Picture this: Entertainment with nary an image in sight

Who says the sepia-toned days when kids clustered around the crackling family console radio to hear the latest installment of the adventures of the Lone Ranger, Superman and the Green Hornet are a distant memory? Seasonal workshops held in the Paley Center for Media’s fully functional broadcast booth and listening room provide kids a chance to keep this audio art form alive by giving life to an old-fashioned radio play. This month’s workshop, appropriately enough, is a half-hour dramatization of Washington Irving’s spooky Halloween-themed drama, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”

The two-hour session introduces participants to the history of radio drama, utilizing the center’s sweeping 43,000-strong collection of old broadcasts -- which includes Orson Welles’ famous fright fest “The War of the Worlds” -- prior to diving into an actual production. Kids review the script before dividing up the pivotal production roles, including narrator, actors and sound effects. After preparing in groups, the ensemble rehearses until the play is a lean, mean broadcast-worthy machine. Then it’s showtime! With an audience of parents lending enthusiastic ears, the kids perform the play. They return home with an appreciation of radio drama history, a basic understanding of the technical aspects of live radio and a CD copy of their own performance.

A schedule of 30 Re-creating Radio workshops are held between September and June to complement the school year. Scintillating titles include the mysterious “Nanci Dru: Teen Detective in ‘The Mystery of the Hidden Cabin,’ ” the eerie “Radio Ranger in ‘Invaders From Earth!’ ” and the yearly Christmas classic, Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.”

Founded by William S. Paley, the pioneering broadcaster who turned CBS into a cash cow in the 1920s, the Paley Center is devoted to documenting and preserving the many facets of television and radio broadcast history. Open to the public, the center has an exhaustive archive of more than 140,000 television and radio programs, including news, performing arts programs, children’s programming, sports, comedy and variety shows and commercial advertising.

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-- Jason.Gelt@latimes.com

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RE-CREATING RADIO FAMILY WORKSHOP

WHERE: Paley Center for Media, 465 N. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills

WHEN: 10 a.m. to noon Wednesday and Oct. 27

PRICE: $10

INFO: (310) 786-1014