A New Spin on Sherlock Holmes: Theater Production to Make World Premiere in Saratoga

SARATOGA SPRINGS — According to one scholar, Sherlock Holmes has been portrayed on stage, in films, and on television more than 25,000 times. But a local theater group has seemingly solved the mystery (using Holmesian deduction, no doubt) of how to portray the famed detective in a new light.

In “The Baker Street Adventuress: Sherlock Holmes on the Air,” audiences will be treated to a behind-the-scenes, true-to-life story of radio producer Edith Meiser’s efforts to adapt a Sherlock Holmes mystery into a successful radio drama in 1930. At the time, the Holmes character was not as popular as he would later become, and Meiser struggled to find a sponsor for her planned radio series.

The first act of “The Baker Street Adventuress” dramatizes Meiser’s (ultimately successful) ambitions to make her radio show, while the second act of the play is a recreation of the original broadcast of the Holmes mystery “The Speckled Band,” which reached airwaves on Oct. 20, 1930.

“For [Meiser] to go and knock on doors to try to find a sponsor was not easy, it was tough,” iTheatre Saratoga Chairman Will Severin told Saratoga TODAY. “Part of it was the property and maybe part of it was the fact that you’ve got a woman who is trying to sell this thing and, generally speaking, heads of business at that point were male.”

Reportedly, a 15-year-old Meiser was first presented with a Sherlock Holmes book while aboard the Europe-bound SS Bremen. While still just a teenager, she fell in love with the character, sparking a lifelong passion. When she first pitched her idea for a Sherlock radio drama, Meiser was a stage performer trying to make the leap into radio, which at the time was a new technology having a transformational impact on the entertainment industry. 

With the Great Depression keeping many entertainment-seekers away from pricey movie theaters and vaudeville productions, radio was a comparatively budget-friendly medium that became increasingly popular. Meiser was able to use radio to both showcase her talents and bring her beloved Holmes mysteries to the masses.

“The Baker Street Adventuress” is a wholly original (and local) production making its world premiere at the Saratoga Music Hall. It was written by Mary Jane Hansen, iTheatre Saratoga’s artistic director. Severin, the organization’s chairman, composed the play’s score, drawing inspiration from composer Bernard Herrmann, best known for his work on Alfred Hitchcock films like “Psycho” and “North by Northwest.”

Performances will take place at 474 Broadway on Nov. 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, and 23. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit itheatresaratoga.ticketspice.com/the-baker-street-adventuress-sherlock-holmes-live-on-the-air.

iTheatre Saratoga is the only year-round professional theatre in Saratoga Springs and has more than 35 productions under its belt, 16 of which were original works.