Ten Years of The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society
Join The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society as we celebrate ten years of mystery, suspense, and old-time radio with an evening of live events marking the Society’s tenth anniversary. It’s an “entertaining and creepy homage to an era gone by” (Cherry and Spoon), brought to life by veteran Twin Cities performers Shanan Custer, Joshua English Scrimshaw, Tim Uren, and Eric Webster, “using their voices to paint a picture so vivid that if you close your eyes, you can see the action in your mind’s eye” (Stages of Minnesota).
4:00 PM – Meet and Greet (with the purchase of the VIP Add-On) A casual opportunity to mingle with the hosts of The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society. Join Eric, Tim, Joshua, and Shanan for conversation, memories, and celebration with fellow fans of mysterious old-time radio.
5:00 PM – “The Best and Worst of Ten Years” (with the purchase of the VIP Add-On) (Live Podcast Recording) A special live recording looking back on a decade of the podcast. Featuring stories from the Society’s history, special guests, and the presentation of awards recognizing the best and worst old-time radio programs discussed during the show’s ten-year run.
7:00 PM – Live Old-Time Radio Performance The Society presents an evening inspired by Minnesota native Alonzo Deen Cole’s groundbreaking horror radio series The Witch’s Tale! Created in the 1930’s, the show blended Cole’s imagination and chaotic production style to create iconic stories that have endured for nearly a century. Old Nancy, the iconic host of The Witch’s Tale, provided inspiration for the countless horror hosts that would follow.
The evening features a recreation of a vintage episode of The Witch’s Tale, performed in the style of an old-time radio broadcast with live sound effects, music, and period atmosphere. Paired with the historic script is “Alonzo and the Witch” an original radio play by Tim Uren, imagining the backstage “dramedy” surrounding a Witch’s Tale production as cast and crew scramble to survive the loss of a core cast member and the unpredictable genius of Alonzo Deen Cole as they bring one of his eerie tales to life.
The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society performed their first staged old-time radio recreation in 2016 at the Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater in Minneapolis. Since then, they have appeared at the Minnesota Fringe Festival, Daleko Arts in New Prague, the Wabasha Street Caves in Saint Paul, and The Phipps Center for the Arts in Hudson, Wisconsin. Their recreations were also featured monthly from 2017 to 2019 at the James J. Hill Center and from 2020 to 2022 at Park Square Theater in Saint Paul. Currently, the MORLS can be seen regularly at Crooners Supper Club in Minneapolis.
The Society’s live performances are inspired by the podcast of the same name. The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society Podcast revisits the great crime, horror and suspense programs from the golden age of radio, including tales from Suspense, Lights Out, Quiet Please, The Shadow, and more. Each episode features a classic or maybe-not-so classic story from the mysterious old-time radio vault, complete with historical notes and trivia. At the end of each podcast, your hosts, Tim, Joshua and Eric discuss the merits of the story and decide whether or not it stands the test of time.
“An artisanal, old-school way of making entertainment… The fun is in watching these fine actors work almost exclusively with their voices … and to see them create a sepia-toned world with handmade sound effects.” – Pioneer Press
