Plattsburgh radio station to broadcast localized 'War of the Worlds'

Plattsburgh radio station to broadcast localized ‘War of the Worlds’
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (WCAX) - Broadcasters in Plattsburgh will be bringing a Halloween radio tradition to the airwaves on October 31st. Radio station Z106.3 FM will broadcast “War of the “Worlds,” the science fiction novel made famous by the all too real panic caused by a 1938 radio play by Orson Welles. But the new broadcast comes with a twist.
When “War of the Worlds” hit the radio waves back in 1938, declaring a martian invasion in New Jersey, it didn’t go so well. But after movie adaptations, musicals, and other spinoffs, it’s now become more of a radio tradition.
“We’ve tried to localize this to include landmarks that people that are local would know and to basically show it so that it can be relatable,” said Amanda Dagley, the general manager and co-owner of Plattsburgh classic hits station Z106.3. And on Halloween, it’ll provide the platform for a new adaptation of the story thanks to Tom Lavin with the Adirondack Regional Theatre.
“He asked me if I maybe wanted to bring “War of the Worlds” to the radio and I didn’t hesitate because I think it’s cool,” Dagley said.
Lavin says this was his first time doing the play, though his father heard the original broadcast. With a combination of local actors and radio staff, the groups have recorded a 1.5-hour, hyper-local version of the classic.
‘” In our adaptation, not only do the Martians come back, they come back to the North Country,” Lavin said. He says that includes nods to Keeseville, West Chazy, and Ausable Chasm, to name a few. They’re hoping listeners will find the localized version fun and not scary.
Lavin says doing theater on the radio proved to be a bit of a challenge. “Taking all the people that we have together, recording them, then going into the process of making them sound like they’re on a cell phone or a two-way radio or driving down the road,” Lavin explained.
While it took a lot of work, Lavin and Dagley say this is theater of the mind that allows listeners to get into the spooky spirit while painting a picture of an alien-invaded North Country in their heads. “I hope it brings something a little different, because not everybody wants to go out on Halloween but they still want to participate in Halloween. I kind of want it to be a destination. I think a lot of good radio is destination radio. ‘Let’s sit around the glowing eye of the radio and listen to ‘War of the Worlds,’’” Dagley said.
She says the station has notified local emergency services and agencies just in case they get panicked phone calls following the broadcast. They’re also running promos stating it’s just a story and will have a prologue before the reading as well.