Moonlight Audio Theatre

S2E4: The House in Turk Street While on the search for a missing boy, the Tec inadvertently runs afoul of some crooks, who think he's after them. Full of crosses and double-crosses! Starring The Narada Radio Company. Adapted by Pete Lutz from the story by Dashiell Hammett. CAST: ANNOUNCER: Darren Rockhold THE TEC: Pete Lutz MRS. QUARRE: Geri Elliff MR. QUARRE: Paul Arbisi HOOK: Mark Kalita ELVIRA: Rhiannon McAfee TAI: Jeff Moon THE OLD MAN: Joe Stofko OTHER VOICES: Daniel French Theme and incidental music by Dr. Ross Bernhardt Mixing and sounds by Fishbonius Sound Design

Project Audion recreates an extraordinarily rare and early lost episode of the classic audio drama Suspense. When CBS premiered the the show in June 1942, it wasn't immediately evident that it would become one of the all-time great radio dramas, running for 20 years and nearly 1000 stories. Indeed, in this (just Suspense's fifth-ever episode, from July 15, 1942), while all the typical ingredients are in place (in this instance, a murder aboard a moving train) the show hadn't quite yet settled into the style that would soon define classics like 1943's "Sorry, Wrong Number." Heard for the first time in 80 years, our recreation of this lost Suspense episode -- "The Witness on the Westbound Train" -- is taken from the single known surviving script. It features the same transcontinental cast of vocal actors who appeared in Project Audion's very first episode, along with additional talented voices who have appeared in Project Audion shows during the past three years. The Cast:  MARK: Pete Lutz, TX JOE: Doug Fain,

PROJECT AUDION #41: Life With Luigi - "Luigi's Toothache" This month Project Audion recreates a classic radio comedy based on a timeless premise. As a nation of immigrants, the clash of old and new cultures in America has offered authors an unending supply of humorous situations. "Life with Luigi" mined this comedic vein from 1948 to 1953. Each week, small-town Italian Luigi Basco struggled to navigate the complexities of his new American life, supported by his friends from Italy, Germany, Eastern Europe, and Scandinavia. It's full of charming stereotypes with broadly entertaining accents, it's-a great, innocent fun. In this episode, Luigi's aching tooth leads him into the unfamiliar world of medical specialists... Luigi: Jacob Palka, IL Pasquale: Pete Lutz, TX Schultz: Larry Groebe, TX Announcer / Horowitz / Man: Ken Jeffries, CA Olson / Doctor: Paul Arbisi, IL Miss Spaulding / Rosa: Donna Patton, TN Directed by Mr. Palka and produced by Mr. Groebe

PROJECT AUDION 9 - Lights Out: "Little Old Lady" Premiered Aug 21, 2020 Project Audion premieres our recreation of the classic supernatural radio show "Lights Out" - a 1943 episode entitled "Little Old Lady." It's a ghostly story written and directed by the master of spooky stories, Arch Oboler. It's a tale truly made for radio, where you close your eyes and let your imagination run wild. Our transcontinental cast, hooked together via Zoom, includes Angela Young Kristin James Denise Cline Brad Oxnam Larry Groebe and John Mauldin of the Inexplicable Dumb Show in Tennessee. We hope you'll listen in...with the lights out!

PROJECT AUDION 4 - Gunsmoke: "The Guitar" Premiered Jun 12, 2020 Project Audion presents a recreation of the vintage radio show Gunsmoke. Gunsmoke, one of the classic "adult Westerns", had a ten-year run on radio and an astounding 20+ years on television. This early episode, "The Guitar", originally aired December 26, 1953 and was later remade on both the television and radio series. A simple man with an unexpected talent is taunted by town bullies, with tragic results. Project Audion is a collaboration of radio theatre actors from across North America recording OTR shows live via Zoom. This Audion episode features the talents of Dennis Thompson in Colorado, Doug Fain in Kentucky, Paul Arbisi in Illinois, Dan Keenan in Colorado, Norman Cline in Kentucky, Pete Lutz in Texas, Denise Cline in Kentucky, Dick Huitema in Florida, Tim Burns in Kansas, Darren Rockhold in Illinois, and Larry Groebe in Texas. Doug Fain directed and Larry Groebe produced it.

PROJECT AUDION - THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES: "Murder in the Casbah" Premiered Aug 6, 2021 Sherlock Holmes is such an iconic figure, and so well-suited for radio, that the detective was on the air for over 20 years (starting in 1930) and portrayed by a half dozen actors. None, however, were better than Nigel Bruce and Basil Rathbone, who owned the roles from 1939-1946. Project Audion recreates an episode from December 3, 1945 entitled "Murder in the Casbah" which was sponsored by Petri Wine. Audion's transcribed-live edition features a cast of voice actors performing from England, Hollywood, and multiple locations in between. Holmes: David Ault, UK Watson: Paul Arbisi, IL Announcer: Lec Zorn, IN Miss Tretfield: M J Cogburn, TX Col. de Brisson: Trevor Rines, CA Rafi: Jacob Palka, IL Leaming/Commissioner: Joe Mendell, UK Ayisha: Grace Wagner, IL Milton: John Mauldin, TN Waiter/ Dr. Porter: Robert Mills, CA . ..and produced and directed by Larry Groebe in Texas

PROJECT AUDION - The Lineup: "The Scared Schoolmarm Scrape" Premiered Aug 7, 2020 Project Audion’s newest cross-country OTR recreation is an episode of the police drama "The Lineup" which hasn't been heard since it was originally broadcast in January 1952. The Lineup was added to the CBS radio schedule after Dragnet became a massive hit, and ran for four years on radio, plus six years on television and a 1958 movie. The lead cop role (which was portrayed in 1952 by Bill Johnstone, who was a former "Shadow" and “Whistler”) is here played by Ed Dennis, an actual law enforcement officer for four decades. He even used his own handcuffs in the show's final scene. Our full cast: Ed Dennis / Illinois Dan Keenan / Colorado Chris Marcellus / Utah Angela Young / Florida John Bell / Alabama Barry Katz / Florida Kim Titus / Texas Denny Thompson / Colorado Tom Wilkins / Illinois Ken Raney did SFX from Texas, Denny Thompson directed, and Larry Groebe produced the show.

SOLE TWIN AUDIOS: Old Time Radio Theatre, "Sorry, Wrong Number" by Lucille Fletcher Sole Twin Audios presents a recreation of Suspense's "Sorry Wrong Number," an episode made famous by Agnes Moorehead who played the main role 7 times for Suspense, starting in 1942. Directed and Produced by Rachel Pulliam Cast: Announcer - Dean T. Moody  Mrs. Stevenson - Julie Hoverson  Operator - Christina Roberts  Man - Robin Robbins George - Dean T. Moody Chief Operator - Karen Corrado  Sergeant Martin - Jerry Kokich Western Union - Michael Hornstein  Information - Madeleine Hamley  Hotel Receptionist/Caller - Gina Moravec  Music by Ross Bernhardt  SFX by freesound.org

THE REASONABLY AMAZING ADVENTURES OF FLASH GORDON Episode 6: Zarkov to the Rescue A silly take on the original radio series Flash Gordon which is now in public domain. Starting April 22, 1935, and again in May 2022  the strip was adapted into The Amazing Interplanetary Adventures of Flash Gordon, a 26-episode weekly radio serial. The series followed the strip very closely, amounting to a week-by-week adaptation of the Sunday strip for most of its run. Flash Gordon was played by Tom Konkle, starring Stephanie Stearns Dulli as Dale Arden and Witch Queen Azora, Gino C. Vianelli as Captain Thune,  Bob Clendenin as Dr. Zarkov, Pete Lutz as Saul (Pete Lutz heads the Narada Radio Company), Kurtis Bedford as Vultan, and David Beeler as the announcer and the Lieutenant. The original radio series broke with the strip continuity in the last two episodes, when Flash, Dale and Zarkov returned to Earth. We broke it completely. Edit and  Sound effects by Tom Konkle. Directed by Tom Konkle.        Music by Bryan Arata and T

THE UNDEAD TRAIL: Where Death Comes Uninvited - episode 4 Jim Wilkes, Sheriff of Liberty Gulch, and his deputy Abe Farrow, have tracked the murderous town mayor into the desert, only to have him get the drop on them, take them captive, and to reveal that he is a shape-shifting monster. The mayor has left them to be taken captive by the local Indian tribe, on whose lands they have been trespassing in their pursuit of the mayor. CHRONOSPHERE FICTION  Written by Craig Robotham Cast Jason D Johnson : Narrator Jim Wilkes : Pete Lutz Ilana Labourine : Annie Deemes Paul Arbisi : Abe Farrow Rich Greene : Dan Wilson  Anne Ghrist : Crow's Shadow Katelin Curtis : Leaping Toad Joe Stofko : Chief of the Tribe Daniel French at Fishbonius Sound Design : Production, Editing, Foley, Sound Design, Music, Mixing, Mastering 

CAMPFIRE RADIO THEATRE: Last Resort In the midst of a surreal dreamlike reality, a broken, flawed man relives the last drunken hours of his life in pursuit of an elusive perfect moment from his past as he hurtles headlong on a collision course with fate. Warning: Contains explicit language and graphic content. Written, directed and produced by John Ballentine From a story by Kevin Hartnell Cast: Jared Rivet Jack Kincaid Jessica McEvoy Kevin Hartnell Motzie Dapul John Bell Monique Bagwell Original music score by Kevin Hartnell

PROJECT AUDION #40: I Was a Communist for the FBI (Orig. rel. 3/10/23) What's black and white and Red all over? “I was a Communist for the FBI”, that’s what - the Cold-War era radio thriller that purported to tell the real-life story of Matt Cvetic, who posed as a member of the Communist Party while actually spying for the FBI. Whether true or fantastic, these half hour “radio noir” dramas put forward the fears which the Red Menace held for mid-century America. Most episodes of this taut melodrama can be heard today, but a handful of episodes are lost, and Project Audion’s March show is one of them. The script to “Citizens of Nowhere” was pulled from archives in New York and is performed by our nationwide cast for the first time in 70 years. MATT CVETIC: Jeff Billard, MA KAY MORONI: Holly Adams, NY ANTON REISLING: Pete Fernbaugh, WV DORA REISLING: Julie Hoverson, WA BEEKER OF THE FBI: Caleb Fisher, VA COLBY: Greg Vestal, TX ANNOUNCER & VOICE: George Taylor, TN Production, direction, and audio by Larry Gr

Old-Time Radio Essentials is back with episode 37, the Season 3 finale! Pete, Paul and Dave present an installment of the long-running series "Counterspy". The usual free-wheeling discussion follows, with Paul, Dave and Pete weighing the merits of this particular episode. Will they love it, or hate it, or try to waterboard it? Tune in and find out! And since we're on the subject of finding things out, while you listen you'll learn if we feel this entry meets the following criteria: 1. Is it truly representative of that series? (Can anyone point to it and say, "Yes, that is what [NAME OF SERIES] was all about.") 2. Is it an episode worthy of inclusion in any and every OTR aficionado's private collection? So with this in mind, we three bring you, as our thirty-seventh number (but 12th -- and penultimate -- official episode of S3), this episode of Counterspy, from 1945. We'll introduce the show, play it in its entirety, then discuss it at length. Thanks for joining us, and we hope you enjoy it!  Please show yo

Old-time Radio Essentials continues its 3rd season with an episode of Let George Do It – "There Ain't No Justice"! This one's Dave's pick, and it sparks quite an animated discussion. Who will like it? Will anybody hate it? Why wonder? Tune in and find out! And since we're on the subject of finding things out, while you listen you'll learn if we feel this entry meets the following criteria: 1. Is it truly representative of that series? (Can anyone point to it and say, "Yes, that is what [NAME OF SERIES] was all about.") 2. Is it an episode worthy of inclusion in any and every OTR aficionado's private collection? So with this in mind, we three bring you, as our thirty-sixth number (but 11th -- and penultimate -- official episode of S3), this episode of Let George Do It, from syndication, likely 1954 or '55. We'll introduce the show, play it in its entirety, then discuss it at length. Thanks for joining us, and we hope you enjoy it!  NOTE: Please stay with us after the regular show for a very special interview

PROJECT AUDION 39 - Little Ham from Harlem, by Langston Hughes Premiered Feb 10, 2023 Project Audion presents a world premiere of an unrealized radio play by the famed Black poet Langston Hughes. What might radio drama's Golden Age of the 1930s, '40s and '50s have sounded like had Black creators been allowed time on the airwaves? Back then, radio was almost exclusively a stage for White entertainers, with only a handful of secondary roles and occasional guest appearances offered to people of color. In 1943, Langston Hughes took the lead characters from a successful theatrical comedy he had written eight years earlier - "Little Ham from Harlem" - and proposed creating a daily soap opera around them. Hamlet Jones of the Singing Shoe Shine Parlor, and Tiny Lee, his "stout but beautiful" lady friend, would have been the main focus of radio's first Black soap opera. It would have taken the radio audience around Harlem life as Hughes knew it, encompassing everything from numbers-running to local night spots. But

PROJECT AUDION #38 -- The Jack Benny Program, "Mutiny on the Bounty" Premiered Jan 13, 2023 Think you've heard almost every Jack Benny radio show? Try one that was just written! Project Audion presents a recreation newly penned by Robert L. Mills, former staff writer for Bob Hope. Project Audion has gathered the classic Benny gang, guest stars Charlie McCarthy and Edgar Bergen, and a virtual studio audience for a half hour of laughter, including a send-up of "Mutiny on the Bounty." Our transcontinental cast of voice actors even recorded this show live via Zoom on a Sunday night at 7.  Featuring the talents of... JACK BENNY: Scott R. McKinley, NJ CHARLIE MCCARTHY / EFFIE KLINKER / MR. KITZEL: Duane Noch, NJ EDGAR BERGEN: Larry Groebe, TX MARY LIVINGSTONE: Denise Cline, KY PHIL HARRIS: Norman Cline, KY DENNIS DAY / FRANK NELSON: Bob Beaumont, CA STAGE HAND / SHELDON LEONARD / MEL BLANC: Pete Lutz, TX  DON WILSON: Ken Jeffries, CA ...and produced and directed by Larry Groebe

THE SUNDOWNERS – Episode 4: Three Faces of Death [Rated R for Violence and Adult Language] Written by Mark Slade Directed and Produced by Viktor Aurelius Featured in the cast were: David Ault as Fowler Viktor Aurelius as Granger Alexis Bristowe as Amy Atticus Jackson as Mick Austin Beach as Jakus Snake as Heck Josei Kage as the Little Girl, Woman and Dawn Jeff Niles as Stranger #1 and #2 and Pete Lutz as Stranger #3 and #4 Music by Kevin MacLeod ( http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/ ) Sound Design by Viktor Aurelius © The 4077th and ALL BETTER AUDIO (2016)

THE SUNDOWNERS – Episode Three: “BLOOD BATH” [Rated R for Adult Language, Violence and Sexual Situations] Written by Mark Slade Directed and Produced by Viktor Aurelius Featured in the cast were: Jeff Niles as the Narrator Keane Lutz as Joey Mary Genevieve Fortier as Maddy David Ault as Fowler Viktor Aurelius as Granger Terrence Drye as Glenndale Pete Lutz as Boris Angela Young as Sabrina Jessica Mathews as Nadya Cheyenne Gibbs as Drina David Schütz II as Gino Thompson and Cary Michael Ayers as Ned Music by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/) Sound Design by Viktor Aurelius © The 4077th and ALL BETTER AUDIO (2016)

The Sundowners - Episode 2: Sam Hill Died Here [Rated R for Adult Language, Sexual References and Violence] Written by Mark Slade Directed and Produced by Viktor Aurelius Featured in the cast were Jeff Niles as the Narrator David Ault as Fowler Viktor Aurelius as Granger Gwendolyn Jensen Woodard, Mary Genevieve Fortier, Jeff Niles, Viktor Aurelius and Jack Ward as the Voices Pete Lutz as Sam Hill Keane Lutz as the Paper Boy Ryan Vollmer as Ned Mary Genevieve Fortier as the Little Girl Gwendolyn Jensen Woodard as the Mother Cary Ayers as the Tavern Keep Jeff Niles as Chester Cheyanne Gibbs as Dawn and Terrence Drye as Glenndale Music by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/) Sound Design by Viktor Aurelius © The 4077th and ALL BETTER AUDIO (2015)

THE SUNDOWNERS Episode 1: Elixir It is 1887 in a Salt Mining town in Utah Territory populated by peaceful citizens who have their own "unique" way of life. Some believe that they are religious fanatics, but that only scratches the surface. But when two detectives wander into town to investigate a missing person, the truth is revealed. ORIGINALLY AIRED AS A JEFF NILES PRESENTS EPISODE. Featured in the cast were: David Schütz II as the Drunk Jeff Niles as the Tavern Keep Matt Weller as Boone Laura Nicole as Lucinda David Ault as Fowler Viktor Aurelius as Granger and Kat Waterflame as Glory Music by Kevin MacLeod ( http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/ ) Sound Design by Viktor Aurelius