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The Night America Panicked – The Story of the War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast
April 13, 2024 @ 8:00 am - April 14, 2024 @ 5:00 pm
Saturday, April 13 at 6:30 pm Sunday and April 14 at 3pm matinee
The Night America Panicked is based on actual events surrounding Orson Welles and the Mercury Theater’s production of H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds Following the success and popularity of their tour this past October and November, IMAGINEX Productions has been asked to gather this April to present two encore performances of their multi-media production of “The Night America Panicked”. Now at the request of Nelson Hall in Elim Park, Cheshire CT, IMAGINEX Productions will present two very special encore performances to celebrate the 85th Anniversary of what has been called “The Greatest Hoax ever portrayed on American Radio”.
This original production based on actual events of the famous 1938 radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds by Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre on the Air, will combine live performances with lights, sounds, music, special effects, and multi-media projections including photography, artwork, and video. IMAGINEX will recreate the original radio show using the actual script as it was broadcast that evening in October 1938 including costumes, sound effects and music from that period. The cast and crew of 28 people will be portraying actual members of The Mercury Theatre on the Air company, showing how the play came together, and how it was presented on national radio. And more than that, they will incorporate actual events that happened before, during, and immediately after the broadcast, to shed light on why the broadcast was thought by many to be real – and what the public did once panic set in. From the time guests arrive, they will be transported back to 1938 with music from the era, and ushers and ticket-takers in period costume as well.
