'The 1940s Radio Hour' informs, pleases
By Christine Rhee
Daily Forty-Niner
The play "1940s Radio Hour" transports
the audience back in time.
Although the story progresses extremely
slow in the beginning, the play offers music and dance that will make one's
feet tap.
The dialogue shared between the characters
during the first 20 minutes is excessive.
Everyone talks at the same time and the
situation is confusing until Hennigan, the boss of the broadcast studio,
starts screaming to start the show.
However, when the show begins, so does
the fun.
The play, inspired by a Walton Jones' book
titled with the same name, depicts a Dec. 21, 1942 New York City radio
broadcast.
Popular singer Johnny Cantone (Ken Shepski),
longs to leave the one-hour radio show to become a Hollywood star. B.J.
Gibson (Michael Betts) portrays a timid young man with the not so timid
dreams of possibly becoming Cantone.
Cantone is the quintessential man of the
40s, rivaling the charms of Humphrey Bogart with his suave, charismatic
and talented ways.
Little Connie Miller (Mindi Metzger) taps
and swing dances her way into the heart of the audience.
Sexy Ginger Brooks (Shea Alexander) sings
and dances like a temptress, mesmerizing the audience with her revealing
dresses and desirable looks.
During the live singing and dancing performances,
the audience suddenly becomes a live studio audience in the 40s, with an
applause sign flashing after the performances.
The live studio orchestra performs songs
such as "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," "Blue Moon" and "Kalamazoo."
Commercials from popular advertisements,
coupled with period costumes and tunes from the popular bands of the era,
lend to the feeling of a live radio broadcast.
"1940s Radio Hour" will be performed until
Dec. 5 at the Center Theater in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. |
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