Live Programs
Mysteries: Original Whodunits
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The 1940s mysteriously come to life as hardboiled detective Archie Morgan enters Café Malta searching for an escaped con. He discovers Waldo de Winter, the café owner, was murdered and his widow wants Archie to solve the crime. Chandler, the new bartender, has a lot to hide. Other suspects are Laura, the cafe's lovable songbird, scamming Doctor Grimaldi and his ruthless sidekick Trigger Dolan, both of whom are searching for the missing MacGuffin Manuscript. Enter Queen Farona an exotic dancer who was Waldo’s last lover and Private Bob Ford, a young soldier with amnesia. In order to find the guilty party Archie might need your help weeding through this group of shady suspects!
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Infamous bootlegger Dutch Schultz has opened a new speakeasy, the Abba Dabba Club, to give girlfriend Lu Lu a place to sing but flapper Rosie isn’t having it. You’ll dance, dine and gulp the best hooch anywhere until tempers flair, bullets rain and the law shows up. One body will fall and it doesn’t look like the Charleston did it.
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Danny Crunkle, owner of Dan-Dee-Can-Dee, is merging his company with Hershel Crackleberry his biggest competitor. On hand to witness Danny's news are his soft son Goobar, nutty ex-wife Sister Godiva, creamy girlfriend Coco, crunchy attorney Fanny Farmer and brittle chocolatier Russell Stover. Before Danny finishes his announcement gun shots ring out, a body falls and everyone scrambles for a piece of Danny's will. Who poisoned Danny’s sweet deal and can his brother, rumbled detective Rick the Dick, be able to establish means and motive with this sketchy gang of suspects? This zany addition to Murder Cafe's radio theatre is exactly what your sweet tooth needs.
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It is 1934, and The Neptune Network Players go on the air with their new play, A Will to Kill. The story concerns a dying millionaire who has assembled his heirs to discuss his will. A gun is fired and the Lord of the manor falls dead, as scripted. But when the scene ends, it is discovered the actor is really dead. Who put real bullets in the prop gun and why? This play within a play explodes as accusations fly and actors break character to solve the murder, all while the mic’s still hot.
Classic Tales of Suspense
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This classic radio suspense drama, written by Lucille Fletcher, was first broadcast in 1945. It concerns an invalid woman who overhears what she thinks is a murder plot and her attempts to prevent it. One night, whilst waiting for her husband to return home, she picks up the phone and accidentally overhears a conversation between two men planning a murder. She becomes increasingly desperate as she tries to work out who the victim is so the crime can be prevented.
This is a spirited story about a stunt that goes wrong. Radio personality Smiley Smith and paranormal investigator, Dr. Roberta Reed tour a haunted house on a cliff above the Hudson River. Their experiences are recorded for playback on Smith's show. The house, known as "The Death Trap," has a bad reputation because four of its residents met mysterious ends.
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GHOST HUNT was adapted for Hudson Valley Radio Theatre from a tale by the renowned ghost story writer, Herbert Russell Wakefield.
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Based on the novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes, THE LODGER concerns a serial killer known as "The Avenger" who is murdering young women. A mysterious man arrives at the home of the Buntings looking for a room to rent. Daisy, the Bunting's daughter is a young woman who seems to have captured the new lodger’s attention. Before the evening is over another body is found. Who is “The Avenger” and has he struck again?
Hudson Valley Radio Theatre brings you a classic spy thriller, with a touch of comedy, The 39 Steps. This edge-of-the seat whodunit follows the incredible adventures of American hero Richard Hannay, as he encounters dastardly murderers, double-crossing secret agents, and, of course, devastatingly beautiful women.
This mesmerizing mystery of murder and spies, is loosely based on the novel by John Buchan and inspired by the timeless Hitchcock movie.
Classic Drama and Stories
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This is a classic tale from the imagination of one of America’s most influential writers - Edgar Allan Poe. We are pleased to breathe new life into, The Masque of the Red Death. The script, written by Jessica Boyd for Hudson Valley Radio Theatre, is based on Poe’s classic tale. His short story, written in 1842, is as relevant today as it was then. This fable concerns a dangerous plague and the attempts of the well-to-do to isolate themselves from the coming attack.
And now, we take you back to the middle ages, a time when mortality was an everyday concern.
Emily Bronte’s classic of the Victorian Age, a harrowing tale, written by a girl whose life was as bleak and somber as the Yorkshire moors where this story is laid.
It follows the life of Heathcliff, a mysterious person, from childhood to his death in his late thirties. Heathcliff rises in his adopted family and then is reduced to the status of a servant, running away when Cathy, the young woman he loves, decides to marry another. Join us in the crumbling house on Wuthering Heights, where the candle burns low in a dreary guest room. There’s no sound but the wind outside and the hushed voice of the old maidservant, Ellen, as she tells her story.
Written by Crane Johnson
Licensed by Dramatists Play Service
You are invited you to meet The Count as he attempts to move to move from Transylvania to England to find new blood and spread his undead curse, but Professor Van Helsing and Doctor Seward and his household members get in the way. Overhear a desperate race to save Renfield and others from Dracula's evil clutches — and, once and for all, to find and destroy the vampire in his secret hiding place.
Famous Authors and Characters
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On the eve of his mysterious end Edgar Allan Poe, desperate and destitute, has agreed to read from his poems and tales of mystery. As he performs Annabel Lee, The Raven, The Cask of Amontillado and The Fall of the House of Usher, characters from these works appear and confront him. Are they figments of Poe's delusional mind seeking revenge or are they real? Entertaining and educational, Poe will perform again...nevermore
Variety
Hudson Valley Radio Theatre presents their first annual Virtual Variety Show and fundraising event. Veteran emcee Jerry Sax presents an hour of music and comedy that features the talents of three stunning singers, two masterful musicians, a curious clown, a desperately dramatic actress and a chaotic comedy team. Tune it and be part of the fun!
For all you lollygagging listeners out there, Hudson Valley Radio Theatre presents its first annual HOLIDAY HOOT , an evening of touching tunes and cantankerous comedy, live from our couches to yours. Join our master of ceremonies, a young man who puts a kick in all his schtick and candy in every stocking, Florida’s very own wonder boy Chris Falcioni. He'll be presenting the area's best entertainers all of whom will give you the gift of comedy and song.
Classic Comedy
Meet Abby and Martha Brewster, two charming elderly sisters who poison lonely old men to send them to a better place, in Theatre on the Road’s production of the Joseph Kesselring classic comedy Arsenic and Old Lace. The play’s hilarious plot unfolds when the Brewster sisters serve their guests a concoction of elderberry wine laced with arsenic and they enlist the aid of their nephew Teddy, a robust fellow who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt, to bury the bodies in their cellar. When nephew and theatre critic Mortimer discovers a body, high comedy ensues as he attempts to hide his aunt’s unusual activities from his fiancée, his vengeful brother, a crazed plastic surgeon, and the local police.
Hudson Valley Radio Theatre’s production of “Arsenic and Old Lace” includes an exclusive interview with Sara Karloff, the daughter of Hollywood and Broadway legend Boris Karloff. He originated the role of Jonathan in the original Broadway production of “Arsenic and Old Lace” and reprised his role in the 1951 radio version.