Kenosha, Wisconsin, will recall its favorite son and the War of the Worlds radio drama at an event taking place on the 86th anniversary of the famed broadcast.
Exploring the War of the Worlds: 1938 Radio Broadcast will be presented on October 30, at 6 p.m. by Jason Rimkus, media coordinator for Kenosha Community Media. The hour-long presentation will take place at the KPL Southwest Neighborhood Library at 7979 38th Avenue. Admission is free.
Rimkus will lecture on Welles’ background, offer highlights from that 1938 evening, discuss the impact of the radio broadcast and provide an overview of the technology of today. Rimkus has been involved in Kenosha community television for nearly 30 years and teaches video workshops there.
Welles was born to inventor Richard Head Welles and concert pianist Beatrice Ives Welles, who lived in a two-story house on the east side of Library Park in Kenosha. Welles spent relatively few of his 70 years in Wisconsin, however, he described himself as “almost beligerently Midwestern, and always a confirmed badger” in a 1937 letter to a Kenosha congressman.
Earlier this year, the Historic West Bend Theatre Board in Kenosha chose Welles to be its inaugural Wall of Fame inductee.
During the 2015 centennial of Welles’ birth, Kenosha held several events to mark the occasion.
Welles was only 23 years old when he directed and starred in the Mercury Theatre On the Air production of War of the Worlds for the Columbia Broadcasting System. The realistic drama became legendary after some listeners were convinced an alien invasion was underway. The drama was scripted by Howard Koch and Anne Froelick and based on the H.G. Wells novel about a Martian invasion.
__________
Post your comments on the Wellesnet Message Board.