Ira Glass had lost his voice. That gentle, reliably nasal, public radio staple of a voice had been worked hoarse. On any given day, this would be an issue for Mr. Glass, 55, whose award-winning show, “This American Life,” is broadcast on nearly 600 stations and is consistently the top podcast on iTunes.

But it was an unusually big problem one recent Friday at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where Mr. Glass and his team were deep in rehearsals. The next night, in two sold-out performances, they would be staging a mini-opera, radio drama and musical, starring 50 performers and hosted by Mr. Glass who, less than 36 hours from curtain, could not speak.

So, on the advice of his show’s singers, he found himself on the Upper East Side to see a throat doctor to the stars. The office was lined with head shots: Luciano Pavarotti, Celine Dion, Hugh Jackman. Despite being in certain quarters rather famous himself, an awed Mr. Glass snapped photos of all four walls, with close-ups. Then he was given a steroid shot and sent on his way. “It’s kind of a pain” getting sick, Mr. Glass said froggily the next day, “but it was 100 percent worth it.”

By Saturday night, his voice was back to its soft, sinusy self; and the audiences, mostly public radio geeks, cheered. It was yet another performative feat for Mr. Glass, a frenetically busy, insatiably curious public radio star who has repeatedly shown that he cannot be contained by the confines of his chosen medium.