War of the Worlds: The Panic Broadcast

Since the shutdown in March, the Needham High Theatre Department has produced three musicals -- Dear Edwina, Fire in Her Eyes: Stories of Female Strength, and Is This Thing On? All three of these musicals were entirely prerecorded, with videos and Zoom scenes being recorded, edited together, and shown as a finished video during live broadcasts. This month, however, the department embarked on their first live-streamed show: War of the Worlds: The Panic Broadcast. 

This radio-play-within-a-radio-play told the story of Orsen Welles’s 1938 radio adaptation of the classic sci-fi novel The War of the Worlds. During this event, listeners mistook the sci-fi alien invasion radio show for news, and mass panic ensued. While appearing to be a play about silly events from the past, “The Panic Broadcast” served as a reminder of the power of the media, especially when fear is involved.

This hour-and-a-half-long play was performed seamlessly -- despite the cast having only one month of rehearsal time! The costumes looked incredible, and the many sound effects made it seem like an authentic radio broadcast. Stage manager Ellie Yonchak described the experience of running the incredible amount of cues: “I would start preparing sound cues two and a half hours before the show began, often needing to download new copies of the audios and re-organize the files. I would then join the call, take attendance, run updated cues, and edit my cue sheet. During the show, the longest time between cues was only two to three pages, so I had to be on alert the whole time!” Yonchak, who played a major role in the success of the show, then described how rewarding being on the tech crew is, explaining, “even when I go to bed dead tired, I feel accomplished because I’m tired because I was doing something I love to be doing.” Along with the technical aspects of the play, the acting was dynamic, engaging, and understandable over Zoom. Thankfully, there were no glitches in anyone’s Wifi or audio, something I was especially surprised by.

Additionally, the actors really enjoyed that the play was performed live. Sophomore Brian Curry explained how “doing a live Zoom show has been a lot more fun than prerecorded ones because it feels more like live theatre — you can try new things every night if you want to add something, you also have that rush of adrenaline, and you have the fear of messing up adding to the fun of it.” He also explained how the cast dynamic was lovely. They got in their costumes and makeup on Zoom together before each performance -- “like being in a dressing room during usual shows, imitating one of the aspects of live theatre we miss the most.”

I hope you had a chance to check out this impressive play, and if not, no worries; the Theatre Department has much more in store for this year!