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Release
UAlbany Student Actors Recreate
Radio Drama of the 1940s
Contact: Karl Luntta (518) 437-4980
ALBANY, N.Y. (November 15, 2004) -- University
at Albany students and faculty and two local
sound effects producers have recreated an icon
of the glory days of radio programs. "The
FBI in Action: Recreating an Original 1940s
Radio Drama" will be staged Nov. 18 at
7 p.m. in the Recital Hall of the Performing
Arts Center, uptown campus. The performance
is part of a two-day conference, "Researching
New York 2004: Perspectives on Empire State
History," to be held at UAlbany Nov.
18-19.
The idea for the radio drama came to self-described
�radio buff� and history professor Ivan Steen
after he interviewed the two local women, Dorothy
Sweeney and Margaret �Peg� Miller, about their
work as sound effects producers for radio in
the 1940s.
For casting and directing the radio drama,
Steen turned to Kristina Bendikas, a voiceover
artist who teaches voice in UAlbany�s
department of theatre. She cast seven student
actors who presented a variety of vocal types,
as well as those who had good �cold reading�
skills. �This is a wonderful project for many
reasons,� said Bendikas. �Radio drama, like
voiceovers, requires actors who can just jump
right into a character without the benefit of
physical movement and interaction. Since the
actors don't memorize their lines, their eyes
are on the script, rather than on the other
actors. Each actor remains self-contained physically,
but must find a way to connect. I think that's
where good listening skills and a vivid imagination
help.�
The radio drama will be as authentic as possible
- Sweeney and Miller will produce sound effects,
and organist Ned Spain will provide musical
bridges between scenes. According to Steen,
there will be a few differences between the
1943 version and today�s. Modern microphones
will be used since vintage studio equipment
couldn�t be located. The cast will wear business
attire for the performance, as the men and women
in the original production would have. There
will be no soundproof studio booth, but the
show will play before a live audience. Some
photos of the original "FBI in Action"
actors may be on display.
The Researching New York program, supported
by the UAlbany department of history, the New
York State Archives Partnership Trust, and the
History Students Graduate Organization, was
inaugurated in 1999 to bring together local
and national historians and others interested
in the state's history. In addition to the FBI
radio recreation, which has added support from
the New
York State Writers Institute and the UAlbany
theatre department, the 2004 program will include
a musical presentation Friday, Nov. 19 at 10:45
a.m. in the Standish Room of the New Library.
Musician and history graduate student Ann-Marie
Barker Schwartz will discuss her research on
the social history of Albany�s Euterpian Club,
a 19th century men�s musical club of Albany�s
leading citizens, including Stephen Van Rensselaer.
Following her talk and comments by Van Rensselaer
scholar Carl Westerdahl, The Musicians of Ma�alwyck,
with soprano Gene Marie Callahan Kern of the
Chicago Lyric Opera, will perform selections
from the Club�s 1823-1827 repertoire.
Also part of the Researching New York program
is a keynote address by University alumnus and
Albany Times Union reporter Paul Grondahl, M.A.
�84, author of the acclaimed biographies I Rose
Like a Rocket: The Political Education of Theodore
Roosevelt and Mayor Erastus Corning: Albany
Icon, Albany Enigma. Other events include the
panel discussions Grassroots Albany, Upstate
Immigrant Experiences, Colonial New York, and
Conspiracies - Real and Imagined. Sessions within
these concurrent panels include �Tracing New
York State History Through Wine and Grapes,�
�The Kinderhook Connection of the Burr/Hamilton
Duel,� and �The Parking Lots of Main Street,
Catskill, New York.�
"The FBI in Action" and the Albany
Euterpian Club presentation are free and open
to the public. There is a $30 registration fee
for other conference events. For more information,
visit https://www.albany.edu/writers.inst/fbi-in-action_radio_play.html
or http://nystatehistory.org/researchny.
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