Kids of the New Century
The students at the South Dakota School for the Blind
and Visually Impaired grew up during the age of television. Radio
for them is a music box with news, weather, sports, and talk thrown in.
Radio for me and others born before and after World War II was more.
It was comedy, drama, variety, live symphony and big band concerts,
and shows designed especially for children and young people.
Several years ago, the kids at the School and I began
re-discovering some of the radio I had known as a child and teenager. In
the early and mid-1980s, we produced stage plays and later adapted them
for radio and recordings. In a class called "What's happening?" we
listened to many "old time radio" shows. In 1999, I asked Mrs. Lela
Holcomb, one of the high school teachers, if she thought some of her students
might like to record a play. They had been reading Stephen Crane's
Red Badge of Courage, so we adapted it as a radio program
and recorded it.
The year 2000 was the School's 100th year. That
centennial led to the recording of an original play called Something
to Remember Us By. We used my newly-completed home recording
studio. That was the year we started calling ourselves the Kids of
the New Century. Charlie Summers installed the program on his "old
time radio" website. If you want to hear this program and see photos
of the cast, click on this link:
A few weeks after recording this radio play about the
100th Anniversary of our School, the time capsule that appeared in the program
was buried in the south lawn. Here are two photos. One shows
Pete Peterson and Indira Keller preparing the capsule... ...And this
is the granite marker telling about the capsule in both print and braille.
From March through May 2001, we spent many after school
sessions recording another program. This time it was Fables and Fantasy.
The theater used by the Kids of the New Century is a theater of
the mind, the imagination. They use their voices, some music and
sound effects to create a theater without walls, without curtains, makeup
or costumes. As you listen, just relax and let them tell you
the stories. Your mind will create the pictures, the ideas, the moods
and the feelings.
If you click on the link below, you will hear the fairy
tale, Jack and the Beanstalk. This is followed by Four
Servants by Jakob and Ludwig Grimm. Then there is a short interview
with the cast. Following this are two original fantasies by Ted Kneebone:
Radiola and What's Playing at the Ritz?
Here are some photos of the cast at work: Camron Van Asperen, Tommy
Fuhrer, Toby Syhre, and Thomas Miller...
...and here are Billy McCue and B. J. Van Dam.
After recording our last session, we went bowling. Here is Tommy
Fuhrer...
To listen to the Fables and Fantasy program, click here...
During 2002, the director and students were busy with
other things so no play was produced, but in May 2003, we squeezed in two
short plays in the last two weeks before graduation. This was the
shortest rehearsal and recording time in our history. The result was
two more fairy tales: The Pied Piper and The Troll and the Billy Goats.
You may listen to this program by clicking on the link below...
Here are photos of the cast in these 2003 plays. Some of the cast
are veterans and some are new to radio drama.
Kids in the 2003 cast: Tony Zimmerman, Wade Turner, Drew Halverson,
Thomas Miller, and Cam Van Asperen.
And here are some closeups of the cast. This is Drew Halverson pretending
to be the engineer.
Tony Zimmerman and Wade Turner at the mike.
Thomas Miller and Cam Van Asperen rounded out the cast.
If you want to write to us, here is our email address: