Infinite Variety Productions invites you to join us November 9th, 10th, and 11th, in honor of Veterans Day, for the launch of our newly transformed In Their Footsteps: The Radio Play. These will be nights of storytelling, discussion, and remembrance of the Vietnam War.

First, we'll watch the cast of In Their Footsteps: The Radio Play, read the play together. Since its premiere in 2016, the play, which explores the stories of five American women who served in Vietnam during the Vietnam War, has been performed at The Kraine Theatre, Under St. Marks, 59E59 Theatres, and other locations around New York City, as well as The Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland and the Borderlight Fringe Festival in Cleveland, Ohio. It has been called “moving”, “astonishing”, “relevant”, “unmissable”, and “a celebration of real women in a messy and complicated war” by reviewers at Onstage Blog, Theater Pizazz, The Reviews Hub, and The Sunday Post. Now, it is being transformed, for the first time ever, into a radio play.

The cast recorded all of their audio parts separately because of the coronavirus pandemic. These separate recordings were masterfully edited together by our Technical Director, Andrew Dunn, into the radio play you will receive if you buy a ticket for this event. Then, with social distancing and other safety measures in place, the actors came together to record one final video recording of the full play, start to finish, with no stops, experiencing each other's collective energy for the first time. At the launch of our radio play, we will also present this final recording to you: mistakes and all, because we believe community is a treasure to witness, especially during this current time of isolation. 

After experiencing the video recording, you will be treated to a panel discussion, with a different group of panelists each night, so that you can hear more and different stories from the Vietnam War, ask questions of the panelists, and participate in open, vibrant discussion about the war then and war now.

If you buy a ticket to this event, you will receive:

• One week early access to the finished radio play, before its launch on November 11th
• A ticket to our Zoom webinar, during which we’ll watch the full cast video recording of the radio play
• A ticket to the panel discussion following your chosen video viewing, all featuring different panelists with unique experiences related to the Vietnam War 

If you’d like to buy tickets for more than one panel discussion, please do. In your confirmation email, we’ll let you know the start time of the panel discussion, so that if you come multiple nights, you can skip the cast video recording of the play and jump right into the conversation if you'd like.

Our Discussion Panelists:

• November 9 - US Veterans Then and Now. Featuring Vietnam veterans Bob Staranowicz and Edie Meeks, veteran of the Iraq war Maria Salazar, and Marine Corps veteran Melody Norton.
• November 10 - Vietnamese Perspectives. Featuring world-renowned actress Kieu-Chinh, best-selling author Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, and teacher and workshop leader  Laura Le Thi Satira.
• November 11 - In Their Footsteps. Featuring the cast and director of the radio play, and four of the five woman depicted in the play: author and former intelligence officer serving in Vietnam Lucki Allen, former Army Special Services Recreation Specialist in Vietnam Judy Jenkins-Guadino, former S.R.A.O "Donut Dollie" in Vietnam Jeanne "Sam" Christie, and former civilian librarian with Army Special Services in Vietnam Ann Kelsey.

ALL TICKETS ARE PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN. NO ONE WILL BE TURNED AWAY FOR LACK OF FUNDS. 

The following artists collaborated on In Their Footsteps: The Radio Play to bring it to your ears:

Playwright: Ashley Adelman

Directors: Ashley Adelman and Andrew Dunn 

Technical Director: Andrew Dunn

Producer: Kelly Teaford

The role of Lucki played by: Chrystal Bethell 

The role of Ann Kelsey played by: Kate Szekely 

The role of Judy Jenkins Gaudino played by: Caroline Peters 

The role of Lily Adams played by: Criena House 

The role of Jeanne “Sam" Christie played by: Niki Hatzidis

Additional voice acting by: Jessica Schecter,Andrew Dunn, Meggy Hai Trang,Gerrard James, Joshua Michael Payne, Austin Gelfman, Chris Triebel, Danny Romeo, Erinn Nelson, Melinda Filonuk, Bronwyn Rose Hazard,  and Silvana Schutz  
 

For more information about each night's panelists and the team behind our radio play, please peruse the digital program here.

In Their Footsteps: The Radio Play has been adapted from a script first workshopped in 2016 by Ashley Adelman, Kelly Teaford, and Caroline Peters under the title In Their Footsteps, which premiered at Under St. Marks in 2017, under the direction of Ashley Adelman and Kelly Teaford and continued under the support of FRIGIDNYC. The cast of the first workshop featured Genevieve Howell, Sharon Litwonoff, Caroline Peters, Megan Smith, Jessi Zhang, and Marie Zoumanigui. In Their Footsteps has since been performed by the cast mentioned above that is recording the radio play, with the part of Lily also being played in some performances by Shelby Wong and Larissa Dzegar. 

Infinite Variety Productions is a New York State registered not for profit organization dedicated to spotlighting women who have gone unnoticed throughout history and demanding awareness of women's roles in historical and current events. To view our production history or to learn more about us, check out our website.

If you have any questions about our radio play or the online launch event, please email Kelly Teaford at kellyteaford@gmail.com. We hope to see you soon!