Tag: science fiction

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The Passion of Frankenstein part 4 of 5

Size: 10.5M Duration: 17:53

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We’re back with another podcast, and this time we’re coming back to the studio production of The Passion of Frankenstein. Remember, you can get this production in all its glory, with CD quality sound instead of the heavy compression we put on the podcast tracks, right here!

Also, just like the last time we used the studio production, we have no photos from that show, so we’re bringing you more from the LibertyCon show.

The LibertyCon cast for Frankenstein!
The LibertyCon cast for Frankenstein!
Matt Goodson
Matt Goodson as Dr. Victor Frankenstein. Where did he get his PhD, anyway?
Foley for Frankenstein
The best Foley team in all of existence. In this case it’s real FrankenFoley!
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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: LibertyCon 2010

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 LibertyCon where we presented Time and Time Again by H. Beam Piper, adapted by Ron N. Butler, The Competitor (first live performance!) by Brad Linaweaver and William Alan Ritch, and Bryce and Bigmouth: A Boy and His Griffin by Henry Lee Forrest. Check out all the pictures on our Flickr album.

LibertyCon 2015 is almost full! If you’re coming up to Chattanooga and haven’t gotten your membership yet, we recommend that you move with alacrity!

The cast and Foley team for LibertyCon 2010!
The cast and Foley team for LibertyCon 2010!
Brian Troxell and Bryce Lucyshyn
Brian Troxell and Bryce Lucyshyn cope with the sudden appearance of a griffin (not pictured)!
Bryce Lucyshyn and Clair W. Kiernan
Clair W. Kiernan imitates the griffin (still not pictured).
William Alan Ritch
William Alan Ritch presents the cast to the audience. As if this group of hams couldn’t have taken care of presenting themselves.
Ron N. Butler, Alton Leonard, and Clair W. Kiernan
Ron N. Butler, Alton Leonard, and Clair W. Kiernan in “Time and Time Again”.
Lili Bilbao and Mary C. Ward at the Foley table.
The Foley team. Makin’ noise. Like you do.
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31 Years of ARTC: Chattacon 2010

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 Chattacon where we presented A Ship Named Francis, Rory Rammer, Space Marshal: The Angel of Destruction, NOSINET, and SWATting the Books. Check out all the pictures on our Flickr album.

Ariel Kasten, David Benedict, Bill Kronick
The cast bows their heads as the Chaplain from “A Ship Named Francis” calls upon the great Tester to keep the ship’s engines from exploding.
Bill Ritch, Bob Zimmerman, Brad Weage
The tech crew keeps the ship afloat.
The cast from Chattacon 2010.
The cast from Chattacon 2010!

Short update this week, but there’s plenty to see on the Flickr page!

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31 Years of ARTC: LibertyCon 2009

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 LibertyCon where we presented Our Fair City by Robert A. Heinlein, Omnilingual by H. Beam Piper, and Rory Rammer, Space Marshal: Enemies Within! by Ron N. Butler. Check out all the pictures on our Flickr album.

We’re prepping for our next performance at LibertyCon right now, and the setup there is a LOT different than what is depicted in these pictures. Come on over to Chattanooga, check out a great convention, and be a part of one of our best audiences of the year!

The famous Rory Rammer
The famous Rory Rammer “Yay!” sign!
David Benedict
David Benedict comes in peace. We hope.
Clair W. Kiernan and Ron N. Butler at the microphones.
Clair W. Kiernan and Ron N. Butler at the microphones.
Brad Weage playing two keyboards.
Brad Weage plays two keyboards and still turns his own pages!
Rachel Bowman runs recorded SFX.
Rachel Bowman on recorded SFX.
Clair W. Kiernan and Brian Phillips on the mics. Alton Leonard and Ron N. Butler wait their turn.
Clair W. Kiernan and Brian Phillips on the mics. Alton Leonard and Ron N. Butler wait their turn.
The Tech Crew - Bob Zimmerman, Bill Ritch, and Rachel Bowman.
The Tech Crew – Bob Zimmerman, Bill Ritch, and Rachel Bowman.
The Foley Team - Lili and Fiona K. Leonard.
The Foley Team – Lili and Fiona K. Leonard.
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Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea part 4 of 4

Size: 7.81M Duration 17:03

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You know who tends to get all the glory in theatrical productions? Actors. You know who really does all the work? Technicians.

Tony Fuller on Foley sound effects
Tony Fuller is upset about not getting more glory.

Especially in audio drama, all actors have to do is show up and read their lines. We even get our scripts on stage!

Bob Zimmerman, audiomancer.
Bob Zimmerman is unimpressed by your reading skills.

Sure, acting requires diction and timing and the ability to convince an audience that you are a person other than the one you really are, but without the music and without the sound effects the giant squid just ain’t gonna attack The Nautilus.

Alton Leonard on music.
Alton Leonard can’t hear the actors complaining because he’s busy making music.

Plus, they’re the only ones who know which wires to plug into which other wires. Also, amplifiers are heavy. And ARTC brings a lot of stuff with us to our performances because you never know what you’re gonna need.

Giuliana Ward on recorded SFX
Giuliana Ward is too happy to be mad at actors for hogging the spotlight.
Giuliana Ward on recorded SFX.
Just kidding! She’ll cut you if she gets half a chance!

So the next time you’re at an ARTC performance, be sure to thank the technicians! (Also the floor manager, not pictured). It’s their show, too!

Bob Zimmerman and Alton Leonard with David Benedict
Making the magic happen. The magic of RADIO!
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Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea part 3 of 4

Size: 10M Duration 17:46

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Sometimes in the podcast we give credit to the lighting designer. This may seem strange to listeners who have never seen us perform live because it’s not like we’re showing a video of the performance. Why would we give a credit to the lighting designer when you can’t see their work?

Daniel Taylor, Clair W. Kiernan, and Daniel W. Kiernan
Here’s some of their work. Happy now?

Because at a live performance, the lighting can enhance even an audio experience in ways that are difficult to describe. In Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea the characters are often underwater, outside of the Nautilus. During those times they can’t easily speak to each other, which makes dialogue challenging.

When we adapt H. P. Lovecraft, there often isn’t any dialogue at all, and so we just make some up. But in this case the passages where the characters are underwater are filled with lush descriptions of undersea life and landscapes that many of us will never see. We couldn’t just leave them out completely, nor could we make up dialogue that the other characters could never hear.

So we decided to create a music bed and have the characters each share their own perspective on what they were seeing through a triptych of interwoven monologues. In those instances the lighting helped the live audience adjust better to the transition.

Robert Drake
Robert Drake: Lightmaster

That lighting design is nearly always done by our host at the Academy Theatre, Robert Drake. So the next time you come out to see ARTC perform live anywhere where we have control over the lights (we usually don’t at our convention performances), ask if Robert’s around! And thank him for all his work!

ARTC’s next live show is at the Academy Theatre in Hapeville on March 28-29, 2015!

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31 Years of ARTC: Blues for Johnny Raven 2009

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 the Academy Theatre in Avondale Estates, which featured our 2009 performance of Blues for Johnny Raven by Thomas E. Fuller. Check out all the pictures on our Flickr album.

This was our 25th Anniversary performance, and so we really went all out, as they say.

Bill Kronick and Alton Leonard
Bill Kronick and Alton Leonard going “all out”.

Y’know, we talk about how surprising it is that we’ve lasted so long. But the truth is that good storytelling is and has always been valued, so it really shouldn’t be that surprising.

Mary Buchanan and Megan Tindale backstage.
Ok, maybe it’s a little surprising.

This performance featured some of our favorites, some blasts from the past, and was a ton of fun. We got to see our founder William Brown take the stage again to recite The Mountain Whippoorwill by Stephen Vincent Benet…

William Brown on stage.
You don’t often see someone playing the “air violin”.

…as well as one of our favorite Rory Rammer episodes: The Asteroid of Love.

Fiona Leonard, Megan Tindale, and Ariel Kasten sing with Ethan Hurlburt observing.
Featuring the beautiful Android Sisters!

We were also treated to Brad Strickland’s An Arkham Home Companion.

Brad Strickland
Brad Strickland, just telling a regular old story about a tentacled monster trying to steal an eldritch book.

We were also joined by our frequent musical guest Juliana Finch!

Juliana Finch
Juliana rocks harder than you.

And, lest we forget, the main attraction, Blues for Johnny Raven!

 

Fiona Leonard and Daniel Kiernan
Raven (Daniel Kiernan) listens to the case brought to him by Gloria Kinsolving (Fiona Leonard).
Brad Strickland and Daniel Kiernan
Raven (Daniel Kiernan) consults with his friend and informant, Benny the Gospel (Brad Strickland)
Mary Buchanan
Mary Buchanan takes a break from playing the sax.
Ariel Kasten and Megan Tindale
We have no idea what’s going on in this picture.

Blues for Johnny Raven is in the final stages of post-production now and will be available soon, first by download and later on CD!

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Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea part 2 of 4

Size: 10.5M Duration: 18:04

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When writing the script for Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, David Benedict and Brad Strickland had two major problems to overcome. The first was compressing a novel-length work of genius by Jules Verne into an hour time slot. That was solved through vicious editing.

The second problem? There are no women in Verne’s tale of the sea and ARTC has been blessed with a number of extremely talented actresses. It would have been a crime to leave them out entirely. So, artistic liberty was applied. First, it was decided that Conseil, Professor Arronax’s faithful companion, would be a woman. Second, a new female member of the crew would be introduced.

Clair Kiernan as Conseil and Kelley S. Ceccato as Navigator Aznar
Clair Kiernan as Conseil and Kelley S. Ceccato as Navigator Aznar

Captain Nemo’s crew is not mentioned heavily by name in the original work. They are clearly vital to Nemo’s voyage under the sea, and he values them greatly. No, he reveres them. But precious few individuals are named. This gave Strickland and Benedict an opportunity to introduce audiences to one, who just happened to be a woman, and also to allow the audience an opportunity to track the progress of the Nautilus as Navigator Aznar announces the submarine’s position at the beginning of many scenes.

One thing that was very important, however, was that Aznar not be relegated to the “love interest” of the play. The only love interest that is present in the script, as well as the original novel, is Nemo’s love of the sea – of its beauty and what it can provide if it is respected.

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Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea part 1 of 4

Size: 11M Duration: 19:30
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In 2013 ARTC took our adaptation of Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea to the Academy Theatre in Avondale Estates for its debut, and thusfar only, performance.

As part of the performance, we commissioned a cake from our good friend Heather Schroeder with Sweets to the Sweet (edit: we just got word that Sweets to the Sweet is taking a bit of a hiatus. Sad face! Hopefully they’ll be back baking soon!). Check out how awesome this is!

Cake from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
Cake from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea