A Surrey-based theatre company’s crime-comedy podcast is now live on the web.
Episodes of “The Fairy-Tale Mysteries” radio play have been created by two dozen members of The Fraser Valley Gilbert and Sullivan Society over the past few months, as something of a pandemic-time project.
Set in the 1950s, the story can be heard for free at fairytalemysteries.podbean.com and other podcast outlets.
Produced by Jim Nelson, the show is directed by Mike Balser with music by Timothy Tucker.
The first episode, called “Spoiled Pork,” features Detective Betsy Hardup (“the toughest private eye in Fairytale City”) and other characters. “When Fairytale and Nursery Rhyme characters can’t take their problems to the police, they come to her,” says a show promo.
“Frannie Warwick gumshoes it as Betsy Hardup. Jenn Tiles snorts-out the trio of Pinky, Perky and Peppy Pig, Mike Balser slides back as Fungus Fox, Rob Dunne snarls and growls as Big Bad Wolf and Christopher Hall is our very cool 50’s-style announcer.”
• RELATED STORY, from Nov. 6: Radio play time for ‘Fairy-Tale Mysteries’ actors kept off Surrey stages by COVID.
COVID-19 has kept Fraser Valley Gilbert and Sullivan Society from performing any shows on stage. The company had planned to stage a version of “Anything Goes” in White Rock last July but, like everything else, the show did not go on.
Back in October, members of the theatre company recorded the 29-minute first episode in the theatre group’s Newton warehouse, dubbed “Grimoire Recording Studios” for the occasion.
“It’s our 39th season,” Nelson said in November, “and we were all looking forward to being in the theatre with shows but we can’t, of course, so we’ve come up with this (“The Fairy-Tale Mysteries”), which had kind of blossomed on us, and we’re very happy with it.”
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