Danes, Efron & McKay Led 'Me and Orson Welles' Presents 'War Of The Worlds' Live Broadcast, 10/30

In 1938, just one year after forming The Mercury Theater, Orson Welles took to the air with a series of radio broadcasts on the Columbia Broadcasting System called The Mercury Theater on the Air. In the most famous of these episodes, Welles directed and narrated an adaptation of H.G. Wells' novel "The War of the Worlds," reading without commercial interruption as it was a news broadcast.

In honor of the first and arguably greatest press stunt of all time, Me and Orson Wells presents War Of The Worlds, in it's entirety, 71 years to the minute after it originally aired.  

The broadcast will take place on October 30 at 8:00pm and will be available via live stream online: http://waroftheworldstribute.com/.

Based in real theatrical history, Me and Orson Welles is a romantic coming-of-age story about a teenage actor who lucks into a role in Julius Caesar as it's being re-imagined by a brilliant, impetuous young director named Orson Welles at his newly-founded Mercury Theater in NYC, 1937. The rollercoaster week leading up to opening night has the charismatic-but-sometimes-cruel Welles (impressive newcomer ChristIan McKay) staking his career on this risky production while Richard (Zac Efron) mixes with everyone from starlets to stagehands in behind-the-scenes adventures bound to change him. Claire Danes co-stars as Sonja Jones, the unapologetically ambitious assistant to Welles whom Richard tries to woo. Ben Chaplin plays Mercury Theater regular George Coulouris. Zoe Kazan, Eddie Marsan, Kelly Reilly and James Tupper are among the talented ensemble cast.

The fast-moving screenplay by Holly Gent Palmo and Vince Palmo is based on Robert Kaplow's meticulously researched novel of the same name. Oscar-nominated director Richard Linklater is at the helm of the CinemaNX and Detour Film production, opening nationally in select cities November 25, 2009.

 

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