WYSO and The Living History Theatre to Present an Original Radio Drama

WYSO will air an encore presentation of an original radio drama "The End of Emerald Street" on April 2nd, 2009 from 8:00 to 10:00pm.

Nearly a hundred years before hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans, the citizens of another American city watched in disbelief as collapsing levees allowed flood waters to submerge their community in a matter of moments. That city was Dayton, Ohio. The year was 1913.

WYSO Public Radio and The Living History Theatre will air an encore presentation of an original radio drama "The End of Emerald Street" on April 2nd, 2009 from 8:00 to 10:00pm.

Set during the Great Dayton Flood, the story combines fictional characters with historical figures like John H. Patterson, Arthur Morgan, John Barringer and C.W. Sloan.

WYSO staff member Jerry Kenney had long been interested in producing a radio drama and presented the "Flood Project" to Yellow Springs playwright, Kay Reimers. "It was the easiest thing I've ever written. The facts were so dramatic themselves, there was no need to embellish anything." admitted Mrs. Reimers. "When doing the research, what struck me was the denial of the looming disaster. People went to work, went shopping, even took their children to school as the Great Miami river crept over the levees."

Creating the drama was a community effort with more than twenty actors, from ages eight to eighty, playing various roles. The actors crowded into a small recording studio at the public radio station to do the recording. It was accomplished by performing different scenes with only a few actors at a time, a logistical challenge for Kenney who recorded the actors, integrating sound effects and then edited them all together. Kenney says he's proud of this "flagship" effort. "I always loved radio theater as a kid and I think we managed to recreate some of that magic here." The play features a host of local actors including Howard Shook, Dan Davis, Flo Lorenz, Tony Dallas and Miriam Eckenrode. Rounding out the audio performance in 'Emerald' is original music composed by WYSO volunteer Justin Vanderburg, co-host of WYSO's ambient music program, "Alpha Rhythms". Vanderburg released a CD of his own music last year on the Hypnos record label. WYSO 91.3 FM is a broadcast service of Antioch University, and the premiere public radio station in Ohio's Dayton region with approximately 60,000 weekly listeners.

The Yellow Springs-based Living History Theatre takes psychological and sociological approaches to history, using artistic expression to illuminate modern experience echoed by the past. For More info, please contact:Jerry Kenney jerry@wyso.org937-769-1385

Jacki Mayer

WYSO Public Radio