Happy #AudioDramaSunday Friends!

My heart is feeling very full after getting to attend a wonderful live performance of Harlem Queen by Yhane Washington Smith (1972, The Courtship of Mona Mae) at Podstream Studios Times Square yesterday afternoon. Gabrielle Adkins, Kara Young, Luke Slattery, Ian Bell, and Karen Chmielnicki were all on hand to tell a standalone story about Madame Stephanie St. Clair, that eponymous Harlem Queen, doing what she does best: assembling a team of talented, enterprising business people, and handling corrupt competitors in whatever way is necessary. It’s always an absolute treat getting to experience a full cast reading, but this particular event was extra special because Ele Matalan (Unwell, A Midwestern Gothic Mystery) was on hand to perform live foley in what just so happened to be her 100th performance utilizing the art form. It added such a fantastic extra dimension to what was already a compelling event, and helped keep the entire packed audience on the edge of our seats!

I unfortunately had to run before the reception was over as we were celebrating my father-in-law’s 78th birthday last night, but I did stick around long enough to get to meet and chat with Xperience Jay (Santa Baby Audio Drama, Past Due Audio Series) and Denese Longsworth (Creencias). It’s always a good day when I find more people that take a part in this community, especially when I find out they’re based right here in New York. I also just so happened to send along a few questions to Yhane on my train home so we could have our second ever Podcast Creator Spotlight. See a picture from yesterday’s performance and learn more about her work below:

Your cast all have such distinctive character voices, which is both a testament to your ability to write and their ability to bring the work to life. How do you find collaborators to work with for any project?

I start with who I know. I am in a terrific writing group of writers, actors, filmmakers and three of our cast are also in that writing group. The other terrific collaborators are friends of people I know.

My favorite part about your show today was the use of a live foley artist. Why was it so important for you to include that aspect of the medium into your live show, and how did you land on the artist who joined you?

I was so thrilled to have Ele Matelan join us as our foley artist. It has been difficult to find a foley artist, perhaps because radio shows are an old art form, there may be less foley artists.  However, now with shows like ours "Harlem Queen" doing live radio performances and others, I expect that there will be a need for more foley artists!  I was so glad to have Ele because I wanted the show to be like an old school radio show and of course you have to have a foley artist. It was so much fun and amazing to see how Ele created each sound! It was important to have a foley artist because I wanted the story to be complete with the footsteps, booze drinking, and of course, gun shots.  

You have a clear affinity for the genre of historical fiction. What is it about breathing such a sense of life into true stories from our past?

Thank you for stating that I have a 'clear affinity for the genre of historical fiction'. I NEVER liked history.  I avoided history - especially the history of Black people in the United States. I didn't need to be reminded of the trauma and hurt and abuse. BUT I have recently learned about the many, many, many incredible Black people who built communities, amassed fortunes and supported each other IN SPITE of the abuse, and hurt. I do not consider myself a historian, but now I am so incredibly empowered by knowing these stories and proud of my family's history in this country. I avoided my last name 'Washington' for years because I was ashamed of being a descendant of a slave, but then I got wise, I have nothing to be ashamed of! In the western I wrote titled "The Courtship of Mona Mae," I created a character who I later learned was very similar to my great, great, grandfather. When I learn history, I learn of the incredible VISION that the people who came before me had. They made a way out of no way. They may have lived in the past, but they were always planning and living for the future. We can learn so much about our present selves by learning our history. 

And lastly, what can you tell us about Harlem Queen season 4?!

I am very excited to have our live show launch us into season 4 of "Harlem Queen"! In season 4, we get to hear Madame Stephanie St. Clair tell her story to her dear friend Josephine Baker. AND there's a court scene - I love courtroom dramas.

And without further adieu, the rest of my week of listening:

Welcome to Night Vale

Honestly, I listened to this one last Sunday after my newsletter had already gone out for the day, while I was making my wife and I dinner that night. It picked up right where we last left off, after the Welcome to Night Vale team’s regularly scheduled (and much deserved) January hiatus! And gosh, am I loving where this current run of episodes is going. In it, the mysterious boy who showed up at the station during Cecil’s previous broadcast holding a knife is still there, and he is still holding that knife… and what’s that in his other hand? A second knife? We learn a bit more about who this boy is, which brings things both further into focus, and yet, raises more questions than it provides answers. Why is Kevin suddenly a child again? And why is he so hellbent on stabbing someone?

Give Me Away

I can’t say too much about what I’ve heard of Give Me Away this week, since it encapsulated the first several in-process cuts of the team’s upcoming second season. I got a crash course advance listen after having already read the scripts for every single episode, and let me tell you: this show is only getting better with each minute produced. The new characters are compelling and set up some real questions about what it means to have a Second, as the people of the Nevada Project work to liberate even more of the prisoners trapped in the Ghost House. I also got to record an interview with Mac Rogers and Jordana Williams about what it was like to return to the world of one of their shows for the first time, since before now they’ve always worked in the limited series format. That was a great conversation that you’ll all be able to hear sooner than later, and I’m stoked to be able to share it with you!

Visionaries

Speaking of second seasons, this week I caught up with the rest of Visionaries Audio Drama and god damn was it good. The drama this year was propulsive, as the various factions vied for power, influence, and in most cases, survival. I was a huge fan of how things wrapped up, and I’m already eager for more! If you’re looking for high-quality sci-fi/fantasy storytelling with gripping performances, stellar sound design, and an (as of now) completed story, you will surely thank me for sending you down this rabbit hole. I want to specifically shout out the teams Narrator, played by Julie Berndt, who chaperones your journey through the world of the Dead-Eyes, Truth Seekers, and The First Blood with a voice as smooth as butter.

Rocking Chair; or, Settlement

I was lurking around the Discord server for another newly launched quarterly fiction podcast newsletter, The Audio Drama Gazette, when I came across a recommendation for the new horror musical Rocking Chair; or, Settlement by Scantic River Productions. I’ve only dipped my toes into the pilot episode so far, but gosh, is the execution of this series beautiful. A haunted forest story rooted in New England folklore with a beautiful and eerie folk-tinged score that tells the story of the several ghost inhabitants on this corner of our earth. The production value is incredibly high, the performances affecting, and the score addictive. I’m really looking forward to working my way through the rest!

Anthem: Homunculus

Another new to me show this week was Anthem: Homunculus, a previous Luminary-exclusive musical podcast released way back at the launch of that platform. John Cameron Mitchell of Hedwig & the Angry Inch fame originally conceived of this series as a sequel to that musical, but instead pivoted when adapting it for the audio medium into a quasi-semi-autobiographical rumination on what life would have been like if he’d never left the Kansas town where he grew up. To the surprise of no one, this series has a killer score, a wry sense of wit, and even tugged at a few of my heartstrings. It’s absolutely worth a listen now that the whole thing is available!

Six Sermons

I spent the other morning barreling through the final hour of Six Sermons on Audible and ugly crying. I’m not ashamed to admit that suicidal ideation is something that I’ve struggled with for most of my life, and hearing that experience laid so utterly bare by Stephanie Hsu’s Pastor Alexis in the aftermath of the suicide of her own mentor hit me in ways that I can’t even begin to describe. This was a difficult listen, and if you’re sensitive to this kind of topic, I urge you to only consider listening with the utmost caution. But what I can promise you that the topic was handled in as gentle a way as possible, while also unlocking just about everything innately human in the desire to call it a day on your own terms, regardless of how much better the world is with each person in it.

Academy

Speaking of difficult topics, Wondery’s Academy didn’t pull any punches this week with the release of its fourth and fifth episodes to their public RSS feed. Briggon Snow has been saying since the launch of this series that he hopes you’ll love to hate his character, August, but gosh did I not understand the true scope of his evil until these episodes were released. August is the kind of monster that will give you date rape drugs, or leak your nudes around campus if he feels you’ve slighted him in even the most cursory of ways, and gosh, has my hate been activated. On a lighter note, I want to shout out how much I’m loving to get to spend more time with Benjamin Norris’ character, Jesse. Most folks know him from playing Trent on Never Have I Ever, which is a wonderful series, but he also played one of my favorite additions to the later seasons of Superstore as Sandra and Jerry’s newly adopted 17-year-old son, Tony.

The White Vault: Goshawk

I’d say that things are heating up on The White Vault: Goshawk, if that weren’t such a clear oxymoron. In all seriousness though, the stakes are continuing to increase as our heroes remain trapped among the winter storm in their outpost, as help is still just out of reach. We also get the unfolding story of the powerful family in Reykjavik who always seem to have their fingers involved with any of the goings on at all of these seemingly connected Arctic outposts. I love how this show so seamlessly ties in what has happened before and shines additional light and context on it, through the new characters we’re introduced to each year.

Breaker Whiskey

I kept up my trend of waiting until Friday to listen to the whole week’s worth of Breaker Whiskey episodes in one go this week, and I’m honestly glad that I did. I love how we’re getting daily microfiction, but consuming it in the larger 5-10 minute bursts of all the updates helps me better consume the story as it unfolds. This week? Whiskey’s realizing that there’s a new message coming across the waves, in a different form than she’s ever received before. Is it from Harry, messing with her on their old shared radio? Is it Birdie, changing the way that she transmits her communication? Or, better yet, is it a still unnamed third character, who might be able to give Whiskey less cryptic answers to how the world became the way it is now. Can’t wait to keep listening to find out more!

It’s another Kingmaker Histories episode week, so my morning was immediately made better by another adventure with my beloved Eisen, Telesphore, and Colette. I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve never dipped my toes into The Magnus Archives, mostly because of its giant backlog that I know I would drop everything to marathon, so I’m not as familiar with Johnny Sims’ work as everyone else might be, but I did love what he brought to last year’s Re: Dracula adaptation. I’m happy to say that he folds perfectly into the world of our Valorian misfits, and delivered an absolutely fantastic performance that will be sure to impress both fans old and new.

Ask Your Father

This week also sees the official release of the new Gideon Media show Ask Your Father, which you may have seen pop up on any number of feeds including Forgive Me!, Windfall, Someone Dies in This Elevator, Arden, and more! Created by and starring Sean Williams (Give Me Away, Almelem), with fantastic two-handed performance alongside Kevin R. Free (Welcome to Night Vale), and cameos from his own children. This series was sound designed by Jeffrey Nils Gardner (Unwell, a Midwestern Gothic Mystery, Our Fair City) and has already put two fantastic episodes out into the world. It’s contemplative sci-fi that asks some big questions about the ownership of our labor, and the possibility of A.I. gaining personhood. I’m really proud of this whole team for this one, and I hope you’ll consider checking it out!

Chronicles: An Apollyon Story

One thing I forgot to mention in last week’s newsletter was the announcement of Chronicles: An Apollyon Story. I was lucky enough to be asked by Faith McQuinn (Boom: A Serial Drama, Margaritas & Donuts), to guest write an episode set in the world of Apollyon between seasons two and three featuring brand new characters that I was able to create. I got to work on the first draft of my story this week and I can already tell you how thrilled I am to be able to make a small mark on this world. Other guest writers include some of my favorites in the business, like Jade Madison Scott (Small Victories), Ella Watts (Camlann, Doctor Who: Redacted), and more!

BONUS SNACK!

I’ve been having a bit of trouble sitting down to read since the layoff, but am slowly working my way through Ocean Vuong’s beautiful debut novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. Written as a haunting stream-of-conscious epistolary letter from a son to his mother, this series explores what it means to grow up as a queer, mixed-race Vietnamese kid with a family still traumatized by the war they left behind. It’s a stellar read, and stands up there right alongside Ocean’s already memorable poetry. Definitely worth picking up if you’re looking for something new to get lost in!

That’s it for today, y’all. I hope you enjoy the Super Bowl, if you’re taking part, the Puppy Bowl, if you’re not, or at least just some delicious snacks, I’ll see you next week!