Radio Repertory Company of America, 2009
Superhero Anne Manx (Claudia Christian) has been involved in several
adventures, all available from the Radio Repertory Company of America (www.rrca.com). They include Anne Manx on Amazonia, Anne Manx and the Trouble on Chromius, Anne Manx and the Ring
of Minotaur, and Anne Manx in the Lives of the Cat.
The last title gives us a clue to Anne's identity. Like a cat, she has
nine lives; but she risks several of them in her interplanetary adventures. In this
tale she wants nothing more than to spend a few hours of her vacation getting a suntan. However she encounters the teenage
Empress Blair (Ellen Muth), who has a problem; her father has been
killed, and the young girl fears that she is next on the hit-list. If Anne can keep the Empress alive for two months
until she turns eighteen, then the Empress can take over as the rightful ruler and the succession problem will be solved.
Anne pretends to be the Empress' secretary and stays at her side.
However even Anne cannot be there all the time; at a race-meeting
the Empress is about to be attacked, but is saved in the nick of time by a stranger, Mr. Logan (Robin Atkin Downes). However
there's something strange about him; no one - not least Anne herself - knows whose side he is on, whether he is plotting to
kill the Empress or protect her.
Larry Wiener's tale weaves its complicated way through the interplanetary airwaves;
and nothing is quite what it seems. Those who pretend to be 'good' turn out to be 'bad,' while the supposedly evil characters,
such as Prime Minister Hawks (Bob Arsena) are pawns in the greater scheme of things. The tale ends happily, but Anne
had been deprived of some of her lives in the process. Who knows how much longer she can continue to protect the universe?
Told in tongue-in-cheek style - there are several knowing references to contemporary
films and other popular cultural icons - Anne Manx and the Empress Blair Project proves an entertaining listen for all types
of audience. The associate producer was Holly Evans.
