Not exactly nostalgia

We caught a show Friday night in Los Altos called "The 1940s Radio Hour", a jukebox musical set in New York in 1942.  We (and about 50 other audience members in the tiny theater) were the studio audience as the Mutual Manhattan Variety Cavalcade's last holiday show went out on radio station WOV.  Hilarity and drama ensued, but mostly very good music.

"The 1940s Radio Hour" had a run on Broadway, but it's really perfect for college or local theater groups.  You've got 15 parts, five female and 10 male.  Lots of solos, but nothing too demanding.  You do need a pro (faculty member?) to play Clifton Feddington, the beleaguered producer and announcer for the show, and you need a decent band.  But apart from that, the show is flexible enough to adjust to whatever talent is or is not on hand.

There was a fellow in our show who could sing and play the trumpet.  He hadn't done much acting before, but did a good job with his part.  The local group had a couple of ringers, but also some impressive amateur talent, notably a chanteuse who is, by day, a lawyer at Apple.

Some numbers from the show (my favorite performances, many pre- or post-war):

• I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo - Glenn Miller
• That Old Black Magic - Mel Torme
• Ain't She Sweet - Gene Austin
• Blues in the Night - Ella Fitzgerald
• How About You? - Judy Garland
• Blue Moon - Elvis Presley
• Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Ella

• Jingle Bells - Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters
• I Got it Bad (and That Ain't Good) - Lena Horne

Let me just add: Brigitte Losey can sing.  You heard it here first.