Tag: Larry Groebe (Page 1 of 2)

Classic Sonic Society #9: Graves Shift

September 9, 2025 / Jack / 0 Comments

Prologue: Larry Groebe describes his interest in the Society!
This week, in a special podcasting issue, of the Sonic Society, we offer the Shadowlands Theatre radio noir spectacular premiere episode of “Graves Shift- Episode #1- Open for Business”. Phillipa Graves was my first full feature as an audio script writer. Immediately when I was considering doing a private jane, Phillipa’s personality came to me in a flash. I’m absolutely certain she’s always been waiting to come out, and if I didn’t write her, she’d throttle someone else’s Muse until she could take form. Later we’ll listen in on our conversation with Jerry Robbins from Colonial Radio Theatre, and check in to see what the machines are doing in our weekly serial- Robots of the Company.

Sonic Summerstock Playhouse 16.7- Sam Spade Parody: Stan Slade Detective: The Burmese Penguin Caper

August 17, 2025 / Jack / 0 Comments

In our encore performance from Project Audion this season, Larry Groebe returns again to ask what do you do if you grew up listening the classic dramatic series on the radio, then found a career writing TV comedy for Bob Hope, and now, decades later, you still harbor fond feelings about those radio shows of your youth? Well, if you’re Robert L. Mills, you write shows like the one you’re about to hear. It’s a takeoff of a certain famous detective whose name sounds awfully similar to OUR show’s hero, named Stan Slade. The original “Adventures of Sam Spade” was broadcast in the late 1940s and early ’50s. It starred Howard Duff as the detective created by Dashiell Hammett. It was a fun show that never took itself entirely seriously. Mr Mills has nudged his tribute a little further into the tongue-in-cheek — or should I say tongue in beak? -territory, reuniting the detective with his old adversaries from the Maltese Falcon movie, Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre. Everyone in our cast gets to have some fun with this adventure of Stan Slade, Detective, entitled “The Burmese Penguin Caper”.

Sonic Summerstock Playhouse 16.4- Sergeant Preston of the Yukon!

July 27, 2025 / Jack / 2 Comments

Sonic Summerstock returns with the incredible Larry Groebe and Project Audio and a very special performance!
“Sergeant Preston of the Yukon” (actually called “The Challenge of the Yukon” for most of its 16 years on the radio) was one of the greatest juvenile adventure radio series ever – part of a trinity of kids’ shows that originated from Station WXYZ in Detroit. (The others were “The Green Hornet” and “The Lone Ranger”.) It chronicled the never-ending adventure of the noble Mountie and his wonder dog Yukon King, maintaining law and order in the wilds of the frozen Northwest.

While there are nearly 700 surviving recordings of this classic show, Project Audion located a MISSING episode’s script that originally aired on May 25, 1955 — just two weeks before show ended its run. What’s more, we are delighted to feature 94-year-old Chuck Daugherty, who was actually heard in some of the original Preston series episodes during his time at WXYZ over 70 years ago. He’s part of a terrifically talented coast-to-coast cast for this exciting episode with original commercials for Quaker cereals.

Sonic Summerstock Playhouse 15.9- Bringing Up Baby: Part 2

September 1, 2024 / Jack / 0 Comments

Completing our grand finale of Season 15, Sonic Cinema Productions presents the fantastic screwball comedy made popular by Howard Hawk, Cary Grant, and Katherine Hepburn- Bringing Up Baby. This public domain treasure is Jack’s all time favourite classic comedy movie and with the support of an incredible team including Stephanie Stearns-Dulli, Tom Konkle, Theresa Ireland, Patte Rosebank, John Bell, Paul Arbisi and directed by Larry Groebe, we present part two! See you next week!

Sonic Summerstock Playhouse 15.8- Bringing Up Baby: Part 1

August 25, 2024 / Jack / 0 Comments

For the beginning of our grand finale of Season 15, Sonic Cinema Productions presents the fantastic screwball comedy made popular by Howard Hawk, Cary Grant, and Katherine Hepburn- Bringing Up Baby. This public domain treasure is Jack’s all time favourite classic comedy movie and with the support of an incredible team including Stephanie Stearns-Dulli, Tom Konkle, Theresa Ireland, Patte Rosebank, John Bell, Paul Arbisi and directed by Larry Groebe, we present part one! With special thanks to John Bell!

Sonic Summerstock Playhouse 15.5- Philip Marlowe

August 4, 2024 / Jack / 0 Comments

In the long lineup of fictional hard-boiled detectives, Philip Marlowe stands out as one of the earliest and best. Raymond Chandler’s creation first reached print in the early 1930s, then went on to memorable adaptations in film, television, and of course radio. “The Adventures of Philip Marlowe” had a solid four-year run of well over 100 episodes on CBS. Still, a handful of recordings are lost today.
Now Project Audion recreates one of these missing episodes – “The Quiet Number” – directly from the original script, exactly seventy-five years after it was broadcast. “The Quiet Number” wasn’t penned by Chandler, but we meet the son of the man who wrote this and most of Marlowe’s other radio adventures. Then our transcontinental voice cast performs this gritty story of lost love in a hot Los Angeles summer via a live transcription that sounds just like 1949. Our versatile voice actors were:
Andy Hartson-bowyer in Virginia
Richard Durrington in Idaho
Gary Layton in Texas
Lothar Tuppan in California
Kristen James in Nevada
Holly Adams in New York
Kyle Bonn in Oregon
Larry Groebe produced and directed from Texas

Sonic Summerstock Playhouse 14.11- Love is Stranger than Fiction

August 27, 2023 / Jack / 0 Comments

David Ault sweeps away the spotlights from the Summerstock Playhouse with our final act and feature season finale from Sonic Cinema Productions and the incredible screwball comedy from FIRST NIGHTER- “Love is Stranger Than Fiction” starring John Bell, Patte Rosebank, Angela Young, Larry Groebe, Joe Stofko, and introducing Paul Arbisi and Trevor Rines! Thanks for another incredible season!

Sonic Summerstock Playhouse 14.3- Syndrome Johnny

July 16, 2023 / Jack / 0 Comments

This week host David returns with more science fiction to the Summerstock stage with “Syndrome Johnny” a Tales of Tomorrow classic never before performed and brought by Project Audion and Larry Groebe, starring Trevor Rines, Tim Burns, Greg McAfee, Rhianno McAfee, Gary Layton, and our own Jack Ward!

Sonic Summerstock Playhouse 13.7A: Project Audion’s “Bad Day at Black Rock”

August 14, 2022 / Jack / 0 Comments

David Ault brings back Project Audion to the stage with Larry Groebe introducing “Bad Day at Black Rock”. This show is an adaptation for radio from the 1955 MGM movie which starred Spencer Tracy. Since Lux Radio Theatre and Screen Guild Playhouse and other classic American radio series were now gone from the airwaves, THIS show was created in Australia – for the series “Caltex Theatre”.It’s a gritty hour well-spent for the first Act of Summerstock and notice United Artist regulars Pete Lutz pulling double-duty directing as well and the incredible John Bell. Tom Konkle from Mindstream Players returns as a steady player!

Sonic Summerstock Playhouse 13.3A: Project Audion: Red Ryder “Roaring River Renegades”

July 17, 2022 / Jack / 0 Comments

This week in Sonic Summerstock Playhouse’s first act we have a new Project Audion show from Larry Groebe. Their 32nd recreation celebrates one of the Western Heroes of childhoods gone by – Red Ryder. At one point Red Ryder, his orphaned Indian pal Little Beaver, and old companion Buckskin were more popular than the Lone Ranger. This 1949 story packs horses, cattle, rainstorms, riverboats, fires, fistfights and gunfights into just thirty minutes.