Radio, remember radio
We used to turn the dial
And use our imagination…
[…]
Radio, I miss you so-de-oh-vo-dee-oh
Do-dee-yo-do
Radio, I miss you so
The Radio Dinner is not quite as much of a ‘traditional’ show as the Murder Mystery, in that it’s a scripted reading, no memorization – or, in fact, intense characterization – required. The script is so hilariously written that you could literally deliver the lines flat and you would still get a good reaction, add to that the fact that the team is really just a bunch of hams, and pour a healthy few bottles of red over the audience…and it’s pretty much a guarantee that the performance is going to be a smash.
And it was.
What the radio show actually is is an over the top spoof of old time radio programming (who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of our scriptwriters!)…it’s a three hour performance in the specialty dining room, that includes a four course meal and limitless wine for the guests.
The nice thing for us about the Radio Show is that we don’t have to eat at the tables with the guests. Instead they close off the back portion of the dining room and serve us back there. Hence the whole thing becomes a massive laugh filled team dinner backstage…every time we came back from doing a scene in the dining room, the plates from the previous course were magically cleared and the next course was in front of us. We dined a course behind the guests I think.
Once we were all settled with our glasses full and our appetizers in front of us, the CD stood up raised his glass and said,
To hours and hours of blood sweat and tears to get this thing right…
And we all looked at him with slightly raised eyebrows
Okay okay, so it was only two really easy rehearsals, but THEY don’t know that! So let’s just kill this shall we?!
And clink, clink, clink all around the table. And when we got back from the second skit…
Hey Jersey, did they give you gingerale for the ‘Meaningless Toaster’ bits or is that real champers?
Nope…that…is champagne
You’ve got to be kidding me
Nope.
The “Meaningless Toaster” gives a speech at the end of each act, and it’s in the script that their whole glass gets emptied at the end of said speech. Hence why it’s usually ginger ale. Apparently last night it wasn’t.
This season I didn’t land the part I had last year, that went to a production cast member instead, but I still wore my bumble bee colours, with my hair swept up and curled into a 40’s style updo that kept it out of my eyes. Instead, I took over the part that had originally been written for my co-librarian, Spartan, who isn’t here this year. What was amusing for me was that the character was “Unenthusiastic Girl” (originally Unenthusiastic Boy, but changed because well…I’m a girl obviously!), the not-so-perky sidekick of “Jimmy Grip, Agent 13”…as such, all the lines I did have did have to be delivered completely flat. Since when have I been unenthusiastic about anything involving a comedy performance? There were more than a few times when it was difficult to keep a straight face.
As the Cruise Director announced blithely at the end of the night
This is a family show ladies and gents, because only family would let us get away with it.