WNYC Is a Zoot Suit Magnet
"WNYC, the municipal broadcasting station here, has been running annual jazz jamborees as part of its American Music Festival, and local zoot suiters turn out en masse for the occasions. Participating horn blowers knock themselves for free, glad of the opportunity to indulge in some righteous roughhouse. At odd times there are as many as eight regular jam sessions a week on tap in this town and it is a common practice for many famous but hungry names to sit in for kicks, getting their bread-and-butter money where they can find it. If playing jazz can be put on a paying basis by [Milt] Shaw, he's going to win himself an awful lot of friends among the hot boys. Jazz Concerts, Inc., has been organized by the Morris Agency to take care of the bookings."
Source: Billboard, May 1, 1943, p. 20.
WNYC’s World Theatre Series Is A-OK for the Proletariat!
"Do you think an hour and a half is too long for a good radio drama? You might try listening to WNYC's World Theatre at 8:30 p.m. Fridays and let them know what you think. They're presenting a series of five outstanding dramatic productions, transcribed from a series done by the British Broadcasting Company and are anxious to determine listener response. Last Friday night, they played the Felix Finton production of Christopher Marlowe's The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus.*...For several years, BBC has been presenting a series known as the Third Program, which features original radio productions of the world's best drama, performed by top English artists...One could hardly be too unstinting in praise of this sort of radio programming. It is hoped that WNYC will get more of these programs from the BBC. It is even more to be hoped that American radio stations will overcome their inferiority complex and decide that if the English can do this sort of thing, we can do it too."
Source: "J.A." writing in The Daily Worker, (the Communist Party's newspaper) September 26, 1947 in a review titled: "WNYC Presents Best in World Theatre."
Editor's Note: WNYC's BBC World Theatre series also included L'Aiglon by Edmond Rostand, The Trojan Women by Euripides, Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen and Man of Destiny by George Bernard Shaw.
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More Thanks
With all the thank you's last week we were remiss in leaving out a couple of key movers, molders and shakers on our second NEH grant. Better late than never, We would like to enthusiastically and sincerely thank Erica Sattin and Eoin Delap of WNYC's Development team for their 'blood, toil, tears and sweat' (to quote Churchill) in making our application a winner. See: NEH to read about the first grant. The latest will add (at least) another 588 hours to the publicly accessible collections.
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