Press Releases

March 17, 1999
Veterans Invited as Special Guests to Musical Theater Performance Set in World War II

Contact:
Jane Finalborgo
(516) 287 8313
Fax: (516) 283 4081

Southampton Players is inviting veterans to be special guests for the opening night of 1940s Radio Hour in the Avram Theater at Southampton College of Long Island University. Director Michael Disher has announced that any current or former member of the Armed Services, plus one guest of his or her choice, is invited to enjoy a pair of free tickets to the Thursday, April 15 performance of the musical.

Radio Hour is set in December of 1942, a year after America entered World War II. Veterans should reserve tickets by calling 516-287-8480 and bring any kind of service identification - a uniform piece, a hat, a medal, an ID tag, discharge papers, or whatever else they might think of - to claim the free tickets at the door. A total of 300 free tickets are set aside for the evening, available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

1940s Radio Hour, by Walton Jones, features the songs and close harmonies of the big band sound that was so popular in the late 1930s and the 1940s. The finale is a rousing rendition of George Gershwin's Strike Up the Band. Other songs in the production that were popular in the early years of WWII include Kalamazoo, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, The Five O'Clock Whistle, Blues in the Night, How About You? and Ain't She Sweet?

Big Band East, a major local contributor to the revival of big band swing that is currently taking place across America, will be the onstage band for Radio Hour, as the Players enact a national radio broadcast just prior to and during airtime. On-air "stars," "featured players" and the "Boutineers" sing solos, duets and group numbers, emulating the radio programs that were all the rage in the '40s. The show plays April 15 through 18 and 22 through 24 at 8 p.m. in the Avram Theater in the Fine Arts Center of Southampton College.