Song-singin’ cowgirls and guitar-strummin’ cowpokes team up in Radio Redux’s original take on a rootin’-tootin’ old-time Western radio variety show that we call A Cowboy Christmas.
This is a brand-spankin' new show, unlike any of the Westerns we’ve done before.
We’ll perform it live only three times—at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 16 and 17, and a matinee 2 p.m. Dec. 18. All performances take place in the Soreng Theater at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts in Eugene.
A Cowboy Christmas is a tribute to vintage Western radio shows done by Roy Rogers and Gene Autry in the 1940s. The setting is Rancho Redux, where the ranch hands gather around the Christmas tree to share their favorite holiday songs and stories.
Recreations of classic holiday episodes from the Gunsmoke and The Six Shooter radio series anchor A Cowboy Christmas. In Gunsmoke, Marshall Matt Dillon (played by Ken Hof) is drawn into a hillbilly feud that threatens to literally take the life out of Christmas, while in The Six Shooter lawman Britt Ponset (played by Dan Pegoda) tells a youngster a transformational tale inspired by Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Also in the cast are Achilles Massahos, Bill Barrett, Don Aday, Jonathan Ward, Judi Weinkauf and Kim Donahey. Fred Crafts is writer and director.
Cheery music—Christmas carols and cowboy songs—will play a big role in the light-hearted show. Songs will be performed by the Jewel Tones, the Hanson Family, Al Villanueva, Adriana Ripley, Bill Reid and others.
In addition, the cast will lead an audience singalong, spin holiday humor, and share cowboy poems.
A Cowboy Christmas is a fast-moving, family-friendly show, suitable for all ages.
To encourage you to bring the whole gang, we have a special discount offer—a group of five or more for only $16 per ticket. (The best seats are for Saturday’s show.)
Otherwise, tickets, starting at $15, are available at the Radio Redux website (www.radioreduxusa.com), by calling the Hult Center box office (541-682-5000) or by visiting the ticket office in the Hult Center lobby (12-5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 11 a.m.- 3 p.m. Saturday).
A discounted three-production season ticket package, starting at $45, is also available. They make great Christmas gifts!!!!
While in the past Radio Redux’s holiday offerings have included A Christmas Carol, It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street, this year Radio Redux is doing something a little different by honoring our Old West heritage and celebrating cowboy radio heroes.
We’ll perform it the Radio Redux way—as a vintage radio program, live on stage, where you can see the same actor play a number of roles and the sound effects crew makes all sorts of crazy noises.
We encourage patrons of all ages to dress up in their cowboy outfits and enjoy radio done the way they did it back in the day.
We’re old-timey in a new-timey way. Unique. Different. Fun. We’re radio worth watching.”
Besides an entertaining show, patrons can experience:
• “Explore” — a lively, free, illustrated behind-the-show talk by radio-film historian Patrick Lucanio 45 minutes before show time (at 6:45 p.m. Dec. 16 and 17 and 1:15 p.m. Dec. 18) in the Jacobs Community Room (formerly Jacobs Gallery) on the Hult Center’s lower level.
• An exhibition of vintage memorabilia by Bob Hart, director of the Lane County Historical Museum in Eugene and historic radio collectibles by Dennis Wright, founder of the Radio Days Theater of the Mind Museum in Sutherlin.
• A "Giving Tree" for Looking Glass Community Services in the lobby.
• A meet-the-cast encounter in the lobby after the show.
Running time: Approximately 90 minutes.
