"DAN BIANCHI IS THE ROGER CORMAN OF INDEPENDENT THEATRE! He makes no bones about it. His productions are low budget, but, highly imaginative, combining a cinematic approach with basic stripped down storytelling and a high tech soundtrack. SOUND is very important to Bianchi..."As any stage tech can tell you, SOUND is usually the last priority especially in low budget theatre. And yet, today's generation have been born with headphones, listening to sound and music 24/7. No wonder most of theatre is boring to them. But, live music and rented songs are expensive alternatives...so, we've found a way to offer a full blown orchestral sound track closer to movies than traditional theatre. .."
NO, we are NOT an old time radio show recreation! I'd like to stress that, because so many come expecting a quaint, humorous revival of a bygone era. Sorry, we're 21st Century, here. But, radio is a medium in which sound is king, so, of course, we are inspired by the voices, music and fx that went into the hundreds of weekly stories during radio's Golden Age that held audiences captive, listening in their darkened living rooms. This approach calls upon the audience to provide the pictorials with their own imaginations. Sure, we'll add some unique visual aids, but, it's not all laid out for you as in a $100mil movie or any tv show. You have to participate in conjuring up the visuals. In that way, each audience member leaves with a different experience... Of course, not everyone can provide their own imagination to the brew. "One adult was actually disappointed that we didn't produce a real King Kong on stage! Oh well..." NY EYE
WRITER/DIRECTOR
DAN BIANCHIhas spent over 30 years in theater and film as an Independent Theatre artist which includes writing, directing, producing, set and lighting design, music and sound design, graphics, PR and whatever else is necessary to keep the ball rolling. Among his accomplishments, he's been founder/Artistic Director of four international theater companies, written and directed over 50 plays and musicals, worked as screenwriter in Hollywood, directed 7 motion pictures with members of the Royal Shakespeare Co., won three-times Best Director Off Broadway, twice The Beckett Prize, the ASCAP Musical Theater Award, Billy Rose Theater Award, the National Writers Guild Screenwriting Award, a MacDowell Fellowship, and a National Humanities Grant. He recently directed a DV feature THE EVIL KILLERS. He founded and ran VIDEOTHEATRE, NYC's only year round DV-dedicated indie theater. He is also a visual artist whose works have been shown in galleries and museums around the world, including Museum of Modern Art, NYC,
MOMA Australia, Brazil, Germany, Museum of Non -Conformism, Russia, etc.
"I love Horror, the supernatural, pulp fiction and radio dramas...DAN BIANCHI delivers it all with an exquisite script and, above all, a fabulous score and sound effects design. And yet, it's a simple little show. I was enthralled by the sheer simplicity without all of the visual elements seen in traditional theater....Bianchi produced the first ever live stage production of KING KONG. I don't know if even Disney can pull that off. But, Radiotheatre did. Whether or not you like that kind of fare, Radiotheatre offers shows you won't find anywhere else in NYC. And, judging by audience reception I've seen, they always seem most satisfied when they leave. I know I was!" NYTIMES.COM
"THIS SEASONED PRODUCTION COMPANY HASDONE QUALITY OF WORK CONSISTENTLY ENOUGH TO BE CONSIDERED ONE OF NY'S BEST IN THE OFF OFF, INDIE AND BLACK BOX THEATER CATEGORY...they keep you engrossed with a kickass storyline, a lighting crew that specializes in mood control and of course a flawless sound effects professionalism that has become their signature statement at all of their shows..." RETROVISION
"THE ISLAND OF DR.MOREAU is CHILLING and THOUGHT PROVOKING... superbly crafted, fast paced and perfectly scored...Bianchi's sound design conjures up sets and action to rival the most expensive Broadway mega-musical or a blockbuster enhanced with computer-generated imagery. THIS IS A MUST SEE SHOW...or rather a must hear and must imagine for yourself show!" OFFOFFONLINE
"I HAD A GREAT TIME AT THE ISLAND OF DR.MOREAU!... I was truly impressed with the vocal characterizations. Cash Tilton's timing is impeccable. His Moreau is perfectly smug and egotistical...Elizabeth Burke is rock solid with all of her characters....BIANCHI'S adaptation has a brilliant arc that rises to a powerful climax and leaves us with a lot to think about...You feel the audience's energy change as the action rises and falls...One of the most integral aspects of this production is the fantastic and utterly evocative sound design...STORYTELLING IS AN ART THAT IS SLIPPING AWAY BUT BIANCHI AND HIS COMPANY ARE WORKING HARD TO KEEP IT ALIVE AND THRIVING. I THINK HE DESERVES OUR SUPPORT!" NYTHEATRE.COM
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"A GOOD YARN WITH PLENTY OF MUSIC AND SOUND EFFECTS..." NY TIMES
"HOW WELL COULD KONG MAKE THE TRANSITION TO THEATER? THE ANSWER IS STUNNINGLY WELL!
SCI FI CHANNEL
"THE STAR OF THE EVENING IS DAN BIANCHI'S SOUND DESIGN...DENSE, MULTI-LAYERED AND EVOCATIVE...
75 MINUTES OF SCARY MUSIC, JUNGLE SOUNDS, TOM TOMS AND ROARING DINOSAURS..."
NY THEATRE.COM
"RADIOTHEATRE HAS DONE IT AGAIN! IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO HAVE A GOOD TIME, RUN ON DOWN TO THE
RED ROOM AND BRING YOUR IMAGINATION. RADIOTHEATRE IS A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE AND ALWAYS
EXCELLENT!" BROADWAY BOX
"DAN BIANCHI'S SOUND DESIGN, A KEY COMPONENT FOR RADIO THEATER, IS MARVELOUS!" VILLAGE VOICE
"RADIOTHEATRE'S KONG IS THE ONLY TAKE I'VE SEEN ON THE GIANT APE THAT COMES CLOSE TO
REPLICATING THE MAGIC OF THE ORIGINAL MOVIE" CBS RADIO MYSTERY THEATRE
"A TON OF FAST PACED FUN...AN OFFBEAT TREAT FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE THAT THE BEST LIVE ENTERTAINMENT IS PARTICIPATORY! BIANCHI HAS ARTFULLY ADAPTED A WELL KNOWN CINEMATIC STORY INTO AN ENGAGING HYBRID OF LIVE PERFORMANCE AND BRILLIANTLY CRAFTED SOUNDSCAPES.." VILLAGER
"SO HOW DO YOU GET A BEAST OF KONG'S GIGANTIC PROPORTIONS TO FIT INSIDE THE INTIMATE RED ROOM? YOU USE SOUND! MUSIC, NOISE, SCREAMS OF TERROR, TROPICAL BIRD CALLS, NATIVE CHANTING, GORILLA CALLS...THAT'S HOW RADIOTHEATRE'S DAN BIANCHI
DOES IT!" UNITED STAGES
"So, how do you take a movie about a giant gorilla and stage it in a tiny black box theater? For writer and director Dan Bianchi, the answer is simple: you use a combination of sound and imagination. The mission of Bianchi’s RadioTheatre is to marry the audio drama style of an old-time radio broadcast with the shared intimacy of modern-day experimental theater. He fills the small stage with a sound engineer and six talented actors standing before microphones. It's up to you to fill in the visuals!" DOWNTOWN EXPRESS
FIVE STARS! RADIOTHEATRE DOES IT AGAIN!, RADIOTHEATRE'S KING KONG IS PERFORMANCE ART AT ITS GREATEST! If you come looking to see a traditional play, stay home. When the lights go down and DAN BIANCHI'S magnificent score starts playing and PATRICK O'CONNOR's deep voice welcomes you to the story he's about to unfold, you know you're in for something quite different than anything else playing around New York tonight. The multi-talented cast creates a whole world of cinematic action and excitement one doesn't ordinarily find in traditional theater at any level. The hundreds of sound effects are astounding and sound engineer, WES SHIPPEE, is a virtual wizard at work crouched behind a table full of equipment center stage.
BUT THE TRULY AMAZING DISCOVERY IS THE ORCHESTRAL SCORE. I'VE NEVER HEARD ANYTHING LIKE IT BEFORE IN LIVE THEATER. This isn't that fake synthesizer sound track stuff. Using advanced software technology, Bianchi has created the kind of carefully composed and edited score one hears only in Hollywood motion pictures. Even though Radiotheatre's simple KING KONG is, in Bianchi's words, "poor man's theater," the sumptuous scoring, alone, is far and away a 21st Century technological feat that should not only garner awards, but, open up a whole new field in music composition for the live stage. Is the audience aware of this technological achievement? On the contrary, they're too wrapped up in the excitement of it all! NYTIMES.COM
"IN IT'S MINIMALIST AND CHARMINGLY RETRO WAY, RADIOTHEATRE'S KING KONG STRIKES CLOSER TO THE HEART OF THE MYTH THAN PETER JACKSON'S OVERLONG, OVERBAKED MOVIE AND ON A BUDGET THAT WOULDN'T HAVE COVERED JACKSON'S CATERING BILL!" BACKSTAGE
"PERFORMANCE ART AT ITS GREATEST! I'VE NEVER HEARD ANYTHING LIKE IT BEFORE IN LIVE THEATER" NYTIMES.COM
"THE INVISIBLE MAN....BRINGS TO MIND VINCENT PRICE AND VICTORIAN ERA FULL MOONS!" NY TIMES
"FIVE STARS! RADIOTHEATRE DOES IT AGAIN! THE SOUND EFFECTS ALONE ARE WORTH THE PRICE OF ADMISSION"....BROADWAY BOX
"ELEGANT AND VIVID STORYTELLING! In THE INVISIBLE MAN, Bianchi deserves much credit as adaptor, director, composer and sound designer...the radio play format works extremely well reminding us of the power of a good story and an even stronger imagination...the great sound design never overwhelms the actors but is a feat for creating the right mood throughout." NYTHEATRE.COM
"RADIOTHEATRE'S WAR OF THE WORLDS....A TYPICALLY SPIRITED OFFERING DONE WITH REAL AFFECTION FOR THE SOURCE MATERIAL AND COMPLETELY UNTAINTED BY CAMP" BACKSTAGE
"BIANCHI WISELY STEERS CLEAR OF BOTH CAMP AND AND FAWNING TRIBUTE. THE RESULT IS BOTH AN ENJOYABLE RIDE AND A THOUGHT PROVOKING ENCOUNTER WITH THE MIND OF A VISIONARY THINKER"
"IN SHORT, IF YOU LOVE WELLS, THE TIME MACHINE OR THE SCI-FI AND
HORROR GENRES, THIS DRAMATIZATION WILL PROVE ENJOYABLE SO PROGRAM YOUR OWN TIME MACHINE FOR AN EVENING BEFORE NOV 5 AND BLAST OFF TO 59E59!" OFFOFFONLINE
"IF YOU EVER FIND YOURSELF WONDERING WHAT A MODERN WAR OF THE WORLDS WOULD LOOK LIKE WITHOUT TOM CRUISE, THEN LOOK NO FURTHER!" WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS
"MOREAU IS MAGNIFICENT!" NYTIMES.COM
"THE TIME MACHINE TAKES OFF! EXCITING AND THOUGHT PROVOKING!" BROADWAY BOX
