The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle presented by The Online Stage.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle needed to take a break from his detective work and so created this fantastic tale. A group of Victorian explorers discovers a hidden plateau in the Amazon jungle that is populated by fearsome dinosaurs and dangerous ape-like creatures. Can they survive the experience?

Cast:

Edward Malone – Scott R. McKinley

Professor George Challenger – Rob Goll

Professor Summerlee – Ted Wenskus

Sir John Roxton – Russell Gold

Gladys Hungerton – Trisha Rose

Mr. McArdle – Graham Scott

Tarp Henry – Jon Bolitho-Jones

Jessie Challenger – Merete Mohs

Professor Waldron – David Prickett

The Chairman – Andrew Coleman

Gomez – Andy Harrington

Macdona – Chris Marcellus

Dr. Illingworth – Alan Weyman

Mr. Hungerton – Jeff Moon

Audible/Amazon

The Little Women Collection by Louisa May Alcott presented by The Online Stage.

This collection includes the remastered Online Stage productions of Little Women, Little Men, Jo’s Boys as well as Comic Tragedies by Jo & Meg.

Little Women is the story of four sisters growing up against the background of the American Civil War. Alcott wrote the book at the urging of the publisher, Thomas Niles, who was seeking a story about girls that would have popular appeal. Although it was commenced essentially as a children’s book, it developed into something of a bildungsroman, which touches on more serious issues such as the difficulties faced by single-parent families, the death of a sibling, and fractured relationships.

Little Men tells the continuing story of Jo March, who has married Professor Bhaer, with whom she now runs a small school.

In Jo’s Boys, we revisit the Plumfield clan 10 years later, all grown up and finding their way through life’s adventures and misadventures. Simmering romances blossom for some while the bravery and strength of others are tested. Through it all, Jo and Professor Bhaer desperately hope they have done their duty in raising up good citizens of the world with dreams, passions, empathy, and intelligence. Alcott shines once again with her ability to write human emotion through real-world scenarios that are still relevant today.

Comic Tragedies by Jo & Meg is a collection of plays written by Jo and Meg March, often discussed and performed in the March family attic by the beloved Little Women as the Pickwick Players. Our cast returns as Jo, Meg, Amy, and Beth to perform every role with dramatic flair from damsels in distress to evil villains, and no shortage of mistaken identities and sword fights.

Cast:

Narrators—Lee Ann Howlett and Erin Grassie

Jo—Amanda Friday

Meg—P. J. Morgan

Beth—Tiffany Halla Colonna

Amy—Becca Maggie and Anna Grace

Laurie—Andy Harrington

Professor Bhaer—Ben Lindsey-Clark

Various other roles performed by Elizabeth Klett, Ron Altman, Ben Stevens, Nancy German, Maureen Boutilier, Jeff Moon, Jennifer Fournier, Miranda Hodges, Izzy Lindsey-Clark, Rebecca Thomas, Brett Downey, Sarah Pignatello, Chris Marcellus, Leanne Yau, Cate Barratt, Libby Stephenson, Marty Krz, David Prickett, Arielle Lipshaw, Ted Wenskus, Tomas Peter, Anastasia Durning, Josh Innerst, Tim Sailer, Sydnee Fullmer, Lance Rasmussen, Tyler Hyrchuk, Max Gallo, Anna Grace, Jennie VanderLugt, and Trisha Rose.

Amazon/Audible • iTunes

The Dead Secret by Wilkie Collins presented by The Online Stage.

Rosamond Frankland has married the love of her life, Leonard, who is blind. They have bought Porthgenna Tower, the manor where Rosamond grew up and where her mother died 20 years earlier. What they don’t know is the dark secret that hovers over her family, that house, and the stories about a woman’s ghost that haunts the north rooms. Is this a ghost story, a love story, a story with a tragic ending, or a lovely one?

Cast:

Narrator—Lillian Rachel

Rosamond Frankland—Amanda Friday

Joseph Buschmann—David Stifel

Leonard Frankland—Jeff Moon

Sarah Leeson—Anna Grace

Mr. Chennery—Alan Weyman

Mrs. Norbury—Ella Lynch

Mr. Phippen—David Prickett

Mrs. Pentreath—Trisha Rose

Mr. Orridge—Ted Wenskus

Mr. Munder—Rob Goll

Andrew—John Burlinson

Mrs. Treverton—Sarah Mitchell

Little Robert—Isabelle Friday

Amazon/Audible • iTunes

The Beetle by Richard Marsh

Presented by The Online Stage

Richard Marsh’s The Beetle outsold Bram Stoker’s Dracula in 1897, the year both novels were published. Like Dracula, The Beetle is about a strange, unearthly being from a foreign land who infiltrates Britain by hypnotizing and preying upon his victims. This exciting adventure is narrated by four different characters who have close encounters with this rapacious creature and attempt to hunt down and destroy him.

Cast:

Robert Holt – Josh Innerst

Sydney Atherton – Jeff Moon

Marjorie Lindon – Elizabeth Klett

Augustus Champnell – Rob Goll

The Arab – Peter Tucker

Paul Lessingham – David Prickett

Percy Woodville – Tyler Hyrchuk

Dora Grayling – Amanda Friday

Matthews – Andrew Coleman

Old Lindon – Denis Daly

Audio edited by Elizabeth Klett

Amazon/Audible • iTunes

The Online Stage presents The Green Cockatoo by Arthur Schnitzler.

The Green Cockatoo is a short play set in a busy tavern on the night of the storming of the Bastille. Rich Parisian nobles come to watch some actors play at being rogues, thieves, and other criminals, but they quickly find reality and fantasy blending together in the most alarming of ways.

Cast:

Stage Directions – Linda Barrans

Prosper – Phil Benson

Emile – Tomas Peter

François – Tom Saer

Albin – Mark Crowle-Groves

Marquis de Lansac – Alan Weyman

Severine – Sarah Mitchell

Rollin – Lance Rasmussen

Grasset – David Prickett

Lebret – Peter Tucker

Grain – Blythe Melin

The Commissaire of Police – Craig Franklin

Henri – Andy Harrington

Leocadie – P. J. Morgan

Scaevola – David Stifel

Jules – Andrew Coleman

Michette –  Anna Grace

Flipotte – Amanda Friday

Guillaume – Graham Scott

Georgette – Leanne Yau

Balthasar – Ted Wenskus

Maurice –  Noel Badrian

Etienne – Marty Krz

Audio edited by Anna Grace

Amazon/Audible • iTunes

Francis Raven awakens on the eve of his birthday, frightened by the appearance of a woman attempting to murder him. He is continually haunted by this woman and years later marries Alicia Warlock, who looks strikingly identical to the figure from his dream. Is this Dream Woman simply an apparition or will her attempts to kill Francis become reality? Also known as The Ostler in earlier versions, The Dream Woman is another of Collins’ finest detective stories.

Cast:

Francis Raven – Graham Scott

Francis’ Mother – Lillian Rachel

Percy Fairbank – Rob Goll

Clotilde Fairbank – Anna Grace

Alicia Warlock – Amanda Friday

Joseph Rigobert/Doctor – Josh Innerst

Aunt Chance – Elizabeth Klett

Surgeon/Second Landlord – David Prickett

Peasant/Policeman – Tomas Peter

Landlord – Alan Weyman

Son – Tom Saer

Audio edited by Amanda Friday

Amazon/Audible • iTunes

Presented by The Online Stage.

Virginia Woolf’s 1925 novel takes place over the course of a single June day in the lives of some very different Londoners: wealthy society hostess Clarissa Dalloway, who is preparing for a party; her old friend Peter Walsh, recently returned from India, whose proposal of marriage Clarissa rejected years ago; Septimus Warren Smith, a WWI veteran suffering from shell shock; and his Italian-born wife, Rezia, who is trying to care for him as best she can. Woolf’s beautiful prose captures the minds and souls of these vivid characters, who exist simultaneously in a fractured present and in their pasts, as well as the beating heart of a city and a nation still reeling from the cataclysm of the Great War.

Cast:

Narrator – Elizabeth Klett

Clarissa Dalloway – Lillian Rachel

Peter Walsh – Rob Goll

Septimus Warren Smith – Josh Innerst

Rezia Warren Smith – Nancy Peterson

Sally Seton – Sara Sheckells

Lady Bruton – Sarah Mitchell

Hugh Wentworth – Alan Weyman

Elizabeth Dalloway – Amanda Friday

Richard Dalloway – David Prickett

Dr. Holmes – Graham Scott

Dr. Bradshaw – Andrew Coleman

Miss Kilman – Anna Grace

Audio edited by Elizabeth Klett

Amazon/Audible • iTunes

Presented by The Online Stage

The Noh theatre of Japan was popularized towards the end of the 14th century. It was heavily influenced by Buddhism in philosophy and style and was made up of dances performed at Shinto shrines to honor spirits and gods and old lyric poetry. Around the same time, Shakespeare’s Hamlet was being performed in London, Noh was integral to official ceremonies at Kyoto, and young nobles and princes were encouraged to attend and perform. This is a collection of four short plays from the Noh theatres of Japan – Hagoromo, Kumasaka, Kagekiyo, and Nishigiki.

Cast:

David Stifel

David Prickett

Grace Keller Scotch

Noel Badrian

Leanne Yau

Amazon/Audible • iTunes

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Presented by The Online Stage

Oliver Twist is the well-loved tale of an orphan, who starts life in a workhouse and finds himself embroiled in London’s criminal underworld, before being saved by a kind gentleman who knows something of his surprising family history. A satire and social commentary as well as a page-turning yarn, full of grit, wit, and some of the most memorable characters in English Literature. The second published serialised novel by Charles Dickens, The British Library remarks that “it has proven to be one of the best-loved novels in the history of literature”.

Cast:

Narrator and Sikes – Ben Lindsey-Clark

Oliver – Sarah Bacaller

Fagin – Graham Scott

Mr. Bumble – Rob Goll

Dodger – Amber Hegarty

Nancy – Anna Grace

Rose Maylie – Amanda Friday

Dr. Losberne – David Prickett

Harry Maylie – Mark Crowle-Groves

Mrs. Corney – Elizabeth Klett

Mrs. Maylie – Lillian Rachel

Monks – Jeff Moon

Charlie Bates – P. J. Morgan

Grimwig – Max Gallo

Audio edited by Ben Lindsey-Clark

Amazon/Audible • iTunes

Continue the journey through the history, adventure, tension, and dangers faced by the Conquistadors, led by Hernan Cortes – the Alexander of the Americas – as they continue their epic tale of conquest against the Mexican Empire.

After Cortes’ expulsion from the Mexican capital on the much-lamented Night of Sorrows, the Conquistadors are reeling and their alliances crumbling.

Hernan Cortes, unbowed and undaunted, refuses to give up the fight and determines to stay the course of the war against the Aztecs, and his own countrymen, to its bitter conclusion.

The Aztecs themselves, flushed with their recent victory and completely rejuvenated under the new Emperor, specially selected to wipe the Spaniards from the face of the earth, make preparations for the ultimate battles to come.

This memoir is an autobiographical account of the events as eye-witnessed by Bernal Diaz – a Conquistador on that journey. The young man from Spain desperately hoped to carve out a life of riches for himself in the new world and instead found himself on an epic journey of conquest, while desperately fighting to stay alive, in previously unknown and unimagined lands.

This is a true tale written in his own hand and translated into English. It is a gripping account of the events from the soldiers’ viewpoint as each day becomes a battle for survival against incredible odds and could easily be mistaken for a work of fiction. Each chapter is rich with jaw-dropping details of the journey into that world. A journey that has long since been forgotten and can now be rediscovered.

Amazon/Audible • iTunes

A House of Pomegranates (1891) is a collection of four fairy tales by Oscar Wilde: “The Young King,” “The Birthday of the Infanta,” “The Fisherman and His Soul,” and “The Star Child.” These magical, beautiful, tragic, and cynical tales will charm listeners of any age. Narrated by Noel Badrian, and performed by a full cast.

Featuring the voices of Noel Badrian, Craig Franklin, Chris Marcellus, Lucy Peterson, Elizabeth Klett, Ron Altman, Miranda Hodges, John Burlinson, Denis Daly, Jennifer Fournier, Amanda Friday, Nancy German, Anna Grace, Erin Grassie, Lee Ann Howlett, Tyler Hyrchuk, Susan Iannucci, Michelle Marie, Nancy Peterson, David Prickett, Trisha Rose, Shirley Savage, Grace Keller Scotch, Joe Tabler, Mike Vendetti, Alan Weyman, and Larry Wilson.

Audio edited by Elizabeth Klett

Amazon/Audible • iTunes

The Younger Sister, by Catherine Anne Hubback and Jane Austen. Presented by The Online Stage.    

In Jane Austen’s unfinished novel, young Emma Watson returns to her father’s house after being raised by her wealthy and refined uncle.  

As she gets to know her family, she finds that her father is reclusive and sickly, her sisters are crude and shallow, and her eldest brother has a petulance that is matched only by his wife’s.  

When Emma’s social graces draw the attention of the aristocratic Osborne family, she must navigate the complex and judgmental world of class dynamics in Regency England.    

Austen began work on The Watsons in 1803 but abandoned it in 1805 after the death of her father.  

This audiobook is a completion of the novel, written by Austen’s niece, Catherine Hubback, in 1850.     

Narrator: Anna Grace  

Emma Watson: Grace Keller Scotch  

Elizabeth Watson/Miss Morgan/Miss Hall: Elizabeth Klett  

Mary Edwards/Margaret Watson/young lady: Leanne Yau  

Mrs. Edwards/Mrs. Turner/Gipsy/Lady Gordon’s maid: Linda Barrans  

Tom Musgrove/Captain Tomlins: Mark Crowle-Groves  

Mr. Edwards/man in the farmyard/Mr. Morgan: David Prickett  

Miss Osbourne/Miss Jenkins/Mrs. Harding Russell: Jennie VanderLugt  

Mrs. Willis/Jane Watson/Mrs. Browning: Elizabeth Chambers  

Charles Willis/Sir William/Sam Watson: Andy Harrington  

Lord Osbourne/Alfred Freemantle: David Shears  

Jenny/Lady Osbourne/Miss Bridge: Sarah Mitchell  

Mr. Watson/Mr. Bridge: Noel Badrian  

Robert Watson/Mr. Corbet: Jeff Moon  

Mr. Howard/George Millar: Tom Saer  

Miss Carr/Penelope Watson/Janetta Watson/Annie Millar: Libby Stephenson    

Audio edited by Libby Stephenson and Denis Daly

Amazon/Audible • iTunes