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Remember WENN: Armchair Detectives -- the audio edition
Last year, the International Mystery Writer's Festival produced "Remember WENN: Armchair Detectives". I so wanted to attend, but finances and location really hampered my chances. Now I've got the next best thing, since they've released audio cds of the performance. My order arrived in only a few days but I'm only now having a chance to listen to it.
It's rather jarring to hear new voices performing favorite characters. I was reminded of the WENN actors hearing the student actors in "Don't Act Like That" playing their roles. It's strange to hear something so familiar performed so differently, like hearing a quirky rendition of an old standard. The timing and the beats you're used to aren't there and the notes are hit in different ways. I think it's a real credit to all the WENN actors, even the secondary characters, that to this day I can hear each of their voices and personalities so clearly. Also that despite how broadly their characters were written initially, they grew into those roles and gave them depth and feeling and humor. I'm trying not to picture this cast in later sequences, but it's difficult, knowing what comes next.
The other thing that takes some getting used to is the audience. WENN never had a laugh track, so hearing audience reactions besides my reactions was quite strange. A little thrilling, too, knowing some of these people were hearing and appreciating WENN for the first time.
The play combined "On the Air" and "Armchair Detective" with some added bits from other episodes. The "Ghost of WENN" material was not used, which was a shame. It might have given the play a spookier edge. The mystery section was a bit thin for a supposed mystery play festival.
The play opens with Betty reminiscing about how it all starts and how radio was back then. Don't hate me, but I actually like Betty's voice here. Amy Walker sounds soft and sweet and innocent... like I imagined she should.
The "Hands of Time" episode ends differently than I remember. I thought there was a joke from the Padre about two wives. Or was that a later scene?
I can't put a finger on what's off in the Colonel Moore scene. Maybe it's just that Mackie & Jeff's voices are fairly indistinguishable from each other, especially with the overdone Southern accents.
"Oh, honey, they're always on". That's our Gertie, summing up WENN for seasons to come.
I do take back one thing I thought initially -- Hilary & Jeff's respective ages. When I first listened to this, I thought they'd made Jeff & Hilary closer in age. And from the photographs, they do look similar. But listening again, I almost felt they'd pushed their age difference even further. Jeff sounds maybe 30s, Hilary sounds much older closer to 50s. She sounds like an aging well spoken Broadway star or well heeled society dame. (Ironically Melinda Peterson who played Hilary is married in real life... to the actor who played Mackie.)
I'd forgotten how pompous Victor was in the pilot. I think I overlooked it because he had the great "magic of radio" speech later.
The green room provides the most departure from the original. First we meet Eugenia who actually sounds the closest to the original -- also mentions the various show sponsors every other sentence. She's certainly bubbly and cheerful. Bubbly anyway.
Interesting they've worked Celia into the early scenes, complete with the infamous "What does a kiss sound like?" scene. They've dropped the Mellon family connection completely, probably would take up too much time to explain.
Now we've reached the part I've loved and hated about WENN. On the one hand, I love how Victor unequivocally loves radio. He sees the beauty and magic of the medium. But the way he treats Betty before that always bothered me. I know he's expecting free help, but he should have said something! Maybe it's supposed to highlight Betty's naivete going to the "big city". (In the audio, she even asks about accomodations. Were they expecting them to put her up somewhere?)
One major programming change: "Valiant Journey" is now "Love Conquers All." It took me a reference or two to realize "Wait, what?" The river scene is still hysterical and the audience is dying laughing. I do wish Mackie hadn't used his Phillip voice for the sonnet. He plays it for laughs, rather than letting Mackie show that he's more than appearances. That was one of the nicer moments of the pilot.
They also extended the missing minutes of "Love Conquers All" for way way too long. It almost feels like an excuse to put in other pieces of WENN lore like "I Gotta Sing" and Hilary's aversion to singing. This Betty's singing has a certain uncertain innocence still, thrust into the spotlight. She's not a belter by any means. Amanda Naughton had a tendency to push things a little with her voice. Amy Walker sings it fairly simply. She adds some jazziness to the end, which I liked.
One thing we miss with an audio production are the sight gags. We know what happens when Eugenia falls asleep at the organ, but poor Mr. Foley? The audience seemed to get a kick out of the "Rance Shiloh" sequence where Mackie and Jeff fight with a fearsome slap.
It's nearly forty minutes until the show before we finally hit one of my favorite WENN episodes "Armchair Detectives". Larry Looper had a very reedy sort of a voice. He sounded more desperate than intimidating.
The postscript describes what happened to the WENN cast with the arrival of television. Mackie and Hilary no longer played the variety of roles they'd enjoyed on the radio. They were the funny clown or Beaver's grandmother. Looks were more important than voices. Then they segued into a scene taken mostly from "Christmas on the Airwaves": the "radio makes family of us all" sequence. I loved that whole thing. It ranks up there with the "magic of radio" for reminding me the power of the medium. And that whole thing really hammered home that Remember WENN was above all a love song to radio, to the way things used to be. For a half hour, we watched this wacky station and listened to their strange broadcasts. We loved and laughed with them. We smiled at their unique problem solving abillities. Their voice choices make us smile or raise our eyebrows. How many times did we wish we could turn on "Hands of Time" or "Amazon Andy" or "Sam Dane, Private Detective"?
The shows ends with Amy Walker peforming "Remember WENN" theme song. She won an Angie award for playing Betty and David Ossman won an award for playing Mr. Eldridge.
Rodney Walker attended the show back in June and provided a long and equally detailed review of the show for comparison.
It's rather jarring to hear new voices performing favorite characters. I was reminded of the WENN actors hearing the student actors in "Don't Act Like That" playing their roles. It's strange to hear something so familiar performed so differently, like hearing a quirky rendition of an old standard. The timing and the beats you're used to aren't there and the notes are hit in different ways. I think it's a real credit to all the WENN actors, even the secondary characters, that to this day I can hear each of their voices and personalities so clearly. Also that despite how broadly their characters were written initially, they grew into those roles and gave them depth and feeling and humor. I'm trying not to picture this cast in later sequences, but it's difficult, knowing what comes next.
The other thing that takes some getting used to is the audience. WENN never had a laugh track, so hearing audience reactions besides my reactions was quite strange. A little thrilling, too, knowing some of these people were hearing and appreciating WENN for the first time.
The play combined "On the Air" and "Armchair Detective" with some added bits from other episodes. The "Ghost of WENN" material was not used, which was a shame. It might have given the play a spookier edge. The mystery section was a bit thin for a supposed mystery play festival.
The play opens with Betty reminiscing about how it all starts and how radio was back then. Don't hate me, but I actually like Betty's voice here. Amy Walker sounds soft and sweet and innocent... like I imagined she should.
The "Hands of Time" episode ends differently than I remember. I thought there was a joke from the Padre about two wives. Or was that a later scene?
I can't put a finger on what's off in the Colonel Moore scene. Maybe it's just that Mackie & Jeff's voices are fairly indistinguishable from each other, especially with the overdone Southern accents.
"Oh, honey, they're always on". That's our Gertie, summing up WENN for seasons to come.
I do take back one thing I thought initially -- Hilary & Jeff's respective ages. When I first listened to this, I thought they'd made Jeff & Hilary closer in age. And from the photographs, they do look similar. But listening again, I almost felt they'd pushed their age difference even further. Jeff sounds maybe 30s, Hilary sounds much older closer to 50s. She sounds like an aging well spoken Broadway star or well heeled society dame. (Ironically Melinda Peterson who played Hilary is married in real life... to the actor who played Mackie.)
I'd forgotten how pompous Victor was in the pilot. I think I overlooked it because he had the great "magic of radio" speech later.
The green room provides the most departure from the original. First we meet Eugenia who actually sounds the closest to the original -- also mentions the various show sponsors every other sentence. She's certainly bubbly and cheerful. Bubbly anyway.
Interesting they've worked Celia into the early scenes, complete with the infamous "What does a kiss sound like?" scene. They've dropped the Mellon family connection completely, probably would take up too much time to explain.
Now we've reached the part I've loved and hated about WENN. On the one hand, I love how Victor unequivocally loves radio. He sees the beauty and magic of the medium. But the way he treats Betty before that always bothered me. I know he's expecting free help, but he should have said something! Maybe it's supposed to highlight Betty's naivete going to the "big city". (In the audio, she even asks about accomodations. Were they expecting them to put her up somewhere?)
One major programming change: "Valiant Journey" is now "Love Conquers All." It took me a reference or two to realize "Wait, what?" The river scene is still hysterical and the audience is dying laughing. I do wish Mackie hadn't used his Phillip voice for the sonnet. He plays it for laughs, rather than letting Mackie show that he's more than appearances. That was one of the nicer moments of the pilot.
They also extended the missing minutes of "Love Conquers All" for way way too long. It almost feels like an excuse to put in other pieces of WENN lore like "I Gotta Sing" and Hilary's aversion to singing. This Betty's singing has a certain uncertain innocence still, thrust into the spotlight. She's not a belter by any means. Amanda Naughton had a tendency to push things a little with her voice. Amy Walker sings it fairly simply. She adds some jazziness to the end, which I liked.
One thing we miss with an audio production are the sight gags. We know what happens when Eugenia falls asleep at the organ, but poor Mr. Foley? The audience seemed to get a kick out of the "Rance Shiloh" sequence where Mackie and Jeff fight with a fearsome slap.
It's nearly forty minutes until the show before we finally hit one of my favorite WENN episodes "Armchair Detectives". Larry Looper had a very reedy sort of a voice. He sounded more desperate than intimidating.
The postscript describes what happened to the WENN cast with the arrival of television. Mackie and Hilary no longer played the variety of roles they'd enjoyed on the radio. They were the funny clown or Beaver's grandmother. Looks were more important than voices. Then they segued into a scene taken mostly from "Christmas on the Airwaves": the "radio makes family of us all" sequence. I loved that whole thing. It ranks up there with the "magic of radio" for reminding me the power of the medium. And that whole thing really hammered home that Remember WENN was above all a love song to radio, to the way things used to be. For a half hour, we watched this wacky station and listened to their strange broadcasts. We loved and laughed with them. We smiled at their unique problem solving abillities. Their voice choices make us smile or raise our eyebrows. How many times did we wish we could turn on "Hands of Time" or "Amazon Andy" or "Sam Dane, Private Detective"?
The shows ends with Amy Walker peforming "Remember WENN" theme song. She won an Angie award for playing Betty and David Ossman won an award for playing Mr. Eldridge.
Rodney Walker attended the show back in June and provided a long and equally detailed review of the show for comparison.
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