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COVID-19, Mercury, and Live Performances

Hello, everybody! A very quick update on what’s going on with ARTC these days:

  • COVID-19 – The cast and crew of ARTC is taking every precaution to preserve the health and safety of ourselves and our fans these days. Accordingly, in addition to the cancellation of our March show at the Strand Theatre in Marietta we have also cancelled our appearance at 221B Con (shortly before the convention cancelled itself outright). The status of future shows (April at the Strand, LibertyCon, Dragon Con, etc) will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis based on the situation as it stands at the time.
  • Ordering – We highly encourage everyone to order our downloadable products. Any orders for CDs to be sent through the mail will be handled individually, but in most cases we’re either going to ask you to accept a very delayed delivery date or we will just refund you the purchase price and ask you to buy the digital version instead.
  • Mercury: A Broadcast of Hope – Mercury will continue production, although as we announced previously, we’ll be recording remotely for the foreseeable future. This gives us the opportunity to have additional guests on the show from virtually anywhere in the world, so if you have a story of survival and want to be a character on the show, now’s a good time for you to write that and get in on this historic podcast!
  • Mercury: Year One and Year Two – For those of you who don’t want to subscribe via Patreon for any reason, you can now purchase Year One and Year Two of Mercury: A Broadcast of Hope via this very website for $15 each! Over 30 hours of content in each 365-day package!

We hope everyone is staying safe and healthy. We’re working on additional projects that have been in post-production for a while and exploring ways to keep our production cycle moving while not putting anyone at risk of spreading SARS-COV-2. Thank you all for your continued support! There is Adventure in Sound!

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Dragon Con 2019 New Releases

The Dunwich Horror LIVE graphic, depicting a house disguising a tentacled underground horror. Artwork by C. M. Dotson
2012 Live Performance
Rory Rammer, Volume 02 graphic depicting Rory Rammer, holding a ray gun, with a rocket ship in the background
Rory Rammer, Volume 02
Rory Rammer, Volume 03 graphic depicting Rory Rammer, holding a ray gun, with a rocket ship in the background
Rory Rammer, Volume 03

We’ll have three exciting new releases for attendees at Dragon Con this year, and for those of you who are reading this website right now! First, our 2012 live production of “The Dunwich Horror” by H. P. Lovecraft, adapted by Thomas E. Fuller, featuring music by The Ghosts Project with Alton Leonard. Next, not just the long-awaited Volume 2, but also Volume 3 of our fan-favorite series Rory Rammer, Space Marshal, created and written by Ron N. Butler!

We’ve got a couple of other titles in the works that should be ready in time for the convention, but we hate to make promises we can’t keep, so watch this space for news of those when they’re ready!

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Everyone’s a Member!

Membership Has Its Privileges

ARTC-color-logoHere at ARTC we make joining up and participating as easy as we can! You contact us, we send you directions, you show up…BAM! You’re a participant.

But it’s also possible to be an actual member of ARTC. To do that you have to start out as a participant and then pay some modest dues (that’s not a metaphor, it’s actual cash).

And there are benefits! You have to be a dues-paid member (among other things) to be eligible to be on our Board of Directors. You have to be a dues-paid member to vote in the yearly elections. And if you’re a dues-paid member, you get a discount on ARTC products!

But what if you’re not in the Atlanta area? What if you’re just too busy or too far away to take that first step by being a participant? What if you still want that sweet, sweet discount?

Dragon Con 2016

Then we have good news for you, especially if you’re attending Dragon Con 2016. Because at Dragon Con, if you’re wearing your ARTC colors, then you’re a member!

ARTC-RavenHere’s the deal: You show up at the ARTC sales table (which has been located in the Hyatt, down by the art show for the last few years and we expect to be there again this year, but it’s Dragon Con, so you never know) wearing any sort of ARTC logowear and BAM! You get that sweet, sweet discount. How much is the discount? Why, that’s 20% off any ARTC-branded items on the table.

Does that include CDs? You bet it does.

How about digital content? Absolutely.

Other merch? Yuuuuuup.

Where Do I Get Logowear?

You can get some of it here, but thARTC-Rory-Rammerere’s a much wider selection on our brand new Threadless shop, Woodrow’s Mercantile and embroidered stuff at Queensboro.

We’ve got funny sayings like “If It’s My Job, It Must Be Tedious“. We’ve got a selection of our cover artwork like The Call of C’thulhu and Blues for Johnny Raven. We’ve even got an old favorite, Rory Rammer, Space MarshalAnd we’ve got the tried and true ARTC logo in full color!

ARTC-Cthulhu-blackThreadless has a wide selection of styles available, too. So far we’ve kept it simple, but if you don’t see what you want, drop us a line and let us know! Adding styles is easy, we just didn’t want to have so many that you got a brain cramp!

Over at Queensboro you can get really cool polos, button up shirts, and hats, all with the ARTC logo tastefully embroidered on them!

And don’t forget our other great logowear like lapel pins and iron-on patches!


Promotion limited to ARTC-branded merchandise at the ARTC sales table at Dragon Con 2016. Discount is 20% rounded to the nearest dollar. ARTC logo must be visible on top of whatever else you’re wearing at the time you approach the table to be eligible.
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The Passion of Frankenstein part 5 of 5

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We apologize for the lateness of the podcast this month. Dragon Con ate our brain.

Well, this is it. The final chapter in this 5-part saga of The Passion of Frankenstein. It’s been quite a summer with an unprecedented three performances of this gothic masterpiece.

The Dragon Con stage.
The Dragon Con stage.

We hope you’ve enjoyed getting to hear this piece from the different casts. We looked for some of the older performances, but they appear to have been misplaced. If we find them, maybe we’ll run them later.

Ron N. Butler and David Benedict in
“No, please! No more Frankenstein!”

In the previous installments of this piece, the music was done by Brad Weage. In this final installment we were pleased to have live music from The Ghosts Project.

Davis Petterson, Gabriel Monticello, and Paul Mercer
Davis Petterson, Gabriel Monticello, and Paul Mercer

We also presented the Thomas E. Fuller Lifetime Achievement Award to William Alan Ritch and David Benedict!

William Alan Ritch accepts the Thomas E. Fuller Lifetime Achievement Award
William Alan Ritch accepts the Thomas E. Fuller Lifetime Achievement Award

David Benedict accepts the Thomas E. Fuller Lifetime Achievement Award
David Benedict accepts the Thomas E. Fuller Lifetime Achievement Award

See you next month with something less monstrous!

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31 Years of ARTC: Dragon Con 2010 part 2

Continuing our look back at ARTC’s 31 years (thusfar!) with photos from our live performances. You can get a look at our whole history of combining adventures in sound with the thrill of live performance in our Chronology!

In this installment we bring you our appearance at Dragon Con 2010 (Sunday night edition) where we presented Time and Time Again by H. Beam Piper, adapted by Ron N. Butler and At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft, adapted by Thomas E. Fuller, and featuring music by The Ghosts Project. Check out all the pictures on our Flickr album.

It’s a short update this week, folks, as I am flying out to Kansas City, MO, later today to attend the HEAR Now Festival. But this was a momentous show because it marked the beginning of our long-standing relationship with The Ghosts Project, who have since gone on to play with us on several other productions, including The Shadow Over Innsmouth, The Dunwich Horror, The Island of Dr. Moreau, and The Rats in the Walls!

Fiona K. Leonard
It’s completely mind-blowing

Paul Mercer and Davis Petterson
The Ghosts Project, Paul Mercer and Davis Petterson

Brian Troxell
“Don’t forget, you can own this recording of this historic performance.”

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31 Years of ARTC: Dragon Con 2010 part 1

Continuing our look back at ARTC’s 31 years (thusfar!) with photos from our live performances. You can get a look at our whole history of combining adventures in sound with the thrill of live performance in our Chronology!

In this installment we bring you our appearance at Dragon Con 2010 (Friday night edition) where we presented The Proper Thing To Do by William Alan Ritch and The House Across the Way by Kelley S. Ceccato. Check out all the pictures on our Flickr album.

Dragon Con. Its name is legendary in the southeast region, and ARTC has been at every single one. It’s a ton of work, but also a ton of fun. We get our biggest audiences at this convention…which isn’t surprising, since it’s the biggest convention we do. We often roll out brand new plays at Dragon Con.

Andrew Chiang
Sometimes we fly them in, too.

We also love to challenge ourselves. As if performing in a hotel ballroom with high ceilings and minimal setup time isn’t challenging enough, we really like to bring our A-game to these fans, and sometimes that means bringing in guest musicians.

Alton Leonard on keyboards and Paul Mercer on violin.
We bring in the regular musicians, too, because they’re awesome.

In 2010 we brought Kelley S. Ceccato’s The House Across the Way, which has a violin as an integral part of the plot. So we called up Paul Mercer and asked if he was available.

Paul Mercer
Spoiler Alert: He was.

Here’s a few more pictures to round it out, but be sure to see the whole album on Flickr!

Lili Bilbao and Mary Ward
The Foley team! Or Team Foley. Or whatever they want to call themselves.

Megan Tindale
Don’t let the glowing red eyes fool you. She’s very nice.

Mary Ward
She’s with ARTC…but what does she do with ARTC?

Mary Ward
Well. I guess that answers that question.

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31 Years of ARTC: Dragon Con 2008 part 2 – Not a Typo

We spent a good part of last year documenting our last 30 years through photographs of our live performances. But wouldn’t you know it, we ran out of year before we ran out of pictures! So we’re going to continue on! And don’t forget our Chronology for a look at our 30 (and counting!) years of live performance!

This week we bring you our second appearance at Dragon Con in 2008, which featured a number of short subjects that we dubbed Not a Typo. Check out all the pictures on our Flickr album.

David Benedict examines his script.
David Benedict looks for typos. Finding none, the show proceeds.

Scheduling difficulties had prevented us from having a second show at Dragon Con for a couple of years, but when we came back we knew we had to bring some great shows.

Bill Kronick expresses himself at the microphone.
Did someone say great shows??

So we trotted out A Ship Named Francis, Haunter Hunters, Rory Rammer, Space Marshal: The Atomic Graveyard, Wikihistory, and The National Endowment for Space Art.

Jayne Lockhart addresses the microphone.
Jayne Lockhart swoons over the quality selection of scripts.

And, if we do say so ourselves, we totally blew the audience away!

Daniel Taylor addresses the microphone.
“You probably shouldn’t say that in today’s geopolitical world. Things like that aren’t always funny.” — No One Ever.

And we’ve been doing two shows at that fine convention ever since! Stay tuned to see what’s in store for this year’s convention. In fact, you could even sign up for the newsletter to keep current!

Jonathan Strickland addresses the microphone
We want YOU to sign up for “Breaking Radio Silence,” the ARTC newsletter.

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31 Years of ARTC: Dragon Con 2008 part 1 – The Doom of the Mummy

We spent a good part of last year documenting our last 30 years through photographs of our live performances. But wouldn’t you know it, we ran out of year before we ran out of pictures! So we’re going to continue on! And don’t forget our Chronology for a look at our 30 (and counting!) years of live performance!

This week we bring you our appearance at Dragon Con for The Doom of the Mummy in 2008. Check out all the pictures on our Flickr album.

In 2008 ARTC returned to the Dragon Con stage with our customary two shows. One of them was Bill Ritch’s The Doom of the MummyThe Doom of the Mummy was written to be a compliment to Thomas E. Fuller’s Universal Monsters series of retellings that includes The Passion of Frankenstein and The Brides of Dracula.

William Alan Ritch
Who is the real monster here?

The story tells of an ancient evil that returns through sorcery to menace mondern times. You know, your standard mummy story. But Ritch included his own nuances and personality into it, including an ambitious score that pushed our master composers Brad Weage and Alton Leonard to their limits.

Brad Weage at the keyboard.
Brad Weage, clearly succumbing to the pressure.

The score called for not just our usual synthesizer, but also ancient instruments such as the ugab and lyre and also incorporated a modern instrument in the cello, masterfully played by special guest Regina Maniqus.

Regina Maniquis at the cello.
Regina Maniquis at the cello.

The cast had a wonderful time, and we’re really looking forward to getting this piece into the studio for proper treatment!

Cast of
Cast of “Doom of the Mummy”

Ariel Kasten in
Ariel Kasten in “The Doom of the Mummy”

Clair W. Kiernan in
Clair W. Kiernan in “The Doom of the Mummy”

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Dash Cardigan part 3 of 4

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In the “better late than never” category, this month we present Dash Cardigan part 3 of 4, by Thomas E. Fuller.

We’d like to offer some standard advice to our fine listeners – take care of yourselves! Being sick is no picnic, and it’s what caused this episode to be delayed a bit. So take it from the fine folks at ARTC: get plenty of rest, wash your hands frequently, take your vitamins, and stay healthy!

If you’re enjoying the podcast, why not head on over to Patreon.com/artc. and lend us your support? You can also see other ways of ensuring the podcast keeps coming with a few other donation options. Thanks!

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