Nic & Selena, A Modern Day Vic & Sade

A Special treat for RUSC Members
from a RUSC Member

The talent of RUSC members never ceases to amaze me - you sure are an interesting, and talanted, bunch of folks!  

A few months back I received an e-mail from Michael Vance McCauley, who has been a member of RUSC since 2004. He wrote to let me know about a series of shows that he'd produced that were in the style of old-time-radio.

Below Michael tells you in his own words all about the show and a little of what inspired him. I'd also recommend having a listen to the Curtian Call show (see below) that Michael refers to before you listen to the recordings as it helps put everything into context and provides valuable information about how the shows were recorded and the characters involved.

I began to get into the old radio shows fairly seriously in the fall of 2004. This is about the time I became a member of RUSC. I have been involved in theater as an actor and as a director for many years now. I am currently the Director Of Theater at a small high school in Georgia. I took two years off from teaching and directing (2003-2005) to work on various writing projects but am back to work now as a teacher and director full-time.

After getting into the old radio series during my time off, I decided to write a radio series of my own and record it with one of my former and best drama students.

I wanted to do a small show on the line of early Amos & Andy, Vic & Sade and Lum & Abner wherein two or three people would do the majority of the voices. I hit upon the idea of drawing my characters from my childhood, particularly characters who lived in my maternal grandmother’s neighborhood in the 1970s. I am from the South, and we have plenty of characters down here that have escaped the cynicism and despair that seems to grip many people in our great country these days. I wanted the series to be a comedy because I have a particular interest in comedy which gently and cleanly pokes fun at the foibles of not only Southerners but also Americans in general. Out of my interest and imagination was born Nic & Selena .     

My acting partner and I have recorded a total of ten shows, which constitutes the first series of Nic & Selena radio shows. We also recorded a Curtain Call show, which explains the origin and information about the series. The ten shows include a Christmas Special.

For this first series, I decided to give all of the shows of Series One to the members of RUSC.COM. I wanted to recapture the spirit of the old shows by being as primitive in recording style as is possible in 2005. I had to learn the art of editing "radio" on the run when I put together the shows for a possible "broadcast" on your site. What I learned during the process reaches its climax in the Christmas Special One Magi Too Many . One Magi Too Many is the longest of the shows. Most of the shows range in 8 to 12 minutes in length while the Christmas Special is about 45 minutes.

I hope that people enjoy the series so much that they will want more, and that as a result, something will come of my efforts which will perhaps revive an interest in the "Theater Of The Mind" that is radio comedy and drama.
 
All of the Nic & Selena scripts are G-Rated, and contain no political spin whatsoever. They are satirical in the gentlest way possible. We want adults and children to enjoy the antics of the characters.

So, without further ado here are links to each of the shows.

Curtain Call - It's worth listening to this before you start on Episode 1

Episode 01- Chef On The Porch
Episode 02_- Nic The Artist
Episode 03_- Hankerin_For_Coffee
Episode 04_- Goin_Fishin
Episode 05_- This_Too_Shall_Pass
Episode 06 -_Jealousy
Episode 07_- Chainsaw_Ninja
Episode 08_- Nic_And_The_Lottery
Episode 09_- Bird_Watchin
Episode 10_- Curtain_Call_The_Cast.mp3
Episode 11 - One Magi Too Many Part 1
Episode 12 - One Magi Too Many Part 2
Episode 13 - One Magi Too Many Part 3
Episode 14 - One Magi Too Many Part 4
Episode 15 - One Magi Too Many Part 5

I do hope you enjoy the shows. I certainly did. As I listened to each episode the characters of Nic and Selena really started to grow on me and I'm certainly looking forward to the next series.

If you get the chance I'm sure Michael would like to receive your feedback. You can either send it directly to Michael at   MNCA2004@aol.com  or send it via myself at ned@rusc.com   

Happy listening my friends,