On The Air @ The Eisenhower Center

On The Air:

A Salute to Radio Stars From the '40's

The Eisenhower Center

By Lydia Lowe
(photo by James Lowe)

     This was the opener to the Tony Orlando appearance this past Saturday at The Eisenhower Center.  Lynn Rogers portrayed five well known entertainers from 1940's radio and Chuck Carson portrayed the NBC announcer.

     Rogers started the show as Bob Hope.  He had the look, the lines, the mannerisms, and the overall tone of Bob Hope.  You had to keep reminding yourself that this was an actor portraying Bob Hope.  He was very good and stayed in character throughout the performance.

     When Rogers went to change costumes to become Red Skelton, Chuck Carson took over entertaining the audience.  He did live reads of commercials from the era.  They were very entertaining.  It was hard to believe that at one time these commercials were taken as truth and made complete sense to radio listeners.  Now they sound so archaic and knowledge has advanced so that it was laughable to hear the claims.  One of the commercials recommended Camel cigarettes and stated that 4 out of 5 doctors smoked these, so they must be the best ones. It made me wonder how the commercials of today will be viewed 60 years from now. 

     Rogers became three more characters over the course of the afternoon: Red Skelton, Jack Benny, and Jimmy Durante, before returning to Bob Hope and closing out the show.  Carson kept us entertained as the NBC announcer throughout the show.  The jokes were old and many in the audience had heard them for years, but good humor, it stands the test of time.  Old jokes are still funny.

     It was a great way to open for Tony Orlando.  The crowd loved it.  It's always good to share a good laugh in good company.