An ensemble cast of 16 actors are walking in the shoes of old-time radio actors as The Oswego Players prepare for their October production, a three-night event of staged radio plays, collectively titled “Foretold Tales: An Anthology of Terror”.
Probably the most unique offering of the season, Foretold Tales will present nine classic stories over its October 24th, 25th, 26th run, creating a truly anthology and repertory event. Director William Edward White compared the production to sitting down and turning on old-time radio.
“I grew up listening to the CBS Radio Mystery Theater and WRVO’s nightly ‘Theater of the Mind’. Every night there was something different, suspense, horror, science fiction. That’s what we’re looking to bring to the stage this October.”
White previously directed the Players’ 85th-Anniversary “War of the Worlds” staged radio “broadcast” that played to a sold-out Monday-night audience on October 30th, 2023.
The production will play on the stage of the Frances Marion Brown Theater at Fort Ontario, Oswego, NY. Curtain times are 7:30PM on Friday and Saturday, October 24th and 25th, with a 2PM matinee on Sunday, October 26th.
The anthology series will be broken into nightly themes: Mad Scientists, Future Tense, and Nine Lives. The nights will include classics from Light’s Out, X-Minus One, and Suspense among other radio shows of old, with stories such as “Return to Dust”, “Cat-Wife”, “There Will Come Soft Rains”, “Zero Hour”, and a re-creation of the legendary lost Light’s Out program “The Chicken Heart”.
Since each performance is an “episode” in this event, a special ticketing price is being offered. All seats will be $13 each per performance, with a three-day ticket for the entire event of just $26. Tickets may be purchased online at www.oswegoplayers.org , or by calling the theater box office at (315) 343-5138.
The production will feature the talents of: Inez Manor Parker, Eve Phillips, Jordan Glaski, Christopher Best, Norman Berlin, Karla Chandler McCord, Tristan Mann, Adele Cronk, Jim Martin, Scott Bandla, Michael Moss, Christina Rogers, Josh Mumm, Wayne Mosher, Michael Bolio, and Bill Cowham. Along with voicing characters, members of the ensemble will create live Foley sound effects.
“The goal is to take our audiences back to the golden age of Radio Theater. Placing them in the middle of the sights and sounds of an old-time broadcast studio – one that will take them into an adventure through the theater of the mind,” White added.
This project is made possible through the CNY Arts Grants for Regional Arts and Cultural Engagement regrant program thanks to a New York State Senate Initiative supported by the NYS Legislature, the Office of the Governor and administered by the New York State Council on the Arts.
The cast of “Foretold Tales: An Anthology in Terror” the Halloween production of old-time staged radio plays at The Oswego Players. The anthology production will be held on October 24, 25, and 26 at the Francis Marion Brown Theater. The cast members pictured are, front row, from left: Wayne Mosher, Eve Phillips, Norman Berlin III, Adele Cronk, Christina Rogers; back row, from left: Christopher Best, Michael Moss, Jordan Glaski, Tristan Mann, Jim Martin, and Josh Mumm.