Dracula (Aired July 11, 1938)
The Mercury Theater was a theater company founded in New York City by Orson Welles and John Houseman. They had initial success in the theater, then went to radio, and one of the most notable radio broadcasts of all time, The War of the Worlds. Welles had already worked extensively in radio drama, playing the Shadow for a year, and directing a seven-part adaptation of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables. In 1938, he was offered a chance to direct his own weekly, hour-long radio series, initially called First Person Singular, then The Mercury Theater on the Air. Welles insisted his Mercury company--actors and crew--be involved in the radio series. This was an unprecedented and expensive request, especially for one so young as Welles. He won out, however, and went on to produce some of the finest radio drama of any era. The Mercury Theater on the Air was an hour-long dramatic radio program which began in the summer of 1938 on the CBS radio network. Most episodes dramatized many works of classic and contemporary literature. Houseman wrote the early scripts for the series himself, turning the job over to Howard Koch at the beginning of October. Music for the program was conducted by Bernard Herrmann.
THIS EPISODE:
July 11, 1938. CBS network. "Dracula". Sustaining. The first show of the series. Bram Stoker (author), Orson Welles, Martin Gabel, Agnes Moorehead, Dan Seymour (announcer), George Coulouris, Ray Collins, Karl Swenson, Elizabeth Farah, Bernard Herrmann (composer, conductor), Davidson Taylor (production supervisor). 58:58.
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