It should come as no surprise that part of my adaptation process for writing these shows involves a lot of research. Some of the topics end up as my “Mad Facts.” But some are small and just go into the episode to give it more of a feeling of authenticity. I come out of every episode with a ton of new historical facts. “Bold Venture” held a lot of those moments. So come with me down the rabbit hole!
A disservice to my education all the way through college was that “history” repeated itself. Perhaps you had the same experience. Every history class I took only covered events through World War II. Over and over the Pilgrims came to the New World and, finally, we bombed Japan. I was in school in the 1980/90s, but history class ended in 1945. I had a theory as to why. All of my teachers were Boomers. That’s when they were born. So if it happened during their lifetime, it wasn’t “history” it was “current events.” And not on the curriculum. As someone who enjoys history, I took it upon myself to study more recent history. Writing papers comparing The Boston Massacre to the Kent State Tragedy. That surprised my teacher so much, he started tutoring me separately. Since I already knew more than my other classmates ever would.
So where does that put me? In deep fascination with the world in the time of OTR. My Mad Facts are meant to be “real life” history. Facts about day-to-day life to widen the window into the past that these Golden Age of Radio shows provide. But with “Bold Venture” I found myself diving into Cuba in the 1950s. Because, frankly, I was never taught about it! Here are some fun facts I learned that I incorporated into the episode. Consider these “Easter Eggs” and see if you can catch them in the episode…
CUBAN CIGARS
I feel like TV and movies have driven this factoid home. Just how many times has a plot included some important person offering “Cuban” cigars as a status of luxury? Showing the character has a willingness to go against the law to have “only the best.” And those who receive one, well, the implication is always that the cigars were an impressive gift. And I’m not saying they aren’t. If you smoke, I guess? But I don’t. So I imagined no matter how expensive and expertly crafted these cigars are, they’re still a cigar. Gross.
PLANTAINS
I used to go to a Cuban restaurant a lot here in Los Angeles. And yes, every dish seemed to be served up with plantains! A good friend of mine is Cuban, and I got introduced to the weird cousin of the banana there.
SHRIMP CREOLE
This is one I looked up. When I hear “Shrimp Creole” I think New Orleans, right? Yes. It is considered an American dish, but there is a distinctly Cuban version which in Spanish is called “Camarones Enchilados.” The dish holds many of the same ingredients and is certainly influenced by the same Creole and Caribbean flavors of the New Orleans variety.
ERNEST HEMINGWAY
If you’re a fan of his work, or had a decent Literature teacher, you know that Hemingway spent a great deal of time in Cuba, owning a beautiful home that is a museum to him today. Me, I had heard of him in Florida (and the weird “cats with extra toes” story) but that was it. While I joke this is the “Ricky Ricardo” era of Cuba, it is most definitely the Hemingway era and what he represents. Someone who wanted to break away from a traditional American life and enjoy all this tropical land had to offer. No one says it, but I believe Hemingway would definitely have been a friend of Slate Shannon’s. They both capture that rugged, masculine and dangerous life away from the safe shores of America.
LANGUAGE
I also threw in more Spanish than they had in the original script. I felt it gave a touch more authenticity. But don’t look at me, I don’t speak Spanish. So, yes, I looked some words up. Mostly I chose words I do know, ones that sound similar to the English translation. So no one listening (or my wonderful voice actors!) had to actually know Spanish to understand what was said.
BATABANO
The original script does involve taking a boat to the town of Batabanó and a train ride back to Havana. Thanks, in part, to “I Love Lucy,” going in I had heard of Havana! But that was the full extent of my geographical knowledge of Cuba. So this was a lot of research. First, it was seeing it on a map. What did they have to do to take a boat from Havana to Batabanó? I discovered that traveling by boat to Batabanó is not the ideal way to get there. Cuba is a long but narrow island, and Batabanó is due South at one of the narrowest parts of the island. To get there by boat, you have to go west through the Florida Straights/Gulf of Mexico, around the western most tip of the country, and then come back east into the Gulf of Batabanó. I couldn’t get a good estimate for that travel time, especially since the environmental conditions and the speed of the boat would affect it. Madison and Shannon travel overnight, so I imagined a good 8 or so hours. But the train ride? Current listings say about 2 1/2 hours, and I figured a tad longer being a 1950’s (or possibly older) train. But, hey, that’s still less time than it takes to drive from LA to Vegas! And yes, I looked up “burro rides.” Slate is right not to want to travel across Cuba Brady Bunch style.
KING MOSES
While Americans were launching from Key West to the exotic land of Cuba, they weren’t the only ones. King Moses is an interesting character. He’s from Haiti, specifically Port-au-Prince. I’d gone down that rabbit hole for “Dangerous Assignment.” So to me, it made sense that historically Haitians moved about the Caribbean for work and other opportunities as many people did from any of these islands. To them, it was like someone in the U.S. leaving Ohio to try their luck in New York. With him he’s brought his guitar and Calypso music, adding to the unique flavor of the Pre-Castro Cuba. And while some of the “Bold Venture” episodes do include him more in the plots, he’s still very much a side-character. Who I, personally, think deserves more airtime.
CASTRO AND 1959
I certainly was aware of Castro, but this episode sent me down more of a rabbit hole of history. I knew the U.S. considered Havana its playground in the 1950s. I didn’t know it was specifically 1959 that saw Castro come to power and the honeymoon with America was over. I did some research on what happened to American interests in Cuba after Castro. A fun part of Madison is “knowing” the future. So what was Slate Shannon’s future owning “Shannon’s Place,” his Havana dive hotel? If he was smart and saw the writing on the wall, he would’ve sold it before Havana became central to Castro’s take over of Cuba. If not, all American holdings were seized. So it would’ve been like he’d never owned anything. “Bold Venture” the radio drama would never see this day happen, as the series only lasted until 1952. But I did find it fascinating to know what was on the horizon for these Americans living abroad for cheap in this tropical paradise.
So, yes! I do these kinds of dives for every episode in some fashion or another. I listen to many episodes of the series — not just the one I’m adapting — to get the tone, but then I do these historical dives so I can fill out the world and fit Madison into it. Because the world of 70 years ago was very different in terms of technology and day-to-day living. But what makes it all work is that people haven’t changed. No matter where history takes us. Humans are always human.
-Chrisi (aka Madison)
