In every life, a little rain…

We’ve had a little rain in Northern Minnesota these past two weeks. Back home in Oregon, it would be cause for complaint. Here in the Northwoods, however, rain inspires thankfulness that the precep falling from the sky is not yet frozen. For me, it’s a reminder that sometimes, a little trouble is to be expected; even for a group as blessed as the Icebox Radio Theater.

‘Pickaxe Hill’, our next podcast, is slated to go up on the feed one week from today. Recording and basic editing is complete, and I have a pretty good idea what I’d like to do with the music, so over all I’d say this show is on its way. However, family commitments will take me away from the studio (and out of Minnesota) for all but two days of that period. That leaves us with a kind of tight schedule to work under. Plus, the play that follows in three weeks time is part one of our newest Dome Dog saga, which – sadly – I did not get started on last week when I should have. We might try and record Wednesday evening, but getting the crew together for this Dome Dog has been a trial. What makes it even worse is that Harley Droba, our star and creator of the series, is chomping at the bit with plenty of free time to go to work. Sorry Harley! I’m confident it will all come together.

Our Sound Effects Director Dave Erwin will be working on a few final effects for Pickaxe Hill today, after which I will have all the pieces in place. Part of the job here will be figuring out how much of the work can be done via laptop on the road. So, once again, organization is the key.

Another cause for worry for the theater this year is our grant situation. We went ahead and started this podcast studio with grants a big part of the finance plan. Now it seems like one grant we’ve applied for may be a long shot. It’s a frustrating situation in that the grant in question is from the State which is looking at more than doubling its arts funding in the next few years. I serve on a regional arts council, and the folks there are dealing with so many uncertainties, they are getting very conservative with existing funds. This means our grant, which looked likely about three months ago, is now in jeopardy. Luckily, our support from the community has been such that we might be able to continue in our new studio through this season. Still and all, I can’t help feeling like I made a mis-step applying for the state grant at all.

What do you do in this situation? You keep positive.

We WILL finish ‘Pickaxe Hill’ on time.

We WILL keep the doors of the studio open.

We WILL keep getting better and better at producing audio theater.

We WILL pay the rent this month.

That being said, if some of our blog readers wanted to visit the donation button on our website, I wouldn’t complain. : >

Thanks for reading, and remember to…

Keep Listening!

-Jeff

Help the IBRT, and Get Fab Stuff!

The IBRT has put together a Halloween Special that we are currently marketing to terrestrial radio stations via PRX.org, kind of a combination marketing outreach, fundraiser deal. If you're a fan on Facebook, you've already heard all about this. But for the rest of you, here's the pitch.

"Listening in the Dark" is an hour-long program made up of two episodes of Imagination-X, and last season's very popular IBRT episode 'The Thing on the Ice'. If you're a podcast listener, you've heard all this already, but radio listeners haven't. And we need your help to make Halloween a little scarier for those radio folks.

We are marketing this program to community and public radio stations around North America, and those stations generally only listen to requests from people in their listening area. So we're looking for some folks to look up an address and send a letter or email on the IBRT's behalf. If you're interested, respond to this thread and I'll send you a boilerplate letter that you can alter.

If you know of a commercial station that might be interested in airing the special, that would be great too. There's a built-in break at the bottom of the hour where they can insert their own commercials.

AND as an incentive, if your area station plays the show, we'll send you an uncompressed, full stereo CD of our Halloween Special, or a CD of any other IBRT play, plus a $20 gift certificate to our Cafe Press store.

-Jeff

Quick notes:
title: "Listening in the Dark"
time: 54:48
PRX page: http://www.prx.org/pieces/39720-listening-in-the-dark
Our Cafe Press store: http://www.cafepress.com/iceboxradio
Listening in the Dark page: http://www.iceboxradio.org/Halloween%20Special.html

The Icebox Radio Theater 2009/10 Podcast Season (first half)

Here's a run-down of the first few episodes of this podcast season. Schedule subject to change.

October 12 – CASS & LOL Two young girls, the best of friends. Like most girls like most girls these days, there is at least a passing fascination with vampires. But how far will this fascination go? ‘Cass & Lol’ is presented as part of ‘Frozen Frights’, the IBRT’s series of new horror.

October 26 – PICKAXE HILL Frozen Frights month continues with this terrifying tale of a young couple and the house of their dreams. Doug and Julie always wanted a home by the lake, and now they can finally afford it. No matter that the house comes with a mysterious past, and a neighbor who is obsessed with it. But when Doug is mysteriously injured leaving Julie to face things alone, terror awaits her on top of Pickaxe Hill.

November 9 – Dome Dog, Issue 2, Episodes 1 & 2 Minnesota’s very own super hero is back in an all new adventure! When his beloved Vikings football team offers Dome Dog a chance to play pro ball, he can’t resist even though best girl and newly minted crime fighting super-partner Mustard Girl smells a rat. Will Dome Dog realize his mistake in time? Or will the lure of the gridiron prove too much for our hero – and an opportunity for a mysterious stranger from the shadows?

November 23 – THE “CALLS TO SANTA” SHOW Every year, the Icebox Radio Theater revives a holiday radio tradition. In the first weeks of December, Santa himself flies into Northern Minnesota to spend a week at the local radio station fielding calls from area tots live, on the air. This year, we’d like the whole world to join in on the fun via Skype and the theater’s streaming radio station. And to get you in the mood, we offer up a few choice slices of last year’s show, including the heart-warming audio theater classic, ‘The Christmas Room’.

December 7 - Dome Dog, Issue 2, Episodes 3 & 4 Our new Dome Dog Adventure continues! With Dome Dog distracted by gridiron glory, a new villain appears on the scene. He is called, ‘The Hunter’, and he’s ready to use his vast money, privilege and inhuman ability with a deer rifle to turn Minnesota’s wealth of natural beauty over to a select group of rich and powerful playboys; A Slap in the Face to everything the 32^nd State stands for! As the Hunter moves ahead with his plan, Dome Dog’s partner in life as well as crime fighting, the Shape Shifting wonder of the North, Mustard Girl, acts on her own. How will she fare against the Evil Rich One? Tune in next time to find out!

December 21 - Dome Dog, Issue 2, episode 5 All is darkest before the dawn as The Hunter tightens his grasp around Dome Dog and Mustard Girl. We don’t want to give too much away in this capsule, but you’re gonna wanna tune in to this special omnibus climax to the Latest Dome Dog saga!

January 4 – THE SCOOP SISTERS, ‘NEW SCHOOL BLUES’ PART 1 Those small town girls of mystery are back in an all-new adventure! Daughter Mary is struggling with a difficult teacher at her new school in tiny Icebox, Minnesota. But when mom Mel and grandmom Jasmine try to help, yet another mystery bubbles to the surface in the lives of Northern Minnesota’s most dedicated independent reporters.

January 18 - THE SCOOP SISTERS, ‘NEW SCHOOL BLUES’ PART 2 The plot thickens as Mel and Jasmine try to uncover the secrets of Mary’s least favorite teacher, and end up in the middle of an FBI investigation! Recorded in front of a live audience.

AND MUCH MORE TO COME….

Stu…Stu…Studio!

You remember your first apartment? Ours (my wife’s and mine, that is) was a tiny little crook in the wall with one of those accordion sliding walls for a bedroom door, and three large windows that looked directly out onto an alley, the top of the car port, and then right into the apartment next door which seemed, at times, to only be six or seven feet away. This being a college town, there was no end of drama in that apartment next door, and my wife and I spent much of our first three months of marriage trying to figure out exactly what the relationships were between the two men and one woman who lived across that alley. Diane and I have lived in many places since then, but I’ll always have fond memories of that first place.

And now, the Icebox Radio Theater has a place as well, and it’s every bit as funky and quirky as that apartment with a view from long ago. I’m writing this in the basement of Backus Community Center, a 70-year-old building that served International Falls as a junior high until a few short years ago. Our new home is in the basement; a room marked ‘Health Room’. I do not know if Health Class was taught here, or if it served as some sort of early weight room, but it was a challenge to convert this space from its former use to ours.

About two weeks ago, several brave volunteers began moving our equipment, a lot of donated carpet, Styrofoam and cardboard egg crates into the room. Along the way we picked up a few tables, chairs and music stands (it’s amazing what you can scrounge around the basement of an 70-year-old building) and benefited tremendously by the generosity of the building’s management who allowed us to use the old fly curtains from the auditorium stage as sound insulation.

Last week, our good friends the Erwin’s came in to record ‘Cass and Lol’, our first play to be recorded here. Things basically went off without a hitch. There is still a little more echo than I’d like, but we’re working on it.

The attached photos are of the actor’s area (basically finished) and the control table (look, already a mess!) The next task will be shaping a sound effects area out of the rubble of all our other projects. We still have hopes for a comfy green room area, but are waiting on some donations, namely a few furnishings. Oh my kingdom for couch!

Yesterday, my daughter and I ran internet cable to the room, so we can now broadcast from this space, as well as record. The whole project is really coming together, so stay tuned for more. Keep Listening!

Happy Labor Day, everyone!

I sit wearily typing this as summer officially comes to an end. A wonderful, marvelous team of people gathered today to begin the process of turning a large, very noisy room (the picture at right is the blank canvas stage) into a recording studio. There’s still a lot of work to do, but I think we’re on our way. I’ve always wanted a playground on which to play, and I can see it coming together in the next few days. There’s still a few things the room needs. Our Green Room area (a place for actors to hang out between takes) is a little bare of furniture, as we were hoping someone would offer up a old couch or two and no one did. I still have hope and know that this funky little space will help us create great things, and maybe even become a comfortable hangout, besides.
Some more nice news: Radio Poplar, an online station in the England that started out life as a service for a hospital in Leeds, will be airing three of our plays during the Christmas season. We’re very proud to know that more folks in the U.K. will find out about the Northland’s stories. Their website is http://www.radiopoplar.co.uk.
Well, that’s about all the gas in the tank. The first shows from our new studio are due in October, so stay tuned, and Keep Listening!

-Jeff

THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM – OF FUN!

August 25th, and once again, I’m a day late with this blog post. But I’m hoping that blog readers are more forgiving than podcast listeners, who seem to reward regular posting with loyal listening.

August is rapidly fading away and the coming podcast season is looming. I’ve been focusing on trying to write scripts while simultaneously working on grant applications. To recap, we’re writing grants this year to establish a recording home, and to pay our very accomplished and professional actors. To do this, the theater will focus on its podcasting season much like radio producers from yesteryear focused on a season of radio shows. There are nineteen show slots between the beginning of the season on September 14th, and the end of the season on Memorial Day, May 31st. We are very close to having enough scripts to fill those time slots, but the only actual recordings we have are short works from the Spring Fling show, the Scoop Sisters from this July, and a Christmas show made up of a couple of ‘Calls to Santa’ calls from last year, and ‘The Christmas Room’.

Wow. That means we need to get to work and record. First step, find a recording studio. We are looking closely at two spaces at the moment, but the decision where to go will probably wait until early September. Then, we’ll need to get to work right away. First, there’s moving into the new space, wherever it will be. We’ll need wall coverings (carpet is good, blankets and sleeping bags do in a pinch) carpet for the floor, and some kind of insulation might be necessary if we have to deal with an unfinished ceiling. Then, computers and furniture will be moved in provide the machines necessary and few homey touches.

Incidentally, if you’ve got a chair or couch you could do without, let us know. I’m sure we could make use of it.

I think we’ll need a sound effects area, so that means a lot of SFX props will move into the space. Not to mention all the sound gear. I think I see a moving day in my future.

First order of business once we get settled will be recording a scare story or two for October. It’s all about the horror on the lead-up to Halloween, and who knows, we may even offer a bonus episode on October 31st itself.

ODDS & ENDS
My family and I had the pleasure of dinner with one of our most important alumni this week when Ben Utter, and his wife Brandi, made their way to the Falls from their new home in St. Paul. I met Ben when he was working at KXBR radio and we were just starting the IBRT. He appeared in the first three productions, and his talent is unequaled in my opinion. For the past few years, he has been living on the South Atlantic coast, and only just recently relocated to St. Paul. We’re thrilled to have him close, especially since he is considering writing for the IBRT. I can’t wait.

While we welcome Ben back to the not-so-far vicinity, we bid farewell to another of the IBRT’s VIP’s. No, no one died. But Anna Remus, an actress in the early years and a junior member of our first board of directors, is leaving for college. Harvard, in fact. I wish her the best of luck, and thank her so much for all she’s contributed to the theater. I feel blessed that Anna worked with us again this past year (on ‘A Christmas Room’ and ‘A Distant Land’) and hope she’ll return from time to time. Good Luck, Anna!

GOING FORWARD

As I write this, I am gratefully sitting in an air-conditioned building while Minnesota’s long-overdue summer finally descends on the city of International Falls. We’re pushing 90 degrees outside with a slight breeze, and I’m stuck working while the rest of the community heads to one of the Northland’s many lakes.

Hard to complain, however, when the Icebox Radio Theater is turning the corner on its best summer ever. This past week, it was the local media aiding the cause when a news station out of Duluth aired a story filmed during our last live show on July 29^th. Cast, crew and friends of the theater gathered at my home to enjoy the broadcast, and feel just a little famous. So far, a lot of friends from all over the world have contacted me, saying they enjoyed the video and what we are doing here in International Falls. If you’d like to see the story, it’s still available HERE.

Sometimes, I feel my agricultural roots sinking deep. My family were all farmers a generation or two back, and it seems like I have a seasonal clock in my head that only allows certain jobs to be done at certain times. And for whatever reason, I write in the summer. I can write at other times, of course, but the business of making scripts seems to flow best when a warm breeze rattles through the scrub pines and maples, and the buzz of mosquitoes keeps most people safely sequestered behind screens in the cool of the evening. Laptop computers have been a boom. Nothing like sitting somewhere outdoors on a warm day and bringing worlds to life, creating problems just to solve them, and dreaming up characters that are both fantastic and familiar. Not that I’m able to do this very often, of course. You write a thousand words just so a sentence or two can really reach people. But I count myself among the eternally blessed that I came to International Falls and found an audience I could at least talk at.

Next, its back into the grant grind as the theater looks ahead to next podcast season, and major change in how we do things. Instead of seat-of-your-pants writing and producing, we are plotting out twenty podcasts running from Labor Day to Memorial Day, checking our calendars to see where the recording windows can be found between the responsibilities of jobs and family, and basically looking at making the leap from amateur to professional. That’s right, we’re taking advantage of Minnesota’s favorable funding environment toward the arts by writing grants, and paying our talent with the proceeds.

Now I’m not suggesting our very dedicated and talented troupe of actors has been ‘amateurish’ in their work so far. Just the opposite. They have worked so hard for the IBRT, it’s time to recognize the fact that they’re professionals already, and reward them with a paycheck. They are professional, as far as I’m concerned, and I want the world to know that. Look forward to the coming season and the changes in store on the Icebox Radio Podcast.

Much more news lies ahead, so don’t forget to check this space. And as always, Keep Listening!