Radio's Golden Age on WCLV

This beast is the 1928 Wurlitzer theater organ used in WCLV's "The Mighty Wurlitzer Radio Hour," in its 19th year on 104.9. Larry Kass acquired this from the Plaza Theater in Kansas City. During the MWRH, Larry puts the script and the score on the music stand. His two assistants stand on either side. One turns music pages; the other points out where we are in the script. Larry can also play his grand piano from this keyboard.

You'll hear the "Theater of the Air Chorus" singing "The Best of Broadway" on the next "Mighty Wurlitzer Radio Hour," Friday, April 29th at 9 on WCLV.

Wear Black, Please

Thanks to the folks at the Cleveland International Film Festival for their hospitality on March 26, when I introduced a screening of a Chinese film entitlted "Piano in a Factory."

The plot revolves around an estranged couple. The young daughter says she'll live with whoever provides her with a piano. The father and his co-workers make a piano out of discarded parts from closed factory that's soon to be demolished. It's a buddy picture. The relationships among the man and his work colleagues account for a number of digressions, but the movie always returns to the piano and the daughter.

This is my 4th CIFF, always held at Tower City Cinemas in downtown Cleveland. It's always mobbed with film fans. You'll find more people wearing black per capita at CIFF than anywhere else in Cleveland.

Sunshine Ahead

If grey is Your Color, Cleveland is Your City. Especially while rain is moving along the Lake Erie shore. It should end this afternoon, replaced by sunshine. The forecast for tomorrow's St. Patrick's Day Parade: Sunny and 60.

PS: The high-rise housing I mentioned yesterday is a mixed-use development: Sparrows and grackles.

Housing Boom in Downtown Cleveland

Our downtown digs at the Idea Center afford a private view of a new condo development under construction. The location, location, location is way above ground. A sparrow stands sentry at the top of the high-rise. Other sparrows fly in and out of several vertical gaps in the corrugated metal annex of the building next door.

If birds had real-estate listings, this one would read: "Urban high-rise near Lake Erie. Build your own or take over previously-occupied unit needing twigs and TLC."

You Numbskull...Hand Me My Cue

There's a reason it was called the Palace. The most opulent of the Playhouse Square theaters had, in addition to this palatial lobby, a backstage beauty parlor, billiards room and day care, in addition to the swankiest dressing rooms on the vaudeville circuit. Moe Howard of The Three Stooges, not exactly an exponent of style and taste, did credit the Palace in Cleveland for being the most hospitable theater in the country, nyuk-nyuk-nyuk.

Live from the "Radioquarium"

Last Thursday morning, I'd had enough of the sterile atmosphere of master control. In between the last traffic report at 8:50 and the Composer's Datebook at 9:05, I put up a fair sampling of the removable peel-and-stick aquatic decor sent by two anonymous WCLV listeners.

The Ceiling Next Door

Whenever I look up at the ceiling outside the Playhouse Square box office, and see the lavender and blue, I think of the Gabor sisters. Don't ask me why.