FEW programs testify to the wonders of radio as do the broadcasts from little America. One listens not for entertainment or enlightenment, but rather to eavesdrop on a great adventure. If the listener has any other reason for tuning in this half-hour weekly program, he is likely to be disappointed. A case in point is the broadcast of several weeks ago. It appears that several days earlier, an explosion occurred while one of the young men was undergoing an operation on appendicitis and there was grave concern about the operating instruments until it was discovered that they were safe. This story came from Little America along with a good deal of static. The high point of this broadcast was reached when the young man in question turned to the doctor and said: “I was afraid you would lose your first case in Little America.”
Civilization will receive another report from the headquarters of the Byrd Antarctic Expedition over the WABC network Saturday, April 14, from 10:00 to 10:30 P.M. A statement from Admiral Byrd, relayed by wireless from his lonely winter base 123 miles South of Little America, will be read.
MUSICAL GIANTS ON THE AIRWAVES
Three leading names in the musical world will be featured this week. Today at 10:00 P.M., Dr. Walter Damrosch will wave his baton during a new spring series of symphonic programs over WJZ and the NBC network. At the age of seventy-two, Dr. Damrosch enthusiastically continues the active musical career which he launched fifty years ago.
The famous Dutch pianist, Egon Petri, will return to the air on Sunday, April 15, from 6.00 to 6:30 P.M., as soloist with the NBC String Quartet. This new series fills part of the time vacated on WJZ by the remarkable series of Cadillac Concerts which were concluded last Sunday.
Arturo Toscanini will close the current season of broadcasts by the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra with a series of three Sunday afternoon all-Wagner concerts to be heard over a nationwide WABC-Columbia network on April 15, 22 and 29, from 3:00 to 5:00 P.M. The opening program of the cycle will feature as soloists, Gertrude Kappel, soprano; Paul Althouse, tenor, and Marion Telva, contralto. Felix Warburg will is sue an appeal for support of the current Philharmonic campaign during the opening broadcast.
PREMIERE OF “THE PROGRAM OF THE WEEK”
Now and then the studios bring forth a program innovation. Such is the promise of “The Program of the Week”, title of a new series due over WABC and a nation-wide hook-up Friday, April 13, from 10:00 to 10:30 P.M. Humor, news, drama and popular as well as semi-classic music will be presented.
RADIO EDITORS “AIR” VIEWS ON RADIO
Station WEVD will conclude its series on “What Next in Radio?” Thursday, April 12, from 10:00 to 10:15 P.M., by presenting the radio editors of three metropolitan dailies in a round-table discussion. The editors are: Alton Cook of the New York World-Telegram, Jo Ranson of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle and Aaron Stein (Dialist) of the New York Post. They will discuss “Current Evils in Radio”.
ANIMAL ACT BROADCAST FROM MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
I am rather intrigued by the idea of a circus broadcast direct from Madison Square Garden, scheduled by station WNEW Tuesday, April 10, from 8:15 to 3:45 P.M.
A microphone will be installed next to the cage in which Clyde Beatty performs his lion act. During his performance, Don Lang at the cage will give a graphic word picture of this animal act.
On the Dial
A colorful story about Beatty and the lions with which he performs this unusual act will have as a climax the introduction of Clyde Beatty, who for the first time will explain to the radio audience how he is able to master the “kings of the jungle”. Felix Adler, chief jester of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey combined circus will also be brought to the microphone.
TWO CURRENT SERIES ANNOUNCE FINAL PROGRAMS
“The March of Time” will close this season’s run on WABC Friday, April 13, at 8:30 P.M. The large cast of radio actors directed by Arthur Prior Jr., as well as Howard Barlow and orchestra, will assemble for the last time to reenact from six to eight outstanding events of the week.
Ernest Hutcheson, distinguished concert pianist and dean of the Juilliard Graduate School of Music, will be heard in his final recital of the season on Sunday, April 15, from 9:30 to 10:00 P.M. over WABC. Hutcheson’s solo offering will be the “Moonlight” Sonata of Beethoven. Accompanied by Barlow and the orchestra he will play the second and third movements of Mozart’s Concerto in D, the “Coronation” concerto.
SECOND PROGRAM OF “THE UNION ASSEMBLY”
Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, who was originally scheduled for the inaugural program, will be the principal speaker in “The Union Assembly” series on Friday, April 13, from 10:15 to 10:45 P.M. Artists to appear on the second program include the Roth String Quartet and Molly Picon, famous comedienne of the Jewish and English stage, These programs originate from Station WEVD in New York, and the following stations also broadcast this series: WCBM in Baltimore, WOL in Washington, WDAS in Philadelphia, and WICC in Bridgeport.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK:
Monday: George Gershwin will play his own compositions on WJZ at 7:30; Lawrence Tibbett, soloist, and William Daly’s Orchestra on WEAF at 8:30; Rosa Ponselle in the second concert of her series on WABC at 9:00; “The Big Show” starring Helen Menken on WABC at 9:30; Kyle Crichton, associate editor of Collier’s Magazine, will speak on: “Literature Today” over WBNX at 9:45.
Tuesday: Mayor Fiorello H. La-Guardia will report on his first 100 days in office over WEAF at 6:45; Herman Bernstein, editor of The Jewish Daily Bulletin, will present a guest speaker on WEVD at 8:15 and over the same station Michael Strange, actress and poet, talks on “The Necessity for American Thinking” at 8:45; Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Eugene Ormandy, on WABC at 9:30; “The Student Prince” with Gladys Swarthout and Nat Shilkret’s Orchestra on WEAF at 10:00 and Verdi’s “Traviata” direct from the New York Hippodrome on WEVD at 10:00.
Wednesday: Jack Pearl, the Baron, on WEAF at 8:00; The Nation Radiotorial Board with Dr. Israel Goldstein and Morris L. Ernst at 8:00; Albert Spaulding, violinist, on WABC at 8:30; John Charles Thomas, baritone, on WJZ at 9:30; Burns and Allen, comedians, on WABC at 9:30; Verdi’s Opera “Forza del Destino” from the New York Hippodrome on WEVD at 10:20.
Thursday: Rudy Vallee’s “Variety Hour” on WEAF at 8:00; “The Voice of America” with Alex Gray and Mary Eastman on WABC at 8:30; Al Jolson and Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra on WEAF at 10:00; Station WLS tenth anniversary program broadcast over WJZ
Friday: Jewish Women’s Forum on WBNX at 1:30 P.M.; the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Dr. Serge Koussevitzky on WJZ at 2:30 P.M.; “The March of Time” on WABC at 8:30; Phil Baker, comedian, on WJZ at 9:30; “The Union Assembly” with Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, the Roth String Quartet and Molly Picon on WEVD at 10:15.
Saturday: Senator Clarence C. Dill will speak on the relative merits of the British and American systems of broadeasting over WEAF at 2:00; two hours of Bizet’s opera “Carmen” by the National Opera Company direct from the New York Hippodrome with Giuseppe Bamboschek conducting over WEVD at 3:00 P.M.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
