It's a murder mystery on audiocassette tape -- an audio-play -- with a full cast of actors, and Swing-era songs.

The year is 1940, and musician Katy Green gets what should be a great gig: playing Swing music with an all-female band on tour in California. But she soon discovers that somebody is out for blood!

Is it like an old-time radio show? Or an audiobook?

It's the best of both -- and more. It's a full-cast production, optimized for presentation on audiocassette; so we call it an audio-play. Like a radio drama, the actors work from a script and in a studio. But they perform in natural speech, as in a movie or a stage play. And like an audiobook, you enjoy it at your convenience. But you're more than just read-to. You're entertained by Broadway headliners, a band of musicians, and a cabaret star.

Can I hear some of it?

From the Demo page at www.toodeadtoswing.com, you can download an exciting eight-minute promotional sample,  It's like a movie "trailer," with dialog, music and sound-effects from several scenes. From the same page, or from the Swing Music page, you can also listen to a few bars of the songs that are performed in the show. All these files are in the RealAudio (streaming) format.

What is the running time? And how much does it cost?

Too Dead To Swing plays for six hours on four audiocassettes: comparable to an unabridged mystery novel read aloud. The suggested retail price is $29.95 -- also comparable to an unabridged audiobook, but far less than a Broadway ticket or a night in a cabaret.

Where can I buy Too Dead To Swing?

Too Dead To Swing is available wherever audiobooks are sold: through mystery-themed bookstores and other booksellers, through audiobook retailers and audio libraries, and on the Web.

Does Too Dead To Swing meet the special needs of blind or visually impaired listeners?

We have made identification and handling as easy as possible. The spine of the sturdy vinyl bookpak, and all four tapes are labeled in large type, and embossed in Braille.

Also, our Web sites use "alt-tags" to identify the graphical elements, hotlinks, and navigational buttons. So every page can be read aloud by speech-synthesizing hardware or software.

Why is Too Dead To Swing on tape and not on CD, or in some downloadable format?"

Too Dead To Swing is on audiocassette tape because tape is the dominant medium for narrative and dramatic works. Millions of people already enjoy hearing stories told on tape. And tape offers a key advantage over CD: You can stop a tape at any point; and when you press "PLAY" again, the story will pick up exactly where you left off.

Audio-Playwrights will not release a full-length version of Too Dead To Swing in a digital or downloadable format until we are satisfied that our copyrights will be secure.

Who are the Audio-Playwrights?

We are creators, developers and publishers of audio entertainments with high production values. (See Credits.)

Our Executive Producer is Hal Glatzer, who's based in San Francisco. A mystery writer and Swing musician, he adapted the script of Too Dead To Swing from a novel by Hannah Dobryn, and incorporated the songs by Ted Nywatt. Our Producer/Director is Patricia Childs, of PANORAMAudio, in Nashville, whose audiobook credits include the Audio Classics series for Knowledge Products. The music and songs in Too Dead To Swing were produced for Audio-Playwrights by Earl V. Spielman, of Tremolo Music, in Nashville.

Enjoy the show. And stay for the credits.

MORE QUESTIONS?  JUST ASK

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BROADWAY STARS HEADLINE TOO DEAD TO SWING

Some of Broadway's hottest stars, including three Tony Award nominees, are performing in Too Dead To Swing -- a murder mystery set in 1940 with music of the Swing Era, released on audiotape in September 2000.

The heroine, played by Susan Egan, is musician Katy Green, who joins an all-female Swing band on tour in California, only to discover that somebody's out for blood. In 1999, when Too Dead To Swing was recorded, Egan was playing Sally Bowles in the New York production of Cabaret.  Now she's featured in the WB network's new sitcom Nikki. But she is perhaps best known for originating the role of Belle in Disney's Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast, for which she was nominated for a Tony.

Ann Hampton Callaway portrays the band's singer, Eileen Wheeler, and performs all three of the songs in Too Dead To Swing. Callaway is one of New York's leading cabaret divas, and was nominated for a Tony in 2000 for headlining the hot revue Swing.

Harry Groener plays songwriter Ted Nywatt in Too Dead To Swing. He's a three-time Tony Award nominee: for Munkustrap in the original cast of Cats; for Will Parker in the most recent revival of Oklahoma; and for the lead (Bobby Childs) in the Gershwin musical Crazy For You.

The large cast also features Broadway veterans Simon Jones, Patti Mariano, and Bernie McInerney. And there is a cameo appearance by Barbara Rosenblat, an actress both on Broadway and in London's West End, who's the award-winning narrator of several bestselling audiobook mysteries.

The Web site www.toodeadtoswing.com serves as the "playbill" for the audio-play. It has profiles of all the cast members; complete production credits; and informative articles about Swing music and what life was like in 1940 -- with lots of vintage illustrations. It also has downloadable audio files: a 30-second clip from each song, and an eight-minute "trailer" for the full production.

Too Dead To Swing (ISBN 0-9702147-0-7) is an audio-play: a dramatic presentation with high production values, optimized for audio media. The suggested retail price ($29.95) and the running time (six hours, on four cassettes) are comparable to those of an unabridged audiobook mystery. The package and all four audiocassettes are labeled in large type and in Braille.

For further information, phone Audio-Playwrights, at 415-487-0720, or visit the web site at www.audio-play.com.

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SWING ERA SONGS IN TOO DEAD TO SWING

Three songs by Ted Nywatt highlight the murder mystery Too Dead To Swing, which is set in an all-female Swing band in 1940.

Walking On Eggshells is an uptempo dance number with a strong, solid-four beat. Remember To Forget is a wistful ballad evoking a lost romance. Yours Till Dawn is a rather intellectual paean to the one-night stand.

At the Web site www.toodeadtoswing.com there are three 30-second sound-clips -- one from each of the songs -- performed by Ann Hampton Callaway. The clips are in the RealAudio (streaming audio) format.

But like all the great tunes of the Swing era, these songs are also being published as sheet music with colorful and evocative cover artworks. The set of three songsheets is available directly from Audio-Playwrights for $20, postage included.

Too Dead To Swing (ISBN 0-9702147-0-7) is produced by Audio-Playwrights, of San Francisco. The suggested retail price of the four-cassette audio-play is $29.95. Following the cast-list and credits on the last tape side (4-B), there is a bonus reprise of the songs. For further information, phone Audio-Playwrights at 415-487-0720, or visit the web site at www.toodeadtoswing.com.

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ALL THE KATY GREEN MYSTERIES HAVE MUSIC

Audio-Playwrights plans to develop the rest of the Katy Green mystery series as audio-plays. Since novelist Hannah Dobryn plunged her heroine into a variety of musical milieux (e.g., an all-female Swing band, in Too Dead To Swing), each audio-play will have its own characteristic sound.

Passionate chamber music resonates through our next production -- A Fugue In Hell's Kitchen -- as Katy confronts murder and madness in a New York music school. Subsequently, Katy uncovers the truth about a murder that everyone else wants to forget, when she sits in with her home-town band in Old Arrangements. And she sails into danger when she joins a shipboard dance orchestra, bound for Hawaii on the eve of War, in The Last Full Measure.

For further information, phone Audio-Playwrights at 415-487-0720, or go to www.toodeadtoswing.com.

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AUDIO-PLAY GIVES "VOICE" TO A 1940s NOVEL

Fifty years ago, a murder mystery died on the slush pile. But now Too Dead To Swing has been brought to life as an audio-play -- a dramatic presentation on audio tape. It's a story in itself.

The script was adapted by Hal Glatzer from an unpublished novel by Hannah Dobryn. She had ghostwritten girl-detective series books in the 1930s, but after World War II she wrote adult murder mysteries featuring a grown-up heroine. Her "accidental detective" is a working musician named Katy Green who, in Too Dead To Swing, joins the Ultra Belles, an all-female Swing band on tour in California in 1940. Katy is portrayed by Susan Egan, the Tony Award-nominated star of Beauty and the Beast and Cabaret on Broadway.

Dobryn wrote her Katy Green mysteries between 1947 and 1951, and submitted the manuscripts to publishers. But she was out of sync with the post-War mystery market. Many hardback publishers had abandoned the field, and the new paperback *publishers wanted heroes -- not heroines. In the whodunits of the late '40s and early '50s, women could be only victims or vamps.

There were plenty of female sleuths in print by the 1990s; and on Dobryn's behalf Glatzer sent two of her novels around to agents and publishers. But there were too few mystery imprints, and publishers were cutting back on new authors. Dobryn died in 1994, still unpublished.

So Glatzer adapted the novel into a script, and teamed up with Nashville-based audiobook producer/director Patricia Childs, of PanoramAudio, to develop Too Dead To Swing as an original production specifically for audiocassette distribution. Being a musician as well as a mystery writer, he incorporated three Swing-era songs composed by Ted Nywatt -- a songwriter Dobryn had known, and whose lyrics she'd quoted in the novel. The dialog was recorded in Manhattan; and the music was recorded in Nashville, where the entire production was edited and mastered.

The songs in Too Dead To Swing are performed by Ann Hampton Callaway, who was nominated for a Tony in 2000 for her performance in the hot Broadway revue Swing. Harry Groener, a three-time Tony nominee (for Cats, Oklahoma; and Crazy For You), portrays songwriter Ted Nywatt. The cast also includes Broadway veterans Simon Jones, Patti Mariano, and Bernie McInerney; plus Barbara Rosenblat -- one of the most celebrated narrators of audiobook mysteries.

Audio-Playwrights plans to develop all of the Katy Green stories as audio-plays. And since Dobryn plunged her heroine into a variety of musical milieux, each mystery will have its own characteristic sound. Passionate chamber music by Nicolo Paganini resonates through the next production -- A Fugue In Hell's Kitchen -- as Katy confronts murder and madness in a New York music school. Subsequently, Katy uncovers the truth about a murder that everyone else wants to forget, when she sits in with her home-town band in Old Arrangements. And she sails into danger when she joins a shipboard dance orchestra, bound for Hawaii on the eve of War, in The Last Full Measure.

"A full-cast mystery play on tape isn't a new idea," Glatzer acknowledged. "But this one is unique. We’ve set the stage with authentic sound effects, and produced an exciting musical score too. Our Web site at www.toodeadtoswing.com is like the 'playbill' you get at a play. It has profiles of all the cast members; complete production credits; a biographical sketch of the novelist and composer; and informative articles about Swing music and what life was like in 1940 -- with lots of vintage illustrations. It also has downloadable audio files: a 30-second clip from each song, and an eight-minute 'trailer' for the audio-play.

"Too Dead To Swing is the audio version of a '40s film-noir," he said. "So enjoy the show -- and stay for the credits."

Too Dead To Swing (ISBN 0-9702147-0-7) is an audio-play -- a dramatic presentation with high production values, optimized for audio media. The suggested retail price ($29.95) and the running time (six hours on four cassettes) are comparable to those of an unabridged audiobook mystery. The spine of the sturdy vinyl bookpak and all four tapes are labeled in large type and in Braille.

For further information, phone Audio-Playwrights in San Francisco, at 415-487-0720, or go to www.toodeadtoswing.com.

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HAL GLATZER: AN INNOVATOR IN MYSTERY FICTION

Executive producer Hal Glatzer has long been ahead of the technology curve in producing mystery fiction:

His 1979 novel Kamehameha County, a tale of murder and mayhem in Hawaii, was published as a pastiche manila file-folder of newspaper clippings, letters and telex dispatches.

The Trapdoor, published by Paperjacks in 1986, is a paperback thriller about a computer hacker whose identity is stolen by organized crime, and whose only ally is an online pornographer. This, a whole decade before the Internet, identity theft and cyberporn were front-page news.

After Paperjacks folded he self-published the sequel in one of the earliest "eBook" ventures. Massively Parallel Murder was released in 1992: the first chapter downloadable free from a Web site, and the entire text sold as a computer (.PDF) file on a floppy disk.

Glatzer is an active member of Mystery Writers of America who knows high-tech, having covered the computer industry as a journalist for twenty years. But he's an antiquarian at heart: serving as a director of the Art Deco Society of California, playing vintage jazz and Swing on guitar, and curating a collection of sheet music from Tin Pan Alley.

Now he's combined all these interests to create Too Dead To Swing: a murder mystery presented on audio tape with a full cast, sound effects, Swing music and songs. Glatzer also produced the content for the Web site at www.toodeadtoswing.com, which serves as the theatrical "playbill" for this audio-play.

Audio-Playwrights, is dedicted to creating audio entertainment with high production values. Contact Hal Glatzer at Audio-Playwrights, 1421 Oak Street, San Francisco, CA 94117-2117. Telephone: 415-487-0720 (S.F.) or 212-246-8631 (New York). Or send email to: hal@audio-play.com.

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