“YIDDISHE SHTUNDE”
WHAT: Elliot Raisen’s tribute to the radio shows of the 1930s through the ’50s stars Bunny Love, Matthew Mickal, Maggie Corbett, Margeaux Fanning and Jim Fitzmorris
WHEN: Thurs.-Sat. (Jan. 12-14), 8 p.m.
WHERE: The Theatre at St. Claude, 2240 St. Claude Ave.
TICKETS: $15-$20
MORE INFO: Visit the website

Elliot Raisen has a deep and abiding love of the radio shows from the good old days, and, at age, 88, is happy to share them with New Orleans audiences. So we asked him to take a swing at his top five favorites, and here’s what he came up with as The Theatre at St. Claude presents “Yiddishe Shtunde”:

When I was a teenager, I saw almost every radio show that was being broadcast in the 1940s. Tickets were free. People always asked for more tickets than they needed because it took about a year to receive them by mail. We would go to the theater and ask for extra tickets.

I loved ”Hit Parade,” ”The Bob Hope Show,” ”Fibber McGee and Molly,” ”The Shadow,” ”The Green Hornet,” “Double or Nothing,” ”The $64 Question,” ”Dick Tracy,” ”Molly Goldberg,” ”The Aldrich Family,” ”Against The Storm,” ”The Abbott and Costello Show,” ”Abie’s Irish Rose,” ”Whiles the World Turns,” ”Guiding Lights,” ”Fred Allen’s Show,” ”The Great Gildersleeve,” and ”The Mercury Theater on The Air.”

I loved hearing The Shadow say, “Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of men?” Today it would be not only men but also women and transgender people as well.

I loved hearing the announcers talking about the train coming into Grand Central Station with the reminder, “There’s a story in every window”. This is so true.

When we weren’t listening to the radio, we used to take the Third Avenue El to its end and go back. There was no A/C then, so we could open the windows. We did it just to look at the buildings and look into the windows, because it only cost five cents.

But those adventures are another story. Ask me. Here are five memories from radio:

1. I remember the sponsor for “Double or Nothing” was Feenamints. These are little candies that look just like Chiclets. They act like Ex-Lax. They gave samples to the audience. We used to put them in an Chiclet box and give them to our friends. Actually , at one of my productions I bought 200 Chiclets and gave them out.I still have a few.

2. We saw Marlene Dietrich on “The Bob Hope Show.” They would read the script and throw each page on the floor after they read it. At the end of the show, we ran to the stage, scooped up the scripts, and ran out … with them chasing us. After I moved from home, my mother threw the scripts out before I could retrieve them. She also threw out a Japanese sword from World War II that my friend in the army gave it to me.

3. At “The Abbott and Costello Show,”I went to the men’s room and peed next to Bud Abbott! Now I can go into Puccino’s and pee next to him again. They have a picture of Abbott and Costello on the wall there.

4. I saw Constance Bennett in the hallway one time. I thought she looked anorexic. I realized years later that the film made them look heavier, so they used very thin actresses.

5. I hated Frank Sinatra, because he got all the “bobby-soxers.” When he was on “The Hit Parade,” all the “soxers” (my wife Sandy was one of them) screamed and tried to attack him. On the other hand, when we tried to pick them up? They ignored us completely. Hated him. But the man could sing.