Radio revue (Dec 1929-Mar 1930)

34 Editorials RADIO REVUE Thanks You! A NY doubts or misgivings we may have had as to the -^* manner in which our first issue of Radio Revue would be received were soon swept aside when this newlyborn infant. was presented for public inspection. We thank you all. The reaction was most pleasingly favorable. It warmed the cockles of our editorial hearts and caused our editorial pulse to beat at an hitherto unknown speed. While this reception was most gratifying — and we do not question its sincerity — we hasten to point out that we, more than anyone else, most fully realize the shortcomings of that initial issue. We have remedied some of these in this issue and shall continue our efforts to make this magazine the most entertaining and informative one of its kind. You listeners can help us in this respect. We invite you to write us as freely as you wish for information concerning radio programs, entertainers or those "behind the scenes." Let's make Radio Revue the listener's forum. If you have a grievance to air, let us help you give it wide circulation. Write us what you like or dislike in the way of programs — and why. Tell us frankly who your favorite broadcasting artists are, what announcers you prefer or cannot stand, and also which stations you think put on the best programs. What artist's picture would you like to see on the cover? What program would you like to read a feature story about? What does radio mean to you and your family? Which of the radio stars or programs of the early days do you best recall? If you will but take the time, you can help us to make this a magazine of the listener, by the listener and for the listener. Remember, this magazine is edited exclusively for you, the listener. Why not lend it the advantage of your support and encouragement? Again, we thank you! The Theatre of Illusion iYTTTH tne decay of the charming theatre of fanciful ** illusion and the substitution of plays dealings with trench life, speakeasies and questionable hotels, for the imaginative comedies of a gentler age, the broadcasting business may find and take advantage of a rare opportunity. Only a few months ago Andre Wormser's delightful mimo-drama "Pierrot, the Prodigal" found its way across the ether, with proper incidental music and the pantomimic action recited by a reader. Many complimentary remarks were heard throughout the land and, indeed, it seemed a welcome relief to get away, for an hour at least, from the revolting language of the saloon, the gunman's lair, and the jarring remarks of abandoned women. Why not let us have a few more plays of this kind, by Pirandello, Rostand, Giacosa and Lord Dunsany? And RADIO REVUE how about Tschaikovsky's Christmas pantomime, "The Nutcracker", "Drigo's "The Enchanted Forest", Delibes' "Coppelia", Ibsen's "Peer Gynt" with Grieg's music, Felix Borowsky's "Boudour", John Alden Carpenter's "The Birthday of the Infanta", and Julius Mattfeld's "The Virgins of the Sun"? There is much material to draw from and much more could be written. Let the imaginations of the writers play a little and, in its turn, let the imagination of the audience come to life again. If the theatre is in a bad way — and it certainly seems to be — the quality of recent plays and the language used in those plays are responsible. It seems to us that there is a tremendous opportunity for the powers that be in radio to take advantage of this situation, to produce delightful plays of charm and imagination, with adequate music, and even specially written, when it is necessary. One hears on all sides the remark: "We do not go to the theatre. We cannot afford to pay $8.80 to see the lurid spectacles exposed on Broadway". A large portion of the public is apparently hungry for some of the finer things. If the radio programs can restore to these people the old theatre of illusion, the land of make-believe, that will enchant children from six to sixty, then writers, musicians and listeners will develop, and the radio will truly succeed where the commercialized theatre has failed. We have no wish to see the radio supplant the theatre, but the present theatre is accomplishing its own ruin by rotten plays, by greedy speculators and by language that is hardly fit for sailors' ears. It seems to us that it is the duty of the radio to fill the gap with the things of fantasy, of charm, ofimaginaticn and of fine music. Put an End to This Panic THE radio business is kept alive largely through income derived from advertising; that is, a sponsoring company has its wares announced frequently and eloquently — sometimes too frequently and not eloquently enough — through the musical program, or the dramatic episodes that compose entertainment for the listener. "^«v, A survey of two broadcasting systems re veals the fact that a certain type of advertiser is becoming far too aggressive on the air and certainly too objectionable in the studios. With a few hundred dollars to spend, he writes his own "continuity", he blatantly inflicts his product on music that was certainly not intended to assist in selling any such commodity and, when his salesmen stalk into the great studios of the broadcasting business, a veritable panic results. Officers and administrators grovel before this merchant "king," engineers and production men are literally kicked out of the studios, writers and musicians are banished from the building, carpet is laid to the street, and, as one writer expressed it, "The Presence of God" descends for four hours on a huge business and paralyzes it. Clever and independent workers become a lot of hat-touching, grovelling slaves. A second-rate manufacturer is exalted to a positions of divinity. He is allowed to make a crude (Continued on page 46)