Showing results by publisher "Blackstone Audio, Inc." in Entertainment & Performing Arts

Doty Meets Coyote is an audio tapestry of traditional and original Native American stories from the American West told by master storyteller Thomas Doty. It is Thomas Doty's work as a storyteller not only to perpetuate the Old Time myths with integrity but to add new stories to the collective basket of folklore, just as tellers before him have done for centuries. Storytelling is an ancient tradition as well as a living art.

A sunny day, a quaint antique store, browsing through the artifacts of the past. To some, these are the ingredients for a pleasantly spent afternoon. To Frank, it is the beginning of a journey that will tear his world inside out. Is his amusing and puzzling journey down memory lane an actual journey, or is it a careening descent into madness?

Meg and her mom Sandra are heading to Detroit to do a little cross-border shopping and take in a Tigers game. But Sandra's passport has expired, and they are turned back. An odd encounter on the Windsor waterfront leads them into a wild night of time travel, rum smuggling, a near drowning, hijackers, customs officials thirsty for bribes, and a chance encounter with controversial baseball legend Ty Cobb.

Conventional wisdom holds that John F. Kennedy was the first celebrity president, in no small part because of his innate television savvy. But as Kathryn Brownell shows, Kennedy capitalized on a tradition and style rooted in California politics and the Hollywood studio system. Since the 1920s, politicians and professional showmen have developed relationships and built organizations institutionalizing Hollywood styles, structures, and personalities in the American political process.

Raymond Chandler'scelebrated hard-boiled private eye, Philip Marlowe, made his radio debut in 1945 on the Lux Radio Theatre with "Murder, My Sweet", starring Dick Powell. Two years later, NBC brought the character to the air in his own weekly series starring Van Heflin: The New Adventures of Philip Marlowe. A summer replacement for The Bob Hope Show, the series was short-lived, ending September 9,1947. CBS revived it in 1948 with TheAdventures of Philip Marlowe, starring Gerald Mohr.

Taking its name from a popular series of mystery novels, Inner Sanctum Mysteries debuted over NBC's Blue Network in January 1941. It featured one of the most memorable and atmospheric openings in radio history: an organist hit a dissonant chord, a doorknob turned, and the famous "creaking door" slowly began to open. Every week, Inner Sanctum Mysteries told stories of ghosts, murderers, and lunatics.

A thrilling collection of episodes from the classic radio show Suspense.

Conceived as a potential radio vehicle for Alfred Hitchcock to direct, Suspense was a radio series of epic proportion. It aired on CBS from 1942 to 1962 and is considered by many to be the best mystery series of the golden age. Often referred to as "Radio's Outstanding Theater of Thrills," the show focused on suspenseful thrillers starring the biggest names in Hollywood.

Kate Chopin is a widely considered the forerunner to the feminist authors of the twentieth century. Focusing on themes of race and gender, her short stories largely center on life in rural Louisiana. In "The Story of an Hour," Louise Mallard has just learned that her husband is dead - believed to have died during a train accident. Her family fears that the news will kill Louise, who suffers from a weak heart.

In 1903 at the soon-to-open Luna Park on Coney Island, an elephant named Topsy was electrocuted, likely with advice from Thomas Edison,whose film crew recorded the horrible event. Over the past century, this bizarre, ghoulish execution has reverberated through popular culture with the ring of an urban legend. But it really happened, and today, Edison’s footage can be found on YouTube, where it has been viewed nearly two million times.

Helen Hayes, acclaimed "First Lady of the American Theatre", has been on stage, screen, and television for more than fifty years. In that time she moved among the world's most famous and talented: actors, film stars, writers, businessmen. She speaks with wit, wisdom, and candor on topics both public and private.

Until now, Hollywood's political history has been dominated by a steady stream of films and memoirs decrying the nightmare of the Red Scare and how it victimized political innocents. But Ronald and Allis Radosh tell for the first time the “backstory” behind this myth. They show how the Soviet Comintern targeted the film capital in the late 1920s, taking us inside the cells and discussion groups that Communist Party members formed, the guilds and unions they tried to take over, and the studios they aimed to influence.

Kelly Corrigan talks with Lysa Williams of Blackstone Audio about her new book, The Middle Place.

This invaluable primer will introduce the uninitiated to the mysteries of opera and help more experienced fans to expand their understanding and deepen their appreciation of the art form.

Blackstone Audio is proud to present the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s production of Measure for Measure, Shakespeare’s compelling tragicomedy that explores restraint—and lack thereof. The duke’s authoritarian deputy, Angelo, is hell-bent on stamping out moral decay. He reactivates outdated draconian laws and aims his arrogant crosshairs at a young man whose fiancée is pregnant, sentencing him to death. Angelo is sternly incorruptible—until he meets Isabela....

Eric Klinenberg's Fighting for Air takes us into the world of preprogrammed radio shows, empty television news stations, and copycat newspapers to show how corporate ownership and control of local media has remade American political and cultural life. Klinenberg argues that the demise of truly local media stems from the federal government's malign neglect.

Join us in this exclusive audio program for candid conversations with luminaries in the food world. Kitchen Round Table brings you inside the homes and hearts of Lidia Bastianich, Madhur Jaffrey, Judith Jones, Betty Fussell, and Deb Perelman. We hear about their earliest food memories and how each slowly made their way into the kitchen and ultimately inspired generation upon generation of home cooks. We'll learn how complicated recipes are translated for those of us who don't dice and julienne in our sleep, but we'll also hear about memorable gourmet feats and culinary fireworks, and unforgettable meals.

Ever wonder why so many B actors wind up as A-grade politicians? Or how the casting couch worked? Acclaimed author Kathleen Sharp traces the influence of show business through the lives of its first power couple. Edie and Lew Wasserman built the world’s largest talent agency, MCA, created the multibillion-dollar Universal Studios, and helped shape Washington, DC.

The fascinating life of storyteller and humorist Mark Twain is revealed in this one-man performance based on Twain's writings. The early years of Samuel Clemens, the Mississippi River experiences, and his move to the silver mining area of Nevada are portrayed by exuberant actor McAvoy Layne; some of the most famous tales, from "The Blue Jay Yarn" to "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" are woven into the history of this most colorful author.

When El Matador opened in 1958, Bennett Cerf called it "the most attractive room in America". Part saloon, part salon, Barnaby Conrad's nightclub was nestled in the heart of San Francisco's cabaret and nightlife district. On any given night, one might find Noel Coward, Marilyn Monroe, Truman Capote, Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner, or Tyrone Power in the club or might hear Duke Ellington, Art Tatum, Eva Gabor, George Shearing, or André Previn take over the piano.

The national debate over popular music's effect on character is both furious and confused. Conservatives complain primarily about lyrics, appealing to public decency and safety. Liberals, swift to the defense of any self-expression, simultaneously celebrate rock's liberating ethos and deny its cultural influence.