Centralcasting presents The Son of West Branch and Sixty-Six Trips to Lansing, by Will Anderson
In this special double-feature, award-winning audio playwright Will Anderson presents a tribute to former US President Herbert Hoover.
THE SON OF WEST BRANCH: AMERICA'S GREAT HUMANITARIAN
The Son of West Branch: America’s Great Humanitarian is an historic dramatization looking at the pivotal moments of Herbert Hoover’s life from his early childhood up to the eve of the 1928 presidential election. It was written by Anderson during an artist residency at the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site in 2008. This performance, which stars Phil Proctor (of The Firesign Theatre) as Herbert Hoover, was recorded in front of a live audience of about 200 by the National Audio Theatre Festivals in July 2011 and received an Award of Excellence in the 2012 Broadcast Education Association Festival of Media Arts.
Directed by: Butch D’Ambrosio
Assistant Director: Sue Bilich
Technical Director: David Shinn
SFX Director: Tony Brewer
Live SFX Mixer: Renee Pringle
Music Mixer: Ben Taylor
Intro Credits: Phil Proctor & Robin Miles
Narrator: Madison Wiehe
Hulda Hoover: Suzan Lorraine
Announcer: Rich Fish
Tad Hoover: Terry Hampton
Herbert at age 2: Sue Bilich
Jesse Hoover: Peter Pollack
Dr. Minthorn: Phil Proctor
Sissy: Melinda Peterson
Toby: Tom Wiens
Mother: Sue Bilich
Conductor: Steve D’Onofrio
Herbert Hoover: Phil Proctor
Voter: Tony Brewer
Edith: Robin Miles
Martha: Toni Johnson
Charles: Michael Byers
Bewick: Jack Davids
Secretary: Suzan Lorraine
Jules’s Mother: Christy Jordan
Child: Sue Bilich
Colonel Schmidt: Rich Fish
German Aide: Lucus Keppel
Jules: Michael Byers
Blues Singer: Emily Carlson
Radio Announcer: Rich Fish
Mayor: Bill Chessman
Reporter: Lucus Keppel
Music Director: Dwight Frizzell
Master Mix: Kyle Harris
Guitar: Julia Thro
Drums: Pat Conway
Stage Manager: Jorda Ford
Recording Truck Engineers: Mike Konopa & Kerby Mitchell
Art Design and Layout: Kelly DeBoyer
Sampling Artist/Sound Effects Preproduction/Final Mixdown: Marc Wiener
SIXTY-SIX TRIPS TO LANSING
Inspired by the popular acclaim for the musical "Hamilton," this short comedy script follows the efforts of a professor attempting to get funding for a presidential-rock-musical based on the life of Herbert Hoover. This piece was recorded by actors in isolation during the 2020 pandemic lockdown and assembled in post. Sixty-Six Trips to Lansing was awarded a silver listening award by the National Audio Theatre Festivals at their 2021 Hear Now: Audio Fiction and Arts Festival.
The committee chair: Ted Clayton.
Vice chair: Jeffrey Weinstock
The applicant: Andrew Papa
Written by Will Anderson and edited by Lucas Nunn.