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Showing posts with label Damon Runyon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Damon Runyon. Show all posts
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Thursday, February 3, 2011
One of the best: Damon Runyon Theater
In the late summer of 2001, just before the tragic events of 911, I fell ill with a mysterious aliment at the age of 38 - at least it was mysterious to me, for I had never felt that way before. Things got worse and worse - eventually I was rushed to the hospital where I almost died of congestive heart failure.
It took me nearly a year to "bounce back"; I use that term loosely because I never really have recovered from it's effects. As a matter of fact, the doctor tells me my heart is only at about 25% strength even today.
During my layoff and recuperation I went to the library and got all the Damon Runyon books they had. Eventually, I read every one of his printed stories and enjoyed them as much as anything else I had ever read.
A few years ago, I came across the Damon Runyon Theatre on mp3. Wow. The stories are true to the stories in the books and done with the right amount of flair.
The Damon Runyon Theater is an anthology; while you are almost always guaranteed some humor and a teeny bit of mystery in each episode, you'll never know if the story will end up sad or in celebration. All of the stories are set in the Roaring '20's and may be about horse racing or dancers or a Yale football game.
All are handled well. John Brown, the elusive-yet-everywhere actor who's history has been sabotaged and visibly removed from us to see, plays the main part of Broadway, a street-wise, good-to-all fellow who peruses the streets and clubs of New York, trying to mind his own business. But he's such a good guy and so well-liked that he winds up in everyone else's mess and is often blamed for such, when he actually had nothing to do with it.
Brown plays the character to perfection. He reminds me of the Gillis character on The Life of Riley - except one with a lot of class.
The sound quality is very good on at least 90% of the episodes and all are incredibly enjoyable. Definitely, one of my favorites.
It took me nearly a year to "bounce back"; I use that term loosely because I never really have recovered from it's effects. As a matter of fact, the doctor tells me my heart is only at about 25% strength even today.
During my layoff and recuperation I went to the library and got all the Damon Runyon books they had. Eventually, I read every one of his printed stories and enjoyed them as much as anything else I had ever read.
A few years ago, I came across the Damon Runyon Theatre on mp3. Wow. The stories are true to the stories in the books and done with the right amount of flair.
The Damon Runyon Theater is an anthology; while you are almost always guaranteed some humor and a teeny bit of mystery in each episode, you'll never know if the story will end up sad or in celebration. All of the stories are set in the Roaring '20's and may be about horse racing or dancers or a Yale football game.
All are handled well. John Brown, the elusive-yet-everywhere actor who's history has been sabotaged and visibly removed from us to see, plays the main part of Broadway, a street-wise, good-to-all fellow who peruses the streets and clubs of New York, trying to mind his own business. But he's such a good guy and so well-liked that he winds up in everyone else's mess and is often blamed for such, when he actually had nothing to do with it.
Brown plays the character to perfection. He reminds me of the Gillis character on The Life of Riley - except one with a lot of class.
The sound quality is very good on at least 90% of the episodes and all are incredibly enjoyable. Definitely, one of my favorites.
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