#131 Die Snow White! Die Damn You! (Yuri Rasovsky)

Famed audio dramatist Yuri Rasovsky's last production "Die Snow White! Die Damn You!" is pure genius. Rasovsky masterfully merges elements from more than one Brothers Grimm fairy tale with the original Snow White story forming an all new twisted yet funny, witty and highly entertaining fable. Listeners should be warned this tale certainly contains a more adult telling of the Snow White account. This retelling may have the Grimm brothers rolling over in their grave but "Die Snow White! Die Damn You!" will leave you rolling on the floor laughing and wishing there were more. Sadly this is the last masterpiece from perhaps the greatest audio dramatist of the modern era. Its distinguished cast features the talents of Sandra Oh (Grey's Anatomy), Kate Burton (Grey's Anatomy), Simon Helberg (The Big Bang Theory), Armin Shimerman (Star Trek: Deep Space 9), Robin Sachs (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Babylon 5), Melinda Peterson, Ned Schmidtke, and Barry Creyton.

From Blackstone Audio:
With the premiere of two new film versions of the Snow White tale, Blackstone enters the fray with its own adult, edgy, and not altogether serious full-cast exposé of fairy-taledom. At last it can be told! Was Snow White really as pure as the driven snow? Did her allegedly wicked stepmother get a bum rap from the Grimm brothers? What went on behind the closed Dutch doors of the dwarves’ cottage? How many handsome princes does it take to screw in a light bulb? These and other burning questions may or may not be answered in this new pseudogothic audio play that Blackstone commissioned from award-winning author and audio dramatist Yuri Rasovsky. 

YURI RASOVSKY won wide critical acclaim during his forty-year career as an audio dramatist, writer, producer, and director. His numerous honors include two Peabody Awards, nine Audie® Awards, and a Grammy®. His last two productions for Blackstone, The Maltese Falcon and The Mark of Zorro, were both nominated for a Grammy. 

http://www.amazon.com/Snow-White-Grimm-Audio-Theater/dp/1455127280

Audio clip of Die Snow White! Die Damn You courtesy of AudioFarm and Blackstone Audio.

#113 Sweeney Todd and the String of Pearls

Hollywood Theater of the Ear's Sweeney Todd and the String of Pearls converges somewhere between horror and comedy. Extremely well written (but what else would you expect from Yuri Rasovsky) and well acted. Based on the original "penny dreadful" this production tells the tale of Sweeney Todd (sometimes called the demon barber) who robs and kills his customers in his barber shop. He then carries them  into an underground tunnel that connects to Mrs. Lovett's bakery which is just a few blocks away. Mrs. Lovett is of course his accomplice, helping him dispose of the bodies. You see she makes the best meat pies in the entire city. Customers, having no idea that the secret ingredient she uses for the stuffing in her pies is supplied by Sweeney Todd, are always raving about the flavor and coming back for more. If you have a flare for the horror type genre then you won't find this "audio melodrama in three despicable acts" hard to swallow.

Sweeney Todd and the String of Pearls is nothing less than an exceptional production!

From HTE:

According to legend, Sweeney Todd had his barber shop at number 186 Fleet Street, London, next door to St Dunstan's Church, just a few blocks from the Royal Courts of Justice. On this site, they say, he robbed and murdered more than 150 customers. To dispose of their remains, he carried them through underground tunnels to the bakery of one Mrs. Lovett a few blocks away, where they supplied the stuffing for her meat pies, the favorite mid-day repast of the lawyers who worked nearby and who got their shaves from Sweeney Todd. The man you lunched with yesterday could be your lunch today!

The story first appeared in 1846 as A String of Pearls: A Romance, a best-selling "penny dreadful," or sensational thriller published in weekly installments. Before the final chapters even had a chance to hit the stands, the first stage version was packing them in at a London playhouse. Since then there have been numerous stage and literary versions of the story, most notably, of course, Stephen Sondheim's now classic musical.

http://www.irasov.com/Sweeney%20Todd.htm

Fred Greenhalgh recently featured a segment of Sweeney Todd and the String of Pearls on his Radio Drama Revival program. Follow the link to the Radio Drama Revival website ot hear a preview of this production.

http://www.radiodramarevival.com/episode-252-sweeney-todd-the-demon-barber-strikes/

http://www.radiodramarevival.com/episode-253-a-bit-more-polishing-off-from-olde-sweeney-todd/

http://www.radiodramarevival.com/episode-254-a-barbarous-black-friday-with-sweeney-todd/

#94 Craven Street (HTE)

You've likely heard the story of the experiment Ben Franklin conducted in June of 1752 in which he flew a kite with a key tied to it in an lightning storm to find out if the electricity would pass through metal. You may also know that Ben Franklin was an inventor. Among his many inventions are bi-focals, the odometer, the flexible urinary catheter, an iron furnace stove, the lightning rod, and paper money. You may know that as a 16 year old boy he wrote letters to The New-England Courant posing as a middle-aged widow named Silence Dogood. You may even know that Ben Franklin stopped The Stamp Act, that he wrote a newspaper called The Pennsylvania Gazette (later renamed The Saturday Evening Post), and that he helped write the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. But before the Revolutionary War took place you may not have known that Franklin lived in London working as a diplomat mediating unrest between Britain and the American colonies. Yuri Rasovsky masterfully takes you back to that historic period in this wonderfully crafted full-cast audio drama. Craven Street is an intriguing and informative tale based on obscure but factually accurate historical documents, many of which were letters from Franklin to his wife. The cast features an outstanding group of actors including Elizabeth Montgomery (Bewitched), Martin Sheen (The West Wing, he's also the father of actors Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen), Efram Zimbalist Jr (77 Sunset Strip, The FBI, New World Zorro), George Gizzard, Sir Nigel Hawthorne, David Warner, Charles Shaughnessy, and extensive supporting cast.

http://www.irasov.com/craven.htm

#79 The Outcasts of Poker Flat - HTE

California (1850). Poker Flat is a rough and tumble town out of control and the citizens want it cleaned up. In doing so John Oakhurst (a professional gambler) is run out of town along with "The Duchess" (a saloon girl), "Mother Shipton" (a brothel owner), and Uncle Billy, (the town drunkard and suspected robber). Half  way to their destination the party meets up with pair of young lover's (Piney Woods, a fifteen year old girl and Tom Simson, a young man) who have run away to get married. What happens from there is a tragic tale of western proportions. Poker Flat is very different from a Louis L'Amour western as it leaves out the western romanticism and retains the gritty, realistic feel of the old west. Forest Tucker (F-Troop, Chisum) stars in this full-cast western. Produced and directed by Yuri Rasovsky.

From HTE:
Although both Harte's popularity and critical admiration for his work have declined since his death, "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" (1869) remains an important piece of American literature and one of the best tales of the rough-and-tumble days of the California Gold Rush In his use of the Western setting and local color, Harte proved to be a model for other authors, including Mark Twain, whose career he helped launch. Indeed, the familiarity of many of Harte's characterizations — the quick-witted gambler or the prostitute with a heart of gold — attest to the durability of his impact on popular culture.

http://www.irasov.com/outcasts.htm

#54 Frankenstein

 

Here is the classic novel of supreme horror that has held readers spellbound since its publication in 1816. This vintage stereo dramatization brings life to the themes, characters, atmosphere and language of the original as only audio theater can. Dramatized for audio by multi-award winning dramatist Yuri Rasovsky. The classic tale is now available for the first time since 1982, and comes exclusively via download from Telltale Weekly.

http://www.irasov.com/Frankenstein.htm

#38 Black Mask Audio Magazine (HTE)

Like tough as nails gumshoes? Want a punch 'em in the mouth, take no lip (except from the ladies) wise crackling PI? Black Mask Audio Magazine what you're looking for then. The greatest radio drama producer in the modern era provides a great lineup of hard-boiled detectives in this full-cast audio drama presentation. Great authors, great stories, great PI's, great actors, great fun. If you loved The Maltese Falcon then this one's for you.

From HTE:

In the1930s and '40s, Black Mask was the single most important magazine for the modern mystery field. In its pages writers such as Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Erle Stanley Gardner reshaped the established view of mystery fiction by creating the "hard-boiled" private eye. Now comes this series in which the toughest of tough detectives are vivified from its pages in atmospheric dramatizations for the listener. 

featuring RICHARD ALLEN • RICHARD FERRONE • GROVER GARDNER • GEORGE GUIDALL • ANTHONY HEALD • MALCOLM HILLGARTNER • KAITLIN HOPKINS • WILLIAM HUGHES • LORNA RAVER • BURT ROSS • ROCHELLE SAVITT • CHRISTINE WILLIAMS • TOM WEINER • JEFF WOODMAN

http://www.irasov.com/Mask.htm

#30 Sweeney Todd and the String of Pearls (HTE)

Sweeney Todd and the String of Pearls dramatized for audio by Yuri Rasovsky. Turn down the lights and get ready to jump out of your seat when whoosh the demon barber lops off his next victims head.

From HTE:

According to legend, Sweeney Todd had his barber shop at number 186 Fleet Street, London, next door to St Dunstan's Church, just a few blocks from the Royal Courts of Justice. On this site, they say, he robbed and murdered more than 150 customers. To dispose of their remains, he carried them through underground tunnels to the bakery of one Mrs. Lovett a few blocks away, where they supplied the stuffing for her meat pies, the favorite mid-day repast of the lawyers who worked nearby and who got their shaves from Sweeney Todd. The man you lunched with yesterday could be your lunch today!

http://www.irasov.com/Sweeney%20Todd.htm

#13 St. Joan

Yuri Rasovsky reaches back in time masterfully adapting Bernard Shaw's masterpiece Saint Joan into a vivid radio drama depicting the life of Joan of Arc. Starring Amy Irving in the role of Joan of Arc. St. Joan is a tale for the ages.

From HTE:
"Joan of Arc, a village girl from the Vosges, was born about 1412 — burnt for heresy, witchcraft, and sorcery in 1431 — rehabilitated after a fashion in 1456 — designated Venerable in 1904 — declared Blessed in 1908 — and finally canonized in 1920. She is the most notable Warrior-Saint in the Christian calendar, and the queerest fish among the eccentric worthies of the Middle Ages." — Bernard Shaw

http://www.irasov.com/Joan.html

#10 Sherlock Holmes Theatre

This full-cast radio drama production is a flawless work of art by the master of radio drama greatness Yuri Rasovsky. In this feature he expertly taps the genius of Conan Doyle to recreate the world of the immortal detective Sherlock Holmes. Martin Jarvis' performance as Holmes would surely have brought a smile from Basil Rathbone himself. Kristoffer Tabori is the perfect Watson. The Sherlock Holmes Theatre once again displays the genius that is Rasovsky. A must have for any mystery lover.

From HTE:
The first audio recordings ever of the only two Holmes plays written by his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in new, specially commissioned productions of The Hollywood Thater of the Ear starring Audio Award Winners Martin Jarvis as Holmes and Kristoffer Tabori as Watson. 

http://www.irasov.com/Holmes.htm

#8 The Maltese Falcon - Sam Spade Detective Mystey

Dashiell Hammitt's masterpiece of hard boiled detective fiction The Maltese Falcon.  Transformed into a full-cast radio drama by the most decorated audio dramatist in U.S. history Yuri Rasovsky. This Grammy nominated production features the voice talents of Michael Madsen, Sandra Oh, Edward Herrmann, Armin Shimerman, Michael Saad as well as other great actors. The Maltese Falcon is an outstanding work of art that any radio drama aficionado is sure to love.

From HTE:

The Maltese Falcon set the standard by which all subsequent American detective fiction would be judged. Hammett's clean prose and sharp ear for dialogue produced an exceedingly readable novel with enough twists to keep the reader turning the pages in search of clues. Hammett's third novel, it was first serialized in Black Mask magazine starting with the September 1929 issue, and published as a hardbound a year later. In addition to John Huston's celebrated film adaptation, Falcon has enjoyed several audio incarnations, starting with a 1941 half-hour version with Bogart on Academy Award Theater in 1941― all based on the Huston film. This 2008 production, part of Blackstone Audio's Black Mask Audio Magazine series, is the first full audio dramatization of the original novel.

http://www.irasov.com/Falcon.html