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William Morelock: Sims Serenade (1992)

(p) 1992 William Morelock. All rights reserved.

The story of a young man and his family, an old man and his town. Harry Lyman Sims is the unofficial bard of Hallam, a town east of San Francisco with a long, deep past buried beneath a development so bright and shining and inexorable no history can be seen or heard. As Sims says, "There has come a time when fewer and fewer people can tell the difference between knowledge and news. That is the time to tell a story -- about people in a place, at a certain time, trying to recover from the dislocations of life lived through the filters of expectation and regret."

Commissioned by NEW AMERICAN RADIO.

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Biography
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Biography

WILLIAM MORELOCK (Minneapolis, MN ) a producer and classical music host at KWSU-FM in Pullman, Washington from 1982 to 1987, when he was appointed to the newly established position of arts programming coordinator. Incorporating features on arts and entertainment into his classical music show, Morelock developed what can now be heard as "Bob and Bill" -- a daily National Public Radio program produced by Minnesota Public Radio, where "Bill" now works. Morelock has produced five works for NEW AMERICAN RADIO: Sim's Serenade (1992), Short Summer in Longhurst (1992), Pruning (1991), Saturday, Late in the Twentieth Century (1990), and Proposition Four (1989). 

        
Other Radio 
          Works

        Short Summer in Longhurst 
        (1992)

        

        Four young people in search of a comedy of manners get caught up in a 
        succession of plot conventions and verbal repartees straight out of S.N. 
        Behrman or Philip Barry. Set on the estate of lumber baron R. George Fellows, 
        the play follows the no-nonsense Laura, slothful Tom, the skeptical and 
        exquisitely bored Regis, and sweet little rich girl Winnie as they come 
        to terms with their meaning as characters in a world perpetually in love 
        and perpetually at odds with privilege. A meddlesome Chorus encourages, 
        censures, supports, chides, and occasionally calls up the characters in 
        the midst of the action to give unsolicited advice.  
        
 Commissioned by NEW AMERICAN RADIO. 
        
Pruning 
          (1991)

          

          A love story. Maria Esperanza, a dental hygienist and chanteuse loves 
          Clay Balfour, the divorced father of two children and owner of a little 
          house on 34th and Fever. And he loves her back. But as a man emotionally 
          "in extremis" who tries to heal himself by extreme means, Clay also 
          falls in love with something he can't define: with the ambiguity, the 
          act of juggling all the chaotic elements of his life. Music and sound 
          play an unusual role in this exploratory drama. They intrude upon, complement, 
          and accompany Clay's tour of his own mind. They take on the form of 
          reaction-connection. Events react with events, the reaction connects 
          with other reactions involving other events . . . nuclear introspection! 
        
 Commissioned by NEW AMERICAN RADIO. 
        
Saturday, 
          Late in the Twentieth Century (1990)

          

          Laura Mace Riddle is a beautiful media magnet who understands the media 
          she controls. Ruthless, mad for power and with a fondness for clothes, 
          cars, and private wine cellars, Laura also has ideas. And that's why 
          the ingenious and sly Jenkins ("Jinx") Potter, in love with her since 
          the age of thirteen, agrees to create and host a radio program, Saturday, 
          Late in the Twentieth Century. It is, of course, to be a vehicle for 
          her enterprises, which are the show's sponsors. . . . This is only the 
          surface of Morelock's sharp and witty play. Add a framework of ideas 
          by Marshall McLuhan, Walter Percy, and Glenn Gould. Fill in with music, 
          sounds, and a host of characters living and dead. And there you are: 
          Saturday, Late in the Twentieth Century, a radio show celebrating the 
          possible.
        
 Commissioned by NEW AMERICAN RADIO. 
        
Proposition 
          Four (1989)

          

          A work that propels us into the year 2004, when San Francisco Bay has 
          just been drained to create the perfect environment for a theme park. 
          The vision of the world's most powerful private citizen, Arthur Seymour 
          Sullivan, a man whose boundless love for amusement parks may eventually 
          transform the entire planet into one. But before the construction begins, 
          the people of San Francisco get ready to witness the ultimate: the recovery 
          of the ancient Hologram of Creation from the bottom of the Bay. Finally 
          mankind will know the secret of life. . . .
        
 Commissioned by NEW AMERICAN RADIO. 
      

    

  

   

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