Back in the Golden Age of Radio, there was a short-lived network, called the Tesla Broadcasting Company (or TBC). Founded in New York in 1943, and acquired by CBS just two years later, the TBC became a mere footnote in the history of American Radio.
That is until March 10th 2013, when a Portland resident by the name of Brendan Jones, no relation, received a surprise package in the mail. The package contained a rare treasure – transcripts of the long-lost scripts from TBC’s archive.
Brendan felt he had an obligation to bring these scripts back to life, to honor not only the Tesla Broadcasting Company, but the Golden Age of Radio itself. So, along with his partner Jerry Chrisman, he founded Tesla City Stories.
Tesla City Stories is a troupe of radio actors who perform these scripts live on-stage, just as it was done 80 years ago, during radio’s heyday, complete with music and sound effects. And they’ve been doing it now for 10 years!
They’ll be opening their historic tenth season this Friday, April 5th at The Old Church Concert Hall in Downtown Portland. We have Brendan and Jerry here with us in the KBOO studios to tell us more.
- KBOO