Icebox Radio Theater

2011-01-18T16:00:00.000-08:00

To All who read this blog, we've recently spruced up our website at Icebox Radio, which includes a much newer, much more-utilized blog. I advise everyone who's subscribed before to subscribe here:

feed://iceboxradio.org/blogs/icebox-radio/feed

And thanks for reading!

2010-12-06T06:45:00.000-08:00

Hi - I'm nervous! This is a major day for the Icebox Radio Theater. We are sprucing things up, putting our out best outfits and HAVING A PARTY!

You know that nervous feeling you get when you've gotten all ready for a party but no one has come yet? That's how we feel this week. For the first time ever, the IBRT is offering memberships in the theater. We are now more than just a creator of stories. We are a place to BE.

In the next few weeks, we'll launch a brand new website with tons of bells and whistles but I wanted to offer pre-memberships to all our most special friends. There are several levels spelled out below. Every level has special benefits, but at each one you'll know you are supporting the IBRT's efforts to create and distribute the best in new audio theater.

Below that is an order form you can cut and paste to email or message. We won't invoice anyone until the new year so as not to mess up your holiday shopping. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to check the hors d'oeuvres and maybe another little glass of wine...

IBRT MEMBERSHIPS

GOLDEN MIC CLUB

$100.00

Quarterly Newsletter

Members-Only web content

Discount CD subscription

Vote for theater officers

Vote in 'Show, Actor, Actress' of the year awards

An autographed CD, show of your choice

Sweatshirt

Coffee mug

Have a vote on play schedule

An autographed, session-used script

Custom answering machine message

An appearance in an IBRT production

FOLEY STUDIO

$50.00

Quarterly Newsletter

Members-Only web content

Discount CD subscription

Vote for theater officers

Vote in 'Show, Actor, Actress' of the year awards

An autographed CD, show of your choice

T-Shirt

Have a vote on play schedule

An autographed, session-used script

GREEN ROOM

$25.00

Quarterly Newsletter

Members-Only web content

Discount CD subscription

Vote for theater officers

Vote in 'Show, Actor, Actress' of the year awards

An autographed CD, show of your choice

MEMBERS

$10 per year

Quarterly Newsletter

Members-Only web content

Discount CD subscription

Vote for theater officers

Vote in 'Show, Actor, Actress' of the year awards

=====================================

NAME

STREET

CITY STATE ZIP

MEMBER LEVEL

Member Green Room Foley Studio Golden Mic

2009-10-19T18:37:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-08T08:40:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-05T21:09:00.000-07:00

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….

2009-09-21T18:22:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-09-07T20:05:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-25T18:41:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-08-12T14:42:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-30T09:43:00.000-07:00

Icebox Radio: Best Week Ever?!

This isn’t the usual time for a blog update, but there is so much happening all at once I felt like passing it along.

First, The Scoop Sisters: New School Blues went off without a hitch (well, I missed a cue or two) last night at the bandshell. We avoided bad weather, our engineer Stephen (Boy Genus) Anderson overcame several technical difficulties before, and during the show, and the cast (Vicki, Karen, Aela, Rachel, Justin, Piran and Veryan) were stellar.

And the cast had some extra distractions to deal with, too. A cameraman and reporter from Fox-21 News in Duluth were their doing a story on the theater, and this show. The cameraman was moving right in close, shooting over our shoulders, etc. The story is scheduled to air on Monday night, at 9pm as part of the news’ ‘Small Towns’ segment.

Next, one of our plays, ‘The Thing on the Ice’ is featured this week on another podcast called ‘Decoder Ring Theatre’. Decoder Ring is probably the most popular audio theater podcast going with many thousands of downloads a month. Decoder Ring does two of their own series (The Red Panda Adventures and Black Jack Justice) from Fall to Spring, then fills in with other programs during the Summer. We were lucky enough to be one of those programs this month, and that exposure is helping us break all kinds of podcast download records, and gaining new audience. Thanks Decoder Ring!

And finally, the theater got the news this morning, that the Marshall N. Knudson Family Community Fund, a local foundation, has awarded us a $2,000 grant for the coming podcast season. This grant will go toward setting up a studio space for the year, and (ready for this) paying the actors. There’s still a lot of work to do, but the coming year is looking better than ever!

How’s that for a week, huh?

2009-07-27T20:30:00.003-07:00

OF PAINTING AND OTHER ARTISTIC STUFF

Last week, I got up the motivation to tackle a project I’ve been putting off for some time. Five years ago, several very, very nice people associated with the IBRT put together a float for International Falls’ 4^th of July parade. Part of that float was a large wooden sign with the theater’s name and (then) website address. That sign is the same one that people local to The Falls know and love as the now weather-beaten, banged up edifice that pops up in front of my house from time to time, with a reader board indicating when the next show or audition will take place.

Well, that original sign has seen better days. And our website changed to a different domain four years ago. But I just never quite got my act together enough to replace the sign until this month. That’s why this past week, you could have found me leaning over a sheet of plywood in my backyard, carefully trying to letter the exact same information (with updated web address) on a brand new sign.

First, I am no visual artist. This one task took close to four hours of labor, starting with painting the plywood it’s three coats of white, followed by hooking my computer to the library’s video projector, then arranging the letters just so, then tracing them in pencil. Finally, I took brush and blue enamel paint can in hand and struggled with the process of lettering ‘Icebox Radio Theater’ and ‘www.iceboxradio.org’ around my squiggly-lined letters.

I dripped, I splattered, I tried different brushes, I had to run to the store with work gloves on because (as it turns out) enamel paint only comes out with Mineral Spirits, and my hands were covered with a uniform blue goo that seemed to acquire a stronger grip with each attempt to wash with soap and water. But, in the end, I managed to create a sign that looked like a reasonably talented sixth grader had knocked it out in one afternoon. But it was not an unrewarding experience. I did improve as I went forward, and by the end I had learned a few brush strokes that rendered the result acceptable.

The thought that occurred to me as I went through all this is was perhaps I was living out a model for the emerging performing artist. In the future, all of us will have the chance to write, or direct our own movies and radio shows. Some of us might even start online television stations. And when that happens, somewhere someone will be applying an over-loaded paintbrush inexpertly to a sign. Big theaters hire professional sign painters. Small theater’s make do. I was forced by necessity to do something I didn’t particularly want to do. But it served a purpose, and furthered the project. Shows must be publicized, after all, otherwise they’re not really shows. They are rehearsals. I will never be an artist, but I can – given enough time – produce a not-horrible sign. And for tonight, anyway, that is enough.

2009-07-13T09:19:00.000-07:00

Welcome to another blog post of the Icebox Radio Theater. This is a significant post in that it is the first time I have tried to keep a regular schedule of blogging, which will hopefully lead to more interest in the this blog and the theater in general. You’ll notice today is Monday. Since we already podcast every other Monday, I figured it made sense to do a blog update on the Monday’s we’re not podcasting. This means that you guys can always count on something from the IBRT every single Monday of the year.

SHOW NEWS: We are only two weeks and two days away from our next live show. As is tradition, we will be performing at the Bandshell at Smokey Bear Park as part of the Wednesday Concert in the Park series. The show is free, and for those not able to make it, we’ll be broadcasting on the streaming station Icebox Radio starting at 7pm on showdate, which is July 29^th. Many thanks to Jim Bujold and Dynamic Technologies for making the Internet stream possible.

After the last live show in May, the IBRT brain trust got together and talked about how the spring show, and what direction the theater should head. Though we felt the show itself was fine – one of our best, as a matter of fact – audience response seemed to be a little tepid. I felt that perhaps the variety show concept is getting old hat and we needed a change of pace. So the live show at the bandshell this month will be not be a variety show, but a play; a mystery play as a matter of fact.

We’ll be doing ‘Scoop Sisters: New School Blues’ an hour-long play staring those three ladies of mystery our podcast listeners will remember from last November. In this show, teen Mary is butting heads with a particularly difficult teacher at school, and Mel and Jasmine look into it to discover the teacher is not all that she appears to be. When federal agents appear to warn the Scoop Sisters off the case, even more crazy investigations ensue.

We are not abandoning the variety show format, only taking a break. The idea why is twofold. First, variety shows take a lot more work and coordination, and I felt everyone deserved a break from that. Plus, it can difficult to get cast and crew to open up two solid weeks of rehearsal time during vacation season. In preparation for last year’s CONvergence show, we never had the whole cast together until the final few days of rehearsal. Second, as I said, the audience at our last variety show was a little quiet. And we did get several comments to the effect that though the show had good bits too it, it wasn’t really a whole show. Again, I don’t feel that’s the fault of the production since that particular show was one of the most consistent, tight and funny shows we’ve ever done.

The problem with being in show business is that you’ve always got to stay one step ahead of the audience. And my best guess right now is that the summer time, the out of doors, and the relaxed atmosphere of the bandshell show will be conducive to live performance based on ‘Story’. Rather than razzel-dazzeling them with lots of skits and songs, we’re going to invite the audience to pull up a chair and listen to a mystery. There will be suspense, there will be humor, and (if I do my job as director) there will be a couple of great performances from our talented cast.

Today is my 43^rd Birthday, and as I look back, I begin to think the move to International Falls and founding the IBRT was one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. It’s been a very fun ride so far, and I feel blessed to be on it. Thanks to everyone who’s come alongside the theater and helped us lo these past five years.

Thanks for the download, and Keep Listening!

2009-07-06T15:14:00.000-07:00

It is vacation’s end.

I’m sitting in our backyard, taking a few minutes to begin to fill you all in on what’s up with the IBRT. But my mind is still drifting back to the previous two weeks (near enough) when my family and I were away from home, traveling over 4,000 miles, re-connecting with family and friends living back on the west coast, and finally making lots of new friends and contacts at our yearly pilgrimage to CONvergence, a sci fi convention in the Twin Cities. It was a wonderful time. My parents celebrated their 50^th Wedding Anniversary at a huge party, followed by three days of family time at the Oregon Coast. Then Diane, Rachel and I met up with Stephen at CONvergence for four more days of fun and weirdness. As I sit here waiting for our vacation laundry to finish, I find myself infusing the entire trip with meaning.

If it seems strange to be philosophical about all that, you should know I come by it naturally. My birthday is in July, and it’s not unusual for someone in his mid-forties (as I am) to wax poetic about life, the universe and everything as the big day approaches. Plus, CONvergence is a very special event too me. It is, first and foremost, recreation. But the story of the Con and I is a little bit more complicated than that.

I first visited Minneapolis in July of 2003. After working for a year or more at developing my craft as an audio theater producer, I worked up the courage to submit two short pieces I’d done to the Mark Time Awards. Audio theater has no Oscars, and in those days, the Mark Times were about it as far as recognition goes. And low and behold, I won second place. After working in a garage studio for virtually no recognition, the award was vindication that yes, I could do this. And Diane saw that clearly enough to suggest that we could afford the plane ticket from Portland to Minneapolis for the convention.

So I went out to pick up a pat-on-the-back in plaque form. The fact that the ceremony happened to take place at a science fiction convention mattered to me not one whit. I had heard of such things, even heard they were growing in popularity, but they weren’t my thing. I was a serious artist, interested in some day easing, or even relieving the financial burden my wife had taken on by re-establishing audio drama as a viable art form, and maybe getting slightly rich. But costumes and parties and arguing over Kirk vs Picard? Not for me.

And then I went.

About four days later, I was back in Portland, trying to explain to my family what I had just gone through. The phrase I coined then is now still the best way of describing my feelings: It was like breathing pure oxygen. The amount of creative energy in that hotel was astounding. Sure, some of it was focused in some weird places, and I’m certain that after I had trundled off to bed, there were activities the family pastor wouldn’t have approved of, but there was also an unbelievable level of artistic freedom and a genuine sense of community. That, as Diane and I had often discussed, was something sorely lacking in our home town of Monmouth, Oregon. We had felt it so acutely we were commuting 40 minutes out of town for church. And my attempts at starting a community theater proved so frustrating, I switched to an art form I could create in the privacy of my own garage. But on the day I got back from my first CONvergence, none of that seemed to matter.

Driving back from the airport, I prattled on to Diane and the kids about the panels I’d joined, the concerts I’d heard, and the incredible movie room with couches for seating and all the free popcorn and soda you could stomach. We talked about going there as a family, how much fun it would be, how we all liked games and movies and stories of the fantastic. And we did not talk about the fact that four plane tickets, plus hotel, plus convention membership fees would have represented far, far more money than we had ever paid out for a vacation. Up until then, family getaways consisted of driving to one grandparent or the other, giving the kids GrandmaGrandpa time, and letting someone else worry about meals and grocery bills. Even as I chatted away about the possibility of a return trip to the con, part of me knew I was being humored. There was just no way.

That was in July of 2003. In August of that year, Diane heard about a job in International Falls, Minnesota; not exactly next door to Minneapolis, but at least in the same state. She brought it too my attention for the expressed purpose of having me poo-poo the idea so that she could forget all about it. Maybe it was my CONvergence experience, or maybe it was the subconscious need for a stronger community than we had, but when Diane did bring the job to my attention, I disappointed her. I said it sounded ‘interesting’. The drill was repeated with both sets of grandparents and our kids. Always, the results were the same. Everyone thought it sounded, ‘interesting’.

From there, the dominoes fell. On December 29^th, four Adams’ and two cats flew into the International Falls airport on a cloudy, cold day. We were a full week ahead of the moving truck, and ate our meals around a cardboard box table on four folding chairs bought at the local K-Mart. A few weeks later, I was walking around my new home town on a bright, bitterly cold day, thinking our one complaint about Monmouth had been answered. Monmouth lacked a feeling of community. International Falls had it in spades. It had character and quirkiness. People didn’t lock their doors, left their cars running while unlocked for trips to the store, and didn’t always show up on time. They were all conservative, but strong Union Democrats. They worshiped hunting, fishing and hockey (not necessarily in that order) And they took an almost perverse pleasure in being able to tell people, ‘Yes, I live in the coldest spot in the nation. My home is one of our country’s extremes.’

And when I got there, no one seemed to be telling this town’s stories.

That was the genesis of the IBRT. Somewhere in those first few months it occurred to me that CONvergence was now only a days drive away. I packed up the last show I ever produced in Oregon (a sci fi story inspired by the CON) and this time, won first place at the Mark Time Awards. Truth be told, that second CONvergence was a disappointment. My expectations were simply too high. But the next year, my son joined me. The year after that, daughter Rachel came along. And they year that followed, the fantasy hatched during that car ride home finally came to pass when Diane joined in. All of us were at the CON.

Audio is a growing part of CONvergence. The Mark Time Awards are still going strong, though I haven’t managed to win one since 2005, and this year, six panel discussions were held on subjects connected to the art form. Our streaming radio station, Icebox Radio, broadcast live from the CON for the first time this year. And next year, some of us are getting serious about an audio ‘Party Room’ to promote the art form and let everyone there know just how much fun telling stories through sound can be. Did I mention we did a live show at CONvergence last year? Well, scan down through the posts to read about that.

I will be 43 in a few days. I have been blessed beyond measure. Furthermore, I am blessed by God with the ability to recognize His blessings as they happen to me. Nothing – I mean nothing – is better than that. I hope everyone at the CON this year got home (or is getting home) safe and sound. And I hope everyone connected with the IBRT will forgive me this brief indulgence. As I said, I get a little philosophical around CONvergence time.

Thanks for the download, and Keep Listening!

2009-06-26T16:14:00.001-07:00

A POST IN DESCENT

Hey all. As I’m writing this, I’m sitting in a Delta jet somewhere over the Oregon, Idaho border, beginning what must be the longest approach in commercial aviation. I’ve flown back from Minnesota to the land of my birth, Oregon, several times, and this long, long descent always gets to me. And when you produce audio theater, ear popping is a very difficult thing. Well, the stewardess is telling us to turn off our electronic devices. So I’ll pick this up later.

…….

Fully 20 hours later now, and I am safely encased in the home of my youth; or at least that part of my youth that happened after my folks moved to this particular house when I was 15. From 2000 miles away from the Icebox of the Nation, I find my thoughts still drift to the coming podcast season, the live show on July 29^th, and all the other things that go into making the IBRT continue to grow.

First and foremost, I want to mention a very bold step the theater is taking (or hopefully taking) later this year. As we looked at all the different ways we could grow in the coming months, it became clear that looking outside International Falls was going to become key. The Icebox is our home, and the birthplace of the theater. But we can hardly fulfill our dream of bringing the Northland’s stories to the World without shining our light out into that world. So, while we continue to do live performances in the Northland (at least one is planned for the coming months) we will focus on our podcast for at the six months from October to March. And here’s the kicker:

We’re going to pay our people to do it.

On the day before my family left for vacation, I finished writing a grant proposal for a local foundation set up to help groups like ours. Now the foundation is new, and though I’d like to think our small attempt at professionalism will be to there liking, I really can’t say for sure. It is our hope that this foundation, along with the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council (from whom we’ve received grants before) will be able to fully fund twenty episodes of our podcast. This means the writers, directors, and actors will all get small stipends for doing what they love to do. I should take a moment and stress the word ‘small’ in that former sentence. No one is going to get rich and no one is going to be able to buy that lake home. But I feel this will be a very important step toward broadening our audience around the globe. After all, who doesn’t work a little harder knowing there’s a paycheck at the end of the day. And for me personally, it will be very satisfying to reward some of the people that have so generously given of their time and talents over the past five years with at least a small token.

That’s the blog for this week. I’ll write more later. Thanks again for all the time, efforts and downloads, and Keep Listening!

2009-06-12T14:51:00.000-07:00

Well, since summer is coming to the Falls one day at a time this year, I wanted to take a moment in the middle of a truly wonderful day (80 degrees, light wind, puffy-puffy clouds in the sky) it sit back and pen a post about my plans for the warm season.

If you are a podcast listener, you probably already know we are taking our usual summer hiatus from new productions to feature different (read: non-IBRT) content on the podcast. Last summer it was ‘Stuff Jeff did Before’ This summer it’s: ‘Old Time Radio’. I can only hope I come up with something before next summer because right now, I have no idea.

There are plenty of OTR (GeekSpeak for Old Time Radio) podcasts out there, but this one is different. I’m endeavoring to come on at some point in each ‘cast and give a few comments about the show we’re running that week, and how it had an influence. My hope is I won’t yammer too much, and ya’ll will find it at least partially interesting. Week one was, ‘The Haunted Mansion’ a Disney recording I’ve owned since I was eight and have loved all the time. In fact, that episode’s feature recording is a digital copy of my actual record album, scratches and all!

Week Two was the first of two episodes featuring Mike McDonough’s Peabody Award winning series, Bradbury-13. I discovered this series on cassette at the public library in Monmouth, Oregon about nine years ago, and it had a lot to do with my decision to concentrate on audio theater. The stories are classic pulp SF, all from the master Ray Bradbury. Last episode was ‘Night Call, Collect’ simply because that was the first B13 I’d ever heard. The NEXT episode I’m really excited about. It’s called ‘The Ravine’ and it’s taken from Bradbury’s classic story collection ‘Dandelion Wine’. This show is what did it for me. This show is what showed me you could engage people with audio as fully as you could with film or print. Podcast date is June 22, so be sure to be listening.

It’s been a wonderful day to be out and about today. I took the long walk to church and back, iPod whispering The Sonic Society in my ears the whole way. They interviewed their #1 Matt Leon (sic?) of the Double Dorkmeter podcast, who mentioned yours truly as an influence in his own productions. I love those little boosts you get in the audio world. I’m starting to feel like an elder statesman.

Looking ahead, I can’t wait for CONvergence at the beginning of July. My whole family will be there again along with the Erwin family of Fort Frances, all of whom (spare mother Marilyn) have appeared in our shows. Just before that, it’s a jet trip to the great Pacific Northwest and my parent’s Golden Wedding Anniversary. All is great at this end, and summer (for today, at least) is finally here. This is Jeff saying thanks for the read, and Keep Listening!

2009-06-10T20:25:00.000-07:00

Hey Audi-ites,

Icebox Radio, in it's ongoing quest to grow up to be a real live radio station featuring the best in New Audio Theater (or NAT as we almost never call it) now has a new, more colorful, more specific schedule available. It actually kind of looks a little bit like a real broadcast schedule.

And of course, now that I've gone to the trouble of actually making the thing, it will be easier to make more fluid changes in response to listener requests. So send in those listener requests!

Visit our website for more info:
http://www.iceboxradio.org

Or here be a direct link to the PDF. Print it out and put it next to the computer so never again will you have to ask, 'What's on?'

ICEBOX RADIO SCHEDULE

Thanks for the download, and Keep Listening!

2009-06-04T10:29:00.000-07:00

Lordy, I’m such a broadcast geek! I’m actually buzzing with excitement right now because I figured out how to do remote broadcasts with from laptop.

WARNING – BORING TECH STUFF FOLLOWS

The setup is this: Icebox Radio has a computer in my office that’s running 24/7, pumping audio drama out into the web-o-sphere via a program called Zararadio, a wonderful little shareware that automates our schedule, meaning I don’t have to watch it constantly. The broadcast is actually accomplished through a Winamp plugin called Shoutcast, which is how our audio is sent to our server which then sends it out to the world.

I’ve always wanted to do live remotes, meaning I wanted to sit somewhere with my laptop, connect with the station and do news, weather, live theater, whatever. Up until now, I’d been trying to do it using a shoutcast-like broadcast program on my laptop, but to use it, I had to shut down the Shoutcast in the office first. And that usually meant everyone who was listening online would be bumped off. Not good. Add to the fact that my means of controlling the office computer remotely were buggy at best (Windows Remote Desktop which was free, but copyright 2001) and I was left without a real remote solution.

Until today.

First, I realized that Skype had pretty good sound quality, and I could load it on the office computer to receive only calls from me on my laptop. Second, I discovered a website called LogMeIn.com with has a free feature allowing me to connect to the computer via the web, and it works far, far better than Remote Desktop.

So, this morning, I did it. I logged on via LogMeIn, started Skype on the office computer, set the Zararadio to stop at a particular time, opened a Skype call from my laptop and did live news and weather for the globe (Seoul, I-Falls, New York and London). I even recorded the file on the office computer for future use. And then I set everything back to normal with no apparent problems. The station is chugging right along as normal.

OMG, do you know what this means? I’m basically walking around with a radio station in my computer bag!

As I say. Geeking out. : >

2009-06-01T19:38:00.001-07:00

Yes, it’s been too long.

A lot of water over the ice dam since the last Icebox Radio blog post. We recorded a few shows, Harley Droba made his directorial debut with a live show in April, and now, our blog is going through a complete re-skin with a new focus on online communities like Facebook and MySpace.

So much going on, I’m not sure there is a good place to start. So let’s start with the website, and we’ll make this a brief entry.

http://www.iceboxradio.org

Check it out today. And I’ll write more soon.

2008-12-22T13:42:00.000-08:00

My son is home from college, the last podcast of the year is up and flying, and I’m feeling the beginnings of the holiday blahs. There are a number of projects I need to be working about, not the least of which being the next Scoop Sisters script (Podcast numbers during the S-Sisters run were phenomenal) and recording for the next big production, ‘A Distant Land’. Unfortunately, I’m just not feeling it at the moment. I’m feeling the need to nest a bit (vacuumed dust bunnies from under the bed today) maybe write a bit, and maybe DJ a few hours on our WiFi radio station just for fun. Overall, it is definitely a time which feels like it did when I was a kid. Christmas was always exciting and dramatic and filled with tension, but for all that, it seemed to be a time when it was awfully easy to while away hours doing next to nothing. And now that I live in Minnesota, I’ve got the weather as an excuse, too. Zero degrees at the moment, minus-20 expected tomorrow. Beautiful sunshine, though, which I’ll bet is something they aren’t having back home in the Pacific Northwest, though they are slated for a white Christmas there as well.

Overall, a very, very good year for the Icebox Radio Theater. We earned our first grant, took our act on the road to Minneapolis, launched our own radio station, and produced four or five hours of original radio theater. And, for the first time, paid the actors. Thank you, 2008. You will not be forgotten soon.

2008-12-03T19:12:00.000-08:00

Hey Iceboxers!

Calls to Santa is coming next week, and we could use a few volunteers to help out!

We've moved to station KXBR - The Edge out in the KBHW building, and will only be using one phone line this year, so this will be a stream-lined operation. But we'll still need a few people to screen the incoming calls, and maybe pass a note to Santa as to what the caller would like for Christmas. Santa got REALLY confused last year due to bad phone connections, and just sort of winged it most of the time. No idea what those kids really wanted.

Anyway, we could use a little help. And if you just want to come hang out at the station, that would be very cool as well. Who knows, you might even end up on the air!

Calls to Santa
December 8-12 (Monday to Friday)
6pm to 8pm.
Broadcast on The Edge, 91.9fm
Streamed Globally on Icebox Radio

Let us know!

-Jeff

2008-11-19T19:03:00.000-08:00

I just listened to a podcast called, The Moth, which features original stories told live, without notes. Usually, the Moth’s mic is reserved for everyday, or reasonably everyday people, relating some interesting and unusual event from their otherwise non-public lives. This Moth, however, starred Garrison Keillor.

Listening to Keillor’s melodious, oh so familiar voice always makes me a little inspired and slightly melancholy. I know that he was largely responsible for bringing Minnesota Public Radio back from the dead back in the 70’s. I also know he’s been quoted before as saying that radio drama is as dead as typewriter ribbon sales. I have yet to verify that quote, but it has been repeated more than once so it at least deserves consideration. If true, the quote raises a lot of questions about Keillor’s motives for doing Prairie Home Companion. I suppose he might see himself as a kind of monk, keeping the lost tablets of a dead civilization alive. So maybe he isn’t so keen on discovering new tablets being written by punks half his age, and that explains his apparent indifference to new audio theater. Or, he might just not yet know we exist.

For those of us engaged in creating new audio theater, Keillor’s a bit of an enigma. He is the one cultural touch point we all can use to explain ourselves to the curious (Oh, like Lake Woebegon? I see.) And yet his indifference to the future of the art form is disturbing and a little sad. Some of it might be age and technology. On the Moth, he did indicate he listened to the podcast on CD’s, leading one to believe that he is iPod-less. But it’s also very possible that Garrison Keillor sees himself as the final great playwright in the tradition of Fletcher, Obler and Corman. Because it seems for all his celebration of the art form and it’s potential to reach an audience in ways no other performing art can, he seems to think it will all die with him. That’s a shame.

Imagine what we could do with him on our side.

2008-11-12T20:01:00.000-08:00

Our own radio stations. I guess, at some level, that was always the dream behind the Icebox Radio Theater. A special dream of mine personally since I’ve always been a little bit of a broadcast geek. And this month, the dream became a reality.

We’re on the internet as Icebox Radio. After waiting over six months, we finally got listed on the iTunes radio directory making it much easier for people to find us. Not only that, I set up a micro FM transmitter I had, and we are actually broadcasting ‘over the air’ – within about a block of my house. Here’s a picture of our broadcast range!

I found a software program called Zararadio which allows me to program a variety of stuff without repeating the same shows over and over, and babysitting the station all the time. It’s free, and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to try online radio.

Auditions on Monday for four separate projects that, I hope, will be recorded in the next two months. In the editing studio, I’m working on two new Dome Dogs, a horror project called ‘The Thing on the Ice’. The big rush will be to finish a five-part serial called ‘The Christmas Room’ for Calls to Santa, our big fundraiser coming up December 8-12. And with our new on-line station, you’ll be able to listen from all over the world.

Right now, ‘Scoop Sisters’ is debuting on the podcast, and our numbers there continue to climb.

2008-10-27T20:46:00.000-07:00

This probably only means much to me, but I'm really proud of this graph. It shows the growth of our podcast listeners over the past year, and I'm just amazed at the past month. October is the month of audio drama, and we've seen the growth. I think we should have a party when we pass 10,000. What do you think?

2008-10-21T20:58:00.001-07:00

Icebox Update

I don’t write enough of these things, do I? Anyway, here’s the latest from the Icebox Radio Theater

ICEBOX RADIO STATION HITS THE BIG TIME
Our online radio station has been added to the iTunes radio directory. Okay, I know, nobody knows there IS an iTunes radio directory, but if you use iTunes, look on the playlist side for the little radio tower icon. It’s a cool feature. We are listed in the spoken word section, and we are the only new audio drama station on the listing. Unfortunately, this all came about just as our server went through a crash, meaning our statistic engine (the thing that tells us how many people listen) has been offline for a week. I know people are listening, but I can’t say how many!

SPEAKING OF STATS
The coming of fall must be driving people indoors, because our podcast downloads have really jumped. We’re ready to pass September’s record of 1,302 downloads with a week left in the month, and our last episode (featuring two never-before-heard horror stories) is the first episode to get more than 200 downloads in the month of its release.

AUDITIONS
I’m hoping to have auditions for several projects sometime in late October, but that largely depends on my day job work load. Still, keep watching this space for more info. We will get back into the studio

SCOOP SISTERS COMING SOON
November will find the world premier of the Scoop Sisters, a new mystery series, coming to both the podcast and Icebox Radio. Watch for more info soon.

DOME DOG RETURNS
New episodes of Dome Dog arrive NEXT WEEK on the podcast, and Icebox Radio. I’m hoping two will be ready, with two more due before the new year.

That’s it for now. Talk to soon, and ‘Keep Listening!’

-Jeff

2008-09-17T19:27:00.000-07:00

I always love fan letters, so I thought I'd share one we received today. Enjoy!

Hi,

I simply wanted to say that I discovered the Icebox Radio stream test that you're doing, and felt I should say how happy I am about it.
I think it's a fantastic idea, and I love being able to hear Icebox Radio Theatre programming randomly on a streaming radio.
I've been listening to I.R.T. for quite a while now, and am a big fan.
Great idea; I hope it works out.

- Eric

2008-09-10T08:09:00.001-07:00

Amazing.

I’ve been visiting the ‘Stats’ page of Libsyn.com, our Podcast server, fairly regularly, and the number of downloads continues to grow month-to-month. This month, we switched the schedule around and went to an every-other week podcast instead of every week, and the numbers continue to climb. August was the fourth straight month we’d been a little better than the month before, with a total of 1,266 listeners. There’s still a long way to go, and we still need to figure out how to create listeners interaction (I’ve yet to receive an email about one of the podcasts) but the numbers are encouraging.

Other news, ‘Bumpo’ my ice fishing fantasy is done with principal recording, and I have the theme song. Writing the theme song usually makes it a lot easier to create the little incidental pieces during the play, since the theme will set the tone of the whole piece. Dave Erwin and I are working on a time to get together and do sound effects.

Dome Dog is next up for recording, and after that, there’s a couple of Kenna’s Scripts we should got into studio with. On the business end, it’s been all Calls to Santa this month, though more about that later.

-Jeff

2008-08-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

Well, changes are afoot at the IBRT, and I’m making an Autumn resolution to make better use of this blog so everyone can keep better track of them (including me).

Those of you who are local know that maintaining a schedule of live productions was wearing me down. I added it up, and the theater has done 25 live shows in the last four years. Some were live-to-air, most were in a theater, but all were a lot of fun to do. Unfortunately, being both chef and cook, as it were, makes it difficult to maintain that pace. Add in the fact that artistically, live shows can only be so good (the one-take nature of live theater combined with limited rehearsal time make it so) and you can see where I might look to studio work as desirable.

Now there will be live shows in our future, just not the immediate future. And our studio schedule is started to shape up. We’re recording for ‘The Grump: An Ice Fishing Fantasy’ right now, and I have scripts for four new Dome Dogs ready to go. And there are studio projects in the works for both Christmas and Halloween.

That’s a general overview, more each and every week on this blog.

Jeff

2008-08-03T13:46:00.000-07:00

Well, the great Sonic/Icebox summit of 2008 is complete, and I’m happy to report a great time was had by all. Jack Ward and family arrived yesterday afternoon and departed this morning early to cross the border back into Canada, and continue on to Thunder Bay.

We had a really good time, and Jack and I did grab a couple of hours just to talk audio and get to know each other a bit better. We have a spooky amount in common, same age, our fathers are both retired school principal’s, etc. I showed Jack around town, to the station where I work and the theater where the IBRT does its shows, we talked Pro Tools, script formats, what we’re listening too, and continued an on-going discussion about the need for an academy of some kind to keep a ratings system for audio theater, and maybe hold an expansive set of awards similar to the Oscars. Ahh, some day.

Other than that, there was just time to eat and watch one episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker (Jack had never seen. Imagin!) and chill. They were back on the road at 8:30. The cycling odyssey continues for a couple more days.

2008-07-24T09:59:00.001-07:00

Dogwatch on August 16

Some of you received an email yesterday in regard to a production of Dogwatch: Trouble in Pembrook on August 16th in Ranier. I'm sorry to say that after much soul searching, and communication with Mary Casanova, I've decided to remove myself from involvement with this production. Preparing for my class at RRCC which begins on August 26, and ushering our eldest bird out of the nest that same week is going to take all the time and energy I have for the month of August. And as live shows tend to take over my life for a week to ten days, I felt I owed it too my family and myself to bow out of this production. Naomi Woods is organizing a 'Dogs of Ranier' evening in November, and we would most likely do a section of the play then.

You will notice that I removed myself from this production, as opposed to canceling it outright. I do hold out hope that some of you can band together and take on the duties of producer, and go ahead with the show on August 16th as planned. I can provide detailed instructions, and as much help as I can afford, but I cannot take the producer's roll; that is, I cannot take responsibility that all the little jobs which together form a live show will be completed on time. It has always been my hope that others would step up and produce and direct with the IBRT. This would be a wonderful opportunity for someone or a group of someones to try their wings. The show is set, there is a cast largely in place, and a recording to guide you.

Please let me know as soon as possible if you are interested. And thanks for your continued interest and hard work.

-Jeff

2008-07-07T19:29:00.000-07:00

Hi All:

Well, we did it. We made it to the Twin Cities, did two great shows, and made it home again. We’re all still a little groggy, and there’s just so much to talk about, that I’d just like to do things shotgun style. Here are some thoughts about the IBRT at CONvergence 2008:

Fifteen hours is a long time to drive with three teenagers.

Producing a play is like herding chicks across a barnyard. Producing a play on the road is like heading cats.

Even after six years, CONvergence is still the place I recharge.

Even in the big city, sound systems are difficult

The more you rehearse, the better things go.

The Erwin Family really looked like they had a good time. Youngest son Piran came as a Star Fleet admiral, and was quite a hit with the fans.

Many people told Rachel that her River (from the TV series ‘Serenity’) costume was perfect.

We think we have everything recorded, but it will take some work to get it all together.

Living on potato chips, rice and PB&J for three days make Burger King look good.

Many different costumes in the masquerade (costume contest) but the winners wore exact reproductions of Queen Victoria and Price Albert

Watching Mystery Science Theater 3000 in a group is much better than watching it alone.

With others to look after sound and SFX, it’s easy for the director to enjoy the show.

CONverence has the best movie room in the nation. Large meeting room, projection TV system with professional quality 5-1 sound system, the seating is many old, comfy couches and chairs, and free cookies, popcorn and pop are right there on-hand.

And finally, flat tires on the way home can still be an opportunity. Talk to you soon!

2008-07-04T18:28:00.000-07:00

Live, from CONvergence

Hey All!

This is a blog update being written from CONvergence, the greatest science fiction and fantasy gathering in the planet!

One show down, one to go. Friday’s show went very well, with the exception of the CONvergence engineer who created a less-than-stellar sound mix. The cast was PHENOMINAL! I think we had the best read of every skit we’ve ever had. I’m so proud to be associated with this show. And best of all, we ADDED audience as we went along. When we started the show, we had a handful of people, most of whom were the other audio theater producers in attendance at the con. By the end, about 25-30 people had come in. That’s awesome.

More CONvergence updates later. Just know that we all arrived safe and sound and – I think, are having a great time.

2008-06-30T06:02:00.000-07:00

Podcast Milestone!

We passed a milestone today as podcast downloads for the month of June went past 1,000. To put this in perspective, our total downloads dating back to October is about 3,100. I give a lot of credit to the increased archive space meaning a new listener now has six or seven shows to download instead of just two or three.

One more note, keep watching this space this week as I'll be attempting to update the blog while at CONvergence. We'll be doing live shows on Friday and Saturday at 1pm, so (provided I can find internet) and I'll bring you up to date those evenings - maybe with pictures!

Jeff

2008-06-25T14:02:00.000-07:00

Man, I'm so pathetic...

Podcast listeners for the IBRT just passed 3,000 for the year, and the numbers for June just passed May. This makes me smile. I might even make 1,000 this month. This is very bittersweet for me because it says a lot about how far we've come, and a lot about how far we have to go.

Rehearsal yesterday was abbreviated by schedule conflicts (again!) Thursday's should be nearly full excepting one actor who I already knew wouldn't be there. We have ten hours rehearsal left before next Friday. It could come together, it's not a sure thing. If I could just get everyone in the room at the same time...

2008-06-22T15:30:00.000-07:00

Much cookin’ these days, and my desire to blog continues to grow even if my time to blog doesn’t. We’re rehearsing The CONvergence show currently, and after a slow start, I think it’s going well. I didn’t really take control of things to begin with, and in hindsight, that was a mistake. Once I got organized and thought through each rehearsal, things improved. I think actors resent lack of leadership. My fault, no one elses. I play things loose sometimes in hope someone else will take the lead, relieve some of the pressure on me. The more we do these shows, the more obvious it becomes that no one will be coming alongside to help build the theater with me. I’ve been doing this for four years, and several people have offered. But I don’t know how to delegate things (mostly due to the fact that I’m making most of it up as I go) and no one else is willing to dive in and get messy. And even with clear instructions, I don’t always trust people, especially in I-Falls. Our culture here is very enabling, very indulgent. People can fail to follow-through on promises without any real repercussions. That makes it tough to rely on others. Besides, don't you think that after four years, someone would have stepped forward by now?

Mostly, it’s my own shortcomings that vex me. I have a fear of success, or at least it seems that way. A little good stuff comes my way, and I slip into a foul mood. This should be one of the best months of my life professionally, and all I can see are problems. Writing this clears my head, however. I think the show will come together well. As to the future of the theater, that’s to God, I guess. I don’t think I can do better than that.

2008-05-16T16:50:00.000-07:00

Negligent, I have been looking at this blog. You'd think nothing happened in the months of March and April, but isn't so. First and foremost, the picture above is actually me showing of our first-ever grant check from the Arrowhead Arts Council. I was surprised to see that Photoboth on my Mac actually takes pictures as a mirror-image, so you can't make out the wording on the check. It does say 'Icebox Radio Theater' and an amount just north of 2-grand.

What's if for, you ask? THE IBRT IS HITTING THE BIG TIME!!

This 4th of July weekend, we'll be performing at CONvergence in Bloomington, MN. Two live shows as part of this big sci fi convention. If you're in the neighborhood, we'll be performing on Friday 7/4 at 1pm and Saturday 7/5 at 1pm. You'll have to buy a day-pass to the CON, but that's actually a pretty good deal - plenty of free entertainment plus food, etc.

Anyways, we got our funding and we're getting ready to go. More on this story as events warrant.

2008-02-28T19:18:00.000-08:00

Just a brief note to show off a picture from our Valentine's show, and let everyone know that we have, officially, applied for a grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council. We are asking for funds to take a trip to Minneapolis this summer to do a live show at CONvergence, a science fiction convention that attracts nearly 3,000 visitors each 4th of July weekend. We'll be going regardless of the funding, but I have high hopes that this application will be successful, and the first of many.

2008-02-14T07:18:00.000-08:00

As I write this, many, many things for the Valentine’s Show wait to be done. I am, in a word, procrastinating. But there is a lot of news and you, the readers of the blog, deserve an update much more often than you have.

The big news, of course, is ‘A Radio Valentine’ goes on the boards in a little under twelve hours. This show has been a real pleasure to work on, and I hope it shows for the audience. We have several new actors, and plenty of familiar ones, plus more than a few kids. Really, this show has been great. We all meet for pizza at 5:30 with the curtain going up at 7:00. Wish us broken legs.

The other big news is that the IBRT has found a home. Rainy River Community College has generously offered us theater space, and office space for the pleasure of our company. The college’s theater program is down to one show every five years, and I think college administration is hoping our presence will spur some more activity. At any rate, we’re happy to be there and hope we can honor them by our presence.

Our efforts to write our first grant are bearing fruit. A preliminary meeting with the Arrowhead Arts Coalition (our part of Minnesota is referred to as ‘The Arrowhead’. Look at a map an you’ll see why) was very positive. The powers that be were impressed with our first draft and with some polish, we should be able to fund our trip to Minneapolis this summer.

All for now. Drop us a line sometime and Keep Listening!

-Jeff

2008-01-10T19:27:00.000-08:00

It’s 27 degrees under a sky filled with glitter-snow, and I felt like updating the Icebox Blog. A beautiful winter night is just the thing to get the wordsmith in my going.

Happy belated holidays to everyone. I hope your Christmas and New Years were fun. Mine was spent on a west coast tour of family abodes that began and ended on an Amtrak train speeding across the Midwest. We had a wonderful time as a family, though I strongly recommend making the trip in sleeper cars. We tried it both ways (sleepers on the way out, coach seats on the way back) and can positively report that the sleepers are the only way to go when your trip lasts as long as ours did (thirty hours each way). Still and all, we saw some great scenery, enjoyed truly exceptional cuisine in the dining car (everyone’s favorite part of the trip) and had a great time once we got where we were going. We spent Christmas with my folks, as well as my sister’s family in McMinnville, Oregon, then spent the week tween the holidays (Kwanza, I guess) with Diane’s family in Sedro Wooley, Washington. Many presents, much eating, and many miles on the rental car were our lives for those two weeks.

Back in the Falls now, I’m getting very focused and very excited about the IBRT’s 2008. We have a new board president in Harley Droba who is bringing an amazing amount of energy and enthusiasm to every project he’s involved with. He’s a gifted fundraiser, and led us to our best payday ever the first week in December when we did ‘Calls to Santa’ on local radio station KSDM. Kids called the station and got to talk to Santa Claus live, on the radio, and the whole town got behind it. After the show one night, Harley took his wife to dinner and said he overheard four different couples talking about the show. It will definitely be an item on our plate next year.

Blog posts should be brief, so I’ll cut off right now. Keep checking this space for more on the Adams Family, and the IBRT. Cheers!

2007-12-22T17:10:00.000-08:00

It’s been very, very long time since I last updated this blog, but I did want to do one more update before the new year. I’m writing this encased in the coziness of a sleeping car aboard the Empire Builder, one of the original great American Trains that still runs from Chicago to Portland, Oregon. My family and I, having survived the difficulty of catching a 5:40am train, are quietly passing the time through North Dakota, which looks brown, white and flat. December has been very busy, but it doesn’t look like anything next to the coming twelve months, since the IBRT appears to be poised at the edge of great things.

We have a new board of directors headed by local entrepreneur Harley Droba whose energy and drive appears to be boundless. Harley hosted our Halloween show, took over the responsibilities of board President from a man with big shoes to fill: Gene Gee. Gene guided us through the first few years of our existence, and his contribution is immeasurable. Harley’s connections in the business community paid off right away in the form of, ‘Calls to Santa’, a fundraiser we held at radio station KSDM, International Falls on December 3-7. The concept was a timeless one: advertise that Santa is coming to town, then have area kids call in and tell him what they want for Christmas live, on the air. It was a huge success. Santa was so busy some nights, we didn’t even have time to play any holiday music. And the theater, thanks to the local businesses, which gave their support, had their best fundraiser ever. A fleet of volunteers arrived every night to take calls, and ask for donations which was greeting with understanding from most everyone who called.

The result was a nice payday for everyone, and an event that the town was talking about all the next week. Calls to Santa will definitely be a part of the IBRT’s future.

Heading into 2008, there are a variety of things that are poised to happen. The theater is close to an agreement with a local institution that will give us office and recording space, as well as a theater to perform in. Our financial health has never been better, and it’s very possible this will be the year the IBRT will be able to start paying its artists and administration. And best of all, another live show is in store – but this one has a real difference. In July, the IBRT will head to the Twin Cities for a special live performances as part of CONvergence, a science fiction convention that gathers close to 3000 people every year.

That’s all for now, fans. Check out this blog for occasional updates, and be sure to keep checking the website.

From the rails,
Jeff Adams

2007-11-04T18:51:00.000-08:00

So long since I’ve written, so much to catch up with. Things continue to chug along at the IBRT. Another Halloween has come and gone and the un-official holiday of audio drama was very kind to us. We got a new home, a new show for our repertoire, and a very nice payday.
The home is Rainy River Community College. The IBRT board had been suggesting the college as a venue for some time. But things never aligned just right for us to make the move until now. And now, I can’t wait to do a show there again. The house is much smaller (199 to be exact) which makes our standard audience of 70-95 feel much more impressive. I think the audience liked it as well. Secondly, RRCC is available to non-profit groups free of charge, which made this a very nice payday for the theater.
The main production was a classic radio play titled ‘3 Skeleton Key’ about three men trapped in a lighthouse besieged by millions of starving rats. The original story aired on a radio show called ‘Escape’ in the 1940’s, and was responsible for bringing an actor named Vincent Price to national attention. Our version featured my son Stephen in the Price role, our new IBRT Board president Harely Droba as the insane hunchback, and RRCC English teacher (and our lighting and college liaison) Doug Blumhardt as the tough ‘Head Man’ in this lighthouse.
3 Skeleton Key shared the stage with the usual collection of skits and songs, most written by me but one penned by our own Kenna Clayton. It was a good show, and for the first time, we have a video record of the event. My daughter Rachel did the camera work, and we’ve put together a pretty slick DVD of her efforts. Two videos are also posted on YouTube as well.
In Board news, Gene Gee, the first person to really take an active, and participatory interest in the IBRT, has decided to step down as President of the Board of the Directors. I know this will give Gene more time to do other things, but it still feels like a milepost for the theater. I want to thank Gene for all he’s done, and wish him the best of luck in the future.
I’ll wrap up for now. Visit the website, there’s lots cooking and more on the way, including a change in our local broadcast situation. Keep Listening!

-Jeff

2007-09-17T16:49:00.000-07:00

Notes I’ve been meaning to get down.

A week or so back, we finished recording ‘Special Camp,’ a sci fi thriller starring Neill Smith and Jessica Liggins. A couple of thoughts come to mind when I look back on the experience. First, ‘Special Camp’ represents a small milestone on the road to figuring out who we, as a theater are and how we will operate in the future. We recorded this show in my tiny attic office, cramped into every corner with just enough room for three people, a computer, two music stands and a bottle of water or three. But with the exception of a few technical problems caused by the total lack of sound-proofing, this was a good experience.

It was the final step in a transformation process, my office as storage space for all my junk to my office as a working facility. It represented a fully recorded and soon-to-be realized play that didn’t require heavy lifting on my part (all the equipment was already in place), a significant point given the state of my 41-year-old body. And finally, it was just special, somehow, to see this 14-year-old girl and 65-year-old man working together.

So often, these days, it’s just assumed that different generations have nothing in common. Kids are bored by their elders, elders are mystified by kids. But here were two artists, fifty years apart, telling a story about characters very similar to themselves (I have some skill in casting, after all) and learning about each other in the process.

I think it’s pretty important that art can do that.

2007-08-23T06:19:00.000-07:00

Hey Everybody:

A few bits of news to put up, so I thought I’d send out a general email to keep everyone up to date.

First off, some good news-bad news concering KTNA in Talkeetna, Alaska. We are on their broadcast schedule, slated for 6:30pm (Alaska time) on Monday Nights. The bad news is their internet connection doesn’t appear to be working. You should be able to go to their website at http://www.ktna.org and listen live. Hopefully, that will get fixed soon. But it’s good to know we’re on the air on the tundra!

Secondly, still looking for volunteers this week for the Espresso Lane smoothie booth at Smokey Bear Park. Let me know if you can help, or just show up. Harley and Amy are planning to be there the whole time. We’ll be selling CD’s again, with a new tip jar making it clear that all tips benefit the IBRT.

We are putting together a merchandize order for IBRT stuff from the Café Press store. It was the brilliant idea of Kirsty Sinclair that we could save on shipping if all of us went together. So visit the store here http://www.cafepress.com/iceboxradio and then email me your order. Be sure to use exact product names and sizes to avoid confusion.

And finally, the first pictures from Icebox Live! in August are currently on the IBRT Photo section of our website. Go check it out!

Thanks everyone, for all you do. More recording announcements forthcoming, as well as the latest on Halloween. Talk to you soon!

-Jeff

2007-08-17T20:31:00.000-07:00

It’s Friday night, I’m settled into my favorite chair with my computer on my lap and ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ on the DVD. It seems like a good time to settle in and bring this blog up to date.

The IBRT’s summer cycle has come to an end. The fall cycle is set to begin. We have recorded a two-part episode of a new series (Scoop Sisters) and done a live show that featured the premiere of another series (Dome Dog) and the premiere of the first play by Kenna Clayton, a member of our writer’s workshop.

The live show was a special event. After a shower or two during the day, the evening broke clear and a bit chilly. The park filled up with our crowd (maybe 150) plus another 50-75 more from a local church youth group that was playing and having a picnic. It was such a special scene, the local paper did up a photo spread in today’s (Friday’s) paper, and they mentioned us. There was a nice picture of Aela Nordrum and Harley Droba doing Dome Dog. Free publicity we didn’t even try for. The other special thing that happened at the live show was the revelation of Alea Nordrum as a great singer! She says she is getting addicted to singing in front of an audience, and I expect she’ll be back on our stage a lot in the future.

We have recordings to process, and plenty of shows to move forward on. Money keeps coming in, too. We were paid to do the show in the park, and I am doing sound at a wedding tomorrow with the IBRT’s equipment, meaning the theater gets half. I was struck with the thought today that this may be the most fun period of time for the IBRT. Money is coming in but not going out. We don’t have any bills to pay, as it were. And we are telling stories. To grow, we will need to change, and I can see that. A place of our own is becoming necessary. I’m getting too old to set up and tear down over and over again.

Next blog entry, I’ll talk about what were hoping to accomplish in the fall.

2007-08-11T08:54:00.000-07:00

With a moment or two on my hands, it occured to me that I really should update this blog a bit more often, and with more blog-like entries. Generally, we go for personal thoughts and ideas in the blogosphere, and I've been filling this thing up with press releases. But I'm in a rare mood, today. I'm feeling a little bit under the weather, quite cold, despite what promises to be an average August day outside, and the idea of plunking out a few words on the subject of audio appeals. Lucky you.

This afternoon, we begin rehearsal of the next show, which is scheduled for Aug 15 2007 at the Bandshell in I-Falls. Today's rehearsal is being held in Fort Frances which is a first for the theater. We've never had an offical event in Fort Frances before. What's surprised me is the number of old friends nervous at the prospect. Apparently, there are people here in I Falls who haven't been in Canada in years. And I thought I was strange for only going over a couple times a month. Anyway, the location of the rehearsal is an attempt to ease the burden on the Fort Frances actors and SFX artists who fight long customs lines each show to come over and participate. Getting into Canada is quite a bit easier than getting into the US.

The other first for this show is the script which, for once, isn't by me. Kenna Clayton, a poet who had never tried script writing of any kind before our writer's workshop this spring, has written a good little domestic mystery titled The Icebox Property. I'm proud to feature it, though I am afraid I'm pushing things a bit too fast for Kenna. I think writer's have a tendancy to seek after that which they don't have, and belittle that which they do. So getting produced right out of the shoot might be the worst thing for her. We'll just have to see.

Live we go again. Some new gear to use and a very different approach to recording. We'll have a seperate board this time and (hopefully) a seperate engineer. In theory, this should give us a surperior recording to deal with in post. Unfortunatly, my first choice for recording engineer, Stephen, can't make it. That's leaving us slightly in the lurch. I'm hoping to think of someone else with the ears for the job before too long.

Much recording ahead for me. I'm still working out the kinks in the method, how many rehearsals to sessions, that sort of thing. The last show, Scoop Sisters: Pilot sounds good, but mostly due to the talent of the actors. There are spots where lines sound read more than performed. More rehearsal is needed, obviously. I'm thinking next time of doing a three day cycle: One rehearsal, two recording.

Many thoughts, many thoughts. I'm just so blessed to even get to worry about this stuff.

2007-07-22T06:13:00.000-07:00

Summer Schedule & Cast List for 2007

Here is some info about upcoming IBRT events, and a preliminary cast list for upcoming shows.

Mon July 23 & Tue July 24: Auditions at RR Community College; 7pm

Sat July 28: Workshop reading of ‘The Icebox Property’ a new play by Kenna Clayton!

Fri Aug 3,
Rehearsal for ‘The Scoop Sisters’ studio record

Sat Aug 4: ‘Scoop Sisters’ Studio Record (possible pickups on Sun Aug 5)

Saturday, Aug 11-Tuesday Aug 14: Rehearsal for “Icebox Live!”

Wed Aug 15: Icebox Live!” musical variety show at the Bandshell, 7pm

Preliminary Cast List (subject to change)

THE SCOOP SISTERS:
Woman, late 30’s
Her Mother, 60’s
Her Daughter, 12
A tortured Man, 30’s
Villainous second wife, 70’s
A kind old Man, 80’s
Various Other voices

THE ICEBOX PROPERTY
A woman from Texas, 30’s
A man from the Falls, 30’s
His Uncle, 60’s
A guy up to no good, 30’s
Grandma, 70’s
Various Other voices

ICEBOX LIVE: SKITS
Cast needs TBA, but a wide variety of voices will be needed.

2007-06-08T07:18:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone

There was a lot going on this week, enough that I thought a blog entry was warranted. First of all, our first writer’s workshop was a success and we’re seeing some benefits. The Icebox Writers have met twice since the end of the workshop and will continue to meet Tuesdays at 7pm at the Espresso Lane. Some great ideas, encouragement, and a lot of laughs have sprung up as a result.

Second, the IBRT is moving forward with another online radio station, this one called Progressive Radio Network. It’s a talk-radio service with a political-left slant, but also a lot of health, diet and wellness programming. The IBRT would be quite a departure for them, but they are looking to try some new things. We wouldn’t get paid for broadcasting on PRN, but we do get to insert our own commercials in the plays so that listeners will be invited to our website to buy CD’s, t-shirts, etc.

Speaking of t-shirts, the Icebox Radio store is now open for business. Check it out at www.cafepress.com/iceboxradio. There’s a ton of clothes, coffee mug, even a tote bag with the IBRT logo drawn by Jarred Karsnia. And a little piece of each sale goes into our coffers.

Okay, I saved the biggest news for last. Last week, Rachel and I left the house to walk down to Espresso Lane for writer’s group. We passed on the sidewalk Jannel Feller, a friend from Rotary, and David Olson, the CAD teacher at the high school. They stopped us because, get this, David’s sister works at American Public Media in the cities, and the two of them had been talking to her about us! (Jannel is a big supporter of the theater) So anyway, I got contact information, wrote David’s sister, whose name is Twyla, and she responded right away. She had visited our website, said she loved our mission and what we’re trying to do, and was interested in hearing a CD.

Let me pause for a moment and explain who American Public Media is. They distribute Prairie Home Companion, Pipe Dreams, Speaking of Faith, Splendid Table and some of the other biggest shows on NPR. In short, this is our chance at the big leagues! Twyla even suggested that we might fit on Weekend America, a show that offers a variety of programming, and could put a play or two on the air very soon. Keep your fingers crossed and say your prayers. This is potentially a very big month for the IBRT. I am sending her an audition CD toda.

All for now. Feel free to add comments to this blog.

-Jeff

2007-05-23T19:21:00.001-07:00

Just an update for anyone reading the IBRT blog.

We completed our first three-week writer's conference yesterday, and it was a solid success. Twelve people particpated over the three weeks. I think at least five of them are serious about continuing as writer's. A few already have scripts in the works.

We'll be meeting at the Espresso Lane over the next few Tuesdays at 7pm, if anyone is interested.

Now, I think I need to think about getting back into the studio soon. Time to go to work.

-Jeff

2007-05-08T12:58:00.001-07:00

I found myself rather full of ideas today, and it seemed like a good to do was blog about it. That, and I haven’t updated this blog in a very long time.

Last month, I entered a contest at PRX.org, the website the IBRT uses to distribute their works to public radio stations. The site is running a contest currently to, ‘Find Public Radio’s Next Big Star.’ It’s an American Idol-type thing designed to create a marketable public radio show. The grand prize is $10,000 and the chance to produce a show stations will actually want to air. I entered a good little two-minute audition that suggested I might like to host a show featuring radio drama. And the thing is, it appears to be going over.

I have 13 comments on my entry so far. They can’t tell you how you are getting rated, but if the comments are any indication, it seems like I am doing okay. Out of five or six hundred entries, ten move on to the semi-finals. I find myself very comfortable with this possibility, and the $500 pre-prize it would mean.

What seems to resonate with people about my entry is my insistence that audio drama has a future, and the fact that I gave reasons for feeling this way. There is so much to talk about here, the false death of the art form, the increasing relevance of audio in an iPod world, the fact that personal listening devices might well represent an artistic potential, instead of limitation. I had to get some of it out, and that’s what blogs are for.

2007-04-18T07:32:00.001-07:00

IBRT NOW NATION-WIDE

The Icebox Radio Theater has signed with PRX.ORG, a radio distributor that markets programming to public and community stations around the country. The new deal has already netted benefits for the IBRT. KTNA, community radio for the Susitna Valley in Alaska has acquired the rights to ‘The Cabin Next Door’ which is, coincidentally, the first play ever produced by the IBRT.

“It was always in the plan to distribute nationally,” IBRT artistic director Jeffrey Adams said. “Our motto’s is, ‘Bringing the Northland’s Stories to the World,’ and this deal is our first major step toward making that motto come true.”

Unrelated to the PRX deal, the IBRT also announced that ‘Lifeboat’, one of its most popular early productions, will be featured on Radio Drama Revival, a program that features the best in new radio drama on station WMPG in Alfred, Maine, on April 26.

“In one week, we found ourselves stretched literally from one end of the country to the other,” Adams said.

There is no word yet on a broadcast date at KTNA. The station is available locally online at www.KTNA.org.

The IBRT has twelve plays currently available through PRX. Stations interested in the plays can audition them in their entirety, then download individual episodes or the entire series. Adams plans to add more plays to PRX in the next few weeks.

“We’d like to add Snowbank, as well as some seasonal offerings like a Halloween Show and a Christmas Carol,” Adams said.

-30-

WARNING: Second press release coming on local broadcast schedule.

http://www.ktna.org/
http://www.wmpg.org/
http://www.prx.org/series/17710

2007-04-16T19:00:00.000-07:00

I have some really, really wonderful news for everyone.

About a month ago, after the theater received a very generous and unexpected donation, I made the decision to join a service called PRX.ORG - a kind of online warehouse for community and NPR radio stations. And I just got the word that

WE'VE MADE A SALE!!!!

KTNA, a radio station in Alaska has licensed 'The Cabin Next Door'. No word on schedule yet, but this a big day for the IBRT.

WE ARE ON THE AIR IN ALASKA!!

And here is a link to the station

http://www.ktna.org/

Spread the word.

2007-03-29T17:06:00.000-07:00

To those of you interested in helping with the IBRT,

WE NEED EARS!!!

The studio version of 'Dogwatch: Trouble in Pembrook' is nearly complete. Now, we need people to listen in and give us feedback. If you have a fast connection, the 40 minute play has been posted in three parts at the following link:

http://icebox.storiesonmp3.com/review/

Thanks for your help!

-Jeff

2007-03-12T18:45:00.000-07:00

Hello All:

Update time at the Icebox Radio Theater.

Just thought I’d drop a line and let everyone know what’s happening these days at the IBRT.

This Saturday: the world premiere of BUZZ goes out over the airwaves at KSDM 104.1 fm radio at 6pm. This was our first studio production, and I think it came out really good. Tune in to hear Jessica Liggins and Veryan Erwin star along with newcomer Steve Sinclair. It’s a fun story combining mosquito flocks, drunken cows, and the destructive power of Celene Dion. Enjoy!

Pursuant to that, another new couple who did a stellar job with BUZZ was Michael and Tanya White. They’ll be hosting a cast party for the Buzz cast the night of the broadcast, and I’m really looking forward to it Thanks Mike and Tanya!

More KSDM news: The recording of the live performance of Dog Watch: Trouble in Pembrook is slated for broadcast on Saturday, March 24 at six PM. This will need to be an abbreviated version of the live show, unfortunately, as we are only getting an hour of time while the performance lasted closer to an hour and a half. CD’s of that show (the long version) are now available for $5, so email me with your requests.

Website news: I’ve re-done the IBRT website (again!) and started a new, improved IBRT podcast. We will run a podcast specific commercial during our radio broadcast, urging people that missed part of the show to go online and catch the rest. You can also subscribe to the podcast through iTunes (which works on both PC and Mac) so go a-downloadin’ now!

And finally, thanks to a unexpected donation, the IBRT will soon be part of an online service called PRX, which is a kind of clearing house for content for public radio stations. This means the IBRT will be available online for stations all over the country, and we will receive royalties when stations broadcast our shows! The site warns that this is no way to get rich, but it is a wonderful way to get your message out there.

All for now. I’d love to hear from all of you, especially those of you on the list who live out of town.

-Jeff

2007-02-11T11:44:00.000-08:00

Fan Fiction: A Discussion

Hi All:

Looking back through the previous posts of this blog I now realize things haven’t come together exactly as I’d hoped. This blog was meant to be a discussion form on Art Through Sound, not just a dumping ground for IBRT press releases. So, I begin to make amends with this post.

I’ve wanted to write on the subject of Fan Fiction for quite some time. For those of you not in the know, Fan Fiction refers to works of fiction written by fans of a particular science fiction or fantasy universe, TV show, or movie. For example, I might sit down and write a story starring Captain Kirk with a situation, setting and plot entirely of my own design. I might then post my Captain Kirk story online for other fans to comment on, respond to, or praise. The idea is for fans to participate in the fiction they love not as passive audience members, but real creative contributors. In this way, fans exercise control over the universes they love instead of surrendering them to the hard realities of box office totals, TV network politics, and sagging ratings. It is, for the most part, harmless fun intended for the amusement of the creators and their friends. And I should point out that imitation is often a primary step in an artists’ development. Before many currently published writers were creating their own worlds, they were star-gazing kids, filling spiral ring notebooks with stories about Han Solo, The Robinson Family from Lost in Space, or even “Marshal, Will and Holly, on a routine expedition…”

All of this, it should be pointed out, is mostly illegal. Television shows, films and the characters that inhabit them are copyrighted to within an inch of their lives, and are not even generally owned by their creators, but by the studios that pay for them. Contrary to popular belief, violating a copyright has nothing to do with realizing income from it. Copyright is about ownership, and you can no more ‘borrow’ someone’s copyrighted creation than you can borrow someone’s car without permission. You might mean no harm, but the car’s owner still has the right to bring you up on charges. His permission was the requirement for taking the car, not your benign intent.

Now at this point, I sound like a bad guy, defending big business, a soul-less corporate system, George Bush and all other manner of evil creatures. But in truth, I’m just trying to get both sides of this issue into this initial blog post to spur responses. Why? Because this is a discussion I’ve wanted to have for a very long time.

Every year, I attend a con in Minneapolis (well, Bloomington, actually) called CONvergence. This is the con where the Mark Time and Ogle Awards for excellence in audio drama are handed out, and it’s become kind of a family tradition to go ever summer and recharge in an environment of pure creativity. The first year I went, I found myself at one point standing on a mezzanine over looking the pool area right after the masquerade, the moment when the maximum number of costumes are on display. With my was my friend and Great Northern Audio producer Kris Markman, a college professor in real life who studies how people interact with media, especially new technologies. I was a young audio producer, probably feeling the hubris from my first Ogle Award, and I made a sharp, and ultimately unfair observation about fan culture. That it was, well, a waste of creative energy. And that the hundreds of people in costume beneath me (geographically speaking, that is; I was on the mezzanine, remember?) would be better off creating their own worlds instead ‘stealing’ someone elses. Kris took me to task for this, and we ended up going around and around the point for the rest of the evening.

I honestly do not remember where that particular discussion ended up, but it did plant a seed in me that has continued to grow to this day. Fan fiction fascinates me. But I’m not sure it ultimately is a good thing, or even a harmless thing. Hence, this blog thread.

This post has gone one long enough, but I want to close it with a few questions. These are the interesting ponderables to me.

- Do we in Western Society need to rethink our whole concept of copyright and the ‘Idea Ownership’ at its heart?

- Does the fact that fan fiction has evolved to include movies, audio and even TV shows change the equation at all?

- On a scale with ‘Creative Artist’ being a 10 and ‘Pathetic Loser’ being a 0, where would fan fiction creators belong?

- Does it matter that few, if any of these artists are trying to make money from their creations?

- Doesn’t all gene art, by definition, involve imitation?

- Doesn’t all art?

That’s all for now. Write back soon and often.

-Jeff

2007-02-06T06:07:00.000-08:00

Yes! Now on YouTube!

Never one to let the latest internet fad pass by, I've decided to try something new to get the Icebox Radio Theater a little international exposure. The first episode of Snowbank is now online at YouTube.

What's a radio show doing on a video site you ask? Well, I created a slide show in Powerpoint from snapshots of IBRT productions and photos taken in the International Falls area. Then combined that video with the Snowbank audio and TaaDaa! You've got a 'Video' of Snowbank. Here's a link to part one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4UQ5N0QY6E

Could this be the future of audio drama online? Good Lord, I hope not, but it's fun in the interim. So tell your friends, and lets make the little slide shows go viral!

Jeff

2006-10-05T05:26:00.000-07:00

Halloween Auditions

The Icebox Radio Theater of International Falls will hold auditions for it’s next production on Monday, October 16 at 7:30 pm in ‘The Dungeon’, downstairs at Backus Community Center.

Two plays are on the docket for the IBRT’s next show: ‘Halloween 2006: A Laser-Radio Extravaganza” to be held in cooperation with Mr. Faith Lasers on Thursday, October 26. The theater will produce ‘Triumph of the Worms’, a recreation of a classic radio play from the old time series ‘Lights Out’, and ‘The Bats’ a world premiere by IBRT founder Jeffrey Adams.

‘Revolt of the Worms’ requires two adult men, one adult woman, and three adult parts that can be of either gender. ‘The Bats’ requires two adult men, two adult women, and four adult parts that can be of either gender.

Rehearsals will be held the weeks of October 16th and October 23rd.

Site of teen dances and laser shows,‘The Dungeon’ is accessible from the west side of the community center (the side closest to the Forestland office building) in the alley between the Backus and AB buildings.

For more information, call Jeffrey Adams at 218-283-5570.

2006-09-22T07:12:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

There’s a bit of news for the IBRT, so I thought it was time to bring things up to date for everyone.

“The Invisible Stage, Radio Drama for Kids” class through Falls Community Ed has been postponed due to my old nemesis, lack of interest. We’ll look at changing the format (Four weeks in a row might have been impossible for a lot of families) doing some more promotion inside the IBRT community, and trying again in December. Watch this space for more info.

On the brighter side, the IBRT and the Mr. John Faith are teaming up for a Halloween Show on Thursday, October 26. We’ll be doing two plays, one original and one classic ‘Lights Out’ episode from Old Time Radio. Watch this space for more information on auditions, rehearsal dates, etc.

Finally, it’s time for the IBRT board to meet once again, and we’re short a few members. If you’d be interested in serving the theater in this capacity, please let me know. There is a time commitment of only 90 minutes a month, and only oversight responsibilities. It would not interfere with you being in shows or working on the theater. Again, let me know if you’re interested.

2006-08-15T05:53:00.000-07:00

Hi All:

The theater is gearing up for our final live performance of the summer. It will be happening on Wednesday, August 30 at 7pm at the Bandshell in I-Falls.

The show will be titled, ‘The Icebox Radio Theater’s End of Summer Party’ and it’s going to be a musical variety show. I got inspired by the Prairie Home Companion movie, and having seen the pros do it, we could do something very similar with the talent available here in town. Here’s the playbill as of right now:

APPEARING (no particular order)
“The Mermaid” a new play
Brittany Hayes
Debbie Griffith
Karri Tougas
Bob & Ray skits by Neill & Jeffrey Adams
Scenes from ‘Dog Watch’ by Mary Casanova
Etc

This will be a fairly major undertaking for us, and we’re going to need a lot of help. What I’d like to have is a Traffic Manager who could move the acts on and off, and keep an eye on the equipment so that things are set-up right for the next act. Said manager will need 3-4 volunteers as Stage Crew who would do the arranging.

The thing I’d really like at this point is a band to provide as much of the music as possible. I’ll be contacting Gary Hooker and Myran H. this week. But if you know a group that might be interested, LET ME KNOW RIGHT AWAY! The ideal for our needs would be a small group (3-4) with a good keyboard player.

Other needs: we really need volunteers to help put up posters around the towns, and hand out flyers at the Concert in the Park tomorrow night. This is the last concert of the summer, so we need to alert all those people at the park to come back in two weeks for our show. Again, LET ME KNOW IF YOU CAN HELP WITH THIS RIGHT AWAY.

Also, it would be nice to have some concessions in the park that night. Karen, any chance your popcorn wagon could be there? Anybody else know a concession or two? The way the weather’s looking, a hot chocolate-coffee setup could make a mint

Here are the needs for the new play, “The Mermaid”: 3 women, 2 men, plus a smattering of other voices. A SFX crew of 2-3. All music pre-recorded until further notice. A good sound engineer.

That’s all for now. Please let me know if you’re willing to help. This is going to be a lot of fun, so start spreading the word, NOW.

Icebox Radio Theater, End of Summer Party
At the Bandshell, Smokey Bear Park, Int’l Falls
Wednesday, Aug 30, 7pm

2006-07-17T16:47:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone:

So much to talk about with the IBRT, and yet so little time. Summer is flying by, and though the theater slowed down from the show-per-month pace we set last winter, we’re still far from quiet.

4TH OF JULY: We had a presence on stage at the 4th of July Celebration this year. Many thanks to Walker Friend for working so hard on a short skit called simply, ‘Holiday Radio Show’. Unfortunately, when Walks arrived at the stage after the parade on 7/4, his allergies kicked in big time (the horses at the pony ride were our undoing). Lovely and talented Diane Adams had to step into the breech and play the part of a 12-year-oldwith only one read-through. That’s Radio! She did great, and the audience – filled with familiar faces – seemed to enjoy everything.

SHOWS IN THE WIND: We will be performing ‘Tall Bears’ on Saturday, Aug 5 at the Pioneer Picnic in Littlefork. This is part of the Koochiching Co. Centennial Celebration, and will feature a whole afternoon of entertainment. The play needs at least half a dozen volunteers to pull off so let me know NOW who’s available. It’s never too early to start planning.

I also have a show tentatively scheduled for Aug 29 or 30 at the Bandshell. This will be a world premier of a script titled, ‘The Mermaid’ that I’m really looking forward too. There will also be some shorter skits and a song or two. If you can help us out with this show, please let me know.

BROADCASTING NEWS: The IBRT will début on WCLPI Internet radio this month. Internet radio stations are run just like regular radio stations, only you have to listen to them via computer. This particular station is a support to families with autistic children. They go in for wholesome, family fare, and are stuff matched their needs nicely. We’re being featured as part of program called ‘WCLPI Playhouse’, and the schedule is all over the map, a different time each day. Let me know if you’d like their schedule and I’ll email it too you. In the meantime, check out their website and give them a listen at: http://wclpi.home.att.net/

More broadcasting news: Keep your fingers crossed as we have made contacts at two area radio stations about the possibility of the IBRT getting its own timeslot. Things are in the preliminary stages right now, but if it works out, the Theater could have its own home on the air soon.

RADIO FOR KIDS CLASS: Thanks to Debbie Griffith for putting me in touch with community ed. This September, the IBRT will be offering its first class for kids! We’ll meet over four consecutive Tuesdays with kids age 10 and up learning every aspect of production. This will be a great outreach for the Theater, and a bit of a fundraiser too! Contact Community Ed for more info.

And finally, after doing yet another rebuild of the website (grumble…grumble) we of the Icebox Radio Theater will be joining the 21st Century and having our very own blog. This email, received by all of you, will be posted on the blog at: http://iceboxradio.blogspot.com. Go there and check it out, comment on what has been written, and tell all your friends. If you want to know what’s happening with the theater, that’s the place.

That’s all the news for now. Take care all, and call me soon!
WE NEED VOLUNTEERS!!!

Bye for Now:
-Jeff