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Moon Over Morocco (radio series)
Moon Over Morocco is a 1974 radio drama, the second in ZBS's Jack Flanders series. Originally broadcast as fifty twelve-minute episodes, the serial was written and directed by Meatball Fulton. HistoryFollowing on the success of The Fourth Tower of Inverness, Fulton set about working on a sequel in 1973.[1] Fulton described the story "a mystery fantasy with a whiff of 'Casablanca' about it". It was set in Morocco where he spent a month recording ambient sounds and music for the production. Fulton stayed with the writer Paul Bowles in Tangier[2] and learned about Moroccan magic practices from him. Fulton recorded location sound throughout Morocco, including the courtyard of Bowles' villa in Marrakech. The production also used traditional Moroccan music recorded by Bowles for the festival scenes. The recordings helped inspire his writing, Fulton told Billboard magazine. "It's so real, you'll even be able to smell the flowers and spice and dry earth of Morocco. Ah, yes. Escapism at its finest," he said.[1] SynopsisJack Flanders arrives in Tangier on a search for sites that lie along "ley lines", undercurrents of mystical energy described in ancient texts. He meets Kasbah Kelly, an expatriate bar owner, and Kelly's assistant Mojo Sam and befriends one of the bar's customers, Sunny Skies. He also visits the Comtese Zazeenia, an expatriate holdover from Morocco's French colonial days and an old enemy of Kelly's. Strange events begin to occur: Jack is pursued by owls, his hotel room crumbles away as the hotel disintegrates around him and a mysterious woman named Layla Oolupi warns him to leave Morocco immediately. Refusing to heed her warning, Jack instead travels to a music festival in Marrakech with Kelly and Sunny. Caught up in a traditional dance, Jack begins to disappear into an invisible world straight out of Moroccan legend. This first night, Kelly tackles him and prevents his disappearance, but the next night, Jack succeeds in completing the transition into the land of legend. Kelly's intervention causes Jack to (seemingly) split into two rival figures in this alternate world, a usurper Emperor (Hassan Bizel) and an upstart claimant to the throne, known as the Son of El Kabah. Kelly, Mojo and Sunny search for Jack in our world, while the two Jacks confront one another after the "Son of el Kabah" completes a long journey through the Sahara desert, accompanied by Little Flossic (revisiting the "Little Frieda" role of The Fourth Tower of Inverness). MusicIn the series there are some musical interludes, including:
CreditsCast
Crew
Production was made possible by Robert Durand. CD pressing made possible by John Romkey. References
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