Audiences will be transported to the days of yesteryear at 7 p.m. Saturday, as the Act 2! community theater group brings the radio play "Frankenstein" to the stage of the Ritz Theater.
The radio play is by Philip Grecian and is based on his Grecian's own stage play and on the novel by Mary Wollstencraft Shelley. The show is presented as a fundraiser for The Arts Council of Mississippi County, and tickets are $5.
"Frankenstein" is being directed by Ken Jackson, president of Act 2!, and will be aired Blytheville's own radio station, KLCN AM 910 Talk Radio.
The cast for "Frankenstein" includes George Klee as Capt. Robert Walton, JD Harris as Victor Frankenstein, Greg Groves as Henry Clerval, David Lyttle as Professor Waldman, Candie Groves as Catherine Frankenstein, Lora Anderson as Baroness Frankenstein, Jennifer Follmer as Justin Moritz, Tonya Harris as Elizabeth Frankenstein, Robert Phelps as The Creature and Angie Hatch and Ken Jackson as the voices of the announcer. Some of the cast will be providing multiple voices for other characters in the play.
Radio plays cannot be done just by the voice actors alone. People providing sound effects to help the audience along the way are known as "foley" artists. A foley artist is a sound specialist who uses various objects to simulate sounds and synchronize them with corresponding actions in a play or movie. Foley artists for "Frankenstein" are Rigel and Eddie Keffer, Julia and John Huffman and Chase Taylor. Charles Moody will be operating the sound board that connects the actors to the audience in the theater and at home on the radio.
According to Jackson, he has more help in the form of a stage manager, his wife, Sarah Jackson, who will also be making the visual aspect of the play delightful with costume designs of the past as interpreted by the cast.
Jackson said he looks forward to hearing the music that Dennis Hay has selected this year. Last year, the music Hay provided for "Dracula," added to the effect.
Jackson said the production of "Frankenstein" is the culmination of a long effort. Jackson said once the Act 2! board OK'd the show, he had to get permission from the Dramatic Publishing Company of Woodstock, Ill.
"The general public is unaware that you can't just buy or download a script off of the Internet and put it on," he said. "There is a process you have to follow so that the proper royalties are paid and recognized to the company or person who owns the script and/or music needed for the production. Once all that is done, then you get to start looking for actors and a crew to put on the production. I 'put out the call' and many answered."
For more information, call 762-1744.