2015 HEAR Now Festival Programming Included:
FEATURED FESTIVAL PROGRAMS
OPENING EVENT:
The Making of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil from METABOOK Full Cast Audiobook and App
Thursday, June 11th, from 7:30pm-9:00pm, Holiday Inn Ballroom moderated by Angela Elam (New Letters on The Air)
HEAR Now & New Letters On The Air present a panel featuring Midnight author John Berendt (Pulitzer Prize Finalist), the audio drama's director Robin Miles (who also plays Minerva), METABOOK™ creator Benjamin Alfonsi, and audio stars Barbara Rosenblat (Mary Harty/Darlene), Dion Graham (Dr. Collier/Simon Glover), Alice Rosengard (Blanche Williams / Georgia Fawcett), and Carol Monda (Serena Dawes). Featured in Midnight is Laverne Cox (Orange is the New Black) , as The Lady Chablis, who will be showcased being directed by Miles in the recording studio.
"Metabook is visionary," said Berendt. "Brilliantly conceived and superbly carried out, it catapults publishing to a whole new level." The Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil METABOOK™ app for iPad and iPhone is available exclusively at the Apple App Store.
Moderator Angela Elam has been hosting and producing New Letters on the Air since 1996. Produced by New Letters magazine at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, New Letters On The Air is the longest continuously-running broadcast of a national literary radio series on public radio, with more than 1,200 programs by many of the world’s most prominent writers. The radio program widens the scope of the magazine to promote great literature both on the page and on the air and has won several awards, most recently the 2013 Clarion Award from the Association of Women in Communications for Best Regular Radio Interview Program.
The evening's panel will be recorded 'live to tape' for national broadcast.
Immediately following will be a Reception and After Party hosted by SAG/AFTRA at Simpson House for Festival ALL ACCESS PASS holders & VIP guests of SAG/AFTRA.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Workshop 101 This workshop is a crash course in audio theater. In three and a half days, (JUNE 10 - 14, 2015) NATF's instructors take participants through the basics of writing, directing, producing and performing audio theater works. Participants will create or adapt a script that will be performed, directed and acted by the Workshop 101 participants on the final day of the festival. Not only will participants get the opportunity to interact with their accomplished teachers, but they will also get to meet many professionals throughout the field, who can become valued contacts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tom Lopez Presents...Meatball Fulton & ZBS
Tom Lopez, president of ZBS Foundation, will be at this June's Festival to present new work currently in production, along with a special retrospective of his many past works on Friday, June 12, 2015, from 1:00pm - 2:30pm at the Cinemark Palace Theater at The Plaza.
Spend 90 minutes with Tom as he presents a retrospective of his more than 30 years producing series like Ruby & Jack Flanders.
And on Thursday, June 11th, as part of Hear Now's "Meet & Greet" beginning at 6:45pm at the Holiday Inn Country Club Plaza, just prior to the Official Festival opening event, Tom and ZBS will also be joined by Great Northern Audio Theatre's Brian Price and Jerry Stearns for drinks, talk, and finger foods.
During the "Meet & Greet" Great Northern will premiere IN THE EMBERS, their newest feature length independent audio digital ghost drama, starring Robin Miles and mixed & mastered at ZBS.
Earlier this year, BoingBoing cited Ruby, the Adventures of a Galactic Gumshoe as, "The very first cyberpunk radio drama - and still, to this day, by far the coolest." Geekscape rated Moon Over Morocco as "#2 in The Top Ten Greatest Radio Dramas."
According to Tom, "It even beat out Orson Welles' War of the Worlds, but that's geeks for you."
Tom's radio stories have aired on NPR, the BBC, CBC Canada, ABC Australia, and Armed Forces Radio around the world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NATF Playhouse
For those independent audio dramatists whose work was accepted into the Festival, HEAR Now is hosting listening sessions throughout the day on Friday, June 12th and Saturday, June 13th at the Cinemark Palace Theater at The Plaza. Award-winning NATF performances, from past workshop events, will be showcased as part of the NATF Playhouse as well. Schedule of specific programs and featured artists will be posted on the 2015 HEAR Now Festival Schedule for Listening and Performance Events page by May 5th, 2015.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Celebrating Mark Twain at HEAR Now! FREE TO ALL TO ATTEND - No ticket required
Each night, beginning on Thursday, June 11th, from 5:30pm-6:30pm, and running through Saturday, June 13th, guest narrators will read selections from Mark Twain at Prospero's Books (1800 W 39th St, Kansas City, MO) in their newly completed 2nd floor Readers’ Room.
With support from SAG/AFTRA, 2015’s A Celebration of Mark Twain! includes free pizza nightly for all audience guests and Mark Twain narrators.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mark Time Award
The Mark Time Awards are pleased to be coming back to HEAR Now, this year in celebration of their 2015 winners.
Mark Time programs and awards will be presented both at the Cinemark and the Heartland Forum Theater.
Programs will be listed by May 2, 2015.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Star Trek and Beyond: The Sounds of Gaming - Friday, June 12, 2015 - 3:45pm - 4:45pm
Cinemark Palace Theater at The Plaza
The HEAR Now Festival will again be presenting a special session on Acting and Sound Design for Gaming by premier audio producer and composer Michael Henry (Cryptic Studios).
After working for Com/Track (commercial music production, radio and TV) for nearly ten years, Michael made the switch to creating soundscapes and music for computer games. After a stint with Viacom New Media (the gaming division of Viacom/MTV/ Paramount) he relocated to the bay area to take a position with the legendary Atari Games as a composer and sound designer.
Among the many game titles he has worked on, his favorites are Midway’s Dr. Muto and Atari Games San Francisco Rush 2049 series of racing games. My work has also appeared in game titles developed by Z-Axis, Activision, and NCSoft.
For Cryptic Studios Michael is working on a massively multiplayer online game based on the Champions Sci-Fi Superhero franchise, Champions Online.
He also consults with technology companies and has done interface sound design for Palm PDAs, cellphones, and Intel multimedia applications.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Never Again War: The Sacrifice of Kaethe Kollwitz FREE TO ALL TO ATTEND - No ticket required
Friday, June 12th, 3:30pm, in the auditorium at the National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial, (100 W 26 St, Kansas City), HEAR Now will present the audio play Never Again War which looks at the life and work of Kaethe Kollwitz. Featured cast for this live performance include: Yelene Schumulenson and Robert Fass.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Right Between the Ears
Friday, June 12th, 8pm HEAR Now will present Right Between the Ears an award-winning sketch comedy show broadcast every week on Sirius-XM and on Kansas Public Radio stations at the Heartland Forum Theater at Crowne Center. RBTE spoofs politics, TV and movies, sports figures, celebrities, the quirky and the occasional turkey. The show will feature guest artists from the Festival including David Ossman of the Firesign Theater.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reading With Your Ears: The Art of the Audiobook
Saturday, June 13th, 1:00pm - 2:30pm, in the Truman Forum at the Plaza Branch of the Kansas City Public Library meet and hear award-winning audiobook narrators reading from their favorite works.
Featured narrators for this 90 minute showcase include Golden Voices Barbara Rosenblat (TV: Orange is the New Black / Audiobooks: Terminal City by Linda Fairstein, The 'Amelia Peabody' series by Elizabeth Peters, Terms of Endearment), Dion Graham (The Wire, The First 48 / Audiobooks: Wild Seed) Robin Miles (Red, The Last Plane to Heaven), along with Robert Fass and Richard Ferrone all reading from their favorite authors.
Click here to read more...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUDIO Tonight! A Story-tellers Showcase
Saturday, June 13th, 7:30 PM, at Heartland Forum Theater at Crowne Center, the HEAR Now Festival will present a 90 minute showcase of audio performers from all across the country. Original audio drama, poetry, short stories, and more will all be presented as part of AUDIO Tonight!.
MC: Dion Graham
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Listening Room For Festival Pass & Tickets Holders only - Holiday Inn Board Room
Thanks to Sennheiser - Neumann, USA, HEAR Now will host a "Headphones Listening Room" at the Holiday Inn Country Club Plaza (Private Dining Room - near Salon C: HEAR Now Registration / Vendor Area) on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. This listening station will give producers, fans, performers, the opportunity to compare headphones for optimal listening.
Additional Programming will be updated constantly, so keep checking back!!!
OPENING EVENT:
The Making of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil from METABOOK Full Cast Audiobook and App
Thursday, June 11th, from 7:30pm-9:00pm, Holiday Inn Ballroom moderated by Angela Elam (New Letters on The Air)
HEAR Now & New Letters On The Air present a panel featuring Midnight author John Berendt (Pulitzer Prize Finalist), the audio drama's director Robin Miles (who also plays Minerva), METABOOK™ creator Benjamin Alfonsi, and audio stars Barbara Rosenblat (Mary Harty/Darlene), Dion Graham (Dr. Collier/Simon Glover), Alice Rosengard (Blanche Williams / Georgia Fawcett), and Carol Monda (Serena Dawes). Featured in Midnight is Laverne Cox (Orange is the New Black) , as The Lady Chablis, who will be showcased being directed by Miles in the recording studio.
"Metabook is visionary," said Berendt. "Brilliantly conceived and superbly carried out, it catapults publishing to a whole new level." The Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil METABOOK™ app for iPad and iPhone is available exclusively at the Apple App Store.
Moderator Angela Elam has been hosting and producing New Letters on the Air since 1996. Produced by New Letters magazine at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, New Letters On The Air is the longest continuously-running broadcast of a national literary radio series on public radio, with more than 1,200 programs by many of the world’s most prominent writers. The radio program widens the scope of the magazine to promote great literature both on the page and on the air and has won several awards, most recently the 2013 Clarion Award from the Association of Women in Communications for Best Regular Radio Interview Program.
The evening's panel will be recorded 'live to tape' for national broadcast.
Immediately following will be a Reception and After Party hosted by SAG/AFTRA at Simpson House for Festival ALL ACCESS PASS holders & VIP guests of SAG/AFTRA.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Workshop 101 This workshop is a crash course in audio theater. In three and a half days, (JUNE 10 - 14, 2015) NATF's instructors take participants through the basics of writing, directing, producing and performing audio theater works. Participants will create or adapt a script that will be performed, directed and acted by the Workshop 101 participants on the final day of the festival. Not only will participants get the opportunity to interact with their accomplished teachers, but they will also get to meet many professionals throughout the field, who can become valued contacts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tom Lopez Presents...Meatball Fulton & ZBS
Tom Lopez, president of ZBS Foundation, will be at this June's Festival to present new work currently in production, along with a special retrospective of his many past works on Friday, June 12, 2015, from 1:00pm - 2:30pm at the Cinemark Palace Theater at The Plaza.
Spend 90 minutes with Tom as he presents a retrospective of his more than 30 years producing series like Ruby & Jack Flanders.
And on Thursday, June 11th, as part of Hear Now's "Meet & Greet" beginning at 6:45pm at the Holiday Inn Country Club Plaza, just prior to the Official Festival opening event, Tom and ZBS will also be joined by Great Northern Audio Theatre's Brian Price and Jerry Stearns for drinks, talk, and finger foods.
During the "Meet & Greet" Great Northern will premiere IN THE EMBERS, their newest feature length independent audio digital ghost drama, starring Robin Miles and mixed & mastered at ZBS.
Earlier this year, BoingBoing cited Ruby, the Adventures of a Galactic Gumshoe as, "The very first cyberpunk radio drama - and still, to this day, by far the coolest." Geekscape rated Moon Over Morocco as "#2 in The Top Ten Greatest Radio Dramas."
According to Tom, "It even beat out Orson Welles' War of the Worlds, but that's geeks for you."
Tom's radio stories have aired on NPR, the BBC, CBC Canada, ABC Australia, and Armed Forces Radio around the world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NATF Playhouse
For those independent audio dramatists whose work was accepted into the Festival, HEAR Now is hosting listening sessions throughout the day on Friday, June 12th and Saturday, June 13th at the Cinemark Palace Theater at The Plaza. Award-winning NATF performances, from past workshop events, will be showcased as part of the NATF Playhouse as well. Schedule of specific programs and featured artists will be posted on the 2015 HEAR Now Festival Schedule for Listening and Performance Events page by May 5th, 2015.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Celebrating Mark Twain at HEAR Now! FREE TO ALL TO ATTEND - No ticket required
Each night, beginning on Thursday, June 11th, from 5:30pm-6:30pm, and running through Saturday, June 13th, guest narrators will read selections from Mark Twain at Prospero's Books (1800 W 39th St, Kansas City, MO) in their newly completed 2nd floor Readers’ Room.
With support from SAG/AFTRA, 2015’s A Celebration of Mark Twain! includes free pizza nightly for all audience guests and Mark Twain narrators.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mark Time Award
The Mark Time Awards are pleased to be coming back to HEAR Now, this year in celebration of their 2015 winners.
Mark Time programs and awards will be presented both at the Cinemark and the Heartland Forum Theater.
Programs will be listed by May 2, 2015.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Star Trek and Beyond: The Sounds of Gaming - Friday, June 12, 2015 - 3:45pm - 4:45pm
Cinemark Palace Theater at The Plaza
The HEAR Now Festival will again be presenting a special session on Acting and Sound Design for Gaming by premier audio producer and composer Michael Henry (Cryptic Studios).
After working for Com/Track (commercial music production, radio and TV) for nearly ten years, Michael made the switch to creating soundscapes and music for computer games. After a stint with Viacom New Media (the gaming division of Viacom/MTV/ Paramount) he relocated to the bay area to take a position with the legendary Atari Games as a composer and sound designer.
Among the many game titles he has worked on, his favorites are Midway’s Dr. Muto and Atari Games San Francisco Rush 2049 series of racing games. My work has also appeared in game titles developed by Z-Axis, Activision, and NCSoft.
For Cryptic Studios Michael is working on a massively multiplayer online game based on the Champions Sci-Fi Superhero franchise, Champions Online.
He also consults with technology companies and has done interface sound design for Palm PDAs, cellphones, and Intel multimedia applications.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Never Again War: The Sacrifice of Kaethe Kollwitz FREE TO ALL TO ATTEND - No ticket required
Friday, June 12th, 3:30pm, in the auditorium at the National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial, (100 W 26 St, Kansas City), HEAR Now will present the audio play Never Again War which looks at the life and work of Kaethe Kollwitz. Featured cast for this live performance include: Yelene Schumulenson and Robert Fass.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Right Between the Ears
Friday, June 12th, 8pm HEAR Now will present Right Between the Ears an award-winning sketch comedy show broadcast every week on Sirius-XM and on Kansas Public Radio stations at the Heartland Forum Theater at Crowne Center. RBTE spoofs politics, TV and movies, sports figures, celebrities, the quirky and the occasional turkey. The show will feature guest artists from the Festival including David Ossman of the Firesign Theater.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reading With Your Ears: The Art of the Audiobook
Saturday, June 13th, 1:00pm - 2:30pm, in the Truman Forum at the Plaza Branch of the Kansas City Public Library meet and hear award-winning audiobook narrators reading from their favorite works.
Featured narrators for this 90 minute showcase include Golden Voices Barbara Rosenblat (TV: Orange is the New Black / Audiobooks: Terminal City by Linda Fairstein, The 'Amelia Peabody' series by Elizabeth Peters, Terms of Endearment), Dion Graham (The Wire, The First 48 / Audiobooks: Wild Seed) Robin Miles (Red, The Last Plane to Heaven), along with Robert Fass and Richard Ferrone all reading from their favorite authors.
Click here to read more...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUDIO Tonight! A Story-tellers Showcase
Saturday, June 13th, 7:30 PM, at Heartland Forum Theater at Crowne Center, the HEAR Now Festival will present a 90 minute showcase of audio performers from all across the country. Original audio drama, poetry, short stories, and more will all be presented as part of AUDIO Tonight!.
MC: Dion Graham
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Listening Room For Festival Pass & Tickets Holders only - Holiday Inn Board Room
Thanks to Sennheiser - Neumann, USA, HEAR Now will host a "Headphones Listening Room" at the Holiday Inn Country Club Plaza (Private Dining Room - near Salon C: HEAR Now Registration / Vendor Area) on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. This listening station will give producers, fans, performers, the opportunity to compare headphones for optimal listening.
Additional Programming will be updated constantly, so keep checking back!!!