A Visit to the Golden Age of Radio
(January 1998)

WRITTEN BY: various people
PERFORMED AT: Samuel Clemens Center, Elmira, NY and Corning Community College, Corning, NY
PERFORMED ON: January 16-17 (Clemens, 3 shows) and January 18 (CCC)
DIRECTOR: Gary Yoggy
SPONSORED BY: Elmira Little Theater, Elmira
SELECTED CAST:
"Inner Sanctum Mysteries: The House in Cypress Canyon":
* JIM- John Moseley
* ELLEN- Carolyn Kruk
* JERRY- Andy Parker
* SAM SPADE- Phil Kruk
* DR. WESLEY/DISPATCHER/BYSTANDER #2- Steve Fesh
* OFFICER #1- David Alan Scott Jr.
* OFFICER #2/BYSTANDER #1- Paul Johnstone
* MARY- Barbara Griswold
* RAYMOND (HOST)- Graham Howard
"Sugarfoot":
* ANNOUNCER- Ken Corey
* TOM BREWSTER (SUGARFOOT)- Will Hutchins
* MARY READER- Emer Smith
* ED ROLLAND- David Alan Scott Jr.
* FARLEY- Cy Leveen
* YATES- David Battaglin
* FRANKIE- Phil Kruk
* DAVEY- Paul Johnstone
* MAN- Steve Fesh
...and many other shows and sketches, starring other people.

PLOT: Various plots, all from comedy and drama programs originally broadcast over radio and television in the 1940's/early 1950's.

HISTORY: Though this was ELT's tenth edition of Gary Yoggy's "Golden Age of Radio" productions, it was my first.
Each of the stories and sketches in this show were performed like a radio show, with the actors simply reading their lines into a microphone, while Bart Curtis added sound effects, and Ed Clute added music. Not much visually, but a very enjoyable show.
Guest starring in this show was Will Hutchins, who reprised two of the roles he originally played on TV. One role was Dagwood from the famous "Blondie" series (which was based on the popular comic strip). In "Sugarfoot", the segment which I get to play lead villain Ed Rolland, he plays Sugarfoot himself (a.k.a. Tom Brewster).
The sequence of segments for this show was as follows: "Blondie" and "Inner Sanctum", and "The Kate Smith Show". The following segments are performed within the Kate Smith show: "Fibber McGee & Molly", "The Bickersons", "Duffy's Tavern", "Abbott & Costello", and "Sugarfoot".
Other notable performers included Carl Proper (a news anchor on our local NBC-TV affiliate), the Sounds About Right barber shop quartet, as well as several people I had co-starred with in previous plays.
The show was given in January, but it was also performed on two additional dates in March. The later performances--one in Dundee, one in Corning--didn't have "Sugarfoot" or "Inner Sanctum". Hence, I did not appear in these later performances.
An additional performance, which would have featured "Inner Sanctum" (and therefore me), was scheduled for April 25 at CCC, but was cancelled a week before the show due to "lack of reservations".
An audio version of the show--compiled from tapes of the last January performances--was broadcast on WCBA 1350 AM during Yoggy's weekly radio show. "Blondie" and "Inner Sanctum" were broadcast on February 22, and most of "The Kate Smith Show" was played on March 1.

PHOTOS:
* Bart, Emer, Will, Paul, me, Phil, and Steve, during the final rehearsal (photo by Thomasine Lubertowicz)