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NEWS BRIEFS
"1940's Radio Hour" presented at Renaissance
HUNTINGTON — If just a dab of Christmas cheer will do you, Arts Resources for the Tri-State has your number.
"The 1940's Radio Hour," a musical Christmas card light on Santa, reindeer and elves in toy workshops, will tickle your funny bone and your ears - with comedy, swing dancing and a Big Band sound.
The show will be presented with a preview at 5:30 p.m. Thursday and performances at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, as well as Dec. 11-13. All shows will be at the Renaissance Theater, located at 900 8th St., in Huntington. A matinee performance at completes the slate at 3 p.m. Dec 14. Tickets are $15 and veterans are admitted free.
The two-hour show centers on a small radio station in New York City in 1942 as the employees rally to help the soldiers overseas know that all is well back home.
"This is my favorite show ever and it's my fifth time to do it. Every time I do it, I just love it more," said director Bruce Rous. "I think it's especially fitting for where we are now in our country. Times are tough, everybody's broke and there's a war going on.
"I think Tri-State audiences will be as thrilled as I am with the talented bunch of people working on this project."
The show is set at Christmas time, but features only one Christmas tune - "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," while it is chockfull of favorites such as "I'll Be Seeing You" and "Strike Up the Band." Sprinkled throughout the production, which is staged as a live radio broadcast, are commercials appropriate to the time period - many of which, Rous said, are simply hilarious.
"There's one for a cigarette company that's just laughable," Rous said. "This is not necessarily a Christmas show, though it's set at Christmas, but the sentiment of Christmas is definitely in the air."
The cast is composed of community theater favorites, and Rous enlisted choreographers Gene and Connie Anthony and lighting designer Lang Reynolds for the production - all three just finished working on Marshall's presentation of "George M!"
For more information or tickets, call 304-733-ARTS.
