A Christmas Carol (WAOB Audio Theatre)
Marley was dead. (I voice the narrator in this new, fully dramatized audio adaptation. First of four parts.)
The Staying Power of “A Christmas Carol” — Dennis Jerz, for WAOB Audio Theatre
What makes WAOB Audio Theatre’s production of “A Christmas Carol” unique? Why is the story so well-loved? Voice actor and English professor Dennis Jerz discusses all this and more!
A Christmas Carol — new audio adaptation
The Royale (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 12)
Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generation after a 20-year break. In “The Royale,” an away team is trapped in a simulated casino, where Data cheats at roulette. That’s about it. A solid teaser and surreal first act ramp up the mystery nicely; however, on my rewatch, the episode didn’t hold together very well for me. We’re told that aliens who accidentally killed most of the crew of a 21stC NASA mission…
The Hidden Subversive Messages of [MGM’s Screen Adaptation of] The Wizard of Oz
When I tried teaching The Wizard of Oz in a literature class, I was a little frustrated with myself that I couldn’t bring the class discussion much farther than “how this book is different from the movie” and lists of one-to-one symbolism (“the yellow brick road represents the gold standard,” or ‘the scarecrow represents agriculture, the tin man represents industry, and the cowardly lion represents the military”). Part of my…
Elementary, Dear Data (TNG Rewatch: Season 2, Episode 3)
Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generation after a 20-year break. LaForge works on his model ship in main engineering (?) and invites Data to enjoy a Sherlock Holmes holodeck adventure. Sounds fun, but a slow start, with low stakes. We can forgive the director for spending a lot of time showing the characters reacting to the richly detailed Victorian set. It was probably not cheap to build. I have to…