Orson Welles with an entirely African American cast, and the political musical "The Cradle Will Rock". In 1937 he and John Houseman founded the Mercury Theatre, an independent repertory theatre company that presented a series of productions on Broadway through 1941. Welles found national and international fame as the director and narrator of a 1938 radio adaptation of H. G. Wells's novel "The War of the Worlds" performed for his radio anthology series "The Mercury Theatre on the Air". It reportedly caused widespread panic when listeners thought that an invasion by extraterrestrial beings was actually occurring. Although some contemporary sources say these
Dracula (radio drama) Dracula (radio drama) "Dracula" is an episode of the American radio drama anthology series "The Mercury Theatre on the Air". It was performed as an episode of the series on Monday, July 11, 1938, and aired over the Columbia Broadcasting System radio network. Directed and narrated by actor and future filmmaker Orson Welles, the episode was an adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula" (1897). "Dracula" was the first episode of the CBS Radio series "The Mercury Theatre on the Air", which was broadcast at 8 pm ET on Monday, July 11, 1938. Recalling Welles's sound-effects preparations for the series debut