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
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