On December 7, 2015, we put on our first radio play,
Butterbird Christmas. This inaugural performance was given at the Marshall
J. Gardner Center for the Arts to a standing room only crowd. (Click here to view the performance on our YouTube channel.)
With scripts in hand, the players read their
parts aloud into wireless mics, accompanied by the Calumet Jazz Duo and our
foley artists. The gallery was decorated
with 1950’s newspaper advertisements and photographs of mid-century scenes from
Northwest Indiana, in particular, the Grandfield family (the inspiration of Butterbird Christmas).
The Family Folklore Players took a cue from the
Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Senior Players and set up their stage to mirror the
radio plays that these pros perform regularly at the Chicago Cultural Center. Additionally,
Koni Shaughnessy (of 90.9 FM), took us under her wing and explained the whys
and hows of creating sound effects, she read our play and made recommendations
for sound effects.
Members of Family Folklore Foundation Inc. and the
Marshall J. Gardner Center for the Arts worked together on this mutual labor of
love. The sound system was fine tuned, decorations
for Christmas and Hanukah decked the hall, Addycake’s baker, Mallory Keller,
brought designer cupcakes in the seasonal colors represented in our inter-faith
tale, the band set the mood, and the foley artists lined up their sound gear.
The play began on time at 4 o’clock and the whole
cast and crew did a wonderful job! The
audience was friendly and seemed to enjoy the humor and mini tragedies featured
in the story. Sue Ross of the Post Tribune reported and photographed the playand the article appeared December 19th. A great time was had by all and the event was
a success. We were able to raise funds to support other arts endeavors for our
community and very humbled by the out-pouring of support we received in the
planning/ execution of this program. Now, we’re focusing on finishing the
post-production on our documentary of the making of this project.
If you would like to listen to our fully mastered radio play mix click here.
