NSU Theatre and Dance to present “The 1940’s Radio Hour”
By David West
04/08/2019
NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State Theatre and Dance will perform the musical “The 1940’s Radio Hour” April 17-18 and April 23-27 at 7:30 p.m. and April 28 at 2 p.m. in Theatre West. Tickets are $15 and $12 for senior citizens. NSU, BPCC@NSU and Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts students are admitted free with a current I.D. Seating is limited, so advance reservations are required by calling (318) 357-4483.
Dr. Jack Wann is the director. Dr. Grace Edgar is musical director with choreography by Taylor Young.
The play is set on Dec. 21, 1942 at a seedy 5,000-watt local radio station in New York City. A number of the members of the station’s band are about to go off to war. On this evening they are presenting their Christmas broadcast, which will be their final one before joining the armed forces.
“We did ‘1940’s Radio Hour’ several years ago in Summer Dinner Theatre and thought it would be good to bring it back,” said Wann. “The play has all of the stereotypical characters of a musical of the time and is a lot of fun.”
The play will also feature a number of popular songs of the era including “Kalamazoo,” “Our Love is Here to Stay,” Black Magic,” “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and more.
The cast is Will Woodworth of Hammond as “Pops” Bailey, Emma Rivet of Baton Rouge as Stella Gallagher, Thomas Hadzeriga of Edmond, Oklahoma, as Wally Ferguson, Emmanuel Dunn of Baton Rouge as Lou Cohn, Andrew Palmentier of Lafayette as Clifton A. Feddington, Bethany Lee of Baton Rouge as Zelda Doubleman, Trevor Brown of Metairie as Johnny Cantone, Kristi Contreary of Geismar as Connie Miller, Rosa Campbell of Baton Rouge as Ginger Brooks, Kyle Munson of Prairieville as Neal Tilden, Robert McCandish of Monroe as B.J. Gibson, Adele Hebert of Lafayette as Ann Collier, Payton Hartwick of Edmond, Oklahoma, as Geneva Lee Browne, Chase Crane of Livingston as Biff Baker and Daniel Ley of Bossier City as Clarence “Fingers” McGee.
The Zoot Doubleman Orchestra will include Ley on keyboard, Adam Hudlow on trumpet, Chris Ball on percussion, Richard Rose on bass, Emma Benjamin on flute and Parker Randall on alto/tenor sax.
Scenic design and technical direction is by Robert Richoux with lighting and sound design by Paul Pharris. Costume design is by Sydney Ryder. Ley is rehearsal accompanist and Logan Simoneaux is stage manager. Philip Kidd is technical advisor.
