A&E

Las Vegas Little Theatre takes on little-known holiday tale ‘The 1940’s Radio Hour’

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The cast of The 1940’s Radio Hour
Kris Mayeshiro, KM2 Creative / Courtesy

They say the holidays sneak up on us, but Las Vegas Little Theatre won’t be caught by surprise. The local troupe has been preparing its production of The 1940’s Radio Hour, which runs from December 2 through 18.

Set amid World War II, the musical by Walton Jones centers on New York City radio station WOV, as it records a holiday broadcast for American soldiers a few days before Christmas. Radio Hour features popular music from the era, along with an array of memorable characters.

The cast of <em>The 1940’s Radio Hour</em>

The cast of The 1940’s Radio Hour

According to director and choreographer April Sauline, the play rarely makes its way to stages anywhere, let alone Las Vegas. “It’s really unique. Someone had seen it when they were young. I believe they’re from Ohio and saw it there,” Sauline says. “We have patrons suggest shows all the time, but this one stuck out. We’re always looking for a Christmas show or a holiday show that isn’t so on the nose, [because] there’s only so many Christmas carols you can do.”

Because few people are familiar with Radio Show, Sauline says she had a relatively clean slate while adapting it. Beyond the basics of the radio-show concept, she and her 12-member cast have created their own backstory, but she says the LVLT’s version stays faithful to the music of the time period—songs like “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and “Strike Up the Band,” which will be delivered by a nine-piece band.

“[The songs] will be familiar to a wide demographic of the audience, because they’re not only songs of the era but the ones that have stood the test of time,” music director Toby McEvoy says. “‘Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy’ is too much fun, and the cast really does a good job [with] ‘I’ll Never Smile Again.’”

Sauline calls the music “deceptively complicated,” adding that, “This cast brings so much time and effort. This show is hard to do. They’re all super-talented vocalists.”

Technology has come a lone way since the ’40s, obviously, but like the characters in Radio Show and their audience, we continue to rely on it for information, entertainment and more.

“I talked to the cast about that [pandemic] Christmas where we couldn’t be together with the people that we love but we were still Zoom calling and hanging on to this technology that we have,” Sauline says. “The radio is the technology that they have [in the show]. And they want to say, ‘Happy holidays’ to all these men who are fighting and, ‘We’re here for you.’”

The 1940’s Radio Hour December 2-18; Friday & Saturday, 2 & 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m.; $30. Las Vegas Little Theatre, lvlt.org.

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