Orson Welles "First Person Singular", with the formula that Welles would play the lead in each show. Some months later the show was called "The Mercury Theatre on the Air". The weekly hour-long show presented radio plays based on classic literary works, with original music composed and conducted by Bernard Herrmann. The Mercury Theatre's radio adaptation of "The War of the Worlds" by H. G. Wells October 30, 1938, brought Welles instant fame. The combination of the news bulletin form of the performance with the between-breaks dial spinning habits of listeners was later reported to have created widespread confusion among listeners who
The Campbell Playhouse (radio series) The Campbell Playhouse (radio series) The Campbell Playhouse (1938–40) is a live CBS radio drama series directed by and starring Orson Welles. Produced by Welles and John Houseman, it was a sponsored continuation of "The Mercury Theatre on the Air". The series offered hour-long adaptations of classic plays and novels, as well as adaptations of popular motion pictures. When Welles left at the end of the second season, "The Campbell Playhouse" changed format as a 30-minute weekly series that ran for one season (1940–41). As a direct result of the front-page headlines Orson Welles generated with his 1938 Halloween production