About Prospect Theater Project’s Radio Cavalcade
Prospect Theater Project’s Radio Cavalcade invites you to tune in to days gone by as we present live re-creations of classic radio programming from the 30s, 40s, and 50s.
From comedies to dramas, noir to romance, and tales of the mysterious to the supernatural, PTPRC brings to life the medium that took America by storm and informed, entertained, and shaped the opinions of three generations.
PTPRC is presented in the style and format of the original radio productions, including commercials, music, and live sound effects! Our Radio Cavalcade Players are excited to present fun-filled, vintage programming that keeps these time-honored traditions alive.
The War of the Worlds
By Orson Welles
October 28, 2023 | 7:30 p.m.
“The War of the Worlds” is the fabled Halloween episode of the radio series The Mercury Theatre on the Air directed and narrated by Orson Welles as an adaptation of H. G. Wells’s novel The War of the Worlds. It was performed and broadcast live on October 30, 1938 over the CBS Radio Network. The episode is famous for reputedly inciting a panic through it’s “breaking news” style and limited commercial interruptions which convinced some members of the listening audience who had tuned in late that a Martian invasion was taking place.
A Child’s Christmas in Wales
By Dylan Thomas
“A Child’s Christmas in Wales” by the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas is an anecdotal reminiscence of a Christmas from the viewpoint of a young boy, portraying a nostalgic and simpler time. It is one of Thomas’s most popular works.
The Gift of the Magi
By O. Henry
December 16, 2023 | 7:30 p.m.
“The Gift of the Magi” is O. Henry’s classic short story of a young husband and wife and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little money. It’s a sentimental story with a moral lesson about gift-giving,
It Happened One Night
February 17, 2024 | 7:30 p.m.
“It Happened One Night” is Lux Radio Theater’s adaptation of the Columbia Pictures/ Frank Capra film hit that was the first film to win five Academy Awards. Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert reprised their roles as a pampered socialite (Colbert) who tries to get out from under her father’s thumb and falls in love with a roguish reporter (Gable). As they go through several adventures, Colbert’s character loses her initial disdain for Gable’s and they begin to fall in love.
The Big Sleep
By Raymond Chandler
April 6, 2024 | 7:30 p.m.
Raymond Chandler’s fast-talking, trouble-seeking private eye Philip Marlowe is a different kind of detective: a moral man in an amoral world. “The Big Sleep” finds the world-weary, wisecracking investigator consulted by a wealthy family man with two big problems: his children. Carmen has got herself mixed up with a blackmailer, while Vivian has managed to mislay her husband, ex-bootlegger Rusty Regan. Old, ailing General Sternwood hires Marlowe to take care of things—but it’s not too long before the bodies start piling up, and Marlowe finds himself knee-deep in trouble.
The Moon’s Our Home
June 8, 2024 | 7:30 p.m.
“The Moon’s Our Home,” adapted for radio by Lux Radio Theater from the 1936 film, is a rapid-paced romantic comedy. It is the story of the romance of Cherry Chester, a movie star, and Anthony Amberton, a travel writer. Ms. Chester, traveling under her birth name, Sarah Brown, can’t stand the writings of Anthony Amberton. Amberton, using pseudonym John Smith, detests “marshmallow-faced” movie stars, most of all Cherry Chester. For better or for worse, however, Cherry and Anthony don’t know the real names when they meet, and subsequently are able to fall in love.
Prospect Theater Project established its PTP Radio Cavalcade programming in 2017, and our upcoming season will be our fourth full year of a four-show radio play season. The 2019-2020 season may have been interrupted, but our Radio Cavalcade Players have been hard at work, recording a gorgeous four-part video series of Raymond Chandler’s beloved THE BIG SLEEP.
THE BIG SLEEP was the first appearance of the unforgettable Phillip Marlowe, the hard-boiled detective who would become a staple of Chandler’s detective stories. Marlowe was iconically portrayed on the silver screen by the laconic Humphrey Bogart.
Just like a live Radio Cavalcade show, our at-home video version makes YOU the studio audience of our radio station at the height of radio’s Golden Age. Sit back and get lost in Raymond Chandler’s THE BIG SLEEP — just click on ACT ONE below to start watching!
We are offering this first virtual installment of our Radio Cavalcade for free, out of gratitude for the immense support of our patrons and for the inspiring creativity and resilience of our artists. However, if you would like to donate, you are always welcome to do so. Our current donation campaign can be found by clicking the link below.