ON AIR

Updated 11/23/21

It was time for the final Bold New Work at Creative Cauldron. The five year journey was coming to an end, and how in the world could we wrap this endeavor up with a nice bow? We had done an adaptation (Turn of the Screw), Historical Fiction (Monsters), a total original (Kaleidoscope), Contemporary Historical Fiction (WITCH), so what haven’t we done? What haven’t we done that we could possibly do within a year?

I have always been fascinated with the radio, and the power of it. I love it’s meteoric rise to fame, and just as sudden decline as the Television took its place. I love the old radio serials, comedies and dramas alike. I was particularly enamored of the 1938 War of the Worlds Panic Broadcast. I also have a book called We Interrupt This Broadcast that came with an audio CD of recordings to go along with the different chapters. We talked about the possibility of a show that’s constant was the radio, and that’s it - we would change characters, time periods, and locations. That was an intriguing idea. In the end, we didn’t think it could sustain an entire evening, as the only constant the audience could identify with would be a piece of machinery. 

Still, I didn’t want to give the radio up. I had printed a whole booklet full of radio stories that I had found, and we took the book to dinner one night. We found the story of Frank and Flora Conrad, who discovered "Mass Broadcasting" (a term they invented) in their unassuming garage in Wilkinsburg, PA in the early teens of the century.

That was it. We were instantly attracted to their story.  A couple of innovators who carved their own path and their work gave way to modern media.

Their path was not easy, as a couple, or as innovators. But their persistence gained them the first radio station that played music, and commercials.

Their fostering of radio led to the first big radio station, KDKA in Pittsburgh, PA - and the first broadcast was the 1920 Presidential Election. 100 years later, we are here to celebrate them.

This couple delivered the first station of media and were the developers of mass media.

As we celebrate them in 2020, let us remember that their dreams in 1920 are unparalleled in our current climate. Thanks to Frank and Flora for everything that we have now.

WITCH

So, I'll be honest. When I set out to write WITCH, I thought we would have a female president in the office,  I voted for her, and I didn't foresee anyone but her taking the office of the Presidency. I figured that there would be some blowback to her, so I wanted to write a piece that featured other mythical women (Baba Yaga, The Black Forest Witch, Elphaba, etc.) to round a bill of fictitious "witches" in a parable to tell a greater story of "Women in Power".

Then Donald Trump won. And with that, EVERYTHING went out the window. I conducted interviews with over 35 women who told me what it was like to be a woman in these current political circumstances. And the play changed.

Soon enough, the #METOO movement started, and the play changed again.

I found that I was writing a current history as herstory was evolving. I found solace in the WITCH theatrical protest movement. I found solace in the women whose stories we tell. I found solace in their likenesses to their modern counterparts who portrayed them.

What we ended up with was a gorgeous mix of intersectional and intergenerational female protest theatre. Is it for everyone? NO. But is it for this era? YES!
As the 8 women of varying ages march out of the space singing "Nevertheless She Persisted", many audience members wanted to join their ranks.

WITCH is a compelling show that highlights the struggle of women as they navigate their way in a man's world. We are in talks with the Salem Witch Museum. I only hope that these women's stories live beyond our first production of this incredibly specific show.

Kaleidoscope

Our third Bold New Work at Creative Cauldron took an intimate turn in Kaleidoscope. Legendary Actress Florence Lacey played our fictional actress, Evelyn Thorne, who was launching a "Come Back" tour while suffering Alzheimer's Disease. She reflected her 40-year career to varying degrees of success as the tour went on. We were so lucky to have the talent of Florence Lacey in the lead role of Evelyn Thorne, and she killed the role with aplomb.

We were happy to welcome back Susan Derry in the role of DIRECTOR.

Catherine Purcell also joined us in the role of STAGE MANAGER...

Sophia Manicone joined us as the youngest family member...

All four women played four seasons of life, and we were very pleased to take inspiration for writing this show from the star, Florence Lacey. This show was her idea, and we carried it for over a decade to fruition in this production. 

We are taking it further in 2020, and looking for other venues that specialize in Music Therapy to house it.

Monsters of the Villa Diodati

Our second installment of the Bold New Works took us to Lake Geneva, 1816. Monsters of the Villa Diodati concerned a certain summer where the literary giants of 1816 spent a summer together, and the fruits of this vacation gave us "Frankenstein" and "The Vampire". Basically, all the rules of the "living dead" that gave way to "Night of the Living Dead" and "The Walking Dead" were established in this summer. And boy, did we cover it.

This research project covered the best poetry of the finest poets ever living. It also covered the female pioneer of Science Fiction. These characters were some of the smartest humans to ever live on this earth.  No pressure writing dialogue for them, right?

This show took a long time to write.  Between research and language training to learn how people spoke in 1816, this one took a little longer to cook.  I read all of their works and all of the books available that analyzed the content. Above is a word cloud that represents our play, and the most often used words within it.

Matt soon found a musical way into the story, Playing classical styles of the time versus rock and roll styles of the modern era. While they were innovators 200 years ago, their influence is still felt in modern times.  The music needed to reflect that fact.

After Sean Thompson became unavailable due to Broadway calling, Sam Ludwig became our Lord Byron. They both were wonderful in their different ways, but I was so happy to see Sam FLOURISH in this role, and earn a Helen Hayes Award Nomination for it as well. He was the perfect host to this decadent summer.

David Landstrom was an enigmatic find as Dr. Polidori. His "Directions for John" remains one of our favorite songs that we have ever written. As the tortured and sexually repressed Doctor, he broke your heart every single night as Byron and Mary trampled all over him.

Catherine Purcell and Alan Naylor as Claire Clairmont and Percy Shelley were both incredibly in tune with their character's arc. Their tricky story details involving secret affairs while her sister, Mary was wed with Percy offer juicy plot points in the second act.

MONSTERS tells many stories and ends up with two of the most famous tales in literature, but the ideas for these came from the lives of the artists present at the Villa Diodati 200 years ago. Before Netflix, we used to get together and talk.

Susan Derry was the epitome of perfection AGAIN in this role. She simply BECAME Mary Shelley.
She is always considered our MUSE, even though she has moved north.  We miss her dearly with every project we continue without her.


As we work through the "Summer of Darkness", we learn that Mary Shelley has been writing the forward of her revised version of Frankenstein after all of them are dead. In the Epilogue, we learn that even after death, her MONSTER keeps moving forward through time, and her monster still harbors all of the pain and anger that she always carried. Her monster is still alive to this day.

We are more than grateful to Mary Shelley's creation, and celebrate her in our work, Monsters of the Villa Diodati.

Conner & Smith Travel North for On Air Listening Party at KDKA, Pittsburgh!

Through a fantastic partnership with La Ti Do's Don Mike Medoza, we were able to put together a CD Release and Listening Party for our brand new "On Air" album at KDKA Radio Studios in Pittsburgh, PA last month! We packed the pugs in the car and headed north on October 29th and arrived in the afternoon with plenty of time for a pit stop in Wilkinsburg to see the spot where Frank and Flora Conrad lived one hundred years ago...

Now a Wendy's, this is the spot where their house and garage once stood. It felt sort of unceremonious to find a fast-food chain standing where the radio pioneer once broadcasted music on air, but that's what 100 years can do.

About a block up you will find the historical marker that marks (not quite) the spot.  I still felt pride and excitement staring at this historical marker. Proof that someone still might glance up and see his name, and learn what he did one hundred years ago.

We then drove to KDKA Studios with pugs in tow.  They stole the hearts of EVERYONE that they met, needless to say. A DJ even mentioned them on the radio as we were leaving the station. But let's go back to the actual party...

We were joined on the trip by cast member and Radio Personality, Robert Aubrey Davis, who partook in the post-party discussion. The audience was warm and receptive and dedicated to bringing On Air to Pittsburgh in 2020 as part of the KDKA 100th Anniversary Celebration.

We were so happy to have Robert with us, as his knowledge of radio history is unparalleled, and he has also been a dear friend and champion of our work for years and years.

As you can see, the pugs were sleeping soundly on our laps and very well behaved through the event. Of that, I was amazed.

Many special thanks to Don Mike Mendoza, KDKA Radio, Robert Aubrey Davis, and everyone who joined us at the studio.  We hopped back in our car the next morning and were off to Virginia again to get ready for the Creative Cauldron On Air CD Release Party on Halloween! Goodbye for now, Pittsburgh! We will be back soon!