By Randi Bjornstad
This may be a holiday season like no other, but Radio Redux is doing its part to celebrate with a reprise — virtually, of course — by way of an online presentation of one of its earlier A Cowboy Christmas shows.
Viewing will be available starting at noon on Wednesday, Dec. 23, and running until midnight on Jan. 1. Tickets will be available for purchase until 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 22.
Radio Redux has been offering its re-enactments of classic radio plays since its inaugural season in 2009-10, when it began a five-year run at the Wildish Community Theater before relocating to the Soreng Theater at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts for the 2014-15 season.
The troupe made it through the first six of its seven scheduled shows in the 2019-20 season before the statewide pandemic-related closures began. Sunset Boulevard ran in early February before the coronavirus-related cancellation of Stagecoach, originally scheduled for early April.
Two versions of Radio Redux’s A Cowboy Christmas have been performed, first in 2016-17 and then in 2018-19. The later show is the one that will be streamed this year.
A Cowboy Christmas is a 90-minute revue consisting of seasonal songs and stories that draw from classic holiday radio plays, including a Gunsmoke story called Twelfth Night, and The Six Shooter, which spoofs Britt Ponset’s Christmas Carol.
“The pandemic is preventing Radio Redux from performing live on stage, so we’re dipping into
our vaults of past show recordings to stream them through a partnership with the Hult Center for
the Performing Arts,” Fred Crafts said in announcing the virtual performance opportunity.
“This way, even though patrons cannot be with us in the theater, we can be with them in their
homes, sharing the magic of radio’s ‘theater of the mind’ experience,” he said. “To enhance our program
we’ve illustrated our soundtrack so patrons can both see and hear us.”
The redux of Radio Redux’s 2018 A Cowboy Christmas featured troupe regulars Achilles Massahos, Ken Hof, Kim Donahey, Judi Weinkauf, Peter van de Graaff, Adriana Ripley, Bill Barrett, Bill Reid, the late Don Aday and Al Villanueva.
Radio Redux plans to air a series of virtual programs, which will be announced later.
Radio Redux: A Cowboy Christmas
When: From noon on Dec. 23, 2020 until midnight on Jan. 1, 2021
Where: Wherever you watch stream performances on your electronic devices
“Admission”: $15 covers access for the run of the show; purchase by 5 p.m. on Dec. 22 through the Hult Center box office at 541-682-5000 or online at hultcenter.org or radioredux.org
