By Randi Bjornstad

If you’re a fan of occasionally relying on your ears instead of your eyes for entertainment, whether it’s via NPR, AM talk radio, or music on the stereo or your go-to electronic device, you may find that a look — make that a listen — to Fred Crafts’ 2019-20 Radio Redux schedule will hold some gems you won’t want to miss.

Fred Crafts and the Radio Redux players recreate classic radio shows from the 1940s and ’50s; the company begins its 11th season in early October with 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

If you aren’t familiar with Radio Redux, it’s a reinterpretation of historic radio shows that captivated millions of people in the pre-TV days of the 1940s and  ’50s. Fred Crafts, who is of an age where he probably enjoyed some of those airings in person, came up with the idea for harking back to this simpler era of entertainment more a decade ago. This season will be the ensemble’s 11th onstage in the Eugene-Springfield area.

The Radio Redux troupe performs its plays much the same way as the original casts did, in front of a live studio audience — in this case the Hult Center for the Performing Arts’ Soreng Theater where Radio Redux routinely plays to nearly sold-out audiences.

It’s not like a conventional play, because the actors are voice actors, not performance actors. They stand before the microphones with scripts in their hands, as the original radio stars did, reading their lines as they infuse them with the characters they are portraying. The visual element with Radio Redux is enhanced by the actors dressing in period clothing in order to better convey the earlier era of theater experience.

There’s also a full gamut of sound effects produced by more members of the crew, from door bells and doors slamming to sirens and crashes and mysterious footsteps.

Through the years, Radio Redux has presented a wide array of favorite stories performed on radio, from sci-fi classics The Day the Earth Stood Still and War of the Worlds to all-time family favorites such as Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland to detective mysteries Casablanca and Maltese Falcon, not to leave out zany comedy à la Fibber McGee and Molly, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Abbott and Costello, and Bob and Ray.

The upcoming season is no exception, with the following lineup in place, summarized by Fred Crafts:

  • 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea — A crazed skipper navigates a whale of a futuristic deep-sea adventure tale. (October 4-6, 2019)
  • Sorry, Wrong Number — A woman’s errant phone call sparks one of radio’s all-time best suspense stories. (November 8-10, 2019)
  • The Radio Redux Christmas Special — Favorite holiday songs and stories deliver seasonal merriment in a delightful revue. (December 20- 22, 2019)
  • Sunset Boulevard — A silent-screen star’s old desires clash with modern Hollywood’s new ways. (February 7-9, 2020)
  • Stagecoach –— A stagecoach full of frontier misfits rolls to one of the best Westerns ever. (April 3-5, 2020)

Ticket prices for Radio Redux shows vary from single tickets ($23 regular adults, $20 ages 65+, and $16 for students, plus $16 per person in groups of five or more) to subscription packages (five shows for $92, $84, and $80 respectively). Season subscriptions are available now, and single tickets will become available in September.

Tickets are available the Hult Center box office, 541-682-5000, from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

Friday shows begin at 7:30 p.m., with matinees at 2 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Each performance is preceded by a free lecture by film-radio historian Patrick Lucanio, beginning one our before show time. Each show also features exhibitts of radio collectibles curated by Dennis Wright of the Radio Days Theater of the Mind in Sutherlin. After performances, the audience is invited to meet-and-greet the cast in the Hult Center lobby.

Additional “special effects” include live music by a local vocal trio, The Jewel Tones, and jazz combos, who often perform before and during the shows.

As Crafts likes frequently to remind his audiences, “We’re radio worth watching.”

For information about Radio Redux, go online to radioreduxusa.com or call 541-343-4251.