The Northland Community & Technical College Music Department has a special treat for the community this fall as seven community and NCTC faculty take to the stage to present “Radio Gals.” Performances are Friday, September 25 and Saturday, September 26 at 7:00 p.m., and Sunday, September 27 at 2:00 p.m., in the theater at the Thief River Falls campus. General admission tickets are $8, and may be purchased at Kezar Music in Thief River Falls.

"RADIO GALS" is a musical by Mike Craver and Mark Hardwick, set in the late l920's, concerning an enterprising woman, Hazel Hunt, of Cedar Ridge, Arkansas, who, upon her retirement as the town music teacher, receives a Western Electric 500 watt radio transmitter and begins broadcasting as radio station "WGAL". What comes out over the local airwaves is a small town diary, calendar, and stream of consciousness; sort of a Molly Bloom crossed with the Farmers' Almanac with generous dollops of singing and playing by Hazel's "all-girl" orchestra, the “Hazelnuts", and that lovesick flapper Gladys Fritts. However, due to Hazel's habit of "channel wandering", her broadcasts are not always so local. And listeners as far away as Montreal and Manhattan can testify. Enter O. B. Abbott, Federal Radio Inspector, intent on rescuing the airwaves from gypsies like Hazel Hunt. However, Mr. Abbott soon falls prey to the blandishments of the Hazelnuts, and the Shangri-La that is Cedar Ridge. Inspector Abbott, it turns out, also has a fine tenor voice, plays a mean accordion, and in the course of things falls for the flapper... http://www.mikecraver.com/radgals.html

The cast is made up of Northland music faculty, Northland retired faculty, Northland students and community members. This seven person cast does it all: the set, the staging, choreography, the acting and all the playing and singing. Regina Goodhall leads the cast with her fun but no-nonsense portrayal of retired music teacher Hazel Hunt. Her favorite student and flapper extraordinaire is played by Amelia Schmitz, a talented singer with a wonderful stage presence. Tyson Panek plays the only male member of the cast, a fabulous tenor voice and comfort on the stage makes him a natural. The accompanist and character of Azilee Swindle is Challenger pre-school teacher and Thief River Falls piano instructor, Mandi Rodahl. She can play ragtime and oom-pahs with the best of them, and takes the stage too for a few one-liners and even a solo vocal song. Mandi’s counterpart for the production is retired Northland faculty Diane Drake, who plays the frisky and musically gifted Mabel Swindle who gets to demonstrate her talent on the xylophone, baritone, percussion toys and her knack for cabaret dancing. The crew is rounded out by the stage appearance of Northland music faculty Vanessa Martell and Linda Samuelson. Both of these ladies typically are behind the scenes for a Northland production, but decided it was time to have some fun themselves. Linda and Vanessa play cousins Rennebelle and America, part of the Hazelnuts radio orchestra who play instruments and sing during the lulls in the otherwise laugh-stocked radio programming.

Mark your calendars and purchase your general admission tickets early from Kezar Music in Thief River Falls.