Should Have Been Expecting That

Last night, the actor's group that Meggan goes to had a presentation on radio theater acting. I didn't know if I wanted to go or not, but I ended up doing it with her just to experience it. It was put on by one of the group's members who happens to be a radio drama enthusiast. He had been around for a couple of those golden days... he described one experience where he was able to see his uncle's radio station in South Dakota where the announcer would take a play-by-play of a baseball game and fill in the lines with color, making it feel like he was describing it firsthand. Another time that same uncle had the cast from Tom Mix Ralston over for dinner once, and our speaker got the pleasure of meeting his heroes.

With him last night, he had a 1940's black telephone and a squeaking contraption that were actually used back in the 40's on CBS. They're the property of his association, the Radio Enthusiasts of Puget Sound, or REPS. He then played for us snippets of old and new radio shows. For the very first time, I heard Matt Dillon and Our Miss Brooks... and Mr. Boynton. (Let's just say I didn't see this coming :) Some of the younger people were shocked to learn that these shows started on the radio... while I agreed with the speaker about the casting differences of Mr. B. from radio to TV... although I had never heard or seen the program before! LOL! A friend sitting next to me said, "Oh, does radio interest you?" (smothered laughter)

We then did a little script reading, everyone taking a turn at characters from the pilot episode of "Father Knows Best" from 1948. There was then a little talk about getting into voice acting, which is not exactly my cup of tea, but was interesting, nonetheless. Some resources were mentioned, along with REPS's upcoming convention next month where the group brings in people who were ON those old radio shows and they perform (mostly the younger actors - by necessity). Whoa... This year they're going to have a Jack Benny impersonator.

I can't believe I almost didn't come to this.

Jp