As Our Town Players embarks on its spring production, they’re taking the show on the road.
Not that they’re going anywhere too far.
But with their Franklin-based troupe’s longtime home at the Active Adult Center in the process of being torn down as the city constructs a new center, organizers have had to find alternative performing spaces — as well as unique shows to suit those spaces.
“When we knew we were losing the (Active Adult Center) for however long it will take to build the new building, we were kind of excited about the idea of finding other area venues to partner with,” said Sasha Haywood, director of the show. “A radio show gives us the flexibility to pop in and out without having to build a set.”
Starting this weekend, Our Town Players presents “Lux Radio Theatre,” a Golden Age of Radio-style show featuring live sound effects, stories, commercials and jingles on stage. The performance will be 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Johnson County Museum of History.
Then, the group stages their first show at the Historic Artcraft Theatre on April 25, before closing at the Pixy Theatre in Edinburgh for three shows April 26, 27 and 28.
All three venues offer a new experience for Our Town Players, a community theater troupe supported through Franklin Parks and Recreation that has been presenting live theater to the public since the 1990s. Hopefully this will serve to attract new audience members at the same time.
“We’ve always had love having the (Active Adult Center) as a home base, and we’re lucky to have that. Not every theater group has that. But we’ve always wanted to find a way to collaborate,” Haywood said.
The performance is staged in the style of “Lux Radio Theatre,” which was one of the most popular, expensive and lauded drama anthologies in the history of radio. From 1934 to 1955 the series dominated the radio, before moving to television until 1957 as “Lux Video Theatre.” In all, more than 900 episodes were broadcast.
That history, as well as the unique nature of a radio show, stood out as Our Town Players were contemplating their spring performance, Haywood said.
“The first time I was involved in a radio-type show, I worried if people would be disappointed that we weren’t acting out and memorizing and doing it like a traditional play,” she said. “And people loved it. They really enjoyed seeing the sound effects and seeing something that was different than what they expected.”
The theater troupe will be presenting two one-hour radio productions back-to-back. Kicking things off will be “The Egg and I,” an adaptation of a 1947 romantic comedy featuring Marjorie Main, who had attended Franklin College for a short time, and Percy Kilbride — better known as Ma and Pa Kettle.
The story focuses on a young married couple who become chicken farmers, highlighting the struggles they have with their crumbling home, the constant care of the baby chicks and the rich single woman next door who keeps flirting with the husband.
“It was the origination of Ma and Pa Kettle, and a lot of people know those characters,” Haywood said. “We had already chosen the show when we realized Marjorie Main went to Franklin College. What a perfect tie-in to the area to be able to include that.”
The second featurette is “Little Women,” a version of the coming-of-age story by Louisa May Alcott. The story follows the four March sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, while detailing their lives as they move from childhood to womanhood.
“That’s a known story that so many people love,” Haywood said.
Preparing for the production has had its challenges, as the cast hasn’t been able to rehearse in the space they’ll be staging the shows in, Haywood said. The actors are playing varying parts, so they’ve developed different voices for the different characters they’ll play.
And all of the commercials, jingles and sound effects will be done by the cast.
“The show is going to look like a 1950s radio station. All of the sound effects will be done right there — I always think that’s the most fun part of a radio show is seeing the people doing that right on stage,” Haywood said. “It will all be period stuff; they won’t be making sound effects with modern things.”
But while there have been difficulties, the radio show-style has also offered a freedom that normal plays don’t.
“I’ve been able to give the actors more flexibility as far as what they want to create for their character, because they’re not playing a person in the story, they’re playing a radio actor who’s doing that,” Haywood said. “I told them, when you’re not on stage doing your part, you can create little vignettes in the background.”
IF YOU GO
“Lux Radio Theatre”
What: An Our Town Players performance done in the style of old-time radio, with actors reading multiple parts, making their own sound effects and doing jingles and commercials. The show will feature two productions back-to-back, “The Egg and I” and “Little Women”
Performances
The Johnson County Museum of History, 135 N. Main St., Franklin: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday
The Historic Artcraft Theatre, 57 N. Main St., Franklin: 7:30 p.m. Thursday
The Pixy Theatre, 111 S. Walnut St., Edinburgh: 7:30 p.m. April 26, 2 p.m. April 27 and 28
Tickets: Free
