fandomhigh | Live Entertainment Appreciation, Thursday Period 5

Today when people met on the Causeway, Jonothon was looking pretty damn pleased with himself. The field trip that he'd arranged for today was something that he was especially proud of, considering he didn't have to rely on Portalocity's little surprises in order to get him what he wanted. He'd just had to beg a little, and poke around versions of history that wouldn't mind a handful of students sitting on the sidelines and watching. He was going to hold this one as a point of pride for years to come, actually.

"Good afternoon, class, and Happy Halloween," he grinned. This was his favourite day of the year. He couldn't help it; nobody cared who you were on Halloween. You could be anyone, and today he was going to be a teacher taking his students to a radio station some seventy-five years ago. "The radio play, an audio performance made specifically for the audio broadcast medium, is an art that's mostly dead in its original form, though it lives on today in podcasts- recordings distributed through the internet, rather than stories to be tuned into over the radio. That said, because of the date and a request at the start of the semester to visit an old radio station, I arranged for something special. You see, radio plays were often recorded live, such as one infamous drama in particular, which you might or might not already know about. For those who aren't familiar with Orson Welles' historic broadcast the day before Halloween three quarters of a century ago, everything you're about to hear is fiction, based on a novel by one H.G. Wells that was written some forty years earlier, and there's no cause for panic. Unfortunately, due to the nature of radio and people switching stations, many of the people listening to this particular radio drama back in the day didn't get that warning. Once you're through that portal, keep quiet- We wouldn't want the microphones to pick us up, even if we are outside the recording booth looking in."

He smirked as the portal opened into a radio station, set up with instruments and other implements to create all manner of sound effects, with a young man standing in front of a microphone, preparing for his broadcast. After a brief musical interlude and an introduction from the Mercury Theatre on the Air, the man leaned into the microphone, and he began to speak.

"We know now that in the early years of the twentieth century this world was being watched closely…"

[OOC: Open! Script for War of the Worlds is here, and you can listen to it on YouTube here.]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Like the aliens are attacking!

Out on the Causeway, as usual. Which is really going to be your only opportunity to speak, because Jono's going to chase you out of the radio station if you interrupt Mr. Welles' performance.

The Martians are coming! Get yourselves a good look at the radio station that the radio drama that sparked panic was recorded in, and take in a little bit of history. Or just appreciate the performances involved. Or wonder what people are even talking about, if you still don't quite understand the marvels of modern technology.

After the broadcast, of course. He's looking something like the cat that got the cream, today. He really can't think of a way he'd rather be spending his Halloween, after all.

Happy Halloween!

... Can I take this class?

Cecil Palmer

Cecil would never ever dream of interrupting! His grin got steadily wider as Jono described this week's trip.

Cecil was pretty much equally thrilled with the broadcast and the studio. He just wasn't sure where to look first! He had to keep clutching his elbows to stop from running in and asking a ton of questions.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Starsmore!" Cecil gushed. "That was so neat!"

Me too!

"Enjoyed that, did you, Cecil?" Jono wasn't exactly the gushing sort, but even he was having difficulty restraining himself from grinning like a total loon. "Honestly, I didn't think I'd be able to arrange for something quite as historic as this one. I was halfway to trying to figure out how to program it into the Danger Shop instead, but there's something about being there for it..."

Any and all complaints that Jono had ever had about Portalocity in the past, he was going to completely forgive, now. That had been pretty fantastic.

Mercy Thompson

Mercy'd heard Bran talk about this broadcast so she was completely excited to actually be able to experience it herself live.

"Oh, yes! It was so nice of them to let us sit in. Do you think they'd let me see the sound equipment?"

"They might let you look," Jono offered, "just so long as you don't touch anything. The equipment they have here is fairly different from the gear we use back in the station on the island, after all."

He tilted his head for a moment in thought, and then held up a finger to excuse himself.

"Be right back, mate. Hold that thought."

And lo, Jono returned a few minutes later with the station manager in tow, having talked him into a brief tour for the student who was taking a keen interest in all of the radio's inner workings.

"He says it's fine for you to go looking around," Jono reported, "just be sure to be quiet while the on-air light is on and don't go poking at everything. But I figure that's a given for anyone who's worked in broadcast before, so I have every faith you won't end up breaking anything. Isn't that right?"

It had better be right, Cecil. Jono was giving you the pointed raised eyebrow, after all.

"Oh, of course!" Cecil grinned and tried not to bounce too much. He gave the station manager a smile as reassuring as he could make it. "I've been on radio for years; I'll be careful."

The station manager gave Cecil a dubious look in return. The kid looked to be somewhere in his mid-teens. How many years could he possibly have been on the radio? But then, the teacher seemed to be getting into the Halloween spirit enough to paint himself blue for the class field trip, so he wasn't going to throw stones, here. He simply waved his hand at a few areas around the station that the kid might find interesting, and then excused himself to go back to work.

"I'll hold the portal for a while for you," Jono added, once all of the normals were out of earshot. "Take your time, Cecil. I'm not in any hurry to get back to the island, anyhow."

"Thank you!" Was Jono the hugging type? Cecil hoped so, because he was getting hugged unless he moved fast. Hey, at least Cecil wasn't adult-sized, so hanging off someone's neck probably wasn't quite as startling.

And then he dashed off to put himself elbow-deep - but carefully! - in whatever he could find.

Jono was anything but the hugging type, so when Cecil ran off to explore, he was mostly just left standing there, blinking and bemused.

"... Weird lad," he murmured to himself, giving his head a shake before pulling his phone from his pocket to get Portalocity to give his portal back to the island a little bit more leeway.

Sholeh Zeela a Zhahar

(Zhari)

This actually sounded like fun! Zhari still really didn't understand the point of today's holiday, but who was going to turn down storytime?

Not any of the sisters, that was for sure!

Even knowing it was all fake, even seeing the man in front of them reading from the script, Zhari couldn't help but get swept up in the story. She jumped and even gasped a few times and couldn't help the odd glance out the window to make sure the skies were truly empty.

She had no problems understanding why people had panicked after a performance like this!

Toby Logan

Akdsljfa;f now I'm all homesick for Victoria and the annual Halloween plays at Craigdarroch Castle. They did War of the Worlds the first few years after I moved there and oh my god. Best ever.

Mavis Dracula

And now I'm making grabby hands, omg. It sounds like a fantastic show!

Live Entertainment Appreciation, Thursday Period 5

Sign In!

Lecture!

War of the Worlds!

Talk to Jono!

OOC!

Re: Sign In!

Re: Lecture!

Re: War of the Worlds!

Re: Talk to Jono!

Re: OOC!

Re: Talk to Jono!

Re: Sign In!

Re: War of the Worlds!

Re: Talk to Jono!

Re: Talk to Jono!

Re: Talk to Jono!

Re: Talk to Jono!

Re: Talk to Jono!

Re: Talk to Jono!

Re: Sign In!

Re: Lecture!

Re: War of the Worlds!

Re: Sign In!

Re: OOC!

Re: Sign In!

Re: OOC!