Somerville, MA (http://www.bb1938.com) – The Post-Meridian Radio
Players (PMRP) are pleased to announce the launch of the Web site and
ticket sales for “The Big Broadcast of October 30th, 1938″ – the
latest iteration of their annual Halloween tribute to the Golden Age
of Radio. This year they present two plays – “The Frank Cyrano Byfar
Hour” and a special production of Orson Welles’ infamous “War of the
Worlds” radio play, adapted to follow events in Boston during the
”Martian invasion”.

“It’s been a lot of fun to watch the Post Meridian Radio Players build
a following here in Somerville and beyond,” said Somerville Mayor
Joseph A. Curtatone. “Their popular Halloween shows, their success at
last year’s First Night celebration in Boston and their move to the
main stage of the Somerville Theatre are all reminders that Somerville
is home to a vibrant and growing arts scene. ‘The War of the Worlds’
will be their most ambitious and exciting effort so far – and Davis
Square will be the place to be for a memorable Halloween weekend.”

Mayor Curatone has promised to make a special cameo appearance in at
least one of the performances.

PMRP (once called “that outstanding theater of old-time radio thrills”
by The Boston Phoenix) invites audiences of all ages to the Somerville
Theatre for an old-time radio-style performance of an episode of “The
Frank Cyrano Byfar Hour”, a Boston-based comedy/variety series from
1938. Billed as a “rediscovered Boston radio classic”, the program
features a colorful cast of local characters including a Harvard man
who forbids Yale locks in his home and a Beacon Hill socialite who
prefers chowder over champagne. The program is performed in the style
of radio comedians Jack Benny and Fred Allen, and sets the time and
place for the evening’s showpiece: the PMRP’s science-fiction thriller
“The War of the Worlds: The Fall of Boston”.

An adaptation of Howard Koch’s 1938 “War of the Worlds” radio script,
“The Fall of Boston” takes audiences from Grover’s Mill, New Jersey to
Boston to witness the Martian conquest from a New England perspective.
As in Orson Welles’ original show, the invasion is presented as a
series of radio news flashes and field reports, which convey the
mounting fear and chaos as the Martians advance. The show culminates
in a battle to reclaim Boston, led by remnants of the Massachusetts
National Guard, an MIT scientist and the mobsters who know the city
best.

The live show will feature local actors performing as if in a
broadcast studio from the era, along with a team of artists making
sound effects with everyday (and not-so-everyday) objects, as well as
atmospheric digital audio effects and synthesized alien sounds.
Somerville’s own Tom Champion joins the cast again, and live musical
accompaniment will be provided by the well-known Somerville troupe,
“Emperor Norton’s Stationary Marching Band”.

“We’re thrilled to have gotten permission from the estate of Howard
Koch to adapt his original script written for Orson Wells.” said Neil
Marsh, Founder and Artistic Director of PMRP. “I’m confident the team
of writers, cast and crew we’ve assembled will make this one of the
most entertaining shows in Boston this Fall.”

“The Big Broadcast of October 30th, 1938″ will run Thursday, October
29th through Saturday, October 31st, at 8:00 PM, with a matinee at
2:00pm Halloween day at the Somerville Theatre
(http://www.somervilletheatreonline.com) next to the Davis Square T
Station.

Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door.

Further information about the show, ticket reservations, and PMRP in
general may be found on their website at http://www.pmrp.org or via
email at info@pmrp.org.

ABOUT THE POST-MERIDIAN RADIO PLAYERS

Since 2005, the Somerville-based Post-Meridian Radio Players have been
performing live radio plays the way it was done back in the 1930′s and
40′s. Their re-creation of Arch Oboler’s “Chicken Heart”, the infamous
lost episode of the seminal horror series “Lights Out!”, reignited
local interest in the art and history of radio drama. Capitalizing on
that successful performance, the PMRP produced its first full evening
of staged radio plays for Halloween in 2006 and have presented a live
Halloween show every year since. The group has also appeared regularly
at the popular Arisia science-fiction convention in Cambridge,
produced original audio dramas for Internet distribution and performed
in Boston’s Orpheum Theatre as part of First Night 2009. Their website
is at http://www.pmrp.org.