First Impressions: J. Wynn Rousuck

I was looking forward to soaking up every drop of wisdom that Judy Rousuck had to offer. Why? Because she was a long-time (23 years, wow!) critic for the Baltimore Sun, and I wanted to know how she had weathered the dips and lifts of the journalism world. Unfortunately, a one-on-one opportunity with her never presented itself, but I was able to learn a thing or ten during class. One of those things involved a tip on longevity: sometimes, you have to learn new ways to exercise your craft.

Judy taught us the ways of radio reviewing.

I don't listen to the radio.

I had never actually considered radio reviewing before, yet I still thought it would be easy to conquer. Given my gregarious disposition and bold personality, I never had a doubt that all of that would translate well over the air waves. I was a Howard Stern fan (back when he was free) after all, and I knew what was music to my ears. Too bad I didn't factor the lack of sleep from the night before, or the fact that said lack of zzzzs would rob me of the time I needed to sound engaging, but not overbearing. Theatrical, but not hammy.

My performance, caught on Lindsay Christians' impressive mp3 recorder, was as Cindy-less as it could be, capturing none of my fabulous flavor. The whole "the way you write should be the way you sound" was not happening at all. By the time I was through, I didn't mention when the show opened, its Broadway history (it was a revival of a popular musical), or how long the running time was. Ah, well. Judy was kind at least. She didn't say much about my work (thank you, feelings-sparer), but I learned a lot about a new medium that she was well-versed in. I might actually end my post-Howard boycott of the radio after all.