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Sounds like the '40s
'Radio Days' invites the audience into a 1940s radio studio, with the Florida Orchestra sitting in as the house band.
By LEA IADAROLA
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 24, 2001
In the 1940s, before television filled American homes, there was radio. And when America became involved in World War II, many people turned to radio to be informed, entertained and distracted.
Families gathered around the radio to listen as Glenn Miller's music, and dramatic programs, such The Lone Ranger and The Shadow, filled airwaves as the Golden Age of Radio reached its peak.
On Saturday, the Minnesota-based quintet Five by Design brings the show Radio Days, which has been performed for about a decade, to the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center to relive those golden days of radio.
Before coming to Tampa, the group traveled around the nation and since 1995 has made more than 80 appearances with leading symphony orchestras. On Saturday, they will perform with the Florida Orchestra.
The Radio Days performance, complete with an "On the Air" sign, is a re-creation of a live radio show during World War II. Five by Design -- soprano Lorie Carpenter-Niska, alto Catherine Scott, baritone Michael Swedberg, tenor Kurt Niska and his brother, bass Terrence Niska -- will perform songs, skits and commercials from the 1940s big-band era.
One of the group's founders, Alton Accola, will act as an announcer, the audience as a studio audience, and the Florida Orchestra will be the studio orchestra in the mock broadcast.
"The performance totally incorporates the orchestra," said Scott. "They are there the entire time."
Song favorites such as Moonlight Serenade, St. Louis Blues March, Personality, Chattanooga Choo-Choo, Boogy Woogie Bugle Boy, Mairzy Doats and Managua Nicaragua will be performed.
Along with the music, stars such as Betty Grable and Carmen Miranda will make "guest appearances."
Bits from soap operas and commercials for Pepsi, Halo Shampoo and Wheaties will be performed. And Inner Sanctum, complete with the creaking door, the Kyser Kollege of Musical Knowledge, a radio contest, and Mail Call, an armed forces radio broadcast, will all be revisited throughout the show.
The Radio Days cast will wear authentic costumes: day dress, military uniforms, shoes and gloves from the '40s to accurately reproduce the era.
Five by Design wrote and produced the show. To prepare, the group watched old movies and video reels of performances at clubs to get a feel for the costuming and how to treat the music pieces.
You don't need to have lived through the era to enjoy the show.
"Grandparents can sit next to grandchild, and they both can be entertained," Scott said.
With the success of Radio Days, Five by Design has a new show, Club Swing, based entirely in the swing movement. And after the Tampa performance of Radio Days, the group will continue to travel the United States and Canada performing both shows.
PREVIEW
- WHAT: Radio Days, a performance by Five By Design with the Florida Orchestra
- WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday
- WHERE: Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center
- COST: $20-$38; $15 student tickets (available one hour before showtime, cash only)
- CONTACT: (813) 229-7827
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