In this digital age of binge watching shows available on all sorts of devices, the days of family sitting down together in front of the television may seem a thing of the past. And what about sitting around the radio? Many alive today might not even know that was once an American pastime.
But a group of Hutchinson students has taken advantage of these strange times. With COVID-19 prompting everyone to spend more time at home, might it be the time to revisit the entertainment of the past? Two local teams crafting radio shows think so.
“It’s a lot of fun working with the whole group,” said Hutchinson High School freshman Rowan Jordahl. “And I love overcoming this pandemic and still bringing joy to everyone.”
Though the productions are radio shows, they’re found online at the Hutchinson Theatre Association’s YouTube page, tinyurl.com/ycdy9gaw.
Jason Olson, a teacher and director at Hutchinson High School, said that when Gov. Tim Walz ordered schools close their doors and students started distance learning, it left a hole usually filled by the spring play, speech team and other performances.
“I mentioned to a few students that it’d be nice to do something during this time,” Olson said. “I kind of missed the kids and wanted to see them.”
Among the ideas circulated and adopted was one pitched by Olson: the creation of radio shows. Hutchinson Theatre Association stepped up to sponsor.
“Erika Durheim, who is the director for the spring play, she’s leading a group with me,” Olson said. “She has the comedy group so I am leading the suspense group.”
Each group has about seven students who are actors and about three students who take care of sound effects.
SUSPENSE
The suspense group plans to post a video once a week on Mondays for at least a month. The performances are based on a famous radio show from the 1940s: “Suspense.” The first episode posted was “Drive-in.”
“Think of it like the radio version of ‘The Twilight Zone,’” Olson said. “’Drive-in’ is the story of a waitress at a drive-in. She meets a man who seems nice, but as the story goes on it becomes clear he’s not a good individual and she has to find a way to escape him.”
Since each week has its own self-contained episode, the cast rotates with different students taking on lead roles. The groups meet digitally from home and rehearse a few times before recording the performance. Students then begin the editing process, which smooths out rough edges, enhances the production values and adds additional sound effects.
“We’re having fun,” Olson said. “It’s really nice to be able to see each other, to interact and make sure everyone is doing OK while at the same time providing some enjoyment that doesn’t cost anything.”
In “Drive-in,” Jordahl plays a police officer and tackled editing for the show. He estimates he spent about 10-12 hours editing over three days.
“One effect that came into play a lot is footsteps on gravel,” Jordahl said, “walking down the street or rain throughout the entirety of it. ... It came together better than I was expecting. It took quite a bit of time to edit, but in the end it was worth it.”
Hutchinson High School Junior Landon Butler plays the “man” in “Drive-in.”
“I’m not going to give anything away,” he said, “but he goes to the drive-in where our main character works, and he offers her a ride home. ... He was fun. Towards the end I have to do a blood-curdling scream. It was a lot of fun but a little awkward, because I was sitting in my bedroom and the rest of my family was like, ‘What’s going on?’”
Students hope they can bring a little joy to Hutchinson residents in a difficult time, and make a little for themselves in the process.
“I went from last year doing so many activities, I did all the theater productions so I saw all these people most every day,” Butler said. “And then all this craziness happened and I haven’t seen any of them. We do use social media, but this is an excuse for all of us to get together. We tend to be on the call an hour after rehearsal is done just talking.”
COMEDY
For director Durheim, the comedy group has been a nostalgia trip.
“I was not alive in the ’40s,” she said, “but I have memories of my grandfather.”
She fondly recalls driving with him to the cabin in the summer, and him using the cassette player in his car to share old radio shows with her.
“There has been a lot of fun education for this as a byproduct,” Durheim said. “You need to have a little history, a little appreciation for who came before you. Radio plays were ‘the thing’ for a really long time. And I get to help the kids understand.”
She decided to lead the student performers in an homage to classic radio stars and in an episodic situational comedy, with plans to release content on Wednesdays. The first short homage is an “Abbott and Costello” routine, “Lion Hunting.”
“It’s been really fun for me to work with these teenagers, most of whom had never heard of Abbott and Costello, and being able to expose them,” Durheim said. “And hearing them laugh at that for the first time was really fun.”
Homages to other famous names are in the works, including Bob Hope, George Burns and Bette Davis.
As for episodic content, the comedy team is tackling “The Great Gildersleeve.”
“It was a very popular radio show that ran for 15 years and then made the switch to television, but didn’t quite survive,” Durheim said. “Gildersleeve’s signature laugh and catch phrase were so popular that they actually used it in a ‘Bugs Bunny’ cartoon on a couple of different occasions.”
The first episode to be produced by the comedy group is “Income Tax Forms Arrive.”
“Normally, without COVID, you would have had to turn in your taxes (last Wednesday),” Durheim said. “And so we have this funny episode of this woman who is a very seductive widow. She lures three different guys to her house, including The Great Gildersleeve, to help her figure out her income tax forms. She invites them for tea, for dinner, but her ulterior motive is to have help with her income taxes.”
Not only is the content different than usual, but so are the techniques.
“I didn’t realize how different it would be doing it via Zoom when kids — and actors in general — are so used to using their body language to tell a joke,” Durheim said. “Now they need to put their physicality in their voice. It has been an interesting challenge, and one that I think, the more we do this, they’ll get much better at.”
“It’s challenging to use different aspects of acting that we’re not used to,” Butler said. “I can’t move my eyebrows around to show I’m angry. I have to do it with my voice.”
