The Auburn University Radio Flyer Theatre is On the Air!

 

 Auburn University Radio Flyer Theatre "The Gift of the Magi": Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Auburn University Radio Flyer Theatre "The Last Leaf": Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Last summer, Dan LeRocque from Auburn University Theatre asked me if I would be interesting in helping to produce some audio drama for podcast. I jumped at the opportunity. I have fond memories of The Holy Roman Radio Company from my early days at KWMU in St. Louis and I’ve been perplexed by how little audio drama is available by podcast relative to other kinds of programming. It seems a natural fit for the medium.

Dan told me he had long wanted to produce two O. Henry stories for the holidays, “The Gift of the Magi” and “The Last Leaf,” as a holiday gift for the Theatre’s patrons. He recruited a cast of faculty and BFA students to perform with an eye toward recording over two days in early December. We ran into a bit of a snag in that the Telfair Peet Theatre was already booked. Fortunately, the Auburn University Department of Music was happy to let us use their Goodwin Recital Hall. In addition, I asked Bill Schaffer if they might have some recordings of carols we could use. He rounded a group of their students and recorded selections specifically for the productions.

So, on a Friday in early December Bill took his students into Goodman and recorded music. On Saturday and Sunday, we recorded the scripts Dan had adapted. On Monday and Tuesday morning I edited and mixed the working parts and by the afternoon of December 8th, Auburn University Radio Flyer Theatre was officially “On the Air.”

In many ways, this is one of my favorite projects in which I have had a part. We enjoyed true collaboration across departments and between faculty and students. I’m also happy to say that the response has been very positive. As of this writing, I do not know the number of times each file has been accessed, but I understand we were in four figures early, which is very gratifying. Even more gratifying is feedback like this:

I forwarded the announcement to xxxxx at xxxxxx High School and she forwarded it to some of the teachers there and at xxxxx. The teachers have really loved it and are using it in the classroom. xxxxx’s folks are coming in for Christmas and we will listen to the podcasts one of the evenings while they are here.

Dan also told me that the day we went live, a local librarian phoned to thank him for making these stories available. She was playing them for the children in her school. Much as I tend to counsel against relying on anecdotal data for anything, that’s probably the most gratifying feedback I’ve received in a long time.