With these words, President Paul Secord welcomed everyone to the 2008 REPS Convention. We opened up the weekend festivities with a recreation at 79 Wistful Vista at the home of Fibber McGee and Molly. What better way to start the morning off than with laughs and merriment. Stuffy Singer and Gloria McMillan charmed us all as Fibber McGee and Molly. Ron Cocking ,who also directed, played Doc Gamble. Wallace Wimple and the Old Timer were played by the talented and versatile Frank Buxton with sound effects by Penny Swanberg. In this program, Fibber sets out to prove that he has just seen a passenger pigeon ( a bird deemed extinct ). The ensuing events were great fun for the audience and the cast alike. “It’s fun to perform in front of a live audience again. Thank you!” said Gloria McMillan at the conclusion of the sketch.
Frank Buxton
Dave Parker Presents!
Dave Parker - was a member of the "Lone Ranger" cast from 1948 to 1951. "I always played young good guys, ranchers, deputy sheriffs, stagecoach drivers," he said. "I'm 84 year years old," he said, "but listen to this." Suddenly, he was a rancher named Dan, who had been helped by the Ranger. "I still sound young and good, don't I?" Parker said. In those thrilling days of yesteryear, Parker was a radio actor working at WXYZ in Detroit, doing live broadcasts of "The Lone Ranger" on what they used to call a "coast-to-coast hookup." The shows on WXYZ ("We called it Wixie," Parker said) were all live, and a mistake, a missed cue, was fatal.
At the REPS convention, Dave Parker presented for the enjoyment of the audience, a special video presentation featuring a look back at the Golden Days of Radio. The video contained interviews with the actors, sound effects artists and writers who worked on many of the famous radio shows. Dave hopes to have this video documentary, tentatively titled “Remembering Radio”, available in the near future. “ I’ll be looking for it” exclaimed one attendee “It’s fantastic!.”
Gregg Oppenheimer remembers Lucille Ball
Gregg Oppenheimer is the producer of the very high quality I Love Lucy DVD sets and finished the book Laughs, Luck…and Lucy: How I Came to Create the Most Popular Sitcom of All Time for his dad. Gregg’s father is the late Jess Oppenheimer, head writer and producer of I Love Lucy. With video and stories, Gregg took us behind the scenes of I Love Lucy and the show’s star Lucille Ball.
Jan Merlin brought us a new adventure of Tom Corbett Space Cadet! An original script written by Jan Merlin who appeared in the story as Roger Manning, the role he played in the original series. Bob Hastings, Stuffy Singer and Esther Geddes McVey also appeared. With Barbara Watkins, Bobb Lynes and Stuart Lubin. Dave Selvig directed.
Lights Out “ The Chicken Heart”
“These Lights Out stories are definitely not for the timid soul. So we tell you calmly and very sincerely, if you frighten easily, turn off your radio now”. In early stand up comedy routines Bill Cosby told the story of being a child and staying up late to listen to the radio against his parent’s instructions. Cosby tells of turning the dial and finding the horrific tale of a chicken heart beating louder and louder as it grew to enormous size eventually engulfing all of New York City. While Cosby’s story was told in great comedic style, we were pleased to receive a copy of the original Lights Out script, from the NBC archives. A real thriller! With script in hand we presented the original chilling Arch Oboler play “Chicken Heart.” Jan Merlin was excellent as Doctor Alberts the lead scientist and protagonist in the story and Bobb Lynes played newspaperman Lewis. We all know the story and how it ends but somehow we still managed to find ourselves captivated and on the verge of terror. Drawn to the edge of our seats and thrust into the action , which culminated in the destruction of the earth. The success of this end of the world radio play was due to the fine performances of the actors. Not only the actors playing the lead characters, mentioned above but also the actors playing the supporting characters- Barbara Watkins, Stuart Lubin, Dave Selvig , Joan Parker and Esther Geddes McVey.
Jerry Williams lead the live sound effects team. Assisted by Penny Swanberg, Jerry was tasked with coming up with the live sound effects. Bob Cardenas provided the recorded sound effects. Together they would create the sound effects required and what a chore this was! For the audience, they would create the sound of a beating chicken heart (growing and growing) a giant fleshy blob which eventually engulfed the entire world. Not to mention the defeat of the US Military ( the only force standing in its way ).
Bob Cardenas – Recorded effects
Bob Cardenas had the job of gathering and editing all of the musical bridges and recorded effects for all of the shows presented for the weekend. For some productions we are lucky to have a musician provide live music for the show. In those shows where we do not have a live musician, Bob painstakingly puts together the musical cues and bridges for each recreation. When a sound effect is too challenging, to be performed live, Bob develops a recorded sound effect for the show. The recorded music and sound effects enhance the enjoyment for the audience and without them we would have an inferior production. Thank you for all your hard work Bob!
Sitting around and visiting
It’s always fun to have a moment to sit back, relax and listen to the guests tell their stories. During this years “sitting around and visiting” we got the chance to get up close and personal with Jan Merlin, Dave Parker and Stuffy Singer. These informal sessions are very popular and always fun. This year’s sitting around and visiting was hosted by Larry Albert.
Phil Harris appeared courtesy of Chuck McCann
The Phil Harris and Alice Faye show with it’s snappy writing and quick wit is a favorite today of many old time radio fans. We’ve all wanted to see this program at a convention for a long time and thanks to the talents of Chuck McCann it was made possible. From the moment we heard that Chuck was going to be playing Phil Harris, we knew that this would be a show not too miss. Not only did Chuck do a fine impersonation of the curly headed bandleader but more importantly he also had the comedic timing and wit that made this show a success. When the music started playing and Chuck sang the musical number ( accompanied by Chris McMillan ) we knew this was the icing on the cake. This was a recreation of a memorable 1949 episode where Harris and Remley accidentally drive Mr. Scott’s automobile into the back yard swimming pool. Well actually, Mr. Scott had two cars and they drove both of them in. And when Julius showed up on cue ( played by Dick Beals ) they threw him into the pool too. Paul Herlinger turned in a fine performance as the long suffering Mr. Scott (of the Rexall drug company) and Bryan Hendrickson was on par as Cousin Willy.
Sam Spade directed by Dick Beals
Bob Hastings in the lead role as detective Spade with Rosemary Rice as his secretary Effie. Supported by Paul and Ilona Herlinger with Dave Selvig, Stuart Lubin, Bobb Lynes and Barbara Watkins. Live Music by Randy and Chris McMillan. Norwegian accents abound in this production of an uncirculated Sam Spade. The drama itself was a little confusing and somewhat hard to follow. Something to do with finding a body in a Murphy bed ( we still haven’t quite figured it out yet ). However, Bob Hastings rescued the show with his sarcastic and amusing portrayal of Sam Spade. And having Dave and Stuart wrap it up as the wildroot crème oil commercial singers was a nice added touch.
My Friend Irma - brought to you by Ennds
It was Friday evening and we were treated to another well crafted Gregg Openheimer production. With Janet Waldo (still sounding as she did 40 years ago as the voice of Judy Jetson) playing to perfection the scatterbrained Irma Peterson and Shirley Mitchell as Jane, how could we go wrong. Chuck McCann was Irma’s boyfriend Al and Frank Buxton was professor Kropotkin and featuring Gloria McMillan. With this team of performers and original scripts, we fail to see why someone hasn’t revived this program as a new series today. Yes, we enjoyed it that much. The comedy centered around the break-up of Irma and Al as they had found new “pen-pal” relationships who in the end tuned out to be ( yes you guessed it ) none other than each other! Director Gregg Oppenheimer included spoof advertisements for a product known as Ennds which was good for fighting Triple O. Gil Stratton was hilarious in one of the spots playing a man suffering from Triple O. Satire at it’s finest which had the audience in stitches.
An excellent production.
Shirley Mitchell as Leila in the Great Gildersleeve -
Shirley Mitchell loves the character of Leila ( the role she originally played on the series ) and she has a great time playing the character in recreations today. In the recreation ,chosen to close the event , on Friday evening, Shirley is teamed with Jim French as Gildersleeve. Jim does a dead on performance as Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve. The story concludes the dilemma wherein Gildersleeve finds himself engaged to two southern belles ( Leila and Adeline). Also in the cast were Dick Beals, Gil Stratton, Gloria McMillan, Stuffy Singer, Anna Denton , Jan Merlin and Kate McKnight. Live music by Jim Jansen with sound effects by Frank Rosin and Curtis Takahashi. Directed by Larry Albert.
Sound Effects
Frank Rosin and Jerry Williams were in charge of creating the live sound effects for the 2008 Showcase with major support from Penny Swanberg and Curtis Takahashi. Using vintage sound effects donated by the late Ray Erlenborn and Stewart Conway and also using newly built devices, Frank and Jerry carefully read through each script taking note of the sound effects required. At show time it’s a treat to watch the skilled sound effects artists at work and the various contraptions used to make the effect.
