Old Tyme Radio theatre group keeping local theater arts alive

Although Idyllwilders may know Mick Lynch as part of the Irish musical ensemble Two Micks and a Chick, and for his spoken word performances, he is reaching new audiences as the director of the theater troupe Old Tyme Radio, which brings a new radio play to Middle Ridge Winery (almost) every month. Larry Kawano has stepped up as the group’s manager.

Kawano told the Town Crier how he and Lynch came to lead the group. “Soon after we did Nunsense in May 2024 at the Rustic, the founder and leader of our Old Tyme Radio group, Christina Nordella, let us know that she was leaving Idyllwild. This was an abrupt development which left us wondering what the future held in store for us. I organized a few meetings where we discussed the prospects of continuing, and out of it came our current arrangement: I would be the manager of our group, taking care of publicity, site negotiations, photocopying, communications with the group and such; Mick would be the producer, director, casting director, and the one who would be selecting all the scripts. 

“We resumed our shows at Middle Ridge in August with Damon Runyan’s “Madame Gimp” and have kept the same general format: a show every month (we did take a break in January) on the third Monday at 5PM. Before each show, Christina had asked the audience for donations to allow patients free sessions with her healing service; now, we ask donations for different non-profits around town.”

Lynch’s job begins with finding the right scripts. “It’s got to have a certain number of people in the cast, I prefer two men, two women, or three each. I do have one ‘quicky’ coming up with just two actors.” Kawano assists by using AI to extract scripts from recordings when that is all they have, and also provides sound effects.

The group is always looking for aspiring performers, and since the format allows scripts in hand, memorization is not required. Lynch has fostered an environment that newcomers to the theater, creating a close-knit ensemble. “Phyllis Brown did just one show with Nordella, she has become a solid member of the troupe, getting better and better.”

The monthly schedule means fast turnaround. “If we’re lucky we get three Monday rehearsals. I’m still missing an actor for one who had to bow out,” Lynch said, again emphasizing the open call for actors. Kawano points out a shift in casting with Lynch. “Whereas Christina Nordella had pretty much a set troupe of something like nine or ten performers with occasional guests, Mick likes to cast a wider net for performers, drawing in new people he thinks would really fit a particular role.”

Lynch is always finding ways to use special talents. “For the St Patrick’s Day show, Justin Holmes will do some tap dancing, I will play a little fiddle before we start, then we’re doing an old Jimmy Stewart piece, an episode of The Six Shooter.”

Lynch has a few other coming attractions on his mind; a story by Damon Runyan and a piece about the Statue of Liberty, by Norman Corwin, who is sometimes called “the Grand Master of American Audio Theater.” “Corwin had a half hour radio program, was kind of a poet journalist. He would write radio dramas that dealt with issues and ideas of the day, he had very famous actors doing these schticks.” The upcoming production, Our Lady of the Freedoms, and some of her Friends, deals with the people who brought the statue from inception to completion, and of course includes Emma Lazarus, whose poem “The New Colossus” is inscribed on its pedestal. “It’s not political but it’s very appropriate for what is going on now politically. It’s about the soul of our country, what that soul is about. It’s about people that are being persecuted, and America as a landing place where people can seek freedom.”

Lynch has theater in his blood. “My father, Ken Lynch, was a radio actor when he was young. He did series like Gang Busters, Suspense, FBI, and The Bishop and the Gargoyle. He was born in upstate New York. My mother was also an actor, but gave up her career to be a housewife, what women often did in the fifties. My father became a TV and movie actor. He was in a film serial, Hop Harrigan, about a fighter pilot in WWII, they would get into dogfights, that kind of stuff, based on a comic book.” The elder Lynch played cops often. He played the title role in a series called The Plainclothesman, where he was never seen because the show was shot in first person point of view. Ken appeared in multiple episodes of Gunsmoke, Bonanza, and McCloud. With his foray into radio theater, Mick feels a connection to his father’s career. “I’m getting to relive my father’s experience.”

Mick is no newcomer to producing. “I was a film editor in Hollywood, I also directed some episodes of Murder She Wrote, with Angela Lansbury, The Waltons, Eight Is Enough…” Lynch moved to Idyllwild in 2000. “I came up here and wrote Out a’ the Pine, I had to learn to play fiddle, I squeaked that through.” The piece was deeply personal. “I was getting sober, I wrote one part, somebody at a meeting said, ‘there’s more to it.’ So I wrote an hour-long piece, all in limerick. I did it first at an Irish playhouse in LA. The person helping me knew Frank Ferro, and Frank invited me to do it for St. Patrick’s Day in 2002 at Café Aroma, shortly after 9/11.” For the members of the Old Tyme Radio troupe Idyllwild is more than a home or a venue, “Idyllwild is a place where people get to turn their Hobbies into fulfillment.”

Old Tyme Radio’s next show, an episode of the The Six Shooter, will be Monday March 17, at 5 p.m. Middle Ridge Winery, 54301 North Circle Dr.