By RAY KELLY An as-yet-unproduced screenplay by Devin Lucas focusing on the Mercury Theatre on the Air radio production of War of the Worlds is gaining attention on the West Coast. Orson’s War recently won a professional table read through Coverfly — something the Southern California writer hopes will move the 112-page script closer to […]
Update 5/15/2020: In just three days, a group of volunteers from around the world transcribed more than 1,300 letters (almost 2.000 pages), mostly handwritten, sent to Orson Welles and his network CBS in the wake of the infamous 1938 War of Worlds radio broadcast. ______ By RAY KELLY The University of Michigan at Ann […]
A cheery holiday reminder that streaming audio of four vintage Christmas radio shows featuring Orson Welles can be found on Wellesnet. First up are two versions of Charles Dicken’s classic A Christmas Carol as heard on the Campbell Playhouse in 1938 and 1939. The first features Welles as Ebenezer Scrooge, while the second has him narrating the story and […]
The Mercury Theatre on the Air production of The War of the Worlds became legendary after its broadcast more than eight decades ago on October 30, 1938. Working from a script by Howard Koch and Anne Froelick, which was based on the H.G. Wells novel about a Martian invasion, Orson Welles and company created a […]
Today is the 75th anniversary of the Allied invasion at Normandy and one of Orson Welles’ finest wartime radio broadcasts. Orson Welles’ Almanac was usually a half-hour variety show, but on June 7, 1944, the day after the D-Day landing in France, Welles presented a special dramatic broadcast. It featured his longtime Mercury Theatre staple […]
Given that the character of Professor Richard Pierson of the Observatory at Princeton played a key role in The War of the Worlds broadcast, it seems fitting that the Princeton Public Library host a celebration of the 80th anniversary of the infamous radio broadcast. Hannah Schmidl of the Princeton Public Library and A. Brad Schwartz, […]
To commemorate The War of the Worlds radio broadcast, the West Windsor Arts Council in New Jersey is gearing up to launch a new public arts project and install at least 10 Martian-themed sculptures around town over the next few years. It hopes to have the first sculpture in place in time for the broadcast’s 80th […]
The MacArthur-Verman led team involves a large team of scholars around the world as consultants, advisers and user-testers.
Streaming audio of four vintage Christmas radio show can be found on Wellesnet.
Indiana University’s new radio website, “Orson Welles On the Air: 1938-1946.”
Recollections by Welles, his eldest daughter, listeners, and telephone operators have appeared here.
Indiana University will offer a guided tour on October 26, of Orson Welles’ radio innovations.