Radio doings (Dec 1930-Jun1932)

Back Stage Willi Myrt and Marge Five Years Ago Myrtle Vail Retired From the Show Business, But a Sudden Inspiration Brought Her Out of Seclusion Into the Spotlight of Radio — Her First Rehearsal Was Also Her First Appearance Before the Microphone! b> Sloe i ...... t>. .11 HARDBOILED sentimentalist! Those seemingly conflicting adjectives were used by one radio critic in describing Myrt. central figure in the Myrt and Marge etherwave serial, now heard five nights a week over the Columbia Broadcasting System. Myrt has been lifted bodily from the theatrical back-stage. Her creator, the writer of the script, knows whereof she speaks. She is Myrtle Vail. who. in her own language, has been everything from a prima donna to a "nut" comedienne. In addition to writing the script she plays the Myrt role. A glimpse into the past of Miss Vail is a glimpse into the life of Myrt of the radio show. Born in Joliet, 111.. Miss Vail was just fifteen years old when she decided the footlights were more important than history and algebra. To think was to act, and before school was opened the following Monday the name of Myrtle Vail had been added to the list of ladies of the chorus in a musical comedy then plaving in Chicago. More musical comedy, stock and vaudeville. Then, about ten years ago, Miss Vail discovered she could write as well as act. In vaudeville at the time, and already in the ranks of the headliners, she started turning out her own skits. Soon the Vail play-mill was turning out so much material that there was a surplus for sale to other actors. Five years ago she retired for thought she did). Living in a quiet Chicago suburb, she aided in the directing of local talent plays — club affairs and the like — and listened to radio dramas. Never had she been in a radio studio, and yet, somehow, she was intrigued by those radio dramas, intrigued and sometimes disappointed. It was in one of these latter moments that she remarked to a group of friends one evening: "Any idiot could write a skit like that!" And when the company left that evening Myrt sat down to prove her point. At 3 :00 a. m. she was still proving the point. At 5:00 a. m. the first three episodes of Mvrt and Marge were on paper. The Wrigley company had been the target for just about every newborn radio idea in the Windy City for more than a year, so for the Wrigley company headed Myrt. It was known that this concern spent millions in advertising, but for some two years radio had been left out. Representatives of the company had rejected more radio ideas than probably any other one industry in the country. If Myrt had heard about that she didn't care. Into the Wrigley portals she stormed, and she sold the show. Her first glimpse of a radio studio came when she entered Columbia's Chicago headquarters for the rehearsal. Ask Myrt now which is the toughest proposition, writing for radio or for the stage, and there is no room for doubt in interpreting her words: "Writing for the radio is the toughest game in the world." she will tell you. "It's like trying to put over a stage play with all of the actors handcuffed and in false-faces, or with the lights off altogether. Words, and words alone must tell the storv." But despite these difficulties. Myrt continues to turn out five episodes each week, spend several hours in rehearsals, and act the script before the microphone ten times each week. Mvrt and Marge is presented at 7:00 p. m. EST for stations in the east, and again at 10:45 p. m. EST for stations from Chicago west. Donna Damerel. every bit as young as the voice indicates, plays the part of Marge. The skit is unique in that there is no doubling, no playing of two or more characters bv one actor. There Introducing Misses Myrtle Vail and Donna Damerel. smiling their best chewing gum smiles — a pair of real live girls, doing a big job, well, like the troupers they are. is an actor, or an actress, in the flesh for every character before the microphone. Most of them are stage vets. Otis Gordinier plays the part of Hunt, the producer of "Pleasures of 1931"' (the title has not yet been changed in keeping with the new year). Billie. the hard-boiled one. is played by Eleanor Trent, daughter of May Trent, a famous soubrette in the days of Maggie Mitchell. Gwen, the "dumb Patsy" of the chorus, is played by Patricia Ann Manners, remembered by the theatrical audience as Gretchen in "The Student Prince." The part of May is played by Dorothy Day. Vinton Haworth, whose voice vou may have remembered as the announcer for The Three Doctors, is Arnold. Karl Way plays the part of Houston, the tough gangster. Ray Hedge plays the effeminate Tiffingtuffer, and he does everything but chew tobacco in the studio to eradicate the impression created by his part. Myrt explains her inspiration in this manner: "I guess everyone who was ever connected with the theatre has wanted to write plays, the call boy, the stage carpenter, and even the ushers. Myrt and Marge was in the formative stage for years. I always wanted to write about the people I knew best ... a play about people who make plays, something I could do without reference books." RADIO DOINGS Page Eleven