CST LiveOnline! Presents SORRY, WRONG NUMBER

While Carpenter Square Theatre has postponed the opening of its regular Season 37, it is still working to entertain and enrich the community by producing online shows. The theater will present the sixth edition of "CST LiveOnline!" by airing "Sorry, Wrong Number," a famous old time radio drama, at 7 p.m. October 16-17.

Director Rhonda Clark has gathered a cast of metro area actors to bring Lucille Fletcher's award-winning radio script to life, which she considers a suspenseful choice for the Halloween season. Christine Lanning stars as Mrs. Stevenson, a demanding invalid confined to her bed who overhears what sounds like a murder plot while trying to phone her husband's office. Ed Spinelli, Angela Lux, Terry Veal, and Lana Henson will play two roles each, while Brance Lanning will act, as well as produce live sound effects.

Carpenter Square broadcasts their radio-with-video shows live from the studio of RK-1 Productions near Scissortail Park in downtown Oklahoma City, and the shows can be viewed on the Carpenter Square Theatre YouTube channel. Viewing is free, but the theater certainly appreciates donations, as well as donations for RK-1 Studios who are providing their services for free.

"Sorry, Wrong Number" was Fletcher's greatest success and premiered on May 25, 1943, as an episode of the radio series "Suspense" produced by Orson Welles who called it "the greatest single radio script ever written." It was broadcast nationwide seven times between 1943 and 1948. Agnes Moorehead created the starring role in its premiere and in several later radio productions. Barbara Stanwyck starred in the 1948 film version for which she received a 1949 Academy Award nomination. A 1959 version received a 1960 Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best Radio Drama, presented by the Mystery Writers of America. Fletcher's husband at the time was famed composer Bernard Hermann who composed and conducted the theme song. Fletcher is also known for "The Hitch-Hiker," an original radio play written for Orson Welles and later adapted for an episode of "The Twilight Zone" television series.

"Sorry, Wrong Number" might be called an act of revenge. Ms. Fletcher once explained in an interview that it was partially inspired by an incident from real life. While her daughter was sick at home, Lucille went down to the corner drug store for medicine. Innocently striking up a conversation with her pharmacist, a longtime friend, she raised the ire of an older woman who had apparently been waiting first. The woman interrupted and approached the druggist, complaining loudly about poor service and demanding to "know who this interloper is!" Ms. Fletcher, finding the woman's shrill voice and demeanor very irritating, went home to write a script based around a character with those traits who becomes embroiled in a precarious situation.

"CST LiveOnline!" has aired monthly while the theater itself is closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. To tune in, visit the theater's website at carpentersquare.com. On the home page, look for the purple box on the right and click on the link "Sorry, Wrong Number." This takes viewers directly to Carpenter Square Theatre's YouTube channel. Also, folks may visit YouTube, search for Carpenter Square Theatre and subscribe to the theater's channel, which is free. Past radio shows and other CST videos are posted there for the public's enjoyment. If someone must miss the live-stream performances, an archive video is always posted on the theater's YouTube channel after the live event, so the public can tune in at their convenience.

Carpenter Square Theatre is supported in part by the Oklahoma Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts, Kirkpatrick Family Fund, Inasmuch Foundation, and Allied Arts. Annual Sponsors include Ed and Janet Bucknell and Mel and Cindy Ables.

To post a comment, you must register and login.