Audiobooks by Yuri Rasovsky

Die, Snow White! Die, Damn You!: A Very Grimm Tale

With the premiere of two new film versions of the Snow White tale, Blackstone enters the fray with its own adult, edgy, and not altogether serious full-cast exposé of fairy-taledom. At last it can be told! Was Snow White really as pure as the driven snow? Did her allegedly wicked stepmother get a bum rap from the Grimm brothers? What went on behind the closed Dutch doors of the dwarves' cottage? How many handsome princes does it take to screw in a light bulb? These and other burning questions may or may not be answered in this new pseudogothic audio play that Blackstone commissioned from award-winning author and audio dramatist Yuri Rasovsky. ""˜Ghastly Double Murder in Famed Detective's Flat'...is an unexpected delight, an uproarious romp in a Sherlockian parallel universe."-ForeWord magazine on Sherlock Holmes Theatre

Yuri Rasovsky (Author), A Full Cast (Narrator)

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Saint Joan: A Chronicle Play in Six Scenes and an Epilogue

"Joan of Arc, a village girl from the Vosges, was born about 1412-burnt for heresy, witchcraft, and sorcery in 1431-rehabilitated after a fashion in 1456-designated Venerable in 1904-declared Blessed in 1908-and finally canonized in 1920. She is the most notable Warrior-Saint in the Christian calendar, and the queerest fish among the eccentric worthies of the Middle Ages."-George Bernard Shaw. With Saint Joan, Shaw reached the height of his fame as a dramatist. Fascinated by the story of Joan of Arc but unhappy with "the whitewash which disfigures her beyond recognition," he presents a realistic Joan at war, not just with British invaders but with realpolitik. This is a masterpiece of the theater of ideas, presented in the most eloquent, vital, human, and moving terms. Blackstone commissioned this production from the award-winning Hollywood Theater of the Ear. "St. Joan contains not only some of the playwright's most acerbic writing but also his most poetic."-New York Times

Bernard Shaw, George Bernard Shaw, Yuri Rasovsky (Author), A Distinguished Cast, A Full Cast (Narrator)

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Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee

Long before Western writers had even conceived the idea of writing detective stories, the Chinese had developed a long tradition of literary works that chronicled the cases of important district magistrates. One of the most celebrated of these was Judge Dee, who lived in the seventh century a.d. This book, written anonymously in the eighteenth century, interweaves three of Judge Dee's most baffling cases: a double murder among traveling merchants, the fatal poisoning of a bride on her wedding night, and the suspicious death of a shop keeper with a beautiful wife. The crimes take him up and down the great silk routes, into ancient graveyards where he consults the spirits of the dead, and through all levels of society, leading him to some brilliant detective work.

Robert Van Gulik, Yuri Rasovsky (Author), Lorna Raver, Mark Bramhall, Stefan Rudnicki, Various Artists, Yuri Rasovsky (Narrator)

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The Dybbuk

In the folklore of Eastern European Jewry, a dybbuk is a wandering soul that comes to rest in the body of a living person. In this case, the dybbuk is an impoverished student that possesses a young bride on her wedding day. She is taken to a great Chassidic rabbi for exorcism. But before he can expel the spirit, the sage must discover who the dybbuk was in life, why he has possessed the maiden, and most importantly, how to balance the scales of cosmic justice. Part folk tale, part love story, and part allegory, The Dybbuk recreates the atmosphere of a bygone era, with all its rich humor, music, folkways, magic, and humanity. This Audie Award-winning production of the most revered drama in the Yiddish repertoire is the only sound recording of the play in the English language.

S. Ansky, Yuri Rasovsky (Author), A Full Cast, Full Cast (Narrator)

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The Odyssey Of Homer

When this groundbreaking, serialized dramatization premiered on 320 U.S. radio stations, critics were unanimous in their praise, calling it "a feast for the ears" and "a magnificent blend of scholarship and showmanship." It won numerous honors including the George Foster Peabody Award, the Pulitzer Prize of broadcasting. Now twenty years after its first airing, Blackstone Audiobooks is pleased to present this outstanding production. The 2,600-year-old poem tells of a man, a hero of cunning rather than brawn, who inhabits three worlds: first, the world of his own reality-his wife, his son, his home; secondly, the world of myth in which gods and demigods sport and battle; finally, the world of sorcerers and monsters, of magic and ghosts and unspeakable terrors. The exploration and interweaving of these three worlds contribute significantly to the delight that The Odyssey's audience has experienced throughout the ages. Dramatization by Yuri Rasovsky

Yuri Rasovsky (Author), A Full Cast (Narrator)

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Sweeney Todd and the String of Pearls: An Audio Melodrama in Three Despicable Acts

According to legend, Sweeney Todd had his barber shop in London, where he robbed and murdered more than 150 customers. He disposed of their remains at a bakery where they supplied the stuffing for meat pies, the favorite lunch of the locals. The man you lunched with yesterday could be your lunch today!

Yuri Rasovsky (Author), A Full Cast, Martin Jarvis, Moira Quirk, Phil Proctor, Robertson Dean, Rosalind Ayres, Simon Templeman, W. Morgan Sheppard (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari

Inspired by a 1919 silent film, this chilling adaptation of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari won the Independent Publisher Award in 1998 for best direct-to-audio production. John De Lancie stars as a young man who visits a fair one night with his friend and girlfriend. Entering Dr. Caligari's tent, they meet the mysterious Cesare, a somnambulist, who is neither alive nor dead. Similar to an old-time radio play, this production, directed by award-winning producer Yuri Rasovsky, includes eerie sound effects and is multi-cast. Prepare for a supernatural thrill!

Yuri Rasovsky (Author), A Full Cast, John de Lancie, Various Readers (Narrator)

Audiobook

Craven Street: Ben Franklin in London

Winner of AudioFile magazine's Earphones Award. This meticulously researched five-part historical radio drama reveals the multi-faceted, complex Franklin's little known adventures in London before the Revolution. For fifteen years, he lived on Craven Street off the Thames, where he established a surrogate family, began his Autobiography and became America's most famous citizen. As tensions heated up between the Mother Country and her colonies, Franklin became embroiled in intrigue and espionage and almost got hanged by the British government.

Yuri Rasovsky (Author), Elizabeth Montgomery, George Grizzard, Sir Nigel Hawthorne (Narrator)

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The Sherlock Holmes Theatre

For all Sherlock Holmes fans, Blackstone Audiobooks is pleased to present the first audio recordings ever of the only two Holmes plays written by his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Napoleon of Crime and The Speckled Band, along with a newly created one-act comedy, Ghastly Double Murder in Famed Detective's Flat. These new, specially commissioned productions of the Hollywood Theater of the Ear star Audie Award-winning readers and a full cast in three exceptional dramas, a unique, must-have audio for all Sherlockians.

Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, William Gillette, Yuri Rasovsky (Author), A Full Cast, Kristoffer Tabori, Martin Jarvis (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Odyssey of Homer

When this groundbreaking, serialized dramatization premiered on 320 US radio stations, critics were unanimous in their praise, and it won numerous honors, including the George Foster Peabody Award, the Pulitzer Prize of broadcasting. Now twenty years after its first airing, Blackstone Audio is pleased to present this outstanding production. The 2,600-year-old poem tells of a man, a hero of cunning rather than brawn, who inhabits three worlds: first, the world of his own reality—his wife, his son, his home; secondly, the world of myth in which gods and demigods sport and battle; finally, the world of sorcerers and monsters, of magic and ghosts and unspeakable terrors. The exploration and interweaving of these three worlds contribute significantly to the delight that The Odyssey’s audience has experienced throughout the ages. Synopsis of Episodes: The Suitors of PenelopeCommentary by Richard Posner, professor, law and government, University of Chicago The Voyage of TelemachusCommentary by Charles Bye, visiting professor, University of Athens Free at LastCommentary by Arthur Adkins and Wendy O’Flaherty, University of Chicago, and Gregory Nagy, Harvard University The Great WanderingsCommentary by Wendy O’Flaherty, University of Chicago Monsters of the SeaCommentary by Arthur Adkins, University of Chicago The Swineherd’s HutCommentary by Arthur Adkins, University of Chicago A Beggar’s HomecomingCommentary by Eric Hamp, University of Chicago The Contest of the BowCommentary by Albert Lord, Harvard University Program host: Edward Asner Cast:Irene Worth, Shepperd Strudwick, Barry Morse, John Glover, James Deuter, Eloise Kummer, David Mink, Ron Parady, Robert Scogin, Megan McTavish, Tony Mockus, Francis Guinan, Michael Rider, Jordean Culbert, Ward Ohrman Scholar Advisors:Peter Arnott, Tufts University; Jarl Dyrud, University of Chicago; Peter Green, University of Texas at Austin; Albert B. Lord, Harvard University; James M. Redfield, University of Chicago; and D. Nicholas Rudall, (chair) University of Chicago Announcer: John Doremus Made possible in part by grants from TRW and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Yuri Rasovsky (Author), A Full Cast (Narrator)

Audiobook

Sherlock Holmes Theatre

Blackstone is pleased to present the first ever audio recordings of the only two Holmes plays written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This specially commissioned production by the Hollywood Theater of the Ear is a unique, must-have audio for all Sherlockians. In Sherlock Holmes, Professor Moriarity, the Napoleon of crime, plots with would-be blackmailers to have Holmes killed. And the normally love-proof Holmes falls for an exceptional woman. What is the secret of the shocking death of poor Enid’s sister, whose dying words were, “the speckled band”? Only Holmes can find the answer and save a helpless girl from certain death in The Speckled Band. When Holmes retired, it created a financial crisis for his friend Watson, who owes money to mobsters who want either their cash or his blood. The surprising upshot is: Ghastly Double Murder in Famed Detective’s Flat, a one-act comedy by producer-director Yuri Rasovsky, here receiving its audiobook premiere.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, William Gillette, Yuri Rasovsky (Author), A Full Cast, Kristoffer Tabori, Martin Jarvis (Narrator)

Audiobook

Craven Street: Ben Franklin in London

Yuri Rasovsky (Author), Elizabeth Montgomery (Narrator)

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