VANCOUVER, Wash. – It’s Vancouver’s own Christmas classic: “A Radio Christmas Carol,” offered by Re-Imagined Radio every year since 2013. An adaption of Charles Dickens’ 1843 novel, which has never been out of print, makes the heartwarming point that “humanity outweighs riches and brings redemption,” said John Barber, host and founder of Re-Imagined Radio and faculty member in Washington State University Vancouver’s Creative Media and Digital Culture program.
This year’s live performance takes place Dec. 20 at the Kiggins Theatre in Vancouver, featuring the Willamette Radio Workshop directed by Sam A. Mowry. Doors open at 6 p.m., with the performance at 7. The event will also be livestreamed and broadcast by KXRW-FM (99.9), Vancouver, and KXRY-FM (91.1 and 107.1) in Portland, Ore.
In addition, Re-Imagined Radio will feature four Christmas tales on its regular monthly broadcast episode, premiering Dec. 18 at 1 p.m. “A Radio Christmas Sampler Vol. III” draws on comedian Stan Freberg’s “Christmas Dragnet”—a parody of the 1950s police procedural—plus three radio programs: “The Stockings Were Hung,” from “The Shadow” (1939); “Christmas Gift” from “The Whistler” (1951); and “Christmas Story” from “Gunsmoke” (1952).
Far from sentimental holiday tributes, these vintage radio episodes will take listeners by surprise. “The first begins with a laugh. The second, with a whistle. The third, with a gunshot,” Barber said.
Re-Imagined Radio premieres episodes on the third Monday of the month on KXRW.FM. In addition, every Sunday, an episode of Re-Imagined Radio is broadcast on KXRW, drawing from previously broadcast episodes. Episodes can be streamed on demand from the Re-Imagined Radio website or may be obtained as podcasts anywhere podcasts are offered. You also can subscribe or download using the audio player on any individual episode page at the Re-Imagined Radio website, reimaginedradio.net.
Community Partners
Re-Imagined Radio draws on community voice actors, Foley artists, musicians, sound artists and engineers. Partners include KXRW-FM, KXRY-FM, Marc Rose and Holly Slocum Design.
About Re-Imagined Radio
Re-Imagined Radio was begun by Barber in 2013 to celebrate radio storytelling. “We select, produce and perform classic and contemporary stories across a spectrum of radio genres, from dramas to comedies, from oral to aural histories, from documentaries to fictions, from soundscapes to sonic journeys, from radio to sound art,” Barber said.
About WSU Vancouver
As one of six campuses of the WSU system, WSU Vancouver offers big-school resources in a small-school environment. The university provides affordable, high-quality baccalaureate- and graduate-level education to benefit the people and communities it serves. As the only four-year research university in Southwest Washington, WSU Vancouver helps drive economic growth through relationships with local businesses and industries, schools and nonprofit organizations.
WSU Vancouver is located on the homelands of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and Peoples of the Lower Columbia Valley. We acknowledge their presence here. WSU Vancouver expresses its respect towards these original and current caretakers of the region. We pledge that these relationships will be built on mutual trust and respect.
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MEDIA CONTACT(S)
Brenda Alling, Office of Marketing and Communication, 360-546-9601, brenda_alling@wsu.edu