LUCILLE FLETCHER TRIBUTE

Curated by

John F. Barber

Copyright (c)

Final Draft

Broadcast 21 March 2022

Lucille Fletcher Tribute
Season 10, Episode 03 of Re-Imagined Radio
Written and Produced by John F. Barber

Broadcast date: 21 March 2022

Episode Synopsis
A tribute to Lucille Fletcher and National Women's History Month. Lucille Fletcher wrote episodes for The Columbia Workshop, The Mercury Theatre, and Suspense. RE-Imagined Radio presents The Voices with adaptations of Fletcher's two best-known radio dramas, "The Hitchhiker" and "Sorry, Wrong Number."

Also included are quotes from Fletcher voiced by one of The Voices, and actual quotes from Orson Welles regarding Fletcher.

COLD OPEN
SFX: TELEPHONE RINGS. IT IS RAPIDLY PICKED UP. NOTE: THIS SAMPLE TAKEN FROM RECORDED PERFORMANCE OF "SORRY, WRONG NUMBER"
MRS. STEVENSON
Hello?! HELLO! Stop ringing me, do you hear? Answer me! Who is this? Do you realize you're driving me crazy? Who's calling me? What are you doing it for? Now stop it! Stop it! Stop it! HELLO! HELLO! I . . . I . . . If you don't stop ringing me, I'm going to call the police, do you hear?! THE POLICE!
SFX: SHE SLAMS DOWN THE RECEIVER
MUSIC: TRANSITION TO . . .
SFX: EXTERIOR. AN AUTO CAMP ALONG ROUTE 66, NEW MEXICO. NIGHT. HIGHWAY TRAFFIC IS HEARD IN MIDDLE DISTANCE. NOTE: THIS SAMPLE TAKEN FROM THE RECORDED PERFORMANCE OF "THE HITCH-HIKER"
ADAMS
(MONOLOGUE, MATTER OF FACT)
I'm in an auto camp on Route 66 just west of Gallup, New Mexico. The night sky is filled with stars . . . More than I have ever seen.
(FORESHADOWING)
This may be the last night I ever see the stars.
(BACK TO MATTER OF FACT MONOLOGUE)
I'll spend the night in my car. In the morning . . . I will decide what to do.
MUSIC: RIR THEME, FADE IN AND UP FULL, FADES OUT UNDER THE FOLLOWING
RIR ANNOUNCER
Welcome to Re-Imagined Radio, a program about radio storytelling. I’m Jack Armstrong. With each episode we combine dialogue, sound effects, and music to engage your listening imagination. This episode is no different, and here to tell you about it is John Barber, producer and host.
MUSIC: RIR THEME FADES OUT
HOST
Thank you Jack . . . hello everyone . . . and welcome to Re-Imagined Radio. An overarching theme for Re-Imagined Radio this year is "tribute." With this episode we pay tribute to Women's History Month and women in radio.
There are a number of women whose contributions to radio we should recognize.

NOTE: Record the following highlighted text and use it if time permits. If there is not sufficient time for the entire listing, specific women can be deleted in the numbered sequence below
There's actress Lucille Ball whose role in "My Favorite Husband" led to the I Love Lucy series on CBS Television in the 19950s.

Cathy Lewis, actress, voiced the monotone and unsympathetic telephone operator you will hear momentarily in our performance of Lucille Fletcher's "Sorry, Wrong Number."
Edith Meiser, a writer, introduced Sherlock Holmes, the consulting detective, to the American listening public and made him a permanent part of our culture.
1). Ruth Woodman wrote more than 700 scripts for Death Valley Days each presenting the old west with realism and drama unmatched by other westerns of the day.
2). Mary McBride was a pioneering radio interview host who talked with people well known in arts, entertainment, and politics with a recognizable and original style.
3). Margaret Lynch was the first woman to create, write, star in, and own a radio comedy series, The Couple Next Door, a husband-wife centered situation comedy, 1957-1960.
And comedianne Gracie Allen was internationally famous as the partner and comic foil of George Burns and ran for President in the 1940 election as the "Surprise Party."
But with this episode we pay particular tribute to Lucille Fletcher, who wrote radio dramas for The Columbia Workshop, The Mercury Theatre, and Suspense. We feature Fletcher's two best-known works, "The Hitch-Hiker" and "Sorry, Wrong Number," both performed for you by The Voices, both considered among the best of radio storytelling.
Fletcher wrote "The Hitch-Hiker" for Orson Welles  . . .
SFX: QUICK TRANSITION FROM HOST TO THE VOICE OF LUCILLE FLETCHER
FLETCHER
(AS IF SHE IS FINISHING THE POINT BEGUN BY THE HOST.)
". . . in the days when he was one of the master producers and actors in radio."
HOST
"The Hitch-Hiker" was designed, she said,  not only for Welles' famous voice but . . .
SFX: AGAIN, A QUICK CUT FROM HOST TO VOICE OF FLETCHER
FLETCHER
(AS IF SHE IS FINISHING THE POINT BEGUN BY THE HOST.)
"for the original techniques of sound which became associated with his radio presentations. Orson Welles and his group of Mercury Players made of this script a haunting study of the supernatural, which can still raise hackles along my own spine."
HOST
Fletcher said inspiration for "The Hitch-Hiker" came during a 1940 automobile trip with her husband Bernard Herrmann, music composer for Welles and The Mercury Theatre.
SFX: QUICK CUT TO VOICE OF FLETCHER
FLETCHER
(AS IF ANSWERING A QUESTION ABOUT INSPIRATION FOR THIS WORK)
"We saw an odd-looking man, first on the Brooklyn Bridge and then on the Pulaski Skyway. We never saw him again. I kept the idea in my mind for a year and then wrote it as a ghost story."
HOST
Fletcher's story follows Ronald Adams, voiced by Orson Welles, as he drives cross country. Along the way he repeatedly sees a strange man, hitchhiking at the side of the road.
This man appears eager to meet Adams. Is he indeed a hitch-hiker? Or a ghost?
Fletcher never clarifies this ambiguity, and it remains central to the story. Additionally, her writing is natural sounding, tight, and compelling and "The Hitch-Hiker" remains one of the best radio dramas ever written.
Welles performed "The Hitch-Hiker" four times from 1941 to 1946. In his introduction to the 1946 performance, Mr. Welles said,
SFX: SAMPLE FROM ORSON WELLES' INTRODUCTON TO HIS PERFORMANCE OF "THE HITCHHIKER"
WELLES
"It's author is one of the most gifted of all the writers who have ever worked in this medium, Lucille Fletcher."
HOST
We agree and pay tribute with our re-imagined performance. Let's listen now to "The Hitch-Hiker" by Lucille Fletcher as performed by The Voices.
MUSIC: RIR THEME
TRANSITION TO 
SFX: RECORDED PERFORMANCE OF "THE HITCHHIKER"
MUSIC: RIR THEME
HOST BREAK 1 INTRO
HOST
This is Re-Imagined Radio with our Lucille Fletcher tribute. You have just listened to "The Voices" and their performance of "The Hitch-Hiker" written by Lucille Fletcher.
You heard Sam A. Mowry as Ronald Adams
Jodi Lorimer as Mrs. Adams and the Telephone Operator
Marc Rose as The Male Hitch-hiker
Myranda Markey as The Female Hitch-hiker
and Patricia Blem as Mrs. Whitney
MUSIC: RIR MUSIC (BREAK)
HOST
I'm John Barber, producer and host. We'll be right back with another of Fletcher's outstanding radio dramas after this short break.
BREAK 1--FUSEBOX
HOST
Re-Imagined Radio partners with other radio programs to bring you the best in radio storytelling. One of our partner programs is The Fusebox Show. Freeform, but focused, appropriate for all age groups and audiences, Fusebox shares observations and reactions to events that both stir our imagination and boil our blood. Here's a sample . . .
SFX: THE FUSEBOX SHOW TEASER
HOST
Learn more at The Fusebox Show website, www dot thefuseboxshow dot com.
SPOT: CRAFT CANNABIS
SPOT: ADCO
MUSIC: RIR THEME

HOST BREAK 1 RETURN, INTRO SORRY, WRONG NUMBER
HOST
This is Re-Imagined Radio and we are paying tribute to Women's History Month and Lucille Fletcher, perhaps the greatest woman radio storyteller.
Fletcher is best known for her gripping thriller, "Sorry, Wrong Number." First broadcast on 25 May 1943 as an episode of Suspense starring Agnes Moorehead, this is THE benchmark for radio drama according to Orson Welles who called "Sorry, Wrong Number" . . .
SFX: SAMPLE FROM ORSON WELLES' INTRODUCTION TO "THE HITCH-HIKER."
WELLES
"The single greatest radio script ever written."
HOST
"Sorry, Wrong Number" concerns a bedridden woman who depends on the telephone for a lifeline to the outside world. While calling her husband, she is connected into a conversation between two men apparently plotting to murder later that evening. How will she convince anyone of the danger? Everyone she calls refuses to take her fears seriously. The drama becomes a critical examination of the telephone, a device which although it allows people to connect, does not necessarily allow them to communicate.
As we did for "The Hitch-Hiker," we present a re-imagined adaptation of this outstanding radio drama by Lucille Fletcher. Let's listen now to The Voices performing "Sorry, Wrong Number."
MUSIC: RIR THEME, TRANSITIONS TO
MUSIC: ORIGINAL COMPOSITION, TENSE, NERVOUS, ENDS WITH A REPEATED STACCATO THAT TRANSITIONS TO
SFX: TELEPHONE BUSY SIGNAL. MUSIC FADES OUT BEHIND . . .
SFX: RECORDED PERFORMANCE OF "SORRY, WRONG NUMBER"
MUSIC: RIR THEME

HOST BREAK 2
HOST
You are listening to Re-Imagined Radio and our tribute to Lucille Fletcher, the greatest woman radio storyteller we've ever known. You heard The Voices performing Fletcher's best known radio dramas, "The Hitch-Hiker" earlier in the program and just now, Fletcher's classic radio thriller "Sorry, Wrong Number."
You heard Patricia Blem as Mrs. Stevenson
Jodi Lorimer as The Operator
Marc Rose as the Man on the Telephone
Sam A. Mowry as George
Jeff Pollard as Sgt. Martin
and Myranda Markey as the Nurse
Excellent radio stories, like those by Lucille Fletcher, showcase skilled use of dialogue, sounds, music, and imagination.
For our next episode we'll have dialogue . . .
SFX: DIALOGUE SAMPLE FROM A PREVIOUS EPISODE
HOST
We'll have sounds . . .
SFX: SOUND(S) SAMPLE FROM THE A PREVIOUS EPISODE
HOST
We'll have music . . .
SFX: MUSIC SAMPLE FROM A PREVIOUS EPISODE
HOST
Which we'll combine with imagination . . .
SFX: COMBINATION OF WORDS, MUSIC, AND SFX FROM A PREVIOUS EPISODE
HOST
That's an indication of our upcoming episode. We combine Jack J. Ward's "Great Day for A War" and MacLeish's "The Fall of the City" to provide commentary on current events and the effort required by freedom. We plan a re-imagined performance by The Voices.
BREAK 2 RETURN AND HOST CLOSE
MUSIC: RIR THEME, ESTABLISH, THEN DUCK UNDER THE FOLLOWING
This episode of Re-Imagined Radio was a tribute to Lucille Fletcher, Women's History Month, and women everywhere.
Script adaptations and dramaturgy by John Barber
Music composition, sound design, and post production by Marc Rose of Fuse
Our presence on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram is provided by Regina Carol Social Media Management
Graphic design by Holly Slocum Design
Our announcer is Jack Armstrong
This is John Barber, producer and host. Thank you for listening
MUSIC: UP, THE DUCK UNDER THE FOLLOWING
ANNOUNCER
This is a production of Re-Imagined Radio. Our radio broadcasts are heard on local, regional, and international community radio stations.
For on demand streaming, point your browsers to our website, reimaginedradio (all one word, no punctuation) DOT net. While there, subscribe to our snappy email Program Guide.
Thank you so much for listening, and please, join us again for another episode of Re-Imagined Radio where we will continue our exploration of radio storytelling.
MUSIC: UP, AND TO END.