There may be few people left in Verona who remember hearing “War Of The Worlds” when it was first broadcast; that happened on a Halloween more than 80 years ago. But you can relive a bit of the drama on December 10, 11 and 12 when Verona High School’s Spotlight Players recreate Orson Welles panic-inducing adaptation of the H.G. Wells story. No, not in the auditorium at VHS, but over the internet as an audio download for a small fee.
The original “War Of The Worlds” was deliberately fake news before there were false allegations of fake news. Welles’ Mercury Theatre players converted the novel into news bulletins purporting to describe a Martian invasion of New Jersey. Some listeners tuned in after the initial disclaimer, thought the bulletins were the real thing and began calling their police departments in alarm.
Auditions for “War Of The Worlds” were held remotely two weeks ago. The cast includes Faith Brolly, Leila Brolly, Fiona Church, Caity Eng, Sofia Greco, Jack McHugh, Grace McMahan, Audrey Ng, Sophia Nunez, Anthony Ostermayer, Aaron Richards, Maria Serra, James Shorten, Maddie Suk, Amanda Visone, Griffin Willner, Emily Wynne, Sarah Wynne and Ali Zanders.
The production crew includes several cast members as well as Alyssa Abello, Daphne Glatter, Crystal Kosta, Colvin Kramer, Nolani Lloyd, Jimmy McHugh, Alexia Popolizio, Carly Renna, Nadine Sharabi, Maura Shea, Buster Shick, Nixon Shick, Liv Tedesco, Ceili VanDerzee and Steph Zimany.
We’ll have details on the download link soon. For now, hold the dates.
