Talk Radio Proposal and Concept

After reading Talk Radio several times. I have gathered sense of the feel of the show and the quality of the sound that would best accompany the play. Obviously, a play about a radio station requires quite a bit of knowledge not only about the sound of a talk radio show but the sound of radio in the 1987. To me, Barry is a mixture of Big Joe Henry’s old time style on NJ101.5 and Howard Stern. I’ve done a great deal of research and had a great deal of experience in the radio station environment. As a station manager of WWPH 107.9FM in Princeton Junction I have 4 years of experience of actually doing talk radio as well as producing all the prerecorded spots and clips. I feel like the spots of the time are big and loud and gritty. The production spots should almost mimic the rough edges of the Night Talk host. All the prerecorded intros and outros to the show should be loud and jarring. The announcers voice in particular should be deep and gritty. I’ll be using sort of Big Joe Henry style to influence all the production that is created to be used in the radio show.

If I were to design this show one of the biggest challenges in my mind would be having someone manage all of the live audio that’s happening during the course of the play from Barry’s different microphones which allow him to interact with the listening audience as well as the in studio staff and all the callers and production sound cues. My proposed solution for this is to put an operator on the stage as part of the show. Clearly the SM could not handle both lights and sound for this production because someone is needed to ride the levels of the mics and make sure everything is consistently functioning throughout the show. Having an operator on the stage will not only solve the operation problem but also the issue with the space, the sound op could not fit in booth of the theater by any stretch of the imagination. It would also add to the aesthetic of the set because the real audio equipment would be visible allowing the audience to fully believe that this is a functional radio station. The operator is actually written into the script with 2 at the end of the play but I don’t foresee this as an issue if it’s okay’d by the director. It seems to me that this particular idea will not only solve many problems as far as making sure the show runs well every night but it will also do a great deal in assisting to create the world of the play.

In the same vein, one of the other problems I foresee is that having Barry stuck in a chair may not be terribly interesting to watch so I would also like to fit him with a headset microphone attached to the console by a wire. It will allow him to move around the stage more freely and he won’t feel like he needs to be glued to his chair at his console while he’s talking to the callers.

As far as equipment is concerned, I spoke with Ginger last week about a number budgetwise and I’m still in the process of locating and researching rental equipment but it goes without saying that it will be necessary. The Mum’s sound system was barely adequate for Extremities and if it’s possible I would like to forgo it completely and rent a system with some donations from my own personal collection to build a system that will do exactly what I want it to do. Small touches are what really make a show like this. For instance I would love to add a piece of my own equipment that will allow for the echo and feedback that occurs when a caller has their own radio too loud. I’d also like to get ahold of phones to wire directly into the board so that it really sounds like these people are on their phones calling in. As I said I’m willing to make use of some of my own equipment as well as rent. But, I would want to have further discussions about the time period of the piece whether we would still like to set it in 1987 because that would effect the type of microphones and things I would rent for the in studio equipment.

Lastly, I feel as though given the right amount of prep time and budget I would be perfect for this project because of my extensive background in radio and talk radio in particular. I am licensed by the FCC as a radio personality and engineer so I know the kind of sound and feel you’re trying to achieve. And if we have a budget and time that allows, the sky is the limit for this project. I hope to hear from you soon regarding my ideas for this show. If you’d like I can put together a sample rent list using the number that Ginger gave me as a prelim budget to let you know the different options we have. Furthermore, I can be a great resource for you as far as knowing how a radio station operates even outside of the sound aspect of it. I really appreciate you’re time and consideration regarding this project and I’d be very excited to work with you again.