous car driver and the Power Guy / Robert Clover Brown as Dr. Mason, Dr Johnson and Supreme Excellence / Ken Raney as the Driver of Thor's Ride and an unnamed detective / Margo Copel as Alice / And Finally Mitch Carr as the Radio Announcer.

Thank you for listening to Schlock Audio Theatre - please visit texasradiotheatre.com for more information about future productions, and links to past shows.

Enjoy the cheesy goodness, and remember to strap those audio goggles on - it never hurts to be too careful.

This Production - © 2008 Charles E Pratt Jr.

Coming Soon!

Here's the plan.

This week, on the podcast:

Oct 10 - Teenagers from Outerspace - full Schlock Audio Theatre episode

then

Oct 17 - Syndrome Johnny - Tales of Tomorrow (lost episode recreation)

followed by

Oct 24 H.G. Wells "The Time Machine"

and to round out October, Arthur Conan Doyles: "The Brazilian Cat" on Halloween Oct 31st.

Son of Schlock

"Son of Schlock Audio Theatre" is soon to be made ALIVE!!!.

Tentative recording date is set for late October/early November.

The first episode will be an audio send-up of Kinji Fukasak's 1980 post-apocalyptic sci-fi movie: VIRUS! With any luck it will be released by Halloween. Stay Tuned

Robot Monster to kick off (dust off) our podcast

Our episode of Robot Monster we cooperated with Schlock Audio Theatre to produce is now on line (check our podcast for details)

If you have not heard this audio send-up to the cheesy 50's B-Movie of the same name, you will not be disappointed.

Coming up in the next few weeks "Teenagers from Outerspace"

Click Here or find our player on the right column of the main blog page.

Better Late than Never

The Texas Radio Theatre Company invites you to a recording of:

"The Time Machine" adapted by Richard Frohich and "Syndrome Johnny" by Charles Dye

Both audio plays are directed by Richard Frohlich

Saturday August 29th at 2pm

The cast includes:

Larry Groebe
Gary Layton
Tiffany Lonsdale-Hands
Ken Raney
and Ric Spiegel

The Time Machine is the classic H.G. Wells story that takes you on a fantastic journey far into the future.

Syndrome Johnny is about the world ravaged by pandemic after pandemic. It's a recreation of a lost radio episode of the 50's Sci-Fi series Tales of Tomorrow.

The audio plays are performed and recorded on stage complete with sound effects and music.

Call 214.670.1643 for information about the performance.

Donations Accepted
One performance only: Saturday August 29th at 2:00pm
Dallas Public Library is located at 1515 Young Street Dallas, TX 75201
Phone: 214.670.1643 Web: http://www.dallaslibrary.org/

For more information about TRTC please go to: http://www.texasradiotheatre.com

Sound Design Playlist...

The cast and crew of Neil Simon's "Chapter Two" at the Contemporary Theatre of Dallas really enjoyed the music I chose for the production. So here's the playlist:

Since the play was set in the mid 90's we thought smooth Jazz would be a good genre for transitions. I ended up mainly using Jazz cuts from Sound Ideas Mix Collection. This was due to the annoying fact that most smooth jazz ends with a slow fade into oblivion. By contrast, the cuts from Sound Ideas have many glorious endings on them.

Other cuts I used for key transitions were:

A Tribute to a Rose - Jimmy Ponder
Talk of the Town - Houston Person
Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most - David Fathead Newman *
A Thousand Autumns - Branford Marsalis
Before It's Time To Say Goodbye - Kenny Garrett
Lotus Blossom - David Sanborn

For the preshow, intermission and walk-out we wanted something a bit more upbeat - so we went for retro swing of the 90's. The following were included:

My Baby Only Cares for Me - Brian Setzer Orchestra
One More Night with You - Brian Setzer Orchestra
For Lisa - Brian Setzer Orchestra
It Ain't You - Squirrel Nut Zippers
Lovers Lane - Squirrel Nut Zippers
Put a Lid on it - Squirrel Nut Zippers
Hell - Squirrel Nut Zippers
Let's Fall in Love - Susan Jones
Quizas, Quizas, Quizas - Susan Jones
Maddest Kind of Love - Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
Jumpin' Jack - Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
Minor Swing - Didier Riley
Nine by Nine - Didier Riley
Blow Up - Bobby Hutcherson
After You've Gone - 8 1/2 Souveniers
I could Only Whisper Your Name - Harry Connick Jr.
I Can't Wait - Hepcat
Come Back to me - Cherry Poppin' Daddies
When I Change Your Mind - Cherry Poppin' Daddies


*David Fathead Newman passed away in January

Next Performance in August

You may ask, "Where is Texas Radio Theatre". The answer is - we're coming back soon at the end of August to perform Time Machine and Syndrome Johnny again... but this time it will be at the Dallas Public Library.

Meantime I've been designing sound for a few local theatre productions - some of which are currently up, or soon to be up at the time of this post.

Go see "Romeo and Juliet" and "Twelfth Night" at the Trinity Shakespeare Festival in Fort Worth.

Also check out Neil Simon's "Chapter Two" at the Contemporary Theatre of Dallas

Finally "The Wizard of Oz" is a new puppet show at Slappy's Puppet Playhouse.

More on our August show - and our podcast is coming soon (now that some of the dust is settling)

Watch More Radio

Next Performance: May 30th

The Texas Radio Theatre Company invites you to a recording of:

"The Time Machine" adapted by Richard Frohich and "Syndrome Johnny" by Charles Dye
Both audio plays are directed by Richard Frohlich

Saturday May 30th at 2pm

The cast includes:

Larry Groebe
Gary Layton
Tiffany Lonsdale-Hands
Ken Raney
Kelly Scott
and Ric Spiegel

The Time Machine is the classic H.G. Wells story that takes you on a fantastic journey far into the future.

Syndrome Johnny is about the world ravaged by pandemic after pandemic. It's a recreation of a lost radio episode of the 50's Sci-Fi series Tales of Tomorrow.

The audio plays are performed and recorded on stage complete with sound effects and music.

Call (817) 275-4600 for information about the Arlington
Museum of Art.

Tickets are pay what you can. $5 suggested.
One performance only: Saturday May 30th at 2:00pm
AMA is located at 201 W Main St. Arlington, TX 76010
For more information go to: http://www.texasradiotheatre.com

Next Podcast and Next Performance

NEXT PODCAST

Just to let you know the next Podcast will be coming shortly.

Normally we would have posted on on Thursday or Friday, but we had plenty of things going on this last week - especially our most recent studio recording of CLIFF PROTON and the SEVEN DWARF ELEMENTS.

Unfortunately there will not be a stage performance of this Cliff Proton adventure. One of our cast members is moving out of the country, and we wanted / needed to explain his character's disappearance from the series... or wrap things up if we don't do another Cliff.

Eventually it will be available only on CD or on the web.

I can't imagine no more Cliff's - but, better safe than sorry.

NEXT PERFORMANCE

The next performance is planned for the end of May.

We plan to do "The Time Machine" and another short play or OTR recreation.

After that - August looks good for the next one.

WATCH MORE RADIO

Alice in Wonderland Performance!

The Texas Radio Theatre Company performed this audio adaptation in November 2008 at the Dallas Public Library. On stage at the time, from left to right: Shannon Atkinson as Alice, David Grant as the DoorMouse, Clark Hackney as the Hatter and Reg Platt as the March Hare. Rich Frohlich is adding prerecorded sounds and Ken Raney is performing the live sounds, with the exception of David's noise maker and Reg's horn (or tea cup)

Trouble with Cliff

We had some trouble at first, but now Podcast #39 seems to be up and running.



The Texas Radio Theatre Company in cooperation with the Arlington
Museum of Art present:

Cliff Proton and the Pan Dimensional Commissary: Chapter 1
by Richard Frohlich

In his forth adventure, Cliff, our fearless intrepid and slightly accident prone space ranger returns with Doc and Robot to confront the diabolical plans of Gran Berry Moffin... an evil chef bent on universal domination.

Produced by the Texas Radio Theatre Company
in cooperation with the Arlington Museum of Art

TRTC Executive Producer: Shannan Frohlich
Director: Richard Frohlich
Production Manager: Ken Raney
Featuring the Voice Talents of: Jonathan Cooper, AJ Glendenning, David Grant, Larry Groebe,
Jerry Hall, Pamela Heath and Ken Raney.
Live Sound Effects performed by: Bob White & Ken Raney
Sound Patterns and Engineering: Richard Frohlich

Recorded in front of a studio audience February 2006

Length: 21:00 min, Size: 14.8 MB

Click on the Pickle at right, log onto iTunes or click HERE

The Charado

A new podcast episode has been uploaded.

The Texas Radio Theatre Company in cooperation with
the Arlington Museum of Art present:

The Charado
written by Richard Frohlich

The Charado, a strange super powered visitor from another world. Unable to speak American, but willing to use is inhuman powers to fight for truth - justice and freedom.

Today's adventure - "The Gorilla Next Door"
sponsored by Tart Pops, the only candy that looks like Brittany Spears.

Recorded in front of a studio audience in January 2005

Produced by the Texas Radio Theatre Company
in cooperation with the Arlington Museum of Art

TRTC Executive Producer: Shannan Frohlich

Director: Richard Frohlich

Production Manager: Ken Raney

Featuring the Voice Talents of: Joe Berryman, Jerry Hall, Chris Messersmith, Christopher Nash, Ken Raney, Dona Safran and Bob White.

Live Sound Effects were performed by Hina Padihar and Angie Payne.

Sound Patterns and Engineering: Richard Frohlich

Length 7:00 min

Size 5.4 MB

Log onto iTunes or click on the player on the right.

Where are we?

We're still around - but in the shadows.

Director, Producer, Head writer and bottle washer - yours truly - have been involved in so many sound design projects - my head's spinning.

Since TRTC's last project - Alice in Wonderland, I've worked on sound for:

Watertower Theatre's "Wonderful Life", Contemporary Theatre's "SantaLand",
ICT's "Sherlock Holmes Last Case", Echo Theatre's "Nibroc trilogy", Rover Dramaworks' "Around the World in 80 days"

As I write this, I'm currently working on Slappy's Puppet Playhouse' "Charlotte's Web", ICT's "Heaven Can Wait", and Theatre Three's "Murder on the Nile"

If I had the time I'd dust off a script and organize a live performance or live recording just for the fun of it.

Maybe I'll have a break soon - and when I do, I'll post it here.

Meantime - I'm going to dust off the podcast so look for new episodes on that in the next month or so.

Thanks for checking in, and watch more radio!

Rich