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Show AW I THAT finiitMCiiillv liicrutivt ? Just what is radios role? r ly John J. OConnor don't stop iatlfg mrytklnf . . go ahead and New York Times Writer sufficiently Stari your flur slimming without cutting out tboM 3 nctli i dav. You while can cat you lone pounds of unwanted fat aa you follow the Reducing DM Plan. No starvation dieting. Taka a premeal X II Tablet before meals. Down goes your caloric intake, down goes your weight with the X II Plan. tuffl-cienti- y X-- MONEY BACK GUARANTEE Your money refunded by manufacturer no quaaliona asked if you art not IOUfc delighted with results 42 Tablets $3 105 Tablets $5 AT DRUG STORES CULBROOK RENTAL You service unlimited soft water $25 month automatic; RENTAL We own NEW YORK For most people, radio is some fotm of music or news surrounded by commercials. For many, those aging hoards who grew up before the onslaught of television, radio represents - a vast collection of fond memories, encompassing- everything from Fibber McGee and Molly to Edward R. Murrows World War II reports out of London. Those were the Golden Years. Contrary to general impressions, though, the television boom did not completely cripple radio. Over the years, the older medium has steadily recovered its quota of listeners. Today, radio is a flourishing business, transmitting its products into cars, kitchens, expensive stereo equipment, and those giant portable boxes lugged around by bopping teenagers. And, at least occasionally, radio can venture beyond the familiar borders of music and news. One rather stunning example is provided by Wings, one of the most acclaimed dramas of the current Broadway season. The Arthur Kopit play began as a project written specifically for radio. WINGS WAS PART of the ambitious and admirable series called Earplay, which is now in its seventh season on National Public Radio. Produced by Karl Schmidt in association with the University of Wisconsin, the project belongs to the International Commissioning Group of European Radio Drama Producers, allowing the purchase of productions from such sources abroad as the British Broadcasting Corporation. In fact, Schmidt readily admits that he set out to produce his programs in the image of the European radio drama tradition, explaining that even in its heyday, U.S. radio had never offered a very creative model. Moving from short, mostly abstract pieces to todays longer works commissioned expressly for the series, Earplay has managed to attract an d impressive roster of writers. Its playwrights have included, in addition to Kopit, Edward Albee, Archibald MacLeish and David Mameth. IN ADDITION, NOVELISTS such as John Gardner and Donald Barthelme have contributed pieces. This season features new works by Tim OBrien, winner of the National Book Award for Going After Caceiato, and John Irving, author of The World Obviously a class act, According to Garp. Earplay is special and invaluable radio. A portion of the European model lauded by Schmidt can be found on a new National Public Radio series entitled Masterpiece Radio Theater. Yes, this is a spinoff from public televisions Masterpiece Theater. Mobil Oil is the underwriter, and even the opening theme music is the same. But these aren not the sound tracks of old television productions. iSach dramatization has been adapted and produced especially for radio. Several have been acquired from the BBC, but some are being assembled in this country at the facilities of Boston station WGBH. Among the planned domestic efforts are Edith Whartons The House of Mirth, Herman Melvilles show in Moby Dick and, tentatively, a which Julie Harris, host for the series, will portray the life of Charlotte Bronte. THE SERIES BEGAN last Sunday at 4 p.m. with the first of three weekly episodes devoted to Tolstoys Anna Karenina. Adapted by Liane Aukin, this BBC project was produced and directed by Kay Patrick, deal, will who, in something of a lend-leas- e the new American productions with WGBHs Elinor Stout. Anna Karenina is obviously not the easiest of novels to translate into pure sound. It is sprawling and overflowing with innumerable characters, most of them bearing several difficult Russian names. And the first hour got off to an awkward start as the various key participants were introduced with a minimum of subtlety: Anna ... 28 . . . married . . . one child. BUT, ONCE OUTLINED, the overall scenario came quickly into comprehensible focus. Of course, large chunks of the novel are either eliminated or reduced to parenthetical comments. The focus is kept firmly on Anna (Sarah Badel), her lover Countvrons-k- y (Anthony Newland) and her husband Karenin (John Rowe). The ability of radio to suggest so much with so little remains startling With the listener creating his own mental images, little more than the simplest of sounds Ls required to trigger the imagination. A knife tapping against prime china whisks the listener to a already-establishe- 195 month PURCHASE FULLY AUTOMATIC Lifetime WATER tank CONDITIONER guarantee as low as CULUGAN MARK 9 FULLY AUTOMATIC month $084 - (- f(i BUY! $31 400 No down pymt. 17.77 APR. terms. th Cash $479.00. one-wom- til It vrslsi- o - we Week CUSTOM BUILT TV GARAGES OF QUALITY REASONABLY PRICED BLOCK-BRIC- K FRAME Check These Quality Features! 0 lifetime sectional overheod doors Sliding aluminum windows Top quality cement all kinds work Lake Salt We also do REMODELING Inquiries Welcome Coil Collect Wffhln 50 Mflt Aro The T II CALL 272-002- Sundoys Toll 1 277-976- MIDWEST BUILDERS E. 3750 South 8 A brief twittering of birds changes the scene to a country patio. The chugging of a locomotive and a careful orchestration of voices creates the atmosphere of a crowded railroad station At one point in the first episode of Anna Karenina, the rhythm of the trains movement catches Annas Im glad to go home. I'm glad to go thoughts: home, which, after memories of Vronsky, turn into a reluctant I have to go home, I have to go home. If necessary, the hstener can be informed directly. Anna, confronting a concerned Vronsky, announces, now you know why my hand I am with child shakes. No picture is needed for total appreciation. Other dramatizations scheduled for this radio series Thomas Jane Eyre, are Charlotte Brontes Hardys Far From the Madding Crowd, and D H. Lawrences Sons and Lovers. THE RENEWED ACTIVITY in radio is hardly restricted to the headier fare of National Public Radio. comedy is making a comeback on at least two fronts: a syndicated The Robert Klein Hour and Heres Henry Morgan," part of the dinner table. featureJ fc n.. Sears Radio Theater. Klein, the comedian who is currently starring on Broadway in Neil Simon's Theyre Playing Our Song, ha been given the unusual luxury of a live studio audience. And, with first rate guests, itis format is proving more interesting than his producers are promislxg. The press material refers to an opening monologue, a chatty interview with a top rock star, another interview with an up and coming act, and, for some doubtlessly commercial reason, a countdown of the weeks top 20 record albums. Two weeks ago, Klein did indeed offer an opening monologue that, among other things, recalled working in a Catskill kitchen with staffs that appeared to be almost exclusively hysterical Roumanians (get me the French toast or I kill you). And he did have a chatty interview with two members of the rock group called Kiss. But his second interview was with Robin Williams, the star of Mork and Mindy, who already is well beyond the category of Up and Coming. And the rundown of top 20 albums, delivered by Dennis Elsas, was kept blessedly perfunctory. Klein, who happens to sound like a junior version of Alan King, was slightly nervous, evidently concerned that his guests might monopolize attention. Williams was terrific, flitting in and out of impersonations and freely admitting that Mork and Mindy is aiming basically for children. He told of Jonathan Winters, his comedy hero, demanding a telethon to raise $2 million to get Lucille Ball off the air." If Klein can relax a bit and keep his guests talking freely, the show has impressive potential. On the Sears Radio Theater, a presentation of the CBS Radio Drama Network, Henry Morgan, veteran of both radio and television (Ive Got a Secret), is offering sketches on the American scene in the manner of a Robert Benchley or a James Thurber. With a small supporting cast, gathered together by Elliott Lewis as executive producer, Morgan picks his way impatiently through everydetectives to the New thing from Colombo-lik- e Guinea Book of Records. His humor tends to be crotchety and decidedly uneven. But, when on target, he is delicious. An example: those TV laugh tracks that were probably recorded years ago, thereby providing a tape of people who once laughed in the past. A lot of dead The inescapable conslucions: people are laughing at Welcome Back, Kotter. A few scattered programs hardly constitute a renaissance, but they do indicate signs of encouraging life. And the outlook is definitely for more activity National Public Radio has announced that, with the BBC. it will produce at least 13 half hours on the film, Star Wars." Shades of Captain Jack Armstrong, All Ameru an Midnight' and li.i-.e- Boy " S3 |
