Long before cable television and the Internet, old-timey radio plays regaled more audiences than any other form of entertainment. Broadcast audio dramas reached their height of popularity during World War II and the Cold War, spawning new formats such as the soap opera. In fact, Guiding Light began as a radio show in 1937 before it became the world's longest-running television drama. Speaking of the small screen, once every household had a TV set, terrestrial radio theater eventually died away. Yet while the format may be a thing of the past, Fake Radio has been digging up, dusting off and re-enacting nearly forgotten radio scripts for live audiences since 2000. In its latest program, the radio-inspired theater group breathes life into Lux Radio Broadcast's adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera from 1943, which was produced and hosted by legendary Hollywood director and producer Cecil B. DeMille. In the spirit of the original radio version, today's actors – including special guest George Wendt – gather around microphones and deliver lines while dressed to the nines in vintage clothing. But it doesn't end there. The presentation comes complete with commercials and a smattering of improv, too. ArcLight Cinemas, 6360 W. Sunset Blvd., Hlywd.; Thu., April 24, 8 p.m.; $20. (323) 464-1478, brownpapertickets.com/event/632877.

Thu., April 24, 8 p.m., 2014
(Expired: 04/24/14)

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