Tag: Crazy Dog Audio Theatre

Review of Big Big Space by Roger Gregg

SFFaudio Review

Big Big Space: The Complete Series
By Roger Gregg; Performed by a full cast
3 CD’s – 3 Hours [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Crazy Dog Audio Theatre
Published: 2001
ISBN: 689232069827
Themes: / Science Fiction / Comedy / Audio Drama /

Included in this 3 CD set are three hilarious one-hour audio dramas in 6 episodes – The Cabaret of Forbidden Celestial Delights, Big Jim Chancer and the Space Pirates, and The Zombies of Dr. Krell. The shows were originally broadcast on Ireland’s RTE Radio 1.

The cast of characters includes the crew of the starship Amadan: Captain Roslyn Sane, First Officer Hoax Minstrel, Counselor Disco Trojan, and Robot RomManDroid. The scripts have a lot of fun at the expense of the genre, and at the mainstays of Star Trek especially. Captain Roslyn Sane sounds and acts much like Trek’s Captain Janeway, and David Murray is brilliant as First Officer Hoax Minstrel – I swear he’s performing the part as “William Shatner as Captain Kirk” with hilarious results. The crew experiences adventures, dealing with teenage fractal quarks, evil accountants, and demanding extras, and poking witty, merciless fun at science fiction along the way.

All three shows were recorded live – live cast, live music, live effects, and live audience – which harkens back to the golden age of radio comedy. The shows are thoroughly entertaining and very funny. The live audience obviously enjoyed themselves, and so did I.

Don’t take my word for it! Listen to one of the episodes (“Who’s Afraid of Rotwang Krell”) at the Crazy Dog website.

The set is also available from ZBS.

posted by Scott D. Danielson

Roger Gregg of Crazy Dog Audio Theatre has recentl…


Roger Gregg of Crazy Dog Audio Theatre has recently posted two fabulous interviews:

First up is an interview of Dirk Maggs, audio theatre producer. He’s produced many audio plays and has won awards for An American Werewolf in London (I have GOT to find a copy of that one) and Superman: Doomsday and Beyond. Some of the topics discussed: audio theatre scripts, audio theatre actors, and the production process. Dirk’s latest show is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Tertiary Phase, which will broadcast soon on BBC Radio 4. The interview has many pictures from that production.

Second, an interview of Paul Deeley, the sound engineer on the Hitchhiker production. Deeley has worked closely with Dirk Maggs on a number of projects. Gregg interviews Deeley on the technical aspects of production – again, there are many cool pictures throughout, taken while recording Hitchhiker’s Guide.

Both of these interviews are full of great information about audio theatre. Check out all the other Crazy Dog interviews here.

More on Roger Gregg soon – in the pipeline is his hilarious Big Big Space production, available from ZBS.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Happy New Year! I’ve been experiencing a growin…

SFFaudio Online Audio

Happy New Year!

I’ve been experiencing a growing appreciation for audio drama – I’ve always liked them, but lately I’ve been enjoying a renewed enthusiasm for the medium. Here are several good links to check out:

The Crazy Dog Audio Theatre has a list of the “greatest productions conceived specifically for audio” called The Masterpiece Gallery. Find it here.

The folks who bring us the Mark Time Award have a Science Fiction Audio Hall of Fame. Find it here.

A great place to buy Audio Drama is ZBS, the home of Meatball Fulton of Ruby fame.

Yuri Rasovsky, audio dramatist extraordinaire, has a website full of good stuff. Find it here. Some items of interest include an online text called The Well-Tempered Audio Dramatist: Producing Audio Plays in the 21st Century, reprints of some excellent Yurika! essays from Audiofile Magazine, and a list of his currently available productions.

And here is an essay by Yuri Rasovsky on the Audiofile magazine website called Audio Drama Today, which includes his “Audio Drama A-List” – ten accessible, enjoyable audio dramas.

Enjoy!

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

Big news for Hitchhiker fans! (Yes, I am one…) …

SFFaudio News

Big news for Hitchhiker fans! (Yes, I am one…) In February, 2004, on BBC 4 Radio, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy radio series will continue! From the Crazy Dog Audio Theatre website (go there for the full story):

BBC RADIO 4 presents an ABOVE THE TITLE PRODUCTION

THE HITCH HIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY

by DOUGLAS ADAMS

THE TERTIARY, QUADRENARY & QUINTESSENTIAL PHASES:

“LIFE THE UNIVERSE AND EVERYTHING”,

“SO LONG & THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH”

& “MOSTLY HARMLESS”

Twenty-five years after the original radio series of DOUGLAS ADAMS’ HITCH HIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY exploded into the public consciousness, the further exploits of its bewildered hero ARTHUR DENT are being brought to life in their original medium.

Drawn from Douglas Adams’ later Hitch Hiker novels, the adventures continue in LIFE, THE UNIVERSE AND EVERYTHING, which will be dramatised in six half hour episodes, SO LONG AND THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH and MOSTLY HARMLESS, which will comprise four episodes each.

As the original two series were dubbed the PRIMARY and SECONDARY phases by Douglas Adams, these new series form the TERTIARY, QUADRENARY and QUINTESSENTIAL phases, and will at last finish the ‘trilogy in five parts’.

The original Hitch Hikers radio cast is returning; SIMON JONES as Arthur Dent, GEOFFREY McGIVERN as Ford Prefect, SUSAN SHERIDAN as Trillian, MARK WING-DAVEY as Zaphod Beeblebrox and STEPHEN MOORE as the much loved Marvin The Paranoid Android.

Again, more of the story on the Crazy Dog Audio Theatre website.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson