It has been 70 years since Orson Welles first gained widespread notoriety for sending the nation into a state of panic with his iconic radio broadcast, “The War of the Worlds.” Nevertheless, this terrifying chronicle of a Martian invasion has stood the test of time and still manages to captivate audiences today.

Starting tomorrow night, University Theatre will continue this tradition of striking fear in the hearts of audience members when it celebrates the anniversary of this fateful occasion with something that has never been done before — a stage adaptation of the historic event.

And what better time of year for this production than right now.

“We thought, you know, Madison seems to like Halloween, so wouldn’t this be a great appetizer for the season. So we decided to do this and make it a part of the early celebration of fall and Halloween,” director Tony Simotes said.

However, when it came time to actually bring this play to life, Simotes and crew were confronted with the monumental task of reimagining something from the past into something brand new and will still provide audiences with a chilling and exciting night of theater. The result of this innovative team’s work is a fast-paced, multilayered production that continues to build and escalate within the confines of a 1930s radio station.

To begin the performance are the jazz instrumentals and soul acts reminiscent of the musical numbers which were enjoyed during the intermissions between classical radio programs.

Following the “program” will be the play, “The Monkey’s Paw,” which is performed onstage as if it were a radio show.

Shortly after this play has started, it is suddenly interrupted with a series of news bulletins describing some eerie happenings that have begun to take place.

�It’s not long until the audience is fully immersed in a visually gripping recreation of the “The War of the Worlds.”

“There is a lot more room for playing and interacting with the audience in this performance that you usually do not see in theater. Throughout the play there is the sense that we are reporting directly to someone and that the audience is physically there,” said UW junior Raechel Zarzynski, who takes on numerous roles in the production.

But this is not going to be your granddaddy’s “War of the Worlds.” Simotes has retooled the original broadcast by moving the story’s setting from New York to the Madison area in order to help the audience relive the era with something that is more familiar.

“We made sure to use a lot of local landmarks,” Simotes said. “When the cylinder comes from Mars, it is seen from the Washburn Observatory. And it doesn’t land at Grover’s Mill, New Jersey, but instead it lands in Black Earth, Wisconsin, and then crosses the marshes of Monona.”

Continuing a partnership that began last year, UT will also work with Wisconsin Public Radio to perform its show live for the radio station at a special curtain time of 8 p.m. Oct. 4 so that all of Madison and the surrounding Dane County can partake in an exclusive production that will be even more akin to the original.

What is really unique about this story, though, is how even after 70 years, it still feels relevant to today’s society.�

“If you think about it in comparison to events like Hurricane Katrina and 9/11, it is very easy to see the similarities in how people try to pull themselves together and deal with tragic situations like this,” Zarzynski said, “They both deal with the fundamental fear of ‘how do we go against something that we do not know how to stop or control.’”

So if you are looking for a great way to start getting into that Halloween spirit with a powerful drama that still resonates today, make your way out to the new, construction-free grounds of Mitchell Theatre.

“I really hope that we get students aboard to come have a great time and feel the spirit of this story still alive out on stage. It is the kind of theater where you not only get a strong shot of entertainment but also a good piece of theater,” Simotes said.�

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University Theatre’s production of “The War of the Worlds” runs through Oct. 11. For tickets call 608-262-1500 or go online to www.utmadison.com