‘Wives and Daughters’ by Elizabeth Gaskell presented by The Online Stage.

‘Wives and Daughters’ follows the daily life of a widowed county doctor, Mr. Gibson, and his daughter, Molly. During our time with the Gibsons, Mr. Gibson decides to marry a woman who has a daughter near Molly’s age, Cynthia. Molly and Cynthia grow up together, fall in love, and spend their days with the many characters in Hollingford.

Cast:

Narrator – Sybil Johnson

Mr. Gibson – Rob Goll

Molly Gibson – Anna Grace

Mrs. Kirkpatrick – Elizabeth Klett

Cynthia – Amanda Friday

Squire Hamley – Jeff Moon

Mrs. Hamley – Sara Sheckells

Roger Hamley – Tyler Hyrchuk

Osborne Hamley – Lance Rasmussen

Lord Cumnor – Graham Scott

Lady Cumnor – Lillian Rachel

Lady Cuxhaven – Shaina Summerville

Lady Agnes – Grace Keller Scotch

Lady Harriet – Leanne Yau

Lord Hollingford – Kyle Alan

Mr. Preston – Andy Harrington

Mrs. Goodenough – Sara Morsey

Miss Phoebe – Trisha Rose

Mrs. Parkes – Sarah Mitchell

Old Silas – Josh Innerst

Aimee – Tiffany Halla Colonna

Grandchild – Isabelle Friday

Audible/Amazon

Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray presented by The Online Stage.

Vanity Fair centers on the young Becky Sharp and her dear friend Amelia Sedley during the time of the Napoleonic Wars. Rebecca Sharp is the daughter of an art teacher and a French dancer, being ambitious, intelligent, and strong-willed in order to get what she wants out of society. She is often touted as amoral and an anti-heroine. Alternately, her friend Amelia is kind, good-natured, and born into wealth. The interwoven fortunes of the two women play out among a backdrop of social skirmishes and human afflictions of pride and ego.

The novel is presented as a multiplot puppet play at a never-ending fair, using both a preface and a coda to bookend the story. The narrator character also interjects themselves into the story with gossip and opinions about the action occurring in certain scenes. Published as a serial in 19 monthly installments, it is a satire of 19th-century Britain, highlighting hypocrisy and opportunism. After initial release, it was published in full in 1848 with the subtitle of A Novel Without a Hero, a nod to Thackeray’s feelings about heroism in literature.

Cast:

Narrator – Lillian Rachel

Rebecca Sharp – Amanda Friday

Amelia Sedley – Anna Grace

Rawdon Crawley – Jon Bolitho-Jones

George Osbourne – Andy Harrington

William Dobbin – Tyler Hyrchuk

Joseph Sedley – Tim Sailer

Sir Pitt Crawley – Graham Scott

Matilda Crawley – Sarah Mitchell

Pitt Crawley – Rob Goll

Rose Crawley – Merete Mohs

Peggy O’Dowd – P. J. Morgan

Major O’Dowd – David Stifel

Jane Sheepshanks – Ella Lynch

Lady Steyne – Danielle Cohen

Lord Steyne – Jeff Moon

Captain Grigg – Caleb Summers

Miss Pinkerton – Sybil Johnson

Little Girl – Isabelle Friday

Audible/Amazon

The Invisible Man

A Grotesque Romance

by H. G. Wells

Presented by Voices of Today

Narrated by Graham Scott, Andy Harrington, Denis Daly, Patrick Barker, and Lillian Rachel

The Invisible Man was the fourth sci-fi novel written by Wells in the 1890s. The main character, Griffin, is one of the intimidating villains in all popular literature. The archetypal “mad scientist,” Griffin devotes himself to an obsessive study of optics and realizes his ambition to render livings things permanently invisible. After making a cat invisible, he successfully applies the procedure to himself. After causing chaos in London, he travels to the village of Iping in Sussex and takes up residence in a local hotel. He attempts to conceal his invisibility by wearing gloves, bandages on his face, and a false nose. However, due to his irascible and impulsive temperament, the inhabitants soon become aware that he is invisible, and Griffin decides to institute a reign of terror in the neighborhood.

The Invisible Man has become one of Well’s most popular works and has been adapted multiple times for presentation in film, television, and in graphic novels.

Audible/Amazon

After a tragic accident kills their father and their mother perishes during childbirth, sisters Norah and Magdalen discover their parents had only been married a matter of months and therefore the girls were actually illegitimate. Their uncle inherits the entirety of the family fortune, refusing to provide the girls with anything as they make their way out into the world. Using her love of the stage and all things dramatic, Magdalen enlists the help of her distant relative, Captain Wragge, a known professional swindler, to regain her inheritance and the right to her name.

Cast:

Narrator—Danielle Cohen

Norah Vanstone—Anna Grace

Magdalen Vanstone—Amanda Friday

Captain Wragge—Rob Goll

Mr. Vanstone—Jeff Moon

Miss Garth—Elizabeth Klett

Mr. Clare—Graham Scott

Francis Clare—Andy Harrington

Mrs. Lecount—Trisha Rose

Mrs. Wragge—Lillian Rachel

Noel Vanstone—Tyler Hyrchuk

Mr. Kirke—Josh Innerst

Child—Isabelle Friday

Amazon/Audible 

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 Haunted Hotel by Wilkie Collins presented by The Online Stage.

After breaking off his engagement with Agnes Lockwood, Lord Montbarry marries the eccentric Countess Narona before embarking on a whirlwind honeymoon tour of Europe culminating in Venice. There they reside in the decaying Palace Hotel with the Countess’ brother, Baron Rivar, and their courier, Ferrari. Lord Montbarry later dies of bronchitis and upon hearing of this from Henry Westwick, Montbarry’s brother, Agnes agrees to meet with Henry at the newly renovated Palace Hotel to investigate the insurance claim that was purchased prior to his death. Unsettling sounds, nauseating smells, and terrifying apparitions appear to multiple family members as the mystery of Lord Montbarry’s death deepens. Is the hotel truly haunted? Or is it the scene of a horrifying crime? True to his fashion, Wilkie Collins does not disappoint as a master of mystery.

Cast:

Narrator—Rob Goll

Countess Narona—Lillian Rachel

Agnes Lockwood—Amanda Friday

Henry Westwick—Josh Innerst

Emily Ferrari—Ella Lynch

Francis Westwick—Tim Sailer

The Manager—Tyler Hyrchuk

Mrs. Westwick—Anna Grace

Mr. Troy—Jeff Moon

Nurse—Sarah Mitchell

Marian—Isabelle Friday

Amazon/Audible • iTunes

Narrated by Graham Scott, David Shears, Andy Harrington, Patrick Barker, Denis Daly, and Lillian Rachel.

Between 1895 and 1901 H. G. Wells wrote six science fiction novels, which have become among the most celebrated examples of the genre.

In this collection, Wells explores a number of topics that have since become very common subjects in science fiction, including time travel, celestial beings, eugenics, alien invasion, and space exploration.

1) The Time Machine

2) The Wonderful Visit

3) The Island of Doctor Moreau

4) The Invisible Man

5) The War of the Worlds

6) The First Men in the Moon

Amazon/Audible • iTunes

By H. G. Wells

Narrated by Graham Scott, Andy Harrington, Denis Daly, and Lillian Rachel

First published in 1898, The War of the Worlds has become probably the most influential of Wells’ science fiction novels. It has been adapted as a basis for several feature films, radio dramas, graphic novels, video games, and television series. One of the most famous of these was the 1938 radio play version by Orson Wells, which is reputed to have started a panic among listeners who believed that the invasion was actually happening.

The plot is very straightforward. The Martians, finding the resources on their own planet dwindling dramatically, decided to invade and colonize Earth. They land in England and quickly establish control through their vastly superior military technology. The narrative focuses on the wanderings and deliberations of the narrator as he wanders around the country seeking refuge from the remorseless invaders. Two of the most significant characters he encounters are a curate and an artilleryman, neither of whom has an effective approach to dealing with the crisis.

Eventually, the invaders are defeated and exterminated, not by military opposition, but by exposure to Earth’s pathogens, to which they have no immunity.

After a near descent into madness, the narrator returns to his home and discovers that, against all odds, his wife has also survived the invasion. In the Epilogue, he reflects ruefully on man’s newfound sense of insecurity and ponders on the likelihood of alien invasions in the future.

Amazon/Audible • iTunes

The Online Stage presents The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie.

World-famous detective Hercule Poirot has retired to the English village of King’s Abbot, determined to dedicate his little grey cells to the growing of vegetable marrows. But when Roger Ackroyd, a local businessman and former acquaintance, is stabbed to death, the man’s niece begs Poirot to investigate. Poirot enlists the local doctor to be his assistant and scribe, and the two of them sift through clues to try to discern the ones that will lead them to the killer.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd made Agatha Christie a household name. Consistently ranked among her best works, in 2013 it was voted as the best crime novel ever written by the Crime Writers’ Association of the United Kingdom. The innovative twist ending shocked contemporary audiences and influenced countless numbers of subsequent detective stories.

Cast:

Hercule Poirot—David Stifel

Dr. Sheppard—John Burlinson

Caroline Sheppard—Lillian Rachel

Geoffrey Raymond—Tyler Hyrchuk

Flora Ackroyd—Amanda Friday

Inspector Davis—Lance Rasmussen

Major Hector Blunt—Andy Harrington

Inspector Raglan—Jeff Moon

Parker—Tim Sailer

Mrs. Ackroyd—Liz Blackett

Ursula Bourne—Anna Grace

Roger Ackroyd—Josh Innerst

Amazon/Audible • iTunes

The Online Stage presents The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer.

The Iliad, set 9 years into the Trojan War, tells the story of the wrath of Achilles. The Odyssey tells the story of Odysseus as he wearily travels home from the war. The two epics provide the basis of Greek education and culture in the classical age. They have long remained among the most significant poems of European tradition. Produced here in full cast arrangement and narrated by Rob Goll, one can experience these age-old stories in a brand new way.

Featuring the voices of Rob Goll, Lance Rasmussen, Josh Innerst, Tyler Hyrchuk, Amanda Friday, Anna Grace, David Stifel, Jeff Moon, John Burlinson, Ted Wenskus, Lee Ann Howlett, Tom Saer, Nik Sliwerski, Marty Krz, Andy Harrington, Trisha Rose, Bob Gonzalez, Sydnee Fullmer, Stephen Indrisano, Lillian Rachel, Tomas Peter, Chris Marcellus, Russell Gold, Merete Mohs, Tim Sailer, Erin Grassie, Linda Barrans, Elizabeth Klett, Grace Keller Scotch, Ron Altman, Max Gallo, Andrew Coleman, Alan Weyman, and Michelle Marie.

This production is based on the prose translation by Samuel Butler.

Amazon/Audible • iTunes

by H. G. Wells

Presented by Voices of Today

Narrated by Graham Scott, Andy Harrington, Denis Daly, and Lillian Rachel.

Apart from arousing the ire of religious fundamentalists, the propagation of the theory of evolution also stimulated discussion about eugenics. 

In 1896, H.G Wells was stimulated to compose this dystopian fantasy about an obsessed scientist and his efforts to artificially accelerate the intellectual development of animals using bizarre medical procedures involving vivisection.  Wells described the book as “an exercise in youthful blasphemy.”

This early science fiction text is one of Well’s most popular titles and has been used as the basis for many literary productions, musical works, presentations on television and cinema, and even video games.

Amazon/Audible • iTunes

The Online Stage presents The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

Dorian Gray has a portrait in oil done by Basil Hallward, an artist impressed and infatuated by Dorian’s beauty; he believes that Dorian’s beauty is responsible for the new mood in his art as a painter. Through Basil, Dorian meets Lord Henry and soon falls into his hedonistic worldview: that beauty and sensual fulfillment are the only things worth pursuing in life.

Newly understanding that his beauty will fade, Dorian expresses the desire to sell his soul, to ensure that the picture, rather than he, will age and fade. The wish is granted, and Dorian pursues a libertine life of varied amoral experiences while staying young and beautiful; all the while, his portrait ages and records every sin…

Cast:

Narrator—Anna Grace

Dorian Gray— Nik Sliwerski

Lord Henry—Andrew Coleman

Basil Hallward—Lance Rasmussen

Sibyl Vane—Amanda Friday

Mrs. Vane—Sarah Mitchell

James Vane—Tyler Hyrchuk

Lady Agatha—Lillian Rachel

Lord Fermor—Jeff Moon

Alan Campbell—Max Gallo

Amazon/Audible • iTunes