(Posted November 3, 2014)

"The Intergalactic Nemesis: Target Earth," dramatizes pulp fiction into entertainment at Juniata College at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 11, at 7:30 p.m., in Rosenberger Auditorium in the Halbritter Center for the Performing Arts.
"The Intergalactic Nemesis: Target Earth," dramatizes pulp fiction into entertainment at Juniata College at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 11, at 7:30 p.m., in Rosenberger Auditorium in the Halbritter Center for the Performing Arts.

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Who knows what talents lurk within the hearts and minds of actors? Find out when three actors, a musician and a sound-effects guy create "The Intergalactic Nemesis: Target Earth," which dramatizes pulp fiction into entertainment at Juniata College at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 11, at 7:30 p.m., in Rosenberger Auditorium in the Halbritter Center for the Performing Arts.

For tickets and information about the Juniata College Presents series, please call 814-641-JTIX (5849). General admission tickets for single performances are $20, except where otherwise noted. Single-show tickets for seniors over age 65 and children age 18 and under are $12. Juniata College students are admitted free with a student ID.

"The Intergalactic Nemesis" is a cultural casserole of many different performing styles, combining pulp science fiction, radio drama, postmodern graphic novels and lightning-quick acting into a dazzlingly funny production.

The cast of three actors stand behind 1930s-era radio microphones at center stage, playing over two dozen separate characters as more than 1,000 images drawn in the style of classic science fiction comic books illustrate the plot points of the story.

In addition, the production is scored by a talented and very busy musician, while the audience is treated to hundreds of sound effects created live, using everyday objects, by a talented and even busier Foley artist. In films and television, sound effects are provided by a Foley Artist, named for the man who first originated sound effects for sound films in 1927.

"Audiences can expect double dealing, romance, and, of course, cliffhangers. It's a small-scale, bighearted homage to radio drama."

Joanne Kaufman, theatre critic for the Wall Street Journal.

The plot of the show focuses on intrepid reporter Molly Sloan, who teams with a nerdy research assistant, Timmy Mendez, and a somewhat mysterious librarian named Ben Wilcott, who hails from Flagstaff, Ariz. The trio follows clues all over the world, and to other worlds, as they try to head off an invasion of sludge-monsters from the Planet Zygon.

The history of the production is a bit of a mashup as well. It started as a radio play and was adapted into a stage play by Jason Neulander. Neulander then adapted the project into its current multimedia form and commissioned a seven-issue comic book series of the same name.

The cast of three performers are Rachel Landon, who provides the voice of Molly Sloan and many others; Brock England, who provides the voice of Timmy Mendez as well as a host of others; and Christopher Lee Gibson, who voices Ben Wilcott and other characters.
The onstage musician is Harlan Hodges and Kelly Matthews provides sound effects as the Foley Artist.

"Audiences can expect double dealing, romance, and, of course, cliffhangers," says Joanne Kaufman, theatre critic for the Wall Street Journal. "It's a small-scale, bighearted homage to radio drama."

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.