Gloria McMillan, Stuffy Singer and Beverly Washburn confirmed for Showcase.

Gloria McMIllan Portrait Stuffy Singer Portrait Beverly Washburn Portrait

This morning I was thrilled to receive confirmation that Gloria McMillan, Stuffy Singer and Beverly Washburn have confirmed their attendance at this years’s REPS SHOWCASE. Three nicer people you could not meet.   I first met Gloria McMillan in 2009 when I attended my first REPS SHOWCASE.   Gloria was directing the radio version of the Wizard of Oz for which I was asked to do the barking for Toto and also to provide a couple of munchkin voices.  How they knew I specialized in animal sounds and young children’s voices is anyone’s guess but there I was  in this amazing production and very thrilled to be a part of it.  Gloria from the get go was extremely delightful and gracious and I enjoyed working with her immensely.  Gloria McMillan  is best remembered for her long running role of Harriet Conklin on Our Miss Brooks but she has an endless  number of radio appearances.  I am really looking forward to seeing Gloria, Stuffy and Beverly.     Stuffy started out as a young child actor in radio before moving on to television.  Later he became a world class athlete before becoming  a  successful financial advisor based in Southern California (the profession he has held for the last 30 years).   Forget any preconceived ideas that you may have had  about financial advisors being introverted and well, er “stuffy” (no pun intended) because  Stuffy Singer is not . . . . he’s a whole lot of fun.  From the time he arrives in Seattle on Thursday evening until Showcase ends on Sunday afternoon,  we have shared  many laughs together and  entertained a good story or two.  I imagine Stuffy to have been somewhat of a prankster when he was young.  Stuffy Singer gave up acting many, many  years ago but in the 40s and 50s  he had a very long list of radio and early TV credits.   His most notable appearances included Fibber McGee and Molly, The Great Gildersleeve,  Suspense  and many other shows.   Now Beverly , she is  just one of the sweetest , nicest and caring people I know and she still continues to do some acting today and boy is she a great actress.  At the 2015 Showcase she brought down the house with her intense and emotional performance of a wife who has just moments to save her husband from the electric chair after he was wrongly convicted.  The performance received a standing ovation which should not surprise anyone considering that Beverly has years of professional experience starting  in radio and motion pictures and then on to over 500 TV appearances.

 

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The Green Hornet to be Featured at REPS SHOWCASE

The Green Hornet BY Martin Grams Paul Carnegie Portrait

An exciting  dramatization of a Green Hornet broadcast  that you’ve  probably never heard and  a visit from the man who played Kato in the radio series.
That man is Paul Carnegie.  The Southeastern High School grad was hired to work in the WXYZ sound-effects department, considered one of the best in the business. That was “pretty heady stuff” for the teenager, who got paid $1 an hour and was responsible for sound effects on many well known shows including the legendary Lone Ranger.   “Whenever some character was socked on the jaw, I’d smack the palm of my hand with this little pad of rubber,” he says. “It hurt like hell.” Galloping hoofbeats were created by pounding small toilet plungers into a box of dirt.  A companion show of The Lone Ranger was The Green Hornet.   The Hornet series began on radio station WXYZ on January 31st , 1936 and was supplied to the Mutual Broadcasting System beginning April 12th, 1938 and later to the Blue network and its successor the ABC Radio Network.   Towards the end of the series run, Paul Carnegie  began playing the part of Kato (assistant to the Green Hornet).   Mr. Carnegie will join us this April at the REPS SHOWCASE to lead the way in bringing  The Green Hornet back  to the radio microphone.   Courtesy of Radio Historian, Martin Grams, who has provided the original radio script for this exciting Green Hornet adventure of  which there is no known recording, so unless you happened to have heard the original broadcast back in 1938,  chances are this exciting adventure will be completely new to you.
The Green Hornet Returns!

 

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We Salute Screen Legend Terry Moore

Terry Moore Portrait

Here’s news that I am delighted to share.   At the 2016 REPS SHOWCASE,  REPS will be honoring screen legend Terry Moore.  We are planning a very special salute for this very classy and celebrated star on Sunday April 17th.   We plan  to feature thoughts and memories from friends, family and notable Hollywood personalities who worked with Terry in pictures and on radio.  Her notable radio work includes the Smiths of Hollywood, Mayor of the Town and she was also heard on Bob Hope, Family Theater and the Lux Radio Theater before making her way into pictures.

 

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Tony Dow of Leave it to Beaver fame Appearing at REPS SHOWCASE in April

I learned this news just this afternoon.  Tony Dow who is best known for his role in the television sitcom Leave it to Beaver (1957 -1963) will be heading to Seattle this April to appear at the REPS SHOWCASE.   Tony is a long time friend of Beverly Washburn who will also be making the trip.  While Tony’s work in radio was very limited,  during his years in early television,  he worked along side many  young actors, directors and writers, who had spent many years working in the big time network radio shows.  Tony has a great appreciation for the Golden Days of Radio and is looking forward to making the trip to Seattle to help pay tribute to the classic shows of yesterday. Would Leave it to Beaver have made a good radio show?  We may have an opportunity to find out as plans are afoot to dramatize one of Tony’s favorite Leave it to Beaver episodes as a radio show.  You’ll have to be at SHOWCASE 2016 to see it.  Hope you can make it.

 

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NEWS: SHOWCASE 2016 – April 15, 16, 17

SHOWCASE IS COMING

The Radio Enthusiasts of Puget Sound are pleased to announce the dates for the next Showcase.  Mark your calendars for April 15, 16,17 when once again REPS will roll out the red carpet to welcome the stars and fans in a grand celebration of  The Golden Days of Radio. The legendary radio comedians, the spine tingling thrillers, mysteries, and adventures!  It’s an opportunity to meet, get the autographs of and befriend the voices of radios past!  Stars from radio will once again step before the microphone in reenactments of classic shows featuring  live music, live sound effects,  and  a talented cast.  Look forward to many of the performers re-creating their original roles  from the Golden Age.
Hear stories of  the Golden Age of Radio from those who were there and worked with the biggest names in radio and on the most popular shows including the stories of what really happened behind the  microphone!

 

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