Circus-13 presents the Uncanny X-men in Rubicon!

[The_Jester]

Circus-13 Productions proudly presents:
The Uncanny X-men in Rubicon!

At long last, it is done! A new beginning for the X-men, and their oldest foe: MAGNETO! A group of runaway mutants escape to Asteroid M, Magneto's home, seeking sanctuary. These Acolytes pledge themselves to Magneto's cause: the subjugation of the human race by homo superior, mutants. As the X-men prepare to confront their old foe, the world watches as the threat of nuclear annihilation rises.

episode one: Rubicon

duration: 38:54
file size: 71.2 MB
written by Chris Claremont
adapted for radio by Timm Gillick


CAST
ANDERSON - Kathryn Peets
ANNE-MARIE CORTEZ - Kathryn Peets
ARCHANGEL (Warren Worthington III) - Brendan J. O'Reilly
BANSHEE (Sean Cassidy) - Philip Weber
BEAST (Hank McCoy) - Chip Joel
COLOSSUS (Peter Rasputin) - Shock Dingo
CYCLOPS (Scott Summers) - David Sobkowiak
DEKE - Ron Rosenbaum
HARRY DELGADO - Mikey Showtime
DIRECTOR-GENERAL - Kevan Rabat
FABIAN CORTEZ - Shaun Bennett
FORGE - Tim Fauth
GAMBIT (Remy LeBeaux) - Ryan H Nelson
ICEMAN (Bobby Drake) - Kevin Connolly
JEAN GREY - Amby Leigh
MAGNETO - Peter Odlaug
MOIRA MACTAGGERT - Kathryn Peets
NANCE - Timm "The Jester" Gillick
NICK FURY - Bill Hollweg
CHROME - TamTu Bui
THE PRESIDENT - Ryan H Nelson
PROFESSOR CHARLES XAVIER - Mark Kalita
PSYLOCKE (Betsy Braddock) - Laura Post
ROGUE - Jamie Henry
SASHA - Ryan H Nelson
STORM (Ororo Munroe) - Chana Solomon
WOLVERINE - Timm "The Jester" Gillick
NARRATOR - Ken Eaken

[The_Jester]

had to change the role of Archangel. Brendan O'Reilly did a great job, but I couldn't find his e-mail anywhere, and I had Ryan Nelson listed, so that was what I put. Many apologies to Brendan, and can't wait to hear more.

[UltraRob]

I was looking forward to your next X-men production, and here it is!

Overall, I liked it, but I do have a few quibbles. Your first one was from the Claremont/Byrne era, when Claremont used a lot of narration (as did most Marvel comics of the time) and so it transited very easily into audio despite the large cast and many locations and events. This one is from the Claremont/Lee era, when they were making the comic more art oriented and visual, which means the narration was much less comprehensive and left more to the artist. (To be more precise, Lee and Claremont were at war for the comic, and the editors were forcing Claremont to bend to Lee's will because he was the hotter property of the moment.) As a result, since there's much (MUCH) less narration, and we're being hit with a barrage of voices, while I could follow the overall story pretty easily (I never read the original, this is after I quit reading the X-men) I really often had to think about who was who sometimes and I think a more casual listener would have been lost. (Or to be more precise, I doubt they could have followed most of it at all if they didn't know who most of these characters were.)

A specific example of a point I recall which needed expanded narration was when Magneto saw the crew of the sub pouring out or something. We get this speech about the crew's death and his horror, but there's no bridging lines to explain (I assume!) that the bodies are still fresh from being down so deep, and they're now visable through the holes in the sub or somesuch. That was art in the original story, but we can't see that art and need the narrator to explain it to us! (Or Magneto to say something in stage dialogue about it.)

Some voices like Xavier, Cyclops, Beast, Rogue, Wolverine, Anne-Marie and Magneto (who gave me serious Ian McKellan flashbacks in a good way!) were clear, definite and strong. The rest of them just seemed like a chorus of voices that just flitted in and out without any sense of who they were and why they were there. By the time I figured out who I was listening to, they were usually gone and sometimes not even heard again for several minutes (or at all for half the cast heard during the danger-room session at the start, which was just there to set up the upcoming second X-book at the time). I guess what I'm trying to say is, it could have used more adapting, and less direct translation from the comic. A lot of stuff and characters could have been cut without it being any different, just perhaps a touch shorter. (It also doesn't help that Claremont's own work at this point was rather sloppy... )

My other quibbles, are that Fabian Cortez is supposed to be an extremely smooth, slick and charismatic man who could charm the devil himself, and I wish I could say the same for his voice actor in this production. (No offense to the actor in question intended, this is a casting comment.) And, on the technical side, the filter you were using for radio communications sometimes distorted it so badly it was hard to understand some lines, especially Nick Furys.

On the plus side, overall I thought it was very well engineered and mixed, with great use of sound effects (I though the Magneto effect was very cool), paced very well, and did remind me at points of why the X-Men were one of my favorite books for many years. Storm's actress has improved a lot, and generally I think most of the returning cast has. I'll definitely listen to the next one as well!

Rob

[The_Jester]

I guess what I'm trying to say is, it could have used more adapting, and less direct translation from the comic. A lot of stuff and characters could have been cut without it being any different, just perhaps a touch shorter. (It also doesn't help that Claremont's own work at this point was rather sloppy... )

I appreciate all the constructive criticism and am working hard on it. This, after all, is only my THIRD "adaptation" (the first two being the first two X-men stories), all the rest of stuff I've done is original. So I'm still learning what from the comic translates well and what doesn't. I do need a little more narration, partly to give Ken Eaken more lines, because he has such a strong voice. And speaking of voices...

My other quibbles, are that Fabian Cortez is supposed to be an extremely smooth, slick and charismatic man who could charm the devil himself, and I wish I could say the same for his voice actor in this production. (No offense to the actor in question intended, this is a casting comment.)

That was my ex-roommate Shaun, and he was a last resort for Fabian because I couldn't get anyone else. His style of acting and voice belong more to a comedy (listen to him as Earl in Truck of the Inter-dimensional Bounty Hunters' Guild Local 137 and the Rocket-Powered Werewolf of Carpetbag Swamp to see what I mean). I am recasting the role in the hopes of getting someone more to Fabian's true character.

On the plus side, overall I thought it was very well engineered and mixed, with great use of sound effects (I though the Magneto effect was very cool), paced very well, and did remind me at points of why the X-Men were one of my favorite books for many years. Storm's actress has improved a lot, and generally I think most of the returning cast has. I'll definitely listen to the next one as well!

Rob

Good! I always love more listeners and especially those willing to point out areas I could improve my work! I will definitely work more on adapting the X-men so I can enjoy it as well!

Jester

[ShockDingo]

Cool, I'll check this out soon and give my thoughts.

[UltraRob]

I appreciate all the constructive criticism and am working hard on it. This, after all, is only my THIRD "adaptation" (the first two being the first two X-men stories), all the rest of stuff I've done is original. So I'm still learning what from the comic translates well and what doesn't. I do need a little more narration, partly to give Ken Eaken more lines, because he has such a strong voice. And speaking of voices...

Damn straight! He sounds so professional it's hard to believe this is an amateur production, so don't be afraid to use him more!

That was my ex-roommate Shaun, and he was a last resort for Fabian because I couldn't get anyone else. His style of acting and voice belong more to a comedy (listen to him as Earl in Truck of the Inter-dimensional Bounty Hunters' Guild Local 137 and the Rocket-Powered Werewolf of Carpetbag Swamp to see what I mean). I am recasting the role in the hopes of getting someone more to Fabian's true character.

Yeah, I completely understand no-choice casting decisions. I made a few too when I first started. Sometimes it's hard to fill out a large cast!

Good! I always love more listeners and especially those willing to point out areas I could improve my work! I will definitely work more on adapting the X-men so I can enjoy it as well!
Jester

I'd say it's really about thinking the whole thing through- anything unnecessary should be cut to try and keep it tight and focussed. The rule of thumb with Audio really is KISS*, because if you throw too much at the audience they'll get lost, and in this game that means they hit the stop button and don't come back. There's a reason most radio plays seem to only have a cast of a half-dozen people at a time. (Besides them only having room for that many in the studio!)

Keep it up, though! Each one gets better and better!

Rob

*Keep It Simple and Stupid!

[Batgirl]

This is a superb production. The Cast is Stellar, I didn't hear a single voice that made me think "amateur" or even "sub par".

The mixing is also excellent, only things I have to say about the mixing is sometimes peoples voices would get a little lost in either effects or atmosphere. But for the most part, I could hear every excellent performance.

I do agree with Ultra Rob though, in that the story was pretty hard to follow. I'm not familiar with the actual comic, and I'm not TERRIBLY familiar with the X-Men universe in general, I did read the parts of the script I was in (I tend to not read parts I'm not in in scripts so that when I listen its fresh. ^^'), and maybe because of that, I found it pretty hard to figure out what was going on.

But oddly enough, I sort of didn't care if stuff was going on and I didn't know what, it was just so pretty to listen to, I enjoyed just hearing it.

[The_Jester]

well thanks, and I've already started "adapting" part 2, asking Ken Eaken (our superb narrator) to add a couple extra lines, and as I go through and mix, I'm asking for more. I'm working on ep 3's script again (it's already been written, but I'm editing it as well).

Oh, and I usually only read the parts I have to do as well, makes some of it a surprise for me, too.

[Peterodl]

I had fun doing Magneto. He's a complex character and hopefully I got some of that across and hopefully it will be better on the next episode.
I usually try to read the other characters lines near where I'm involved so I can get a sense of what exactly is going on and not sound like I'm reading news copy as a drone.
As always, the narrator and the sound effects are impeccable
The cast voices are getting better in my opinion. Storm comes to mind as an improvement but others come in and out of doing well in my opinion. When Rogue is trying to evade the missles, her internal monologe just comes off as if it's a run-of-the-mill, boring exercise to evade missles.
Another voice gripe is Fabian Cortez. I heard the name pronounced "Fah-bian" and cringed. I agree with UltraRob and can understand that it was a last min. fill out of necessity but this is a man who manages to charm and mislead Magneto. I can't suspend my judgement long enough to believe Magneto would be mislead by a man who stumbles out his sentences in a matter worse than Kirk on a bad day.
There are parts where narration are needed to help "flesh out" the action happening for the listener.

These are only my opinions and don't mean to hurt anyones feelings. There are things I could have done better myself and hopefully I will be better next time out as Magneto. I'm looking forward to the next episode. Hopefully it won't be long in coming.

[The_Jester]

I have auditions open for a new Fabian and have one in mind already (great, strong voice and does wonderful). I've already had Mr. Eaken (our narrator) do a couple line new lines to help fill in gaps that the dialogue doesn't cover, and I'll be adding more as I go through this next episode.

Glad to hear you like it, and I LOVE your voice for Magneot, a nice, rich, tonal quality that really brings him alive. Storm is a new actress (Chana Solomon), and has previously only acted in my original Quest for the Passion Stone, and really enjoys doing this, taking this acting very seriously, she's going far. Rogue (Jamie Henry), is also new and pickign up new things every day. A lot of her lines were recorded at the end of last year and she has improved much since then (wait til you hear her in the new original Truck and the Super Satanic Sprok Strippers, coming out ina couple weeks), and you'll see what I mean. I've been working with her on acting and she's doing good.

So things are slowly improving (some are making leaps and bounds), but I strive to increase Circus-13's quality every time I work on it.

I've also started learning flash animation (a lengthy, time-consuming process), and plan on attempting (not guaranteeing ANY kind of quality) to animate my short Stranded to see if its feasible to try and do some of that.

Anyway, ranting and updating over... I hope you enjoy the Joke of Every Other Week as well, available at Circus-13 Productions website. New joke coming out Tuesday!

Jester