Repertoire Radio Theatre

Before he was known as The Fat Man… before his name carried weight in police precincts and backroom gambling dens alike… he was simply Brad Runyon—just another mind in a crowded city full of secrets. But Brad Runyon was never ordinary. In the years following the war, America changed. Cities grew faster than truth could keep up with them. Fortune was made overnight—and stolen even faster. And with...

Oscar Wilde’s beloved story “The Canterville Ghost”, first published in 1887, is a comic ghost tale with a surprisingly tender heart. Wilde playfully reverses the traditional haunted-house story: instead of humans being frightened by a ghost, it is the ghost who finds himself outmatched by modern people who refuse to be afraid. The story follows Sir Simon de Canterville, a ghost condemned to haunt...

Back Seat Driver aired on the iconic radio series, Suspense, on March 17 1949. It was written by Sally Thorson for Jim and Marian Jordan who were the main stars of the ever popular radio series Fibber McGee and Molly which aired from 1935 to 1959. This play not only showcased the Jordan’s versatility but it also brought even more notoriety to the Suspense series. The Suspense radio series, often r...

Originally broadcast on December 10, 1939, For Richer—For Richer was written by True Boardman for the CBS radio program Silver Theatre, a prestigious dramatic anthology series sponsored by the International Silver Company. The episode starred Clark Gable as Chris Morgan and Mary Taylor as Peggy Turner. The Silver Theatre program was known for pairing major Hollywood stars with entertaining romanti...

When The Strange Sisters first aired on The Whistler in early 1946, American radio audiences were already deeply familiar with the program’s trademark blend of psychological suspense, moral rot, and twist endings. What made this episode stand out wasn’t just the murder plot—it was the way the story zeroed in on a family dynamic that felt uncomfortably real. The Randall sisters—Pamela, Sally, and K...

When “The Dead Laugh ” first aired on September 23, 1946 as part of Inner Sanctum Mysteries, American audiences were only one year removed from the end of World War II. The country was rebuilding — materially, emotionally, and morally. Questions about justice, authority, punishment, and mercy were not abstract ideas; they were daily headlines. The original broadcast bore all the hallmarks of Inner...

In 1941, at the height of radio’s golden age, writer-director Norman Corwin —the poet laureate of the airwaves—penned a satirical fable that sparkled with humor and humanity. Mary and the Fairy debuted on the Columbia Workshop , with Elsa Lanchester and Ruth Gordon lending their comic brilliance to a story that pokes gentle fun at American advertising, wish fulfillment, and the dream of instant ha...

Originally broadcast on April 14, 1938 as part of The Royal Desserts Hour, Ever After is a whimsical and gently satirical sequel to Walt Disney’s breakthrough animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, released just the year before in 1937. At the time, Snow White had become a cultural sensation — praised as a “work of perfection” by critics and adored by audiences of all ages — and radio prod...

Weight… 239 pounds. Fortune… Danger.” With those words — and the creak of a drugstore scale — 1940s radio audiences were introduced to one of the most distinctive sleuths of the Golden Age of Detective Drama: Brad Runyon, The Fat Man. Created (at least in name) by famed mystery writer Dashiell Hammett, The Fat Man premiered on ABC Radio in January 1946 and ran for five suspense-filled years. The t...