Pilot

From The Joe Frank Wiki

"Once, uh, I went alone to the Yucatan to go diving."

Series
WBAI And NPR Playhouse
Original Broadcast Date
4/19/1983
Cast
Tim Jerome, Larry Block, Arthur Miller, Barbara Sohmers, Clark Gordon, Paul Mantell, Irene Wagner, Joe Frank
Format
Improv Actors, 28 minutes
Preceded by: The End
Followed by: Questions
Purchase

Pilot is a program Joe Frank produced as part of the series WBAI And NPR Playhouse. It typically airs together with The End. It was originally broadcast in 1983.

Synopsis

'The Dawn', from Jazz Brakes, Volume 5[1]

1:00: Skylar (Tim Jerome) was diving in the Yucatan when he had a terrible toothache. The local dentist had gone out of business, so Skylar decided to become a pilot.

3:10: An old man (Clark Gordon?) complains that the revolution has ruined everything; his wife, Eleanor (Barbara Sohmers), agrees with him. Skylar joins the discussion, then another man (Arthur Miller).

5:10: Eleanor tells Skylar that he has a passion for destruction, that he enjoys bombing people.

5:40: They listen to a report of a bombing on the radio. A reporter (Larry Block) on the scene consults an expert (Arthur Miller) who explains that the natives spread pomegranate juice and see how far they can slide. Then he explains the native ceremony enacted in song and dance that celebrates a stranger who has the power of flight. The head concubine tries to get him to teach her the secret of flight. He doesn't.

12:30: The old man begins talking, then babbles, to Skylar. He takes out a map; they discuss the weather, apparently planning a bombing raid.

14:20: The radio reporter describes the aftermath of the attack on the village. The old man, Eleanor, and (Arthur Miller) reminisce about their old croquet games. The old man asks Skylar where he came from; Skylar avoids answering.

17: Eleanor asks Skylar why he sleeps on the floor. They talk; Eleanor flirts. Eleanor observes that he's been here for months and done nothing but tinker with his airplane and go on bombing runs. Skylar asks why she isn't concerned with her larger interests. She tickles him; he breaks down and sobs. Eleanor tells him he's weak.

21:20: The head concubine figures out that the flying man won't teach her to fly, so she curses him to fly all the time, never land. The king's wise men predict the flying man will return, lay them waste.

24:10: Skylar tells of his mother bringing men home, telling her children to call them father.

24:50: Skylar says that Marcia told him (as a child) to play a game: she lay down, told Skylar to do what he wanted, so Skylar buried her.

25:30: Skylar tells of when he was bad so his mother punished him by throwing him against the wall. Skylar vowed never to be bad again.

Legacy Synopsis

Music

This is an incomplete record of the music in this program. If you can add more information, please do.

Additional credits

The original broadcast credits state: "Directed by Arthur Miller, with sound by David Rapkin. Performers were Barbara Sohmers, Clark Gordon, Paul Mantell, Larry Block, Irene Wagner, Joe Frank, Arthur Miller, and Tim Jerome."

Miscellanea

"Pilots, problems, and what happens when you reach the end" [according to the NPR announcer on the original broadcast.]

External links

Footnotes

  1. Released in 1994, Joe added it later
  2. Joe added music to several of his shows when they were rebroadcast or digitized. The updated versions are usually available at Joefrank.com