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Play it by Ear Productions was an audio theatre production company devoted to the development and distribution of original plays for radio, the internet, and compact disc; the company was founded in 2002 by actor/playwright/producer Lance Roger Axt in New York City, New York. From July 1, 2003 - December 31, 2010, Play it by Ear Productions was based on the Central Coast of California.
In 2003, Axt produced the first series of Play it by Ear pieces as part of the anthology series We Have Ignition. We Have Ignition is a new works program in which original one-act plays for audio are commissioned from emerging and mid-career playwrights who are more accustomed to writing plays for the stage. In writing for audio, these writers are given the unique opportunity to flex their skills in a different artistic medium, while finding greater exposure to their work. The plays were recorded at SueMedia Studios on Long Island, New York from the months of February to May, 2003. They were:
The Field, written by Elizabeth Benjamin, and directed by Lizzie Gottlieb and Nathan Dean: Glenn Kessler and Keira Naughton portray a couple in their newly purchased farmhouse; a tribe of Native Americans are unearthing tribal remains stemming from a massacre that took place on the land in the 1800s. A series of bizarre episodes have occurred in the farmhouse since the beginning of the ritual digging, and it takes a representative (portrayed by James Fall) to help the two make sense of it all.
The Field was the winner of the 2003 Gold Ogle Award for Best Fantasy/Horror/Mystery Audio Production of the Year presented by the American Society for Science Fiction Audio and the Minnesota Society for Interest in Science Fiction and Fantasy.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Chaz, written and directed by Robert Grady. Chip Gudger, Axt, Matthew Mullin, and Grady play the respective roles in this original comedy detailing why there are four versions of Jesus' life story: no one can get along! Matthew is anal retentive, Mark and Luke are slow-witted gossips and John has spent most of his energy and time with a magistrate changing his name to Chaz so as not to be confused with John the Baptist.
The Love Song Of..., written by Lynn Rosen and directed by Eileen Myers. Polly Adams and Jen Albano are a mother and daughter waiting in the rain by Columbia University for their father to pick up for their Grandmother's birthday party. While wondering where Dad is, or if he will even come, the two make discoveries about the other that they never knew before.
David Shinn was the sound designer, while live sound effects were designed and performed by Sue Zizza. All three plays in the "We Have Ignition: 2003" series premiered in the months of June and July 2003 on WNYE FM in New York City. Individual pieces have since aired on KPFA FM (servicing the San Francisco Bay Area), KFAI FM (St. Paul, Minnesota), and KUNM FM (New Mexico). All three pieces were part of the nationally syndicated series "The Radio Works." Recorded in 2009 was Turn to Stone by Steve Tesher, a comedy-drama offering a different take on the origins of the first shot fired in the American Civil War.
In 2010 Axt ended Play it by Ear Productions to focus on his audio production company with William Dufris and Elaine Lee, AudioComics, also known as The AudioComics Company.
In January 2005, Axt produced, directed, performed in, and did the Foley effects for a live production of the legendary audio essay We Hold These Truths by Norman Corwin at the Canterbury Woods Auditorium in Pacific Grove, California as a benefit to help pay for production costs on "Turn to Stone." This presentation featured as many as 18 local actors. The show was produced with permission from Corwin, with the company of actors working from the script from the 50th Anniversary production. In 2006, Axt began presenting a series of shows re-creating shows from the golden age of radio called "Those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear." In 2008, a second live performance series started called "A Signal to Noise" which presents contemporary/modern plays, little known classics, and dark fantasies as audio theatre-style readings, beginning with Ron Sossi and Frank Condon's The Chicago Conspiracy Trial three weeks before the 2008 Presidential Election, and followed by Starstruck by Elaine Lee in 2009.
Play it by Ear Productions also brought the art of audio drama to the next generation of performers in the Monterey/Carmel area with a series of workshops for children and pre-teens, first at the Children's Experimental Theatre of Carmel from 2004 to 2006, then at the School of Dramatic Arts at Pacific Repertory Theatre from 2006 to 2008 and the International School of Monterey in 2007.
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Norman Lewis Corwin was an American writer, screenwriter, producer, essayist and teacher of journalism and writing. His earliest and biggest successes were in the writing and directing of radio drama during the 1930s and 1940s.
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Wah Ming Chang was an American designer, sculptor, and artist. With the encouragement of his adoptive father, James Blanding Sloan, he began exhibiting his prints and watercolors at the age of seven to highly favorable reviews. Chang worked with Sloan on several theatre productions and in the 1940s, they briefly created their own studio to produce films. He is known later in life for his sculpture and the props he designed for Star Trek: The Original Series, including the tricorder and communicator.
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William Duffy known professionally as William Dufris or Bill Dufris, was an American voice actor and audiobook narrator.
The Golden Bough Playhouse is a historic three-story theatre in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California on Monte Verde St., between 8th and 9th Avenues. The playhouse occupies the site of the former Carmel Arts and Crafts Club, Carmel's first cultural center and theatre, built in 1906–1907 on Casanova Street, and the Arts and Crafts Hall, built in 1923–1924 on an adjacent lot on Monte Verde Street. Since 1994, the facility has been owned and operated by Pacific Repertory Theatre, Monterey County's only year-round professional theatre company. A two-phase renovation of the aging facility began with an interior building project in 2011. A second phase project, including both interior and exterior renovations, is scheduled for 2023-2024. The theatre was recorded with the National Register of Historic Places on July 3, 2002. It is significant as a California historic building because it is located on the original site of the Carmel Arts and Crafts Club and Hall, the oldest indoor performing arts venues in Carmel.
The Atlanta Radio Theatre Company. (ARTC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to preserving, promoting, performing, and educating people about the art of audio theatre.
Gary Files is an Australian-Canadian actor, theatre director and radio writer who has worked in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. Resident in Australia since 1976, Files is noted for the accentual versatility of his radio-based voice acting.
LARP Alliance, Inc. was a non-profit organization based in the US, which was established in order to improve communication, support, and education regarding Live Action Roleplaying (LARP) throughout the entire community and with the general public. Programs and events designed to achieve this are run often and the LARP Alliance assists others by providing staff, props, resource materials, and contributing donated promotional items. The company exists to motivate and inspire the LARP community and bridge the gap to bring in new LARPers.
Yuri Rasovsky was an American writer and producer working in radio drama in the United States.
Starstruck is a 1980 science fiction comedy play written by Elaine Lee, with contributions from Susan Norfleet Lee and Dale Place. It was performed in New York City in 1980 and 1983, and spawned a graphic novel and comic book mini-series in 1984-85 and audioplays.
Debbie Tucker Green is a British playwright, screenwriter, and director. She has written a number of plays, including born bad (2003), for which she won the Olivier Award for Most Promising Newcomer in 2004. Most of her stage plays have been produced at the Royal Court Theatre and the Young Vic in London. She has been called "one of the most stylistically innovative and politically engaged playwrights at work in Britain today".
AudioComics Company is an audio production company that adapts comic books, graphic novels, and original works. It was founded in 2010, and expanded under the producers William Dufris, Lance Roger Axt, and Elaine Lee. Their productions have earned critical acclaim and awards in the United States and abroad, and have been cited as a "game changer" in the field of audio drama.
The Sunset Center is located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, United States. It is a performing arts center which features concerts, comedy, theatre, and dance. Formerly the Sunset School, the site was purchased by the city of Carmel in 1965 with the plan to develop it into a cultural center. It is home to the Carmel Bach Festival. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 9, 1998.
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