Part 1 of 2
by Tammy Peacy
RG Productions isn’t your average theater group. They perform original radio plays that take audience members back to a time when the radio was the center of every home. Nita Hunter, Founder and Executive Producer of RG Productions invited Expose Kenosha to watch a rehearsal and speak to the cast of Sherlock Holmes.
Upon entering the auditorium where rehearsal for would shortly commence, we were greeted by actor Jan Michalski, who lifted up his shirt. “I thought this is what you meant by Expose Kenosha,” he quipped. Yeah, we get that sometimes.
Francisco and I milled about through the crowd, speaking with those who were not performing.
Dave Klimisch: Here she is.
Tammy: Here I am.
D: Hi, Tammy.
T: Hi.
Nita Hunter: Tammy is with the Kenosha Writers’ Group. David’s a writer.
[Dave notices the little notebook into which I am jotting notes and questions to ask.]
D: So, this is how you do this, with a little notebook?
T [moving the notebook aside to reveal the recorder]: Oh, no.
D: I adore my mother. Make sure you get that.
T: I will make sure. [writing] Adores his mama.
N: He was Bob Hope for our Retro Radio Review.
D: And she made me sing.
T: Are there recordings available anywhere?
N: Online.
N: Apparently having so much audio on your webpage slows it down, so I don’t have everything on there, but Burns and Allen and Dracula is on there.
D: How do you know Nita?
T: She contacted Expose Kenosha about working together.
D: Do you understand what’s going on here?
T: Actually I don’t. What’s going on here?
D: We’ve got two Sherlock Holmes productions, a bunch of actors which are like herds of senators or cats, we’ve got two shows, great sound effects department, most of it is homemade. What do you think about those mics?
T: Those are pretty fantastic. Is there a story on those mics?
D: Do you read the Kenosha News?
T: I sometimes read the Kenosha News.
D: Don’t you work for them?
T: No, Expose Kenosha, online arts magazine. How did you get involved with RG Productions? Did you audition?
D: Yeah, last September they had auditions for Dracula. And then every two or three months there’s a new show. And then we did a Christmas thing with George Burns and Bob Hope, a bunch of others. And no we’re doing this one. Every two to three months we do something somewhere.
T: Once you’re in are you in? Do you have to continue to audition?
D: Because of my extraordinary skills, no. We were half this size a year ago, so now we’re doing two Sherlock Holmes where a year ago it would have only been one. Our sound effects has grown, our audio has grown.
T: Is this what it looks like at a performance? I haven’t been to a show.
D: Oh, you haven’t? I’ll cover the cost of your ticket.
T: Thank you, it’s free.
D: Yes.
Nita: They want you over there. Leslie is a founding member too, so when you get a chance. She’s a Radio Girl.
T: Okay.
D: Have you met Leslie?
T: No.
Leslie Uttech: Hi, I’m Leslie.
T: Hi, I’m Tammy.
L: It’s nice to meet you.
T: So, I heard you’re a founding Radio Girl.
L: Yes. It was kind of a fun girly thing that we tried to put together. We thought it would be nice to have more than just one theater group in the area. So Joan Roehre, Nita and I sat down and we talked about what our vision could be and how things could go…
T: Why did you choose radio productions rather than theater?
L: Not to say that there’s a lot of theater but it seems like the crowd that we draw for the radio show are the people who grew up listening to it and they really appreciate reminiscing and going back to when that’s all there was. The people that we have are very loyal. Same faces at the shows. It’s wonderful to bring back something to them that they love so much.
T: It’s nice to have something different. Did you already have access to this equipment?
L: No, that was really cool. We were at Harbor Market over here, and several of us were in Dracula, we were standing there doing lines. Bill was there, I was there, Don was there.
T: So you were performing at Harbor Market?
L: Yeah, and this guy came by and said, “I’d really like to get involved. I have some microphones.” And that’s how Rick came into the group. He’s such an integral part I can’t believe that he wasn’t there from the beginning. It’s neat when you come out into the public and people offer ideas and offer things and help and he brought these amazing microphones and this amazing equipment.
T: And he just happened to have these microphones. These are from the radio era?
L: Yes. Nita’s husband Jeff was doing a lot of the audio production and he still puts it together and puts it on the website and everything, but Nita bought a lot of the equipment and then merged together with Rick’s stuff and that’s what we have now. It’s amazing. It might seem kind of weird, but I think it pulls everything together from the era and it’s so cool.
T: During the performances, do they use scripts?
L: Yes. We use scripts during the performances and we try to turn the pages very quietly. If you listen to old radio shows they make a lot of mistakes and they flub up lines and they laugh about it and we’re all getting more comfortable doing that too.
T: Okay, so who should I talk to next?
L: Scott. This is Scott with one line in the show.
T: Hi, Scott with one line in the show. I’m Tammy Peacy.
Scott Annala: Hi, I’m Scott with one line in the show.
L: He’ll be good for you to talk to, because he’s not….
T: He’s got nothing else to do.
S: I’m not very good at this.
T: At what? The radio thing?
S: I’m not really good at anything actually.
T: Okay, so how did you get involved with RG Productions?
S: I took classes here with Maureen at Actor’s Craft and she called me one Saturday morning and said they’re having auditions. Sure enough I came down.
T: And that’s how—
S: That’s how I got with this motley crew.
T: What do you do when you’re not doing this?
[Someone in the background indicates that Scott may have a problem with the bottle]
T: And you drink?
S: For some reason they think I drink a lot. I don’t actually.
T: Have you been drinking this morning?
S: Water. With maybe some scotch, I don’t know. Don’t you ever just get up in the morning and randomly put stuff in? I’m kidding.
T: Of course you’re kidding.
S: I’m not good at this stuff.
T: You’re not good at interviews?
S: No, I’m like an interview virgin. Police interviews don’t count do they?
T: No, I don’t think they do.
S: Sorry.
T: Well, thanks very much for your time.
Jamie Rauth: Hi, Tammy. Jamie Rauth. I was told to talk to you.
T: I like when people are told to talk to me. That’s how I get people to talk to me. Okay. What’s your involvement with the group?
J: I’m a voice.
T: Do you do any stage acting?
J: As a matter of fact, this was my entry into acting. I saw an ad in the Kenosha News in spring and I cut it out. I didn’t tell my husband that I planned to do this, the morning of the audition, I said, “Honey, after the Easter egg hunt I think I’m gonna go audition for this.” So I did and I’ve been here since the first one, which was The Shadow. And since then I did The Cemetery Club at the Rhode. I never would have had the guts to audition for that if I hadn’t been involved in this. It was the most fun.
Francisco: Was your husband surprised when you tried out?
J: No. Nobody was surprised that I wanted to be an actress. I just had never said the words out loud in my life.
T: Had you done any acting before?
J: In fourth grade I was in a 4H play. I was a nail.
T: What would you say are the differences between this kind of acting and stage acting?
J: Well, in stage acting you have to memorize. With this we can come together with a few rehearsals and pull off a performance that’s really good, because we can hold our scripts. And the people who are doing it, there’s some really talented people. There are times when I’m standing amongst them and I’m just in awe, because they are really good. They come from different backgrounds. So the difference, I don’t want to say it’s easier because it’s not easier, but you have to make your voice draw the picture. You know when you read a book and you love the book. Then you see the movie and it’s always a disappointment because your imagination is much grander.
T: Okay. Thank you.
Scott: Did I make a mistake? I wasn’t supposed to expose my problems? This isn’t therapy?
T: It can be.
Francisco: We charge for that.
S: They told me I was supposed to expose my drinking problem, I exposed the wrong thing.
Tune in next week when we expose more of the folks who make up RG Productions.
1 comment so far ↓
I was a radio show virgin when I attended the Februrary 16th performance of Sherlock Holmes @ the SW Library and found myself enthralled with the whole production! I found it difficult to watch only the actors, as the special effects team was just as captivating. Their innovative use of everyday objects astounded me. The costumes that the characters used, combined with their acting abilities, helped bring the whole show to life for me. The clincher that this was something I’d like to be involved with were the two children reclined on the carpeting in the front of the seated audience paying rapt attention to the goings-on. This is how radio used to be, and makes me think twice before I channel surf as is my usual habit.
Leave a Comment