After years performing original comedy in live theaters around Northern California, American Dream Players began, 

in 2014, to produce shows specifically for radio theater.

A Northern California Radio Theatre Performance Troupe

As we continue to create new programs, 

we invite public radio stations to host

a story or a series and invite you to share

our website with your network.

Our performances are recorded in a

professional audio multi-track studio,

including a concert grand piano and

state-of-the-art sound effects capabilities.

Our cast includes seasoned actors,

professional musicians and writers able to create stories that make audiences laugh with recognition as, together, we process the human experience.

If you enjoy funny, original stories that help reveal where we've been and where we're going as we manage to laugh both at and with ourselves, please join us for the ride!

Meet Our Players

Janey comes from a New England family of more serious published writers - two sisters, a brother and father, who nonetheless seem to appreciate her zanier approach to the written word. After years working and touring in live theater and puppetry, Janey finds that writing radio pieces for this particular group is what gets her out of bed in the morning - especially comedy!

Michael Monahan

A New Jersey native, Michael studied philosophy in college in Boston, then moved to the West Coast, where he experienced a career shift to boilermaker working on ships at San Francisco's Hunter's Point. A later career shift led to acting - possibly an inheritance from his grandfather, a vaudeville street performer in NYC. Michael particularly loves playing the more eccentric characters in our stories.

Janey Hirsh

Marc Hirschman

Roxanne Jacobs

Born on April Fool's Day in New York City many moons ago, Marc began his theater career as"Mean Mister Tooth Decay" in fourth grade.  He later went on to portray the sinister Cardinal in "The Duchess of Malfi", 'Caliban' in 'The Tempest' for the Valley of the Moon Players, the burglar in "Noises Off" in Monte Rio, Ca.,and the very down-to-earth drummer, 'Styx', for American Dream Players' "Hot Rocks" radio series.  Marc's fine bass voice has portrayed many other characters both onstage and in The Players' radio productions,

Born near Chicago, Illinois, Roxanne was surrounded by Pentecostal and Puerto Rican neighbors. The storytelling, music and food of the different cultures she grew up with, made a lasting impression, and drew her to theatre arts. Love of theatre was postponed: A family was raised, alongside a corporate career in the natural products industry. Backyard herbalism, landscaping, and creating stories with accompanying illustrations, were sustenance prior to her first acting gig. Member of the ADP for the past five years, Roxanne feels her dream of acting has now come true.

Sandy Feldhorn

A native New Yorker who grew up in Los Angeles, Sandy is a multi-talented musician (sax, flute, piccolo, percussion), as well as gifted comic and serious (when necessary) actor. A teacher of the deaf for thirty years, he now plays in the musical groups 'Old School', a rock band so-named because its members are mainly former schoolteachers, the 'Lithium Jazz' band, and the 'Windsor Jazz Ensemble'. 

​

Arnold Levine

Born and raised in London, England,

Arnold ran the infamous pirate radio station, Radio Concord, in the '70's. After picking grapes in Southern France and hanging out with Bedouins in Egypt, he spent his most recent 40 years in California, as a mechanical engineer, promoter of energy conservation and vegetarian activist. A fan of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, rollerblading and Monty Python, Arnold hosts the show www.tommysholidaycamp.com 

every Friday at 7PM, PST on www.kows.fm radio.

Joan Ambrosini

Ella Linsley 

Born and raised in San Francisco, Joan enjoyed summers in Guerneville, a resort town on the Russian River, where her family owned a popular restaurant. Joan got into trouble early on, when she chose the Confirmation name 'Paula" after Paul McCartney, instead of taking a saint's name, a situation which became fuel for her later career on the stage. Joan studied art in Europe as well as with luminaries Bill Wheeler and Carol Watanabe. An original member of the Occidental Readers' Theater, Joan performs in the 'Cemetery Walk' every October, playing a deceased individual, and considers this another opportunity to hone her acting skills - which she is thrilled to now share with American Dream Players.

Thirteen year old Ella was born and raised in Sonoma County, and recalls that her first word was 'dog'. Subsequently, she has always had great compassion for her animal friends. Creative and passionate about the arts, including poetry, painting, sculpting and singing, Ella is a member of a choir that recently won first place in a San Francisco Bay Area competition. She is also an athlete, having received first place medals for sportsmanship, accuracy, and distance in soccer at her school's olympics. Her summer performances with the Players are always a hit.

Joe Hoffman

Born in Greenwich Village, Joe was raised in rural Connecticut, where he grew up on old-time radio, including 'Fibber McGee' and 'The Outer Limits'.

A member of the American Society for Psychical Research, with a degree in psychology, Joe came to San Francisco during the summer of love in 1967. He next ran a pottery school and studio in the city, then moved to Sonoma County in the mid 70's to build his recording studio. A sound engineer for both the famous and not-so, Joe loves producing radio shows with the Players!  

We'd like to acknowledge Tom and Margaret McIntyre for their contributions to our radio plays.

We are pleased to present and hope you enjoy our complete audio plays,  library of titles and soundclips.

A brief description of the plot and running time are listed below. 

For purchase, delivery details and questions you have, please use the Contact Us form.

COMPLETE Radio Shows

(Available in MP3 and MP2 Formats)

comedy

"The K-9 Caper" (comedy)  Intrepid detective ferrets out dognapper from a household of eccentrics and their more peculiar neighbors.

Running Time:  24:04 minutes

"Elyse's Birthday" (comedy) Lucky Elyse!  She gets to turn forty at a surprise birthday party where the guests include her old lovers and her old rivals.  Could this be the worst day of her life? Running Time  19:40 minutes

history

"The American Revolution:  Or Patriots Unmasked" Our Founding Fathers were only human, after all.

Running Time:  15:23 minutes

The Falklands - tiny islands in the way, way south Atlantic near Cape Horn - were in nineteen eighty-two, the site of a short, baffling, yet significant war between two great nations.  We briefly tell the story, the 'what' and 'why' of the people - and even, of the critters - experiencing this odd event, with an accurate, but always humorous, slant.

Running Time:  20:06 minutes

Radio Performances

Sound Clips

The following sound clips offer samples of longer pieces.

""Hot Rocks"" (Life in a Band)

​

Please click on the name of the clip in the SoundCloud box 

"Halloween Gig"

A gig at a local haunted house

becomes a little too creepy for the band.

SHOW RUNNING TIME:  11:19

​

"Knights of Olde"

The band participates in the local

Renaissance Faire, complete with arrows,

galleons, and a jousting tournament.

SHOW RUNNING TIME:  13:27

​

"Old West"

The band is hired to play for a

re-creation of the old west,

which turns into an unexpected rodeo.

SHOW RUNNING TIME:  12:39

​

"Artichokes and Pheromones"

The band runs to Castroville's Artichoke

Festival to escape from sizzling heat and 

especially, from unwelcome suitors

in Arizona.

SHOW RUNNING TIME:  11:40

​

"Play Baseball"

An unorthodox version of the game

is played by the band members and others.

SHOW RUNNING TIME:  9:57

​

"Day Job"

A shortage of gigs prompts the band

members to - briefly - engage 

in other lines of work. 

SHOW RUNNING TIME:  13:35

​

"Goin' to the Dogs"

With nowhere else to stay for distant

3-day music festival, band members

agree to dog-sit for a nearby kennel.

SHOW RUNNING TIME:  11:42

​

​

​

​

"Horrid Movie"

Rachel, Styx, and Jasper meet

werewolves, monsters and, far worse,

cops, in the local park at night.

SHOW RUNNING TIME: 10:37

​

"Playing Around"

Rachel, Styx and Jasper try playing

with other bands - but not for long.

SHOW RUNNING TIME:  13:11

​

"Ridiculous"

The band members compete to see who 

can be first to find her or his perfect mate.

SHOW RUNNING TIME:  15:53

​

"On Vacation"

The band's summer gig by a lake

sounds too, too idyllic - because it is.

SHOW RUNNING TIME:  12:48

​

"Wedding Gig"

The band learns about marriage,

Hollywood - style.

SHOW RUNNING TIME:  12:02

​

"City Hall"

Rachel's niece convinces the band to

join her 9th graders' activist campaign

as they march to City Hall.

SHOW RUNNING TIME:  10:43

​

"Dress Shop"

Dressing rooms suddenly get very lively

when the band goes looking for new attire.

SHOW RUNNING TIME:  12:02

​

​

​

​

"Cooking Class"

Band members are bamboozled by a 

one-week course offering to teach

them to cook a different

international dish every night.

SHOW RUNNING TIME:  10:55

​

"Hot Rocks Do Hamlet"

When the band members take part

in a local fundraising performance

of 'Hamlet", they hope and pray

The Bard is laughing, not

groaning at the results.

Running Time:  28:54 minutes

​

"Yard Sale"  

What sounds like a good idea

quickly devolves into mayhem.      

SHOW RUNNING TIME: 11:21

​

"Thanksgiving" 

Unexpected guests of the

two-legged & four-legged varieties

make this Thanksgiving one

to remember (not exactly, fondly).      

SHOW RUNNING TIME: 11:06

​

"The Fashion Show"

The band plays - or, tries to play -

for a fashion show staged by

junior high kids and their

even more volatile parents.    

SHOW RUNNING TIME: 11:17

​

"Goin' South"

A winter gig in Brownsville, Texas

is inviting -until band members

actually hit the road.

SHOW RUNNING TIME:  11:22 

​

"School Dance"

A room full of rembunctious

pre-teens ready to rock and roll.

SHOW RUNNING TIME:  10:51

"You Are Where" (History Series))

Please click on the name of the clip in the SoundCloud box 

"Caligula Goes North"

The story behind his mystery trip

SHOW RUNNING TIME:  11:34

​

"Arrows & Muskets"

Not just the French and Indian Wars.

SHOW RUNNING TIME:  9:10

​

"The War of 1812"

Who won that one, exactly?

SHOW RUNNING TIME: 12:38 

​

"Mary, Queen For A Day"

Church and palace intrigue.

SHOW RUNNING TIME:  16:30

​

​

"William, The Love Child"

Death by swords and taxes.

SHOW RUNNING TIME:  11:12

​

"Hannibal"

Alps and elephants.

SHOW RUNNING TIME:  13:41

​

"Close One"

A tale of native peoples' loss and survival

in early California, as Russians,

Mexicans, and Americans compete

to conquer them and exploit

their verdant land.  

Running Time:  21:45 minutes

Contact Us