A Little History....
On Halloween weekend of 2010 The Post-Meridian Radio Players did a show at the Somerville Theatre. This was the Big Broadcast of 1946 and it was a big hit with the audiences.
After that I started thinking about how we could share that experience with other people outside of our usual space. I was also noting that are plenty of other groups that do live performances.
So what if we partnered with them? Do one story across the country on Halloween? Each group could do the show within their own means, supporting each other but avoiding overtaxing anyone.
But what would the story be? Having each group do the exact same story seemed repetitious. At the very least we needed something that could be adapted to each groups local audience. Night of the Living Dead was considered, but zombies have been done to death (so to speak) maybe Invasion of the Body Snatchers?
Then I came upon the idea of doing a moving story, not just new settings but one that would evolve as it moved. After all, even if each show started at the same time thanks to time zones each would actually follow each other.
So we needed a story with some name recognition, that would work in multiple settings and evoked the sense of travel. A traveler of some sort...not unlike a Horseman.
Thus The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was chosen. A classic story about a haunted bit of road and a ghostly apparition that could work in multiple settings and spread a chill across people from Boston to Seattle.
Plus we could add a second part to the project. A CD could be compiled with all of the shows on it. Allowing fans to hear each of the stories.
After that it was just approaching other groups and explaining the idea. And I'm glad to say response was largely favorable.
And now we get to share the stories with you. Just watch your head...
Chris DeKalb
Producer
Sleepy Hollow 2011 Project
PMRP
