Decades before television was invented, families would crowd around the radio to listen to popular audio dramas—stories performed by a full cast with music and sound effects like closing doors, footsteps or thunder to enhance the listening experience.
Two local residents are using this old art and new technology to bring together an international cast for a production of the children’s literary classic, The Secret Garden.
“The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett has been a very popular choice amongst children’s literature,” said Noelle Dupuis. “It has had numerous dramatic adaptations, including the big screen, broadway theatre….. and by fall 2019… an audio drama!”
Dupuis, a local teacher and executive producer of The First Noelle Productions, and Diane Vandenhoven, a playwright and audio drama veteran who currently lives in London but her family lives in Huntsville and she spends summer holidays here, are currently adapting the novel into an audio drama script.
Dupuis has had a passion for audio dramas for over 20 years and has released a four-part Christmas series called Hurry! Hurry! It’s Almost Christmas and a musical fairy tale called The Bell. Vandenhoven has worked on many audio dramas in the past including The Geminus Conspiracy, Alice in Wonderland, and Snow White. She has also won the Theatre BC National Playwriting Competition.
The pair met while working on a previous audio drama in which Dupuis was cast as a character. They saw an opportunity to adapt the well-known story in The Secret Garden—it currently doesn’t exist as an audio drama.
Nearly all of The Secret Garden characters have been cast with voice actors from all over the world via connections Dupuis and Vandenhoven have made over the years. In the past, when Dupuis and Vandenhoven have done audio dramas, cast members would need to record together. However, since technology has advanced the recordings can now be done remotely. Noelle will have a part in the audio drama but which role has not yet been determined.
They hope that fans of the popular story will enjoy their production.
“Audio dramas are an inviting way of enhancing your listening experience,” said Dupuis, “People really enjoy audio books so this adds to that type of experience. You can listen to the entire story in just an hour so it’s ultimately more time effective.”
Dupuis and Vandenhoven are in the final stages of preparing the script. The audio drama will be published by Blackstone Audio and will be available in the fall of 2019 through Audible, Amazon, iTunes and more.
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Thank you very much, ladies. Comparing normal television fare to what was formerly available on radio, is a sad exercise indeed. Our collective imagination has been short-circuited by the optics: producers have become incredibly lazy with nuances. And don’t get me started on “reality TV” – “Survivor” has a great deal for which to answer.
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As one of the dinosaurs who grew up with radio, I must credit it with my love of literature. My fervent hope is that you can get it aired on CBC 1.
Looking forward to hearing this production. I met Diane by chance while we were both working as ushers at Roy Thomson Hall back in the late 80’s. She would tell us stories about a little place north of Toronto called Huntsville, that’s where she was from. Many jokes were made about where she lived and we wondered if there was running water and if her mode of transportation was by snowmobile.
Ironically, a few years later, Huntsville became my home.
I’ve kept up with Diane and her talents in script writing and play productions, mostly through Facebook and her Mom. So happy to hear she’s here for the summer and we’ll be so lucky to experience one of her audio dramas!
All the Best Diane!
Fellow RTH usher
Helena (de Vries )Renwick
I have had the privilege of working with both Noelle and Diane on several audio drama productions. Looking forward to their new release of The Secret Garden. – David Farquhar, Producer, Voices in the Wind Audio Theatre