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‘Little Mermaid,’ ‘Waltzes’come to Wilkes stage

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<p>TUNKHANNOCK &#8212; Don&#8217;t be surprised when you don&#8217;t hear Sgt. Joe Friday utter &#8220;Just the facts, ma&#8217;am.&#8221;</p><p>That famous phrase comes from the TV version of &#8220;Dragnet,&#8221; and what you can see, hear and enjoy Tuesday evening at the Dietrich Theater on East Tioga Street is an earlier, radio version of the vintage police drama.</p><p>&#8220;You can close your eyes and listen to the adventure,&#8221; said Esther Harmatz, who will direct 16 volunteer actors in a Golden Days of Radio Players production, set to begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Admission is free; for tickets call 570-996-1500.</p><p>&#8220;This is the kind of show families would gather around their radio and listen to in the &#8217;40s and &#8217;50s,&#8221; Harmatz said. &#8220;There&#8217;s a big nostalgia factor.&#8221;</p><p>But unlike the radio audiences who only heard the voices and sounds, the audience at the Dietrich will see some of the objects that make sound effects. &#8220;We have a bag we punch for scuffling or fight sounds,&#8221; Harmatz offered as example. &#8220;We have a battery type thing; you rock it back and forth on a piece of wood and it sounds like feet walking.&#8221;</p><p>Audiences also will be able to see the actors, who will be wearing clothes in the styles that were popular during radio&#8217;s heyday.</p><p>&#8220;We dress like people would dress to go to work in the 1940s and &#8217;50s,&#8221; the director said. &#8220;We used to just dress up in black. But we&#8217;ve been doing this (with period clothing) for the past couple of years, and it went over big.&#8221;</p><p>In order to best use her large group of volunteers, Harmatz cast them in three short radio plays that the Golden Days of Radio Players will present in one evening.</p><p>In the &#8220;Dragnet&#8221; episode, Sgt. Friday and Officer Smith have to track down a criminal who&#8217;s been robbing hotels, and in the &#8220;My Friend Irma&#8221; show, the bewildered stenographer wins raffle tickets to attend the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.</p><p>&#8220;As usual, Irma screws things up,&#8221; Harmatz said.</p><p>The third show, &#8220;Father Knows Best,&#8221; involves the Anderson family&#8217;s Aunt Martha and a baseball game.</p><p>&#8220;There&#8217;s a crochety old Aunt Martha coming for a visit, just when the family wants to go to a baseball game, and maybe ruining it,&#8221; Harmatz said.</p><p>The director lives in Tunkhannock, but grew up in Scranton, where her dad, Sid Harris, worked at WNEP-TV.</p><p>&#8220;Did you watch &#8216;Hatchy Milatchy?&#8217; &#8221; Harmatz said. &#8220;My dad was Alfie the puppet in the tree and he was Beauregard the Clown when Miss Judy wasn&#8217;t there. I have theater and sound and radio and television in my blood.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">The period clothing the Radio Players wear adds to the ambience of an old-time radio show. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_1940s.garb_-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>The period clothing the Radio Players wear adds to the ambience of an old-time radio show. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Performance at Dietrich Theater is free</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mary Therese Biebel</p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What:</strong> Golden Age of Radio Players production</p><p><strong>When:</strong> 7 p.m. June 4</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> Dietrich Theater, 60 East Tioga St., Tunkhannock</p><p><strong>Admission:</strong> Free. Call for tickets at 570-996-1500</p></factboxMeta></div>

Golden Age of Radio Players to present three classic shows