[Lauren Shelburne | Banner] Kara Devine, freshman theater major, takes the stage as she serenades the audience with her performances of “Rose of the Rio Grande” and “At Last” as Geneva Lee Browne during the “The 1940’s Radio Hour” musical in Wallace Theatre.
The highly anticipated musical, “The 1940’s Radio Hour,” opened Oct. 14 and ran with weekend performances until Oct. 22 in the Wallace Theatre at California Baptist University.
The cast and technical crew had been working many late nights to bring to life the portrayal of the final holiday broadcast of the “Mutual Manhattan Variety Cavalcade” on a New York radio station set in 1942.
Rene Jimenez, senior theater major, portrays B.J. Gibson, a Yale student and aspiring performer.
He said this is the perfect show to watch for period entertainment and hilarious situations.
The musical’s early time period has the cast working even harder to ensure they recreate the era perfectly.
“Vocal preparation is a necessity,” Jimenez said. “There’s a different vocal style from the 1940s that’s extremely different from today. It’s all about training yourself to really pop those notes and emphasize the lyrics with a more jazzy style.”
Stephanie Bell, junior photography and graphic design double major, attends most CBU theater performances and said she enjoyed how this production’s exceptional costumes perfectly emulated the whole 1940s era.
“I have seen a lot of the performances here at CBU and I thought this one was one of the best I’ve seen yet,” Bell said. “I could tell they put a lot of effort into researching the time period as I felt like I was in the ’40s with them.”
Lisa Lyons, director of the production, said she hopes audiences enjoy themselves as they are taken on a comedic journey back in time for the duration of the musical while also experiencing live jazz music, which is what she said makes this production so unique.
“It’s a slice of everyday life in the 1940s but it is special because we are collaborating with the music program and having the jazz band perform live,” Lyons said.
As the cast has finely tuned their adaptation of the musical, they are excited for opening night to share all of their hard work.
“I really enjoy this show,” said Mark McMillan, sophomore theater major. “There are so many talented, funny people in this production who will really bring the script to life.”
