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THE
PLAYWRIGHT

Joe
Landry
Photo:
Colin Eastland

Joe
Landry
Photo:
Colin Eastland

Joe Landry
Photo: Colin Eastland
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ALFRED
HITCHCOCK

Alfred Hitchcock
on
the set of Blackmail (1929)
with actress Anny Ondra
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"THE
LODGER" (1927)

Film
frame from
The Lodger (1927)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Film
frame of Ivor Novello in
The Lodger (1927)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Film frame of Ivor Novello in
The Lodger (1927)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
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"SABOTAGE"
(1936)

Lobby
card for Sabotage (1936)
Directed
by Alfred Hitchcock.
(Note: The card carries the US re-issue title The Woman
Alone.)

Publicity
still of Oskar Homolka and Sylvia Sidney from Sabotage
(1936)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Publicity still of John Loder and Sylvia Sidney from
Sabotage
(1936)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
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"THE
39 STEPS" (1936)

Poster
from
The 39 Steps (1936)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Lobby card from
The 39 Steps (1936)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Lobby card from
The 39 Steps (1936)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
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"Vintage
Hitchcock: A Live Radio Play" is an evening of adaptations
of three early films directed by Alfred Hitchcock: "The Lodger,"
"Sabotage" and "The 39 Steps." These stories
come to life in the style of a 1940s radio broadcast, with five
actors playing dozens of characters, live sound effects and musical
underscoring.
To license the play or see where the play is being performed, click here to visit Playscripts.com
Note:
The premiere production of "Vintage Hitchcock: A Live
Radio Play" included an adaptation of "The Lady
Vanishes," which has since been replaced by "Sabotage."
For archival purposes, some of the material on this page may
refer to "The Lady Vanishes."
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"Vintage
Hitchcock: A Live Radio Play"
premiered at The Legacy Theatre
in Atlanta, GA in October, 2008.
Photos by Steve Thrasher appear below. |

Dave
Dorrell
Photo:
Steve Thrasher
hi-res | low-res |

The
Company
Photo:
Steve Thrasher
hi-res | low-res |

Tracy
McBurnett, Mark Smith and Dustin Lewis
Photo:
Steve Thrasher
hi-res | low-res |

Amy
Bridges and
Mark Smith
Photo:
Steve Thrasher
hi-res | low-res |

Dave
Dorrell, Dustin Lewis, Amy Bridges and Mark Smith
Photo:
Steve Thrasher
hi-res | low-res |

Tracy
McBurnett, Amy Bridges and Mark Smith
Photo:
Steve Thrasher
hi-res | low-res |

Tracy
McBurnett
Photo:
Steve Thrasher
hi-res | low-res
|

Amy
Bridges, Tracy McBurnett and Dustin Lewis
Photo:
Steve Thrasher
hi-res | low-res |

Amy
Bridges and Mark Smith
Photo:
Steve Thrasher
hi-res | low-res |

Any
Bridges
Photo:
Steve Thrasher
hi-res | low-res |

Mark
Smith, Amy Bridges, Tracy McBurnett and
Dustin Lewis
Photo:
Steve Thrasher
hi-res | low-res |

Mark
Smith and Amy Bridges
Photo:
Steve Thrasher
hi-res | low-res |

Mark
Smith
Photo:
Steve Thrasher
hi-res | low-res |

The
Company
Photo:
Steve Thrasher
hi-res | low-res |

Dustin
Lewis and
Amy Bridges
Photo:
Steve Thrasher
hi-res | low-res |

Dustin
Lewis and
Dave Dorrell
Photo:
Steve Thrasher
hi-res | low-res |

Tracy
McBurnett, Dustin Lewis and Amy Bridges
Photo:
Steve Thrasher
hi-res | low-res |

Dave
Dorrell
Photo:
Steve Thrasher
hi-res | low-res |

Dustin
Lewis and
Tracy McBurnett
Photo:
Steve Thrasher
hi-res | low-res |

The
Company
Photo:
Steve Thrasher
hi-res | low-res |

Mark
Smith, Amy Bridges, Tracy McBurnett and
Dustin Lewis
Photo:
Steve Thrasher
hi-res | low-res |

Dave
Dorrell
Photo:
Steve Thrasher
hi-res | low-res |

Dave
Dorrell, Mark Smith and Dustin Lewis
Photo:
Steve Thrasher
hi-res | low-res |

The
Company
Photo:
Steve Thrasher
hi-res | low-res |

Mark
Smith and
Tracy McBurnett
Photo:
Steve Thrasher
hi-res | low-res |

The
Company
Photo:
Steve Thrasher
hi-res | low-res |

The
Company
Photo:
Steve Thrasher
hi-res | low-res |
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The
following introduction appears in the program from the 2008 world
premiere production at Altanta's Legacy Theatre ...
Introducing "Vintage" Hitchcock
by Sidney Gottlieb
Alfred Hitchcock is perhaps the best known and most influential
filmmaker in the world, but most people know the Hitchcock of the
later period: the director of North by Northwest, Psycho,
and The Birds, and the genially macabre host of television's
Alfred Hitchcock Presents. But there is also a formidable
Hitchcock of a far older vintage: Hitchcock before he came to America;
before he met Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, and Grace Kelly; and working
at full power even before the days of talking pictures. Grabbing
on to early Hitchcock, as Joe Landry does, opens up new realms of
suspense, mysterious attractions, the dark roots of everyday behavior,
and the everyday roots of dark behavior.
Joe's selections of vintage Hitchcock are particularly well chosen.
Hitchcock often described The Lodger as "the first Hitchcock
film." It captures a shadowy and threatening world in which
newsboys yell out their stories of the latest murder by the Avenger
just as a mysterious stranger shows up at the Bunting household
to rent a room. With characteristically sly ambiguity, Hitchcock
presents the Lodger as charming and dangerous, equally liable to
save the Bunting's daughter from a life of dreary conventionality
by romancing her as by killing her, if he is indeed what he seems
to be, the Avenger. Typical of Hitchcock, this "if" is
never fully removed or resolved, even by the end of the film, which
is as tense as it is "happy." This is all in keeping with
what he often defined as his main goal in making films: "to
put the audience through it" -- "it" being presumably
some kind of artful emotional wringer.
The 39 Steps dispatches with Victorian melodrama and eerie
gaslights but reveals a world of equally chilling horrors. Here
Hitchcock skillfully addresses two great perils: living in a world
of life and death political intrigue and attempting to forge a trusting
and mutually satisfying intimate relationship. Richard Hannay must
save England from its enemies, both foreign and home-grown, and
also somehow negotiate a growing but precarious romance with Pamela,
a woman who of course instantly dislikes and distrusts him. As it
turns out, it takes a couple to save England, and it takes the dangers
encountered while forced to travel together on the road to forge
a couple. Many have tried but few have succeeded in doing what Hitchcock
accomplishes so smoothly in The 39 Steps: infusing a story
of the world on the brink with the wit, romance, and playful seriousness
of a screwball comedy.
The Lady Vanishes continues in the path of The 39 Steps,
and nicely complements it by expanding on and strengthening the
women's roles. In a literal sense, the lady who vanishes is Miss
Froy, who is far more than the dotty lady on holiday she seems to
be. Making her reappear and return home safely is one of the major
plotlines of the film, and again, as in The 39 Steps, the
strange business of national security requires the efforts of a
couple. But in a figurative sense, Iris, the young woman of the
developing couple, is also a lady who vanishes: by engaging in a
mystery with political consequences as well as a romance with personal
consequences, she changes from a snooty, self-absorbed lady wrapped
in a young woman's body to a vibrant, likeable, and resourceful
citizen and lover. Iris is a much more fully developed character
than Pamela in The 39 Steps, and that's part of what makes
The Lady Vanishes so memorable as a Hitchcockian romance.
There is, to be sure, more to tonight's presentation than Hitchcock:
Joe Landry incorporates elements from other sources besides these
films, including the original novels on which the films were based,
later versions of these stories as radio shows, and his own imaginative
reinventions of various characters and plotlines. But the presentation
you are about to experience powerfully raises up the presence of
"Vintage Hitchcock," a figure in the process of becoming
-- and in fact revealing himself as already -- the master of suspense,
romance, and a hauntingly amusing as well as disturbing wit.
Sidney Gottlieb is the co-editor of the Hitchcock
Annual (Wallflower Press), editor of several collections of Hitchcock's
writings and interviews, and an unapologetic Hitchcockian.
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The
following Author's Notes appear in the program from the Legacy Theatre
production...
"Good
Evening" and Welcome
by Joe Landry
As a kid,
I discovered the wonderful world of classic movies. While classmates
were off at the multiplex, I found myself at The Regency in New
York City or New Haven's York Square Cinema feasting on a Marx
Brothers triple bill or Vincente Minnelli retrospective. Hitchcock
had become one of my favorite directors, and the first films I
saw were those from his early years, since those were on 16mm
at the public library's film department (my after-school job).
With the invention of the VCR (I remember our family's first rental
was Hitchcock's Rear Window) and launch of the Turner Classic
Movies cable network, a treasure trove of classics became more
accessible than ever before. I started my own collection of Hitchcock
films, first on VHS, then laserdisc, and now on DVD and Blu-Ray.
As a writer, my first play was an adaptation from another favorite
director of mine, Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life.
The initial version had twenty actors and full sets, and enjoyed
a modest success with high schools and community theatres, but
proved unwieldy for potential regional productions. While I was
trying to pare the piece down I was also becoming a fan of old-time
radio and started thinking that It's a Wonderful Life would
be a perfect match for this medium. What intrigues me about the
radio play concept is that it brings a whole new level of immediacy
to live theatre by engaging the audience's senses. "Radio
has wings. It has no stage to keep it within the proscenium arch,
no camera to confine to things that may be seen," Jerome
Lawrence said in his book Off-Mike. "The imagination
of the listener is our most ardent and helpful collaborator. It
was the theatre of endless possibilities." Bringing this
style of theatrical storytelling, where the audience experiences
the magic of a live 1940s radio broadcast, to It's a Wonderful
Life really started the ball rolling. Word-of-mouth spread
from one production to another, the script was published, and
I was delighted to learn that my adaptation was named among the
top-ten most produced plays by American Theatre magazine.
Each year I try to visit at least a few productions of It's
a Wonderful Life, and last season I was fortunate enough to
see the Legacy's beautiful interpretation. In my bio, I had mentioned
working on a play inspired by Hitchcock's films. I'd wanted to
bring Hitchcock to the stage for years now, but wasn't sure of
the approach. I considered a biography or stage documentary, but
nothing seemed to jell. Then the success of the radio play structure
got me thinking that setting Hitchcock's earlier films would nicely
fit into the old-time radio period. I couldn't have been more
thrilled than when the Legacy's Mark Smith expressed interest
in staging the premiere. This generous invitation really fast-tracked
the play, with the majority of the piece coming into place over
the past few months.
It's been exciting to be involved with this premiere production
of Vintage Hitchcock: A Live Radio Play. Since I live in
Connecticut, script meetings have taken place over the phone and
rewriting has been through email. Another unique experience in
the development of this play has been the ability to listen in
on rehearsals via MP3 audio files. As you may imagine, witnessing
rehearsals solely through audio has been a great benefit given
the nature of the production. I'm grateful to the Legacy for providing
me with this amazing opportunity, and couldn't be happier in sharing
this premiere with you tonight.
Joe would
like to thank many people who have been amazingly supportive during
the development of Vintage Hitchcock: A Live Radio Play,
including his family (Paul, Mary, Hope and Tom), Colin Eastland,
Barbara Meyer, Sidney Gottlieb, Fran Kondziela, Maggie Williams,
Achilles Tsakiridis, Music Theatre of Connecticut, Joe Meyers,
Robert Osborne, Leonard Maltin, Mark, Bethany, Dustin, Scott,
the cast and everyone at the Legacy. And thanks to you, this play's
first audience! Joe welcomes your comments at joefairfield@gmail.com
JOE
LANDRY (Playwright)
At age 12, Joe's first job was in the film department at the library
in his hometown of Fairfield, CT. This was before the dawn of
home video, back in the days of 16mm, and their permanent collection
included It's a Wonderful Life, The Lady Vanishes and other
early Hitchcock films. Joe's other main interest was the theatre.
Encouraged by his parents, Joe was introduced to various theatres
which he came to call home, including Playwrights Horizons and
Roundabout Theatre Company in New York, Westport Country Playhouse
and others. In 1995, Joe founded Second Guess Theatre Company,
which produced over two dozen new plays, adaptations and revivals
to critical-acclaim. In 1997, It's a Wonderful Life: A Live
Radio Play premiered in Stamford, CT and has since enjoyed
productions around the country. Joe's other published plays include
an adaptation of the cult classic Reefer Madness. Other
projects include Mothers and Sons, a musical co-written
with Kevin Connors. joelandry.com
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The
following interview is between Mark Smith, Artistic Director of
the Legacy Theatre...
MARK SMITH. Could you tell us exactly what is a "radio
play?" What uniquely separates it from a "regular"
play?
JOE
LANDRY. What uniquely separates a "radio play" from
a "regular" play is the style of theatrical storytelling.
In the "radio plays" I've written thus far, (It's
a Wonderful Life and Vintage Hitchcock) the audience
is invited to experience the magic of a live 1940s radio broadcast.
The golden age of old time radio is recreated using a handful
of actors who play the dozens of characters in the stories and
create sound effects and musical accompaniment to assist in engaging
the imagination.
MARK. Why were you drawn to adapting radio plays for the stage?
What is it about this medium that inspires you?
JOE.
I had originally adapted It's a Wonderful Life as a full-stage
version with twenty actors and full sets. While this version enjoyed
a modest success with high schools and community theatres, the
piece proved too large in scope and budget for most professional
producers. While I was trying to pare the piece down I was also
becoming a fan of old time radio and started thinking that Wonderful
Life would be a perfect match for this medium. It was this
new radio play version that really started the ball rolling, and
word of mouth spread from one production to another. The blend
of simplicity and nostalgia which initially attracted me to the
radio play medium continue to inspire me today.
MARK. It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play was named
one of the most produced plays in the country in 2007. How did
that make you feel?
JOE.
I was delighted to learn that American Theatre Magazine named
my adaptation of It's a Wonderful Life among the top-ten
most produced plays of 2007. And I was flattered to feel that
my play had generated this level of interest around the country.
While Frank Capra's original continues making new fans every year,
I couldn't be happier in helping share the timeless tale of George
Bailey through this additional medium.
MARK. Why did you choose the early British films of Alfred
Hitchcock to adapt into the radio play?
JOE.
Hitchcock is one of my favorite directors, and my first memories
of seeing his films were those from his early years. Hitchcock
developed a storytelling style and motifs in these early pictures
which would follow him throughout his long career. I've chosen
to adapt from this period because I don't think as many fans know
these films as well as Psycho or The Birds, and,
if you're anything like me, there's nothing like discovering a
new treasure from a filmmaker you love.
MARK. How will this production be different from It's A
Wonderful Life? How will it be similar?
JOE.
The biggest change is the number of stories. While It's a Wonderful
Life tells that one story, Vintage Hitchcock tells
three. The radio play elements in both Wonderful Life and
Hitchcock are similar stylistically and each require the
same number of actors (two women and thee men) to create the dozens
of characters and sound effects over the course of the evening.
MARK. Why did you choose The Legacy Theatre to produce this
World Premiere?
JOE.
I first became aware of The Legacy Theatre when they chose
to produce It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play last
season. Every year I try to visit at least a few productions,
and I was fortunate enough to see Legacy's production last year.
Not only was the production itself amazing, but the theatre was
such a beauty (I equate The Legacy to a boutique hotel when telling
my friends about the place) and Mark, Bethany and the cast couldn't
have been more welcoming. In my bio last year, I mentioned I was
working on a radio play based on early Hitchcock, Mark sounded
very interested and I was thrilled he was able to include the
play's premiere this season!
MARK. What will your involvement be in this very first production?
JOE.
I'm expecting to be very involved with developing the script
itself, and will do so from my home in Connecticut as well as
in residence at the Legacy during rehearsals. Being on site for
the opening weekend will provide the opportunity to see how the
piece plays in front of an audience, which is always the true
test of a play. I'm grateful to the Legacy for providing me with
this amazing opportunity, and couldn't be more excited to share
in this premiere!
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Review
from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 22, 2008
Radio dramas are delightful
by Wendell Brock
Grade: B
8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays. 3 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays. Through Nov.
2. $15-$25. Legacy Theatre, 1175 Senoia Road, Tyrone. 404-895-1473,
thelegacytheatre.org
Bottom
line: The master of suspense is celebrated in three well-crafted
radio plays.
The drag of
a boot and a cane across a step suggests the ominous approach
of a mysterious Victorian-era boardinghouse tenant. Oh dear, is
this the serial killer who has a penchant for pretty blonde hookers?
Could it be
(dramatic organ music inserted here)
The Avenger?
Good evening
and welcome to Vintage Hitchcock: A Live Radio Play,
playwright Joe Landrys delightful evening of radio dramas
devised from three early films by that imitable master of suspense,
Alfred Hitchcock.
Here, through
the genius of an old medium, a hard whack on a piece of tin becomes
an ominous clap of thunder on a dark London night, and the twinkling
of crockery puts us in the mood of a veddy English tea.
Imagined as
a real-time 1947 broadcast from Manhattan radio station WBFR,
the Legacy Theatre world premiere transforms the Tyrone stage
into a well-oiled machine of actors reaching for noise-making
props while portraying a nerve-shattering array of characters
in varying states of fear, anxiety, panic and murder. (Dave Dorrell
plays the urbane airwave wit who narrates this night of horrific
nights.)
For his Hitchcock
radio hour, Landry - author of the wildly popular Its
a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play - pays homage
to the famous filmmakers The Lodger (a silent
film from 1927) The Lady Vanishes (1938) and The
39 Steps (1936).
While Wonderful
Life has the advantage of being a familiar holiday story,
the Hitchcock pieces traffic in labyrinthine plot twists and 11th-hour
revelations, which gives this nimble ensemble a vigorous workout
and requires the audience to pay rapt attention.
The
Lodger traces the terror wrought by a ghoulish boardinghouse
tenant (played by Legacy artistic director Mark Smith) on a cockney
couple (Amy Bridges and Dustin Lewis) and their comely blonde
daughter Daisy (Tracy McBurnett).
The
Lady Vanishes is an espionage tale involving the disappearance
of chirpy train traveler Miss Froy (Bridges) and the ingenue who
befriends her (McBurnett). The 39 Steps is another
spy-themed odyssey doubling as a romantic caper; only this time
we get a carnival act called Mr. Memory and a parade
of corpses that refuse to stay dead.
Directed by
Smith and featuring musical accompanist Connie Keesal, Vintage
Hitchcock is a showcase of consistently top-notch performances.
Though Smith can be a little too caricaturish at times, Bridges
is spot-on, and Lewis is simply magnificent.
However, you
may find yourself wishing that the sound effects were a little
more vivid and more integrated into the action. (Most of the noise-making
gizmos are off to one side of the stage - why not make them
front and center?)
While Hitchcock
wouldnt be Hitchcock without plot puzzlements and subterfuge,
some moments feel a little fuzzy, and Lady Vanishes
and 39 Steps are so similar as to almost blur.
Nor does Landry
get a chance to develop the backstories and public personae of
his radio thespians. (Would probably make the show too long.)
Yet as the
piece finds its rhythm, these minor quibbles that can be easily
tweaked. For now, the 3-year-old Legacy Theatre puts itself on
the national map with an exciting premiere that exploits the aural
magic of this tingly film auteur.
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from Southside
ARTS Agenda, October 20, 2008
Vintage Hitchcock: A Live Radio Play is not the usual stage
show - it's better! It causes you to use your imagination instead
of having every nuance of the performance laid out for you. What's
more it's fun!
On Friday evening we attended the World Premier performance of
Joe Landry's new play and experienced one of the most enjoyable
evenings of theater you can imagine.
Once again The Legacy Theatre demonstrated its ability to bring
us something different than the usual fare provided by less professional
organizations. Under the expert direction of Mark Smith, who assembled
a truly talented cast of actors, Joe Landry's script came to life
in different ways to each member of the audience. The stage was
set as a typical radio broadcast studio was back in the 40's.
As a youngster I had the opportunity to witness a "live"
radio broadcast at a major studio. I think it was NBC at New York
City's Rockefeller Center. I can't recall the show, but I do remember
what fascinated me the most, the way the sound effects were made.
Mark Smith scoured the antique shops, used furniture stores, hardware
stores and even Publix in order to find the right item to produce
the required sound. A rusting wood clamp to simulate the squeak
of a hinge, assorted china used for the sound of someone stirring
tea, a knife plunged into a head of cabbage for a stabbing. This
show is filled with an assortment of sounds; which is why you
can literally close your eyes and visualize the "action"
on stage.The play is comprised of three different abbreviated
versions of Hitchcock's earliest work. Moving from The Lodger
to The Lady Vanishes and finally The 39 Steps we
see the progression of Mr. Hitchcock and his talents for the unexpected
surprise ending his later works are so famous for.
The plays used the five cast members, each assuming several different
roles, accents
and voices while attending to the special sound effects. Amy Bridges,
Dave Dorrell,
Dustin Lewis, Mark Smith and Tracy McBurnett (who has and used
a most effective scream that may become her trademark) performed
their roles with the professionalism we have come to expect from
every Legacy production. Equal to the sound effects are the music
that were crucial to every radio broadcast, in this production
expertly done by Connie Keesal.
What we enjoyed
the most about this show was the opportunity to experience a genre
that virtually disappeared from the entertainment world. Today
we expect to have everything played out before us as we mindlessly
watch what a director has interpreted the author's meaning and
intent.
We hope that Mr. Landry will continue to write Radio Plays and
bring them to the Legacy for their premier performance.
Take a step back in time and not only see but visualize in your
mind's eye three Alfred Hitchcock early classics. You may find
yourself discovering a "brand new" form of entertainment.
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Preview
from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 18, 2008
Radio Drama Revival
Successful plays range from Its a Wonderful Life
to Vintage Hitchcock
By Wendell
Brock
Joe Landry says people often expect him to be an elderly man because
of his passion for forgotten films and the golden age of radio.
The Bridgeport, Conn., playwright is best known for re-creating
Frank Capras Its a Wonderful Life in the
format of a radio drama, complete with crunchy special effects.
Last year,
American Theatre magazine named Its a Wonderful Life:
A Live Radio Play one of the 10 most produced plays in the
country. This season, the show will receive more than 40 professional
and amateur productions - including a repeat performance
at Atlantas Theatrical Outfit.
Last year,
Landry came to town to see what local theaters were doing with
Its a Wonderful Life. Turned out he was so impressed
with the Legacy Theatres production that he gave the ensemble
permission to stage his latest radio play: an evening of one acts
adapted from three early films by Alfred Hitchcock. Directed by
Legacy artistic director Mark Smith, Vintage Hitchcock:
A Live Radio Play opened Friday and runs through Nov. 2.
Landry arrived for rehearsals this week. Before that, the Legacy
sent him recordings of rehearsals.
Landry -
who at 37 hardly qualifies as a senior citizen - traces
his love of cinema back to his childhood. His first job, at age
12, was sorting and shelving the 16mm movies at the public library
in Fairfield, Conn. This was the 80s, around the time films
were being converted to video. But Landry was so captivated by
the whir of the projector, the spools of tape, the creaky old
audio and the magic of moving pictures that hes appropriated
the media to his devices. (Hes also written an adaptation
of the 1936 propaganda flick Reefer Madness, to be
published soon by Playscripts Inc. But its not a radio play.)
We recently
chatted with Landry about his Hitchcock project and why imitation
radio drama is enjoying an onstage revival.
Q: Hitchcock
became famous after going to Hollywood and making Rear Window,
The Birds and Vertigo. Why did you choose
films from the 30s?
A: It was
really the success of Its a Wonderful Life that
made me think of putting the Hitchcock films into the radio play
format. I basically [made my selections] because of the availability
of them and because of their status. They are very early. And
public domain status gives me a little more leeway as far as what
I can do on my own and how much I can change them
. I never
had any interest in doing a radio version of Psycho.
Q: And you
came up with The Lodger, The Lady Vanishes
and The 39 Steps. Talk about them a little bit.
A: The
Lodger is actually a silent film. So turning a silent film
into a radio play, which is basically the complete opposite of
a silent film, was a really sort of fun challenge
. Hitchcock
had actually directed a radio play version of The Lodger.
As far as I know, it was the only thing he directed for radio
. The Lodger is a character who may or may not be a serial killer.
He comes to stay in this boardinghouse with this older English
couple, and they suspect him. [Landry doesnt want to give
the ending away.]
Second is
The Lady Vanishes. Its probably the one I know
best, yet it was the most challenging to write, because there
isnt a lot of other source material. Theres a novel,
but the novel is very different from the film. The other one is
The 39 Steps, which is the most similar to North
by Northwest in a way. Its sort of a 1930s North
by Northwest, set in Europe instead.
Q: Did you
see the Broadway spoof of The 39 Steps?
A: I sort
of didnt want to see that. I didnt want to be too
influenced by it. Im hoping it circulates for a little while
and that Ill be able to see it after this.
Q: Why do
you think the radio genre is so popular?
A: It touches
the senses in a different way. And it reacts with the audience
as a participant and has them connect more and different sorts
of dots than they might in a typical evening of theater. Im
sure theres a percentage of the audience that remembers
radio plays and maybe have actually been to live radio plays,
but for a lot of other people, its completely new.
Q: What did
you like about the Legacys Wonderful Life?
A: I think
it was the first time that I had seen a production where I didnt
talk to the director or anyone involved with it. And they went
completely off the script, like by itself
. I know that
might sound strange. But a lot of time people would get in touch
with me and say: How can we do that sound effect?
Or Can we do this or can we do that?
It was [artistic
director Mark Smiths] invitation that made Vintage
Hitchcock happen there. I thought it would be a great fit
. He was the first to ask about it, so I thought, Oh, thats
cool. He definitely has a connection to classic film as
well.
THEATER PREVIEW
Vintage
Hitchcock: A Live Radio Play
Through Nov.
2. $15-$25. Legacy Theatre, 1175 Senoia Road, Tyrone 404-895-1473,
thelegacytheatre.org. (To learn more about the play, go to vintagehitchcock.com.)
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from
cowetaartstidbits.blogspot.com, October 21, 2008
AJC Theatre
Reviewer Applauds Vintage Hitchcock:
Says
It Has Put the Legacy Theatre On the National Map
In recent
times Atlanta has been paying ever more attention to the burgeoning
Southside arts scene. The latest example of this pertains to the
Legacy Theatre, which is located in the Fayette County city of
Tyrone and which is owned and run by Mark and Bethany Smith of
the Coweta County city of Newnan. And the occasion is the world
premiere of Joe Landry's Vintage Hitchcock.
In today's
Altanta Journal-Constitition Theatre Reviewer Wendell Brock
has high praise both for Landry's play and for its performance
by the Legacy. The full review can be read on the Access Atlanta
site: http://www.accessatlanta.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/accessatlanta/atlarts/.
It concludes with these words: "The 3-year-old Legacy Theatre
puts itself on the national map with an exciting premiere that
exploits the aural magic of this tingly film auteur."
Information
on the Legacy Theatre is found on its website www.thelegacytheatre.org.
High kudos
are in order for Mark and Bethany Smith and for Joe Landry and
for the cast and other theatrical personnel which have made this
great triumph possible, which has brought great honor to the Southside
arts scene! If we were living in the Middle Ages we would exult
magna cum laude!!
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