Where did vintage radio shows go once they had been broadcast?
As Jacquelyn Richards of Garden City, a student at The College of Saint Rose in Albany, knows, some of them will magically turn up on campus when the Saint Rose Drama Program performs "Radio Heaven," a first-of-a-kind presentation that will enable the audience to hear and see what radio was like more than 50 years ago.
"Radio Heaven" will bring back classic soap opera, comedy, suspense and how-to shows, complete with those wonderfully annoying commercials, performed live with authentic Foley machine sound effects and the ever-present keyboard accompaniment.
The shows include "The Betty Crocker Magazine of the Air," "The Romance of Helen Trent," a special episode of "Suspense!" "Captain Midnight" and "Baby Snooks and Daddy."
Jingles advertising Chiquita Bananas, Halo Shampoo, Lucky Strike and Carolina Rice will be performed along with period hits like "Bei Mer Bis Du Shoen," "Mairsey Dotes," "Zing Went the Strings of My Heart" and Vera Lynn's "We'll Meet Again."
Richards is one of the performers of the old radio shows.
"Radio Heaven" will be performed Friday, April 19, through Sunday, April 21, in the Saint Rose Campus Theatre, 996A Madison Ave. (located behind 1000 Madison Ave.), Albany. Show times are 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $10, or $5 with a Saint Rose I.D.
For information, e-mail kraussk@strose.edu or call 518-454-5242.
The production was devised, adapted and staged by Dr. Kenneth Krauss, director of the Saint Rose Drama Program.
Submitted by the College of St. Rose
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