Naked Radio

Local Is Magical

Dave Hudson, Writer & Lyricist

I’ve always been someone who likes ‘local’. When I go to new towns and cities, I always look for the local things; the tiny history museum (I still want to visit the mustard museum in Middleton when I get the chance). Of course, I also look for the unique restaurants. While Olive Garden and Chili’s offer consistency, they don’t offer that local flavor.

It was this curiosity of mine that led me to the Possum Trot Supper Club in Oakwood, Illinois, just outside of Danville. It’s a really nice supper club with great food and service.

It also has a great name. By the way, as I understand it, a Possum Trot means a style of house (they are also sometimes called dog trots). It is the kind of house that has two parts and a breezeway in between. My guess is that the Possum Trot started out in a home like that.

Point being, that name always stuck with me, so when we wrote Naked Radio, I decided to try and write it into a song. The idea behind the Possum Trot song is that sometime in the 30s or 40s, a local band got together and wrote the song and recorded it in one of those little studios that used to exist back in the day… and that is the only record the DJs have available during the show. To be clear, I never had any intention of making fun of the Possum Trot Supper Club; the song is really making fun of the not-so-good band that recorded the song.

But local is magical. That’s the message of Naked Radio - that it takes a local radio station to serve as the rallying point for the community.

Funny story about that. I graduated from high school in Troy, Montana and we didn’t have a radio station. We didn’t have radio. We were in an isolated valley and we had to drive out of that area to pick up any stations. Our only sources of music were cassettes (yes, I’m that old), records, or MTV and Night Traxx on Friday nights. So, yes, I would have loved it if we’d had Sirius XM. But there were still things that bound us together like the local newspaper (remember those?).

I don’t think I’m unique in this. I think that’s why so many of us like Door County. It is still ‘local’ in all the best ways. From the Red Putter to Mink River Basin, from Door County Brewing to Island Orchard Cider, we have so many places that are uniquely from ‘here’. One that always stands out for me is the White Gull Inn. By focusing locally, they made the national scene with their best breakfast in the country. What was breakfast? French Toast stuffed with cherries grown right here in the County.

And, of course, that brings me around to Northern Sky Theater, a place that I consider a local AND national treasure. Here, we create plays that focus on the local flavor, but also do something that nobody else does anywhere in the country (or the world for that matter). We create new musicals every year, sometimes more than one.

So, come on back to Door County and enjoy the most ‘local’ place you’ve ever visited. On your way in, grab some groceries at the Main Street Market (not a Safeway). Looking for somewhere to stay, try the Parkwood Lodge (not a Holiday Inn), then head over for an early dinner at the White Gull Inn (not a Red Lobster) before going (you guessed it) to the local, wonderful Northern Sky Theater to catch a brand new, local musical!

We love The Parkwood Lodge (and not just because they’re Northern Sky sponsors)! Author Matt Zembrowski put together this nifty little jingleto tell you how much we love it.

DAVE HUDSON

Playwright / Lyricist

Dave is the bookwriter and lyricist for almost 10 Northern Sky shows, including Muskie Love, Cheeseheads, and, of course, Naked Radio. With Paul Libman, he is a two-time winner of the Richard Rodgers Award for New Musicals. His plays have been produced around the country and around the world. With composer Denver Casado and bookwriter Jessica Penzias, their virtual play The Show Must Go Online was the most produced musical of 2020, with over a thousand productions in schools and theaters around the world. Dave is the proud father of three amazing grown children. Above all, he is always proud to say he is married to the amazing theater artist, Gigi Hudson, who runs her own theater in Oak Park, Illinois where she presents classes and musicals year-round (many of them written by Dave).

PAUL LIBMAN

Composer

Musical theatre is Paul Libman’s latest stop on a journey that began with playing jazz piano, composing for television and radio commercials, and producing records. After winning the Richard Rodgers Award twice for two different musicals with collaborator Dave Hudson, Paul relocated to New York, where he currently is a member of the Lehman Engel BMI Advanced Musical Theatre Workshop. Now, having had eight successfully produced musicals, he continues to write with Dave Hudson and others. With lyricist Jack Lechner (The Kid, Off-Broadway) and film writer/director Ron Shelton (Bull Durham, White Men Can’t Jump), he’s composing the score for a new musical based on Blaze, a 1989 movie starring Paul Newman. This year, Paul is especially excited about the return to the Northern Sky stage of Dave’s and his most recent musical, Naked Radio.

A Note from the Author of Naked Radio

In the fall of 2001, I remember going to see a play in Chicago. This was a few weeks after the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Attending the talkback after the show, someone asked the question of the director about how the play had shifted in meaning after the events we had just been through.

In that case, the truth of the matter was that it hadn’t shifted much, but the director did an admirable job of fielding the question.

Reflecting on what we’ve been through in the past year, if you asked the same question, Paul Libman and I are rather proud of how our show resonates with the times we are in.

Naked Radio centers, essentially, on a ‘snow pandemic’. People are stuck in their homes, unable to go anywhere, but they still find ways to connect with the rest of the world.

When I think back on last spring, I am struck by the challenges we faced… and how we connected. For many of us, it was Zoom and the Internet that assisted, as opposed to DJs and silly call-in shows.

But, there was silliness. I know our family started a tradition of ‘Fancy Fridays’ where we all dressed up according to a theme. We had Hollywood 40’s night. Camping night. Hawaiian night. When we posted pics of those nights on Facebook and other social media, we were surprised and heartened at how many people looked forward to what we had done and the fun pictures.

In Naked Radio, one of the sub-plots centers around someone who trudges through the snow to help someone fix their furnace. There were SO many amazing stories during 2020 of people checking on neighbors, delivering groceries, and so many other stunning acts of kindness. As challenging as Covid-19 was, that was absolutely a bright spot that I will never forget.

So, audience, welcome to our ‘snow pandemic’ on stage, but our nonpandemic gathering in the theater! I am so overjoyed to know that there will be people gathered together to experience the wonders of live theater once again. If I could, I would be in the back of the auditorium every night to hear your laughs and join with you in this wonderful, communal thing we call live theater! Welcome back!

– Dave Hudson

ANDREW CROWE

Performer / Musician / Music Director

Andrew is an actor, musician, and songwriter from Franklinton, NC. He has travelled extensively on the national tours of Cabaret, Sweeney Todd, and Stand By Your Man, and over 75 regional theatre productions. Andrew is thrilled to be joining the Northern Sky family after plans to do so last summer were thwarted by the Great Toilet Paper Crisis of 2020 - or something like that. Andrew lives in an RV on a little piece of land that he calls Narnia.

CHASE STOEGER

Performer

Going on fifteen years Chase couldn’t be happier returning to the stage at Northern Sky Theater! After a year of silly online videos and crocheting hats, he’s ready to walk the planks out in the woods. Some favorite roles at Northern Sky include Jim Olson in Doctor! Doctor!, Samuel Clemens in Life on the Mississippi, Rufus in Fishing for the Moon, Will Hannah in Main-Travelled Roads, and Moonlight in Lumberjacks in Love. Thank you to everyone for supporting us through this challenging year and we are so glad you can join us out in the woods and in our new Gould Theater!

MOLLY RHODE

Associate Artistic Director / Performer / Director

Molly is blissfully exhausted from this past year of new creative horizons, and she’s crazy proud to have gone through it all with the Northern Sky family. She joined the company as an actor in 2007, directed her first new work in Pen Park in 2013, and joined the staff as Associate Artistic Director in 2014. Her focus is New Play Development, and she is honored to work closely with so many extraordinary authors. Molly sends big love out to all the Northern Sky artists, both current and alumni, that made the past year an unforgettable journey of community. Big love to all our fans too–thanks for stickin’ with us–we get to do plays again, ya’ll!

Naked Radio

Music by Paul Libman

Book & Lyrics by Dave Hudson

Additional Jinglefication by Paul Libman

Director & Choregrapher Jeff Herbst

Music Director / Arranger / Music Supervisor Alissa Rhode

Stage Manager Shawn Galligan*

Asst Stage Manager Isaiah Spetz

Scenic Designer Lisa Schlenker

Asst Scenic Artist Adam Stoner

Lighting Designer David Alley

Associate Lighting Designer Brian Weinkauf

Sound Designer Nic Trapani

Costume Designer Karen Brown-Larimore

Props Designer Kathleen Rock

Middletown, ‘Somewhere’ USA, far from a large city – Present Day

Cast of Characters

Mike Young, newest radio disc jockey: Andrew Crowe* Bart Dunwood, radio disc jockey: Chase Stoeger Maggie Wheeling, et al.: Molly Rhode*

Understudy for Mike and Bart: Isaiah Spetz

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

– THERE WILL BE A 15 MINUTE INTERMISSION –

Naked Radio is sponsored by

The Cordon Family Foundation, Tony & Judy Licata, Nicolet National Bank