Publisher's Synopsis
In this new musical, award-winning author/composer Stephen Dolginoff (THRILL ME) has blended historical fact, a splash of fiction, a dose of comedy and plenty of music, to tell the incredible, behind-the-scenes story of Orson Welles' notorious 1938 radio adaptation of H.G. Wells' "The War of the Worlds." When PANIC begins, time has passed since the fateful night of the historic Halloween broadcast. The now famous actor-director Orson Welles has gathered his Mercury Theatre players back together at CBS Studios to present a brand new 'live radio musical" which cleverly dramatizes how the broadcast was originally devised, performed and received. As Welles hosts, the company re-enacts the zany story of how the cautious producer, the ethical writer and the egotistical actors with their egos couldn't stop him from creating what he was sure would be his ticket to fame in Hollywood. But in the process, Welles also created panic and pandemonium when many listening Americans mistakenly believed that the radio drama was a news report declaring a real invasion from Mars! Was it an accident, or was it Welles' plan all along? Either way, Orson Welles, H.G. Wells and CBS Radio would never be the same. PANIC requires five men, two women, one piano, and a lot of imagination! It features an original musical recreation of the broadcast, based on the novel by H.G. Wells. "The music is quite wonderful, the lyrics are really sharp!" --BroadwayRadio"Dolginoff does well by Welles and Wells!" - Theatermania "The stuff of legend and a benchmark in broadcast history!" - Broadwayworld.com
