TUNKHANNOCK — Get ready for the free Golden Days of Radio Players Performance at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Tunkhannock.
For 15 or so years, Dietrich Radio Players have performed at the Dietrich, bringing back performances reminiscent of the old-time radio experience. The radio plays of the 1940s and 1950s take us back to simpler entertainment in every way. The productions are simulated to look and sound as much like they used to as possible.
Esther Harmatz, director and sound effects engineer, masterfully casts, directs, and creates all the sound effects needed for each play. All actors dress in period costume, helping immerse the audience in the spirit of the 40s and 50s.
Pre-show entertainment from 6:40 to 7 p.m. will be an acapella ensemble from the Wyoming County Chorale. Then, the Golden Days of Radio Players take the stage. Featured in this holiday performance are three plays with Christmas themes: a comic suspense play and two short classic Fibber McGee and Our Miss Brooks plays.
Fifteen volunteer actors, some experienced and some brand new, all ages up to 97, have parts. And, says Harmatz, “all lines are important.” She just wants everyone to have fun and enjoy the characters they portray. Everyone will enjoy meeting the actors at the reception following the performance.
Always fun to watch, Harmatz commands the sound effects table, recreating all the accompanying sounds of the dramas. Some are live and some are recorded. But all of them keep her busy, and it is a show in itself. For the three plays her challenges have been to come up with sounds for digging in dirt and the sounds in a department store of the 40’s and 50’s.
“I needed to layer three different sounds: the holiday crowd, registers ringing, and the general hubbub!” In the past the audience has always been amused to see tin cans used for speaking on the telephone.
For information or free tickets for the Golden Days of Radio Players Holiday Performance, call the Dietrich at 570-996-1500. Tickets will also be available at the door as long as they last.
