80 year old panic returns as spoof

By Bob EvansOct 30, 2018, 17:09 pm0

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War of the Worlds 80th Anniversary

Spawns Epic Radio Spoof

KANSAS CITY – 80 years after Orson Welles terrified the nation with the War of the Worlds, Right Between the Ears celebrates (and spoofs) the notorious “panic broadcast” with a new radio play, to be performed at Musical Theatre Heritage Stage 2, Crown Center at 7:30pm on Friday and Saturday, November 16 and 17.

Rex Dexter and the War of the Worlds by Darrell Brogdon is a new chapter in the epic radio adventure that premiered at the 2018 KC Fringe Festival. Based on Rex Dexter of Mars, a forgotten character who inhabited the back pages of Mystery Men Comics in the late 1930s, the story picks up as Rex and his pals have accidentally destroyed the Earth while trying to save it from a runaway planet.

To undo their mistake, Rex and his crew travel backward in time, hoping to save the Earth from destruction. Instead they overshoot the target and wind up in 1938 on the night of Orson Welles’ War of the War radio broadcast. Soon they’re dodging trigger happy hillbillies, Nazi commandos, FDR and Orson Welles himself.

The play will also utilize excerpts from the 1938 broadcast War of the Worlds, which was so realistic that many listeners believed an actual Martian invasion was underway. The resulting panic made headlines around the world and catapulted the 23-year-old Welles to Hollywood and the movies.

Right Between the Ears

Featured in the cast of Rex Dexter and the War of the Worlds are Michael Foster, Brie Henderson, David Martin, Jason Miller and Jerry Nevins. Live sound effects will be performed on stage by Mary Ellen Kriegh. The show will also be recorded for a later podcast.

Tickets are $19.00 and are available online at www.rightbetweentheears.com, or at the Musical Theatre Heritage box office in Crown Center.