Happy birthday, Norman Corwin!

Play it by Ear’s Thrilling Days of Yesteryear company presents The Lux Radio Theater’s adaptation of The Maltese Falcon at The Works in Pacific Grove. Featuring: Steve Kane as Sam Spade, with Rob Eaton, Geoff Mutch, Victoria Blaszczak, and David Manchel. Saturday, May 30 at 7:00pm and Sunday, May 31 at 6:00pm, $5 admission.

StarStruck: a Benefit for “Gentleman Gene” Colan at The Henry Miller Library. Saturday, August 15 at 7:30pm, $12.00 admission.

On May 3, Norman Corwin turned 99 years old. For the uninitiated among you, Corwin stands on one of the highest pedestals in the history of American radio, never mind radio theatre. His writing transcended most of his contemporaries in the 1930’s; he saw, or heard, what the medium was capable of, and wanted to give the American listener an experience that rivaled that of what you find on the New York stage. He, Orson Welles, and Arch Oboler were the triumverate of old time radio.

When his country called, he came; as the Axis was moving across Europe, FDR commissioned Corwin to write a piece about the 150th Anniversary of the ratification of Bill of Rights as a way to reinforce America’s position to the world. Bernard Herrmann wrote the score. Jimmy Stewart led an all-star cast, including Edward G. Robinson, Rudy Vallee, and Welles. Eight days before the airing of We Hold These Truths, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, making his masterpiece more relevant than ever. And like War of the Worlds, Truths was heard from coast to coast by millions.

But this masterpiece would be overshadowed by one of even greater significance. Prepared over the course of several months, as we approached the end of the Second World War, On a Note of Triumph examined the world as it was over the course of five years: why we fought, what we accomplished, and where we were heading as a nation. There is a reason why Billboard magazine called it ”the single greatest — and we use ‘greatest’ in its full meaning — radio program we ever heard.”

After the war, he produced the odd radio program until 1955, when he chose to focus his energies on television, the stage, and film, until 1988, when an idea arose at the Midwest Radio Theatre Workshop (now known as the National Audio Theatre Festival…hey, the Workshop in West Plains is only a month-and-a-half away…) to re-create Truths on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the program’s broadcast. Corwin agreed provided he could expand the original script to incorporate the constitutional amendments. David Ossman of the Firesigns directed, and again an all-star cast (Norman Lear, Ray Bradbury, Richard Dysart, James Earl Jones) made their way to a recording studio in Los Angeles to record We Hold These Truths 1991, ultimately leading to a new series of world-premiere Corwin works for NPR. And even now he has two scripts ready to go.

I have a connection of sorts to Norman: in early 2005, I produced and directed what was technically the first Thrilling Days show, a live re-creation of the 1991 Truths script at Canterbury Woods in Pacific Grove. Not that it was the smoothest production I’ve ever attempted…it was my first-ever live radio re-creation with a record cast of 18 local actors including 3 kids; there were cast members who disappeared only two days before the production, and one actress who (unbeknownst to me) was suffering from the early stages of dementia (so it wasn’t senility after all), not to mention an inferior recording that I still haven’t been able to bring myself to hear. Hey, it was my first time out of the gate.

But to be able to work on this piece, to hear these actors say these words to an audience that, for the most part, was there when Pearl Harbor happened (the auditorium is connected to a retirement community), that was a thrill. Are there things I would have changed? Knowing what I know now, of course. I honestly think anybody who says “I wouldn’t change a thing” about 90% of what they’ve done in their lives are complete and total liars. But for what it was, it went down well. Next time around, however…

Hey! You want to send Norman a birthday greeting? You can do so by e-mailing him through www.normancorwin.com. Seriously, how many 99 year olds have their own websites? But moreover, read through his site, top to bottom, front page to back, and encourage your friends to check it out as well. Believe you me, Norman’s career is far from over (his Dad lived to be 120, so I think he’s got a few more years in him), but its this generation that needs to discover him, or if you will, re-discover him. And I need to hear Triumph again, just for that last prayer.