Jim Barker of Ventura

Keith Hurt of Camarillo as "Scrooge"

(Ventura County, CA)-- Every Now and Then Theatre's 2007 Christmas radio adaptation of Charles Dickens' "Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story" has won an International OMNI Silver Award for radio entertainment. The show was celebrity hosted by actor Lane Davies and starred Keith Hurt from Camarillo as Scrooge. The troupe's 2007 Halloween radio version of Washington Irving's "Sleepy Hollow: The Lost Diaries" has won an International OMNI Bronze Award for radio entertainment. That show was celebrity hosted by Malcolm McDowell and starred Bob Decker from Camarillo. Both broadcasts aired on AM 1520 KVTA and were streamed worldwide on their website.

The OMNI awards recognize outstanding media productions that engage, empower and enlighten. The rigorous judging process for audio includes quality, voice, music, sound effects, creativity and impact. Companies represented by the OMNI Awards committee include ABC, CNN, NBC, PBS, Disney, Associated Press and many others.

Broadcasts were co-directed by Linda M. Stiegler of Thousand Oaks and troupe founder James M. Wortman of Ventura. Productions were made possible with resource donations from New Era Debt Solutions for script printing, Conejo Valley Community Church and Bill's Bar in Camarillo for performance spaces, Barkerductions and Stage 6 Productions for gear, and AM 1520 KVTA for air time.

The Every Now and Then Theatre, founded in 1990, produces dramas exclusively for broadcast. Productions are unique because each countywide cast is allowed only one rehearsal then performs. Top local actors are mixed with non actors. One-quarter to one-third of participants are new each time. The troupe now counts 18 awards-- 3 national and 15 international-- since first entering competitions in 2003.

The 2007 Christmas show cast included Arryck Adams, Bob Allen, Kuba Chyla, Steve Carlson, Bob Decker, Jim Diderrich, Judy Diderrich, Barbara Dipoma, Gordon Durich, Keith Hurt, Ken Johnson, Shawn W. Lanz, Vivien Latham, Ray Mastrovito, Ruth Morgan, Sophia Morgan, Alec Nave, Vanessa Orr, Debbie Price, Penny Puente, Mark Andrew Reyes, Ron Rowe, Zach Schultz, Linda M. Stiegler, Alex Viecco, Nicolas Viecco and James M. Wortman. Live sound effects were performed by the cast. Sound engineer was David Tuomi of Thousand Oaks.

The 2007 Halloween show cast included Arryck Adams, Lloyd Allen, Jim Barker, Bob Decker, Jim Diderrich, Elaine Fleisher, Shawn W. Lanz, Alex Mastrovito, Ray Mastrovito, David Newcomer, Vanessa Orr, Deidre Parmenter, Penny Puente, Mark Andrew Reyes, Brittany Schaver, Jeff Schaver, Linda Schaver, Linda M. Stiegler, Todd Thayer, Nicolas Viecco, Michael Voll, Ronda Voll and James M. Wortman. Music was performed by Michael Masley. Live sound effects were performed by the cast. Sound engineers were Stage 6 Productions, Jim Barker and Tom Mueller from Ventura.

For more information, the Every Now and Then Theatre maintains a webpage at the website hosted for all Ventura County live theatre groups at www.barkerductions.com.