“The 1940s Radio Hour,” written by Colorado State University theater division director Walton Jones in 1974 for a group of college pals including Meryl Streep, will be made into a sequel to be developed and debuted at the Bas Bleu Theatre Company in Fort Collins.
“Radio Hour” has been produced an estimated 8,000 times around the world. It’s the gentle story of amateur actors broadcasting a patriotic variety cavalcade from a tiny New York radio station on Dec. 21, 1942.
Being selected to present a world premiere of the sequel is a monumental coup for Bas Bleu. It will presumably see a similar shelf life, and every time it’s performed the program will say: “Originally presented by the Bas Bleu Theatre Company.”
The sequel will be developed and presented in two world-premiere stages. This winter, Bas Bleu will bow “The 1940s Radio Christmas Carol,” in which characters from the original present the classic as a radio drama. “But they’re such a disreputable bunch of actors,” Jones said, “that while it’s Charles Dickens’ story – it’s more often not.”
Working with his familiar characters in this new context will be the seed work for Jones’ full “Radio Hour” sequel to bow in Bas Bleu’s 2008-09 season.
“The time is now 1944, and the war has dragged on too long,” Jones said. “People are tired of it, and so the patriotism is wearing thin. The politicians and the media told people that after Pearl Harbor we would go in and it would be over in 10 minutes. It didn’t work out that way, and there was a general feeling of disappointment. That’s an obvious parallel to today.”
Jones, who took the reins at CSU last June, grew up listening to 1950s radio serials. Twenty years later, as a student, he started the Yale Cabaret in New Haven, Conn. “We committed to doing one show a week for 10 weeks,” he said. But as he waited for classmates Christopher Durang and Wendy Wasserstein to finish their contributions, he was forced to improvise. Armed with a door for a set, a piano for an orchestra and Streep for a castmate (she played Sally), “Radio Hour” debuted in 1974 in a 90-seat basement theater.
Four years later, Jones’ cult hit was seen by Vice President Walter Mondale. “He recommended to President Carter that we be the entertainment for the White House Christmas party,” Jones said. So they performed the show there with the Air Force Band, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Of the thousands of stagings since, Jones has watched only part of one of them. “I’d rather get a root canal,” he said.
“For some reason, I can’t sit still. I’m much more comfortable standing in the lobby listening to crowd reaction. I’d rather live in the possibility that it still has that charm of the original than find out for sure that it’s stale and needs reworking. That’s why I wanted to work on the sequel.”
The 2007-08 Bas Bleu season includes one other coup: In addition to ho-hummers “The Lion in Winter,” “Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me” and “Equus,” it includes “Bernice/Butterfly,” written by
Nagle Jackson for the Denver Center in 2003. It’s a small, brilliant story of two disenfranchised Kansans – and one this critic recommended to the Pulitzer committee.
Briefly …
Buntport debuts a bimonthly “Freak Train”-like talent show Monday called “Teacher’s Pet.” It’s open-mic with a twist: Everyone must read from old journal or yearbook entries. $4-$6, 8 p.m. signup, 9 p.m. show (720-946-1388) …
And finally, Miners Alley Playhouse’s 6 p.m Feb. 25 performance of “Deathtrap” is a benefit for popular actor Pete Nelson (MAP’s “The Rainmaker,” the Vic’s “The Weir”), recently diagnosed with colon and liver cancer. Info: 303-935-3044. Donations in Nelson’s name can be sent to 1224 Washington Ave., Golden 80401.
This week’s theater openings
FRI-MARCH 25 | Aurora Fox’s “Almost, Maine”
FRI-MARCH 25 | Town Hall Arts Center’s “Footloose” | LITTLETON
FRI-MARCH 10 | Upstart Crow’s “Waiting for Godot” | BOULDER
FRI-APRIL 7 | Carousel Dinner Theatre’s “Evita” | FORT COLLINS
FRI-MAY 27 | Heritage Square Music Hall’s “Blackbeard …” | GOLDEN
FRI-MARCH 4 | Coal Creek Community Theatre’s “The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940” | LOUISVILLE
SAT-MARCH 24 | OpenStage’s “Enchanted April” | FORT COLLINS
This week’s theater closings
SAT | Denver Center Theatre Company’s “The Pillowman” (at the Ricketson Theatre) … “1001” (at the Space) … and “King Lear” (at the Stage)
SAT | Curious’ “Aphrodisiac”
SAT | Shadow’s “Two Trains Running”
SAT | Brooks Arts Center’s “As Above So Below” (First Divine Science)
SAT | The Avenue’s “Murder Most Fowl”
SAT | New Denver Civic’s “Pure Piaf” (at the Black Box Theatre)
FEB. 25 | Arvada Center’s “The Subject Was Roses”
FEB. 25 | Performance Now’s “42nd Street” | LAKEWOOD
FEB. 25 | Metro Playhouse’s “The Nerd” | GRAND JUNCTION
FEB. 25 | Modern Muse’s “Bad Dates” (at the Bug Theatre)
FEB. 25 | Union Colony Dinner Theatre’s “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” (Sundays only) | GREELEYNow Change (Sundays only) | GREELEY
