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 The
Nutty '40s Radio Show!
The
1940s come to life with "The Woman of 101 Voices!"
From review by Jean Hagen, Tahlequah Daily Press
Listen up all you “hep cats,” ‘cause
this is “Solid, Jackson!” The Fabulous Forties come to
life with Laurette Willis starring in The Nutty ‘40s
Radio Show!
It’s 1945 and America’s No. 1 variety show is “The Radio
Variety Hour” broadcasting LIVE from New York City. The
program’s hostess is the lovely Miss Katherine St.
Clare, “star of Broadway stage and screen.”
Actually, it’s the setting for The Nutty ‘40s Radio
Show, the hilarious comedy written by and starring
Laurette Willis of DoveTale Productions. This one-woman
show features “The Woman of 101 Voices” in a tour de
force that will leave
audiences laughing and asking themselves, “How did she
do all that?”
Big Band music ushers the audience back in time to east
coast radio station WAKY (pronounced “wacky”) only
moments before America’s favorite variety show is
broadcast live into millions of homes throughout all 48
states.
This particular evening, however, there is one slight
problem. All of the actors, announcers and technicians
have just gone on strike – even the sound effects man
and the orchestra, “Winky McFarland and the Eyesores!”
So – it’s up to Katherine, portrayed by Willis, with
help from the audience, to keep the show on the air.
With all the pluck and bravado
of a Judy Garland-Mickey Rooney classic, volunteers help
out by reading hilarious scripts for commercials and
serials “on the air.” Willis surprises the audience with
a seemingly limitless variety of voices to cover for the
numerous actors on strike – everything from a
Brooklynese mobster to jungle bird calls; a police siren
to cartoon character Betty Boop.
Welcome to
W-A-K-Y (Wacky!)
Radio!!!”
Laurette is “Miss Katherine St. Clare,”
your charming hostess for 1945 America’s
#1 Radio Show
–
LIVE from New York!
Willis’ rich contralto voice keeps
things moving with such toe-tapping melodies as “It
Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing” and
“Dixie Melody.” Her “solo duet” as both Katherine and
Betty Boop is a hoot.
Willis, who has performed on the New York stage, in Asia
for the U.S.O., as well as for television and films,
says The Nutty ‘40s Radio Show is one of her favorite
shows.
“I wrote this show to be able to showcase some of the
great ‘40s songs I love to sing, as well as highlight
the wonderful nuttiness of ‘40s ‘screwball comedy,’”
said Willis. “I get to be ‘wacky,’ doing some of the
off-the-wall voices and sound effects I’ve done since I
was a kid – like the jungle bird calls that used to
drive my mother up the wall!”
 Laurette
says 1940s comedienne Betty Hutton is her inspiration
for the character of Katherine St. Clare – “singer,
dancer, actress, and wonderfully wacky!”
The Nutty ‘40s Radio Show is truly a “blast from the
past” full of entertainment, delightful surprises and
fun.
The slogan of Mrs. Willis’
company, DoveTale Productions aptly describes her work,
“Uniting the Past with the Present – Dramatically!”
Since 1993 Laurette's shows are
Available for funding from:
Available to work with
Indian Education-funded projects
(JOM,
Title programs and
Cherokee Nation Co-Partner Program).
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