Vintage radio days recreated

Photo: Contributed

A rehearsal underway for the Big Broadcast of 2014

Rehearsals are now underway for an event at Penticton's Shatford Centre, reminiscent of a show on the very same stage some 78 years ago.

"in March of 1936, 110 local singers, actors and dancers put on an event that was just like the radio shows of the era. It was sponsored by the Gyro Club and raised funds for Gyro Park," said Craig Henderson of the Peach City Community Radio Society."Our show pays tribute to the live radio shows of yesteryear."

In total, 37 Penticton actors, broadcasters and music artists are involved in the production of  the  Big Broadcast of 2014, a fundraiser  for Peach City Radio.

The society expects to submit its application to the CRTC this spring to establish a nonprofit community FM station in Penticton.

"The 1936 event pretended to be a radio broadcast, just like the cavalcades of talent often heard on the airwaves in generations past. Yet it was 12 years before CKOK signed on as Penticton's first radio station," said Henderson, the writer and producer of the show. "Our 2014 show will be broadcast in the near future and will be available as a podcast shortly after it is staged."

The show includes vignettes of local history and a comedic play during which the audience is encouraged to boo the villain and cheer the hero.

Sound effects will be performed live using everyday gadgets and gizmos to add to the audio realism.

There are also historic links between the upcoming show and the 1936 Big Broadcast.

Two of the performers Randy Manuel and Katie Shumaker are cousins, and their grandmother Florence Manuel played piano in the 1936 event.

The show will be held at the Shatford from Feb. 28 to March 2.

Tickets are available at the Shatford Centre or the Dragon's Den on Front Street.

Photo: Contributed

Cast photo from 1936