(Above: Rebecca Nachison stars in To Find Help, one of two scary plays onstage at Radio Redux in observance of the Halloween season; photo by August Frank.)

By Randi Bjornstad

According to Fred Crafts, the founder, producer, and director of Radio Redux, The House in Cypress Canyon, which appropriately to the season will be onstage in the Soreng Theater at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts on Oct. 29-31, “is consistently cited as one of the most terrifying programs broadcast during radio’s Golden Age.”

Reproducing those earlier shows for modern audiences has been Radio Redux’s raison d’être since its first season in 2009-10, and it has carried on with the classic form of pre-TV entertainment every year since with the exception of the 2020-21 season, cancelled because of the covid-19 pandemic.

Each performance includes costumed actors standing at microphones reading from scripts from radio shows dating mostly to the 1940s and ’50s, with sound effects produced the way they used to be in the great radio theaters, and live musical entertainment before the “broadcast” and during its intermission.

The House in Cypress Canyon, which appeared on the Suspense radio series, had its debut on Dec. 5, 1946. It was written by Robert L. Richards and produced and directed by William Spier. The plot takes the form of a “story within a story,” starting with a chance encounter between a detective and a real estate agent who discovered a manuscript in a rather mysterious house that was on the market.

Then the story shifts to a narration of the frightening events detailed in the manuscript.

The actors who tell the story include Peter van de Graaff as the new homeowner who has purchased the house, along with Maggie Muellner as his wife. Achilles Massahos takes the part of the detective who meets the real estate agent, played by Steve Wehmeier. The cast also includes Al Villanueva as a policeman and Judi Weinkauf as (gasp) The Beast.

Scared yet? The second show on the program is To Find Help, first broadcast on Suspense on Jan. 18, 1945, written by Mel Dinelli. Its plot involves a woman who hires a handyman to do some work at her house, despite the fact that she doesn’t know him well, but then, help was hard to find during the World War II years when so many men were away. She doesn’t worry too much, because he seems meek, but of course that may be her big mistake.

This performance features Rebecca Nachison as the homeowner and Achilles Massahos as the handyman. Judi Weinkauf plays a friend of the owner, Steve Wehmeier appears as a telephone repairman, and Peter Van de Graaf as a milkman.

Sound effects for this Radio Redux outing are the purview of Judy Sinott and Al Villanueva, while the live musical entertainment comes from the Radio Redux Rhythm-aires, made up of Michael Anderson (guitar), Georges Bouney (piano), Dean Livelybrooks (bass), Rob Neidig (drums), and Kirstin Parmeter (vocals).

Starting an hour before each performance, radio/film historian Patrick Lucanio offers a free behind-the-scenes talk about the show.

Radio Redux presents October is Boo-tiful

When: 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 29, and 1:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 30 and 31

Where: Soreng Theater, Hult Center for the Performing Arts, One Eugene Center (7th and Willamette streets), Eugene

Tickets: $25 adults, $22 ages 65+, $19 college/youth, $19 groups of five or more, plus multi-show discounts; available online at radioreduxusa.org, at the  Hult Center box office at 541-682-5000 or in person from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, or online at hultcenter.org

Covid details: The Hult Center currently requires that all attendees wear a mask inside and show proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test within 48 hours of showtime.