Playwright, essayist and famous author of radio drama of the 30s and 40s Norman Corwin, now 100 years young, loved to entertain audiences with light entertainment, including fantasy, that often tackled important social issues, not unlike Orson Welles. He has frequently been referred to as the "Poet Laureate of Radio". CART (California Artists Radio Theatre), to celebrate Corwins's 100th birthday on May 3, presented two of his short comedies, both directed sublimely by Peggy Webber, on Saturday, May 29 at the Beverly Garland Theatre in NoHo.
The first Mary and the Fairy, written in 1941 for actresses Elsa Lanchester and Ruth Gordon, is a delightful look at a slice of the American pie in which a young lady enters a contest with the Crinkly Crunkly Baking Company and wins FIRST PRIZE. What she wins is a visit from a fairy who grants her 5 wishes. Being terribly average and hardly a raving beauty, Mary wishes for a date with an attractive man, an evening with a foreign prince, to be smarter, to have more rhythmic speech patterns and to find success. Of course, her wishes are granted, but the effects only last for a 24 hour period, so alas, she still feels a failure. She blames part of her lack of success on being impulsive and too romantic by nature - and the fairy assures her that for true and lasting happiness, his magic is hardly the answer; she must learn to think and act for herself. Playing Mary was the irrepresibly hilarious Jo Anne Worley and the Fairy (now called Melvin), Marvin Kaplan, now at his peak as a richly funny comic actor. They were both a joy to listen to, as well as were narrator Richard Herd, Simon Templeman, Samantha Eggar, Tom Williams, Phil Proctor and Paul Keith - all wonderful, with special nods to Proctor and Keith for their great skill with playing a variety of people with a variety of accents.
The second entry was Murder in Studio One, a very humorous takeoff on radio announcers and celebrities who often replaced them in the 40s. All silliness here with another piece of Americana, this time baseball. Just how far will one Dodger fanatic go to ensure that the Yankees won't win?! This playlet belonged to beautiful Samantha Eggar, so smooth and charming as Detective Cameo and her streetwise assistant Min played with bravura by Peggy Webber, CART's founder and executive director. Kudos to the rest of the team: Tom Williams, Simon Templeman, Richard Herd, Jo Anne Worley, Phil Proctor and Paul Keith, the latter two again delightfully essaying a variety of roles - Keith especially funny as Goo Wong a parody of Charlie Chan. Young Abbie Cobb joined the ensemble beautifully playing the giddy young Gladys.
Praise as well to musical composer Kenneth Strange, and to sound effects engineer Tony Palermo without whom these broadcasts would never hit the airwaves.
Corwin, bless his soul, was present and spoke briefly after the presentation, citing Peggy Webber as "the first lady of radio theatre". For no reason, in his speech of thanks and praise for the actors, he apologized for the plays not being as funny as he thought they should be - through no fault of the actors. He added that when he wrote them 70 years ago, what seemed funny then certainly has changed with age. He wasn't secure that they still stand the test of time. Do we still believe in magic and the power of supernatural forces? Would a young man kill another out of love for the game of baseball? Yes, by all means, we do, and anything could - and does - happen in this crazy mixed-up world of ours. Mr. Corwin, whether you realize it or not, you were a great forerunner of contemporary American comedy. Your jokes and premises were and still are funny. No apologies are in order! Thank you!!
