The 75th anniversary of “The War of the Worlds” has been marked this week with stage performances and events in more than a dozen states. (There are productions on Halloween night in Massachusetts, Virginia and West Virginia).
So, it seems fitting that one of the last events will take place in Orson Welles’ birthplace of Kenosha, Wisconsin.
RG Productions, a popular Kenosha radio theatre company, will perform “The War of the Worlds” on Saturday, November 2, at 7 p.m. at the Kemper Center.
Originally performed by Welles’ Mercury Theater on the Air on October 30, 1938, the live 60-minute CBS broadcast of an “eyewitness report” of an invasion from Mars caused a nationwide panic.
“We’re excited to bring the most infamous radio broadcast of all time back to Kenosha 75 years after it shocked the world,” said producer Nita Hunter. “Show directors Doug Despin (Kenosha) and Leslie Utech (Racine), plan to stage the show so that it is as authentic as possible to the original 1938 broadcast which brought the nation to its knees. As always, the role of Orson Welles will be played by Jan Michalski (Kenosha).”
Kemper Center is located at 6501 3rd Ave., Kenosha. Tickets are $5. For more information, call (847) 710-2027.
RG Productions has been performing live radio theater recreations in and around Kenosha and Lake County, Illinois, for the past six years. The group formed under the leadership of local radio enthusiasts Nita Hunter, Joan Roehre, and Leslie Utech.
Some highlights from their repertoire include “The Third Man,” at the Rhode Theater in Kenosha, “Dracula” at Kemper Center, Kenosha, and “Love is On-The-Air” featuring Burns and Allen and Jack Benny at the PM&L Theater in Antioch.
The group also performs frequently at the Kenosha Public Museum and will bring back their popular “Dickens Christmas Festival” there on December 15 at 1 p.m.
Other actors starring in the War of the Worlds production are: Ed Godula, Jim Kollar, J.R. Trimark, Dan Stika, Dave Wildes, and Pat Zakrzewski (Kenosha), Noah Chartrand, Kandy Helson, Jay Rattle, and Nate Stamper, (Racine), John McLaughlin (Barrington, IL) Sound engineer is Rick Hagerty (Kenosha).
Sound composers are from Beach Club Records, Racine.
For more information about RG Productions, visit their website at www.rgaudioproductions.com
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