New Musical Score Composed for Unique Radio Theater Performance on Whidbey Island
World Music Band, Hejira, writes unique score for the original radio play "Alice in Wonderland"
Co-founder of Penn Cove Productions, Elizabeth Herbert, and radio theater troupe, The Penn Cove Players, are pulling out all the stops for this months radio variety show in front of a live audience. Featuring a cast of 15 Whidbey Island performers ranging in age from 9 to 80-something (who are island residents all the way from Oak Harbor to Clinton), this month's edition will feature the old time radio play of “Alice in Wonderland”. The 1937 original radio play requires a challenging 25 different character voices, ample sound effects and a brand new musical score.
“The script actually instructs the musicians to compose their own musical beds and ditties to enhance the scenes at very specific points throughout the whole play,” says Herbert, Postcards Director, Producer and regular writer.
Don Baragiano (guitar) and Ashraf Hakim (cello) of the local band Hejira were delighted by the challenge.
“We have to improvise on the spot at rehearsal and come up with something brand new,” said Baragiano. “What's great about that is that this kind of challenge doesn't happen at a coffee shop, a tavern, an open house concert or another other kind of gig. It maximizes our creativity.”
“The old time radio script's notes would say things like 'music to sound like Alice falling down a rabbit hole' and 'music to indicate turtle exiting'. It even cited music for a catepillar sitting on a mushroom while smoking a hookah!”
“This is composing on the spot it's with other immediate artistic elements at play -- actors, directors, sound effects, the audience's imagination-- and here we are working with all of that in the moment.” said Baragiano of this weeks rehearsals with the Penn Cove Players.
“I love it!” says Hakim who was First Cellist in nationally acclaimed orchestras in Eqypt for 16 years befor
