“We’ve written an hour-long program of comedy,” Dennis said. “Each (sketch) features a different (group) of WYSO people.”
>> Behind-the-scenes with WYSO
The party starts at 7 p.m. in Memorial Hall, 125 E. First St., in downtown Dayton.
General admission tickets are $60. VIP tickets are $100 and include access to the VIP lounge and a complimentary drink.
Tickets are on sale through Saturday afternoon at wyso.org/wyso-serious.
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Founded in 1958 by Antioch College students Ed Richard, Terry Herndon and the late Hal Roeth, WYSO is celebrating its 60th anniversary.
The premise of the show written with local filmmaker and writer Joel Moss Levinson has WYSO hiring consultants to help it change its image.
Credit: Photo: WYSO
Credit: Photo: WYSO
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Let’s just say their suggestions are very, very un-WYSO-ish.
“What they do is give us a series of horrible ideas and we act them out,” Dennis said.
There will even be a house band.
“We play people on, we play people off with little snippets of music. Funky little riffs,” he said.
The show includes performances by the Rubi Girls, a Dayton drag troupe that has raised more than a million dollars for local charities.
>> RELATED: ‘What Had Happened Was’ Podcast: We talked to the Rubi Girls
Food will be prepared by Christopher's Restaurant of Kettering. The cash bar will feature Buckeye Vodka and Yellow Springs Brewery beer
The evening starts with a cocktail hour in the lower level of Memorial Hall with music DJ'd by "Radio" Basim Blunt.
Blunt hosts WYSO’s Friday night funk show “Behind the Groove.”
>> ‘What Had Happened Was’ Podcast, Episode 3: All funked up with Ohio Players’ Diamond Williams
Like most of the WYSO DJs, Blunt is a volunteer.
Dennis said community involvement is a WYSO cornerstone that set it apart from other public radio stations.
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“It has always been a community focused station,” he said. “We have 40 hours of radio a week created by local volunteers.”
Neither volunteer music hosts of Community Voices producers are paid.
Credit: Photo: WYSO
Credit: Photo: WYSO
Longtime radio show hosts include Jim "Rev. Cool" Carter, who is in his 36th year;
Shakin' Dave Hussong, who has been with the station 35 years and Tom Duffee, a DJ since 1971.
>> MORE: One of Dayton’s most famous voices celebrates major milestone
“We are actually older than NPR,” Dennis said. “We always wanted to be the voice of the community. We are always open to the community.”
Want to go?
WHAT: Third annual WYSO Serious
WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday, April 7
WHERE: Memorial Hall, 125 E. First St. in downtown Dayton
COST: General admission tickets are $60. VIP tickets are $100 and includes access to the VIP lounge and a complimentary drink.
Tickets are on sale through Saturday afternoon at wyso.org/wyso-serious.
Credit: Photo: WYSO
Credit: Photo: WYSO
Credit: Photo: WYSO
Credit: Photo: WYSO
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