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Musical / operetta anthology · ABC / NBC

The Railroad Hour

October 4, 1948 – June 21, 1954 · 300 broadcasts

The Railroad Hour was a prestige musical anthology that condensed a Broadway musical or operetta into a single half-hour each week, drawing on the great pre-1943 American theatre canon. Advertised on its 1948 ABC launch as the "World's Greatest Musical Comedies" and opening to the strains of "I've Been Working on the Railroad," it starred singer-actor Gordon MacRae as host and male lead, paired each week with a guest prima donna or movie star. Sponsored by the Association of American Railroads as cultural goodwill rather than hard sell, it was a genuine live-orchestra production: Carmen Dragon conducting, with Warren Barker, appointed chief arranger at just 24, holding the post for six years. Scripts came from Jean Holloway and the playwriting team of Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee, later famous for Inherit the Wind and Auntie Mame. Resident sopranos Dorothy Warenskjold and Lucille Norman carried many weeks, with marquee guests including Dorothy Kirsten, Jane Powell, Doris Day, Dinah Shore, Rise Stevens, and Jeanette MacDonald; the repertoire ran from The Desert Song and The Merry Widow to Show Boat and Brigadoon. It kept the pre-war operetta and musical-comedy repertoire alive before a mass postwar audience, and served as a career platform for MacRae, who went on to the film versions of Oklahoma! and Carousel. The show is documented in unusual depth -- Gerald Wilson and Martin Grams Jr.'s book catalogs all 299 episodes with every song in sequence -- and many of its scripts survive at Ohio State University.

Collection status: 243 of 300 held (81% complete)
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Episode Spine

Grouped by year. Jump to the full list below, or open a season on its own page.

1948

October 4, 1948 Good News Listen (MP3)
The series premiere: a half-hour of the collegiate musical comedy Good News (Ray Henderson, with DeSylva and Brown), opened by the AAR president speaking from St. Louis, with Jane Powell and Dinah Shore beside Gordon MacRae.
October 11, 1948 Anything Goes Listen (MP3)
Cole Porter's shipboard musical comedy, with Margaret Whiting as nightclub evangelist Reno Sweeney, Victor Moore reprising his stage role of Moonface, and MacRae as Billy Crocker.
October 18, 1948 The Cat and the Fiddle Listen (MP3)
October 25, 1948 The Student Prince Listen (MP3)
October 26, 1948 Student Prince
November 1, 1948 Roberta Listen (MP3)
November 8, 1948 Rio Rita Listen (MP3)
November 15, 1948 Vagabond King Listen (MP3)
November 22, 1948 Hit the Deck Listen (MP3)
Vincent Youmans' sailors-and-sweethearts musical comedy, guest-starring Frances Langford, carried by the hits 'Hallelujah' and 'Sometimes I'm Happy.'
November 29, 1948 New Moon Listen (MP3)
December 6, 1948 Girl Crazy Listen (MP3)
December 13, 1948 Sally Listen (MP3)
December 20, 1948 Holiday Inn Listen (MP3)
December 27, 1948 Desert Song Listen (MP3)

1949

January 3, 1949 Whoopee Listen (MP3)
January 10, 1949 The Red MILL Listen (MP3)
January 17, 1949 Naughty Marietta Listen (MP3)
Victor Herbert's romantic operetta of old New Orleans, with film-operetta star Jeanette MacDonald in the title role.
January 24, 1949 Blossom Time Listen (MP3)
Sigmund Romberg's operetta spun from the life and melodies of Franz Schubert, with Metropolitan Opera soprano Patrice Munsel.
January 31, 1949 Bittersweet Listen (MP3)
February 7, 1949 Rose Marie Listen (MP3)
February 14, 1949 Sweethearts Listen (MP3)
A Valentine's-night telling of Victor Herbert's fairy-tale operetta Sweethearts, with Jane Powell as its princess heroine.
February 21, 1949 Lady Be Good Listen (MP3)
Gershwin's Lady, Be Good!, with Groucho Marx as a slippery, none-too-scrupulous lawyer and MacRae as a broke young writer in trouble with the law.
February 28, 1949 Song of Norway Listen (MP3)
March 7, 1949 The Merry Widow Listen (MP3)
March 14, 1949 Eileen Listen (MP3)
March 21, 1949 State Fair Listen (MP3)
March 28, 1949 Best Foot Forward Listen (MP3)
April 4, 1949 Mademoiselle Modiste Listen (MP3)
April 11, 1949 The Firefly
April 18, 1949 Apple Blossoms Listen (MP3)
The 1919 operetta Apple Blossoms, unusually scored by violin virtuoso Fritz Kreisler with Victor Jacobi.
April 25, 1949 Fortune Teller
May 2, 1949 Showboat
May 9, 1949 Kiss Me Kate
May 16, 1949 Robin Hood
May 23, 1949 Porgy and Bess
May 30, 1949 The Life of Cj Bond
June 6, 1949 Oklahoma
June 13, 1949 The Stephen Foster Story
June 20, 1949 Brooks / Van Heusen Salute
June 27, 1949 Chicago Fair Salute
July 4, 1949 Miss Liberty
July 11, 1949 The John Mchugh Story Listen (MP3)
July 18, 1949 Bandwagon
July 25, 1949 Tin Pan Alley Salute
August 1, 1949 Ethelbert Nevin Salute Listen (MP3)
A summer-season tribute to American composer-pianist Ethelbert Nevin and the songs that became part of America's musical heritage, with Lucille Norman and The Sportsmen.
August 8, 1949 Brigadoon
August 15, 1949 Mack Gordon / Joseph Warren Salute Listen (MP3)
A summer salute to lyricist Mack Gordon and young composer Josef Myrow -- who appear in person -- rolling through hits like 'On the Boardwalk in Atlantic City,' with Lucille Norman and The Sportsmen.
August 22, 1949 Call Me Mister
August 29, 1949 Johnny Green Salute
September 5, 1949 Wizard of Oz
September 12, 1949 Hogey Carnichael Salute
September 19, 1949 N.h. Brown Salute Listen (MP3)
September 26, 1949 Rogers & Hammerstein Salute
October 3, 1949 Showboat Listen (MP3)
October 10, 1949 New Moon Listen (MP3)
October 17, 1949 The Chocolate Soldier Listen (MP3)
October 24, 1949 Music in the Air Listen (MP3)
Kern and Hammerstein's Music in the Air, in which a small-town Bavarian couple carry a song to the big city and nearly fall out of love; Jane Powell guests.
October 31, 1949 Blossom Time Listen (MP3)
November 7, 1949 The Great Waltz
November 14, 1949 Vagabond King
November 21, 1949 No, No Nanette Listen (MP3)
Vincent Youmans' No, No, Nanette, with Doris Day guesting just before she and MacRae reteamed for the Warner Bros. film version -- a preview of a preview.
November 28, 1949 Student Prince Listen (MP3)
December 5, 1949 The Mikado Listen (MP3)
Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera The Mikado, adapted by Lawrence and Lee, with Kenny Baker and Evelyn Case and 'Three Little Maids from School.'
December 12, 1949 Desert Song
December 19, 1949 Rose Marie Listen (MP3)
December 26, 1949 Snow White Listen (MP3)

1950

January 2, 1950 The Red MILL Listen (MP3)
The cheerful musical comedy The Red Mill, with guests Jack Smith, Lucille Norman and comic Jack Kirkwood.
January 9, 1950 Bittersweet
January 16, 1950 Louisianna Purchase
January 23, 1950 The Merry Widow Listen (MP3)
Franz Lehar's operetta The Merry Widow, with Metropolitan Opera soprano Dorothy Kirsten.
January 30, 1950 Brigadoon Listen (MP3)
Brigadoon, in which two American tourists lost in the Scottish Highlands stumble on a village that wakes for a single day each century; Jane Powell guests, with 'Almost Like Being in Love.'
February 6, 1950 Apple Blossoms
February 13, 1950 Sweethearts Listen (MP3)
February 20, 1950 The Count of Luxemburg Listen (MP3)
February 27, 1950 Mademoiselle Modeste Listen (MP3)
March 6, 1950 H.m.s. Pinafore
March 13, 1950 Little Nellie Kellie Listen (MP3)
March 20, 1950 The Only Girl Listen (MP3)
March 27, 1950 Sunny Listen (MP3)
April 3, 1950 Song of Norway Listen (MP3)
Song of Norway, the Wright-and-Forrest operetta drawn from the life of composer Edvard Grieg, with mezzo-soprano Irra Petina.
April 10, 1950 Naughty Marietta Listen (MP3)
April 17, 1950 Madame Sherry Listen (MP3)
The musical comedy Madame Sherry, with soprano Marion Bell.
April 24, 1950 The Prince of Pilsen Listen (MP3)
May 1, 1950 Sally Listen (MP3)
Florenz Ziegfeld's Broadway hit Sally, scored by Jerome Kern, with Marion Bell and Jack Kirkwood and the standard 'Look for the Silver Lining.'
May 8, 1950 The Pink Lady Listen (MP3)
May 15, 1950 Robin Hood Listen (MP3)
May 22, 1950 Princess Pat Listen (MP3)
May 29, 1950 Review of 1927 Listen (MP3)
June 5, 1950 Review of 1937 Listen (MP3)
A summer 'Show Train' revue of the popular songs of 1937, opening with 'September in the Rain,' with Lucille Norman.
June 12, 1950 Review of 1931 Listen (MP3)
A summer revue of 1931's hit songs, opening on 'Out of Nowhere,' with MacRae slipping into Bing Crosby and Maurice Chevalier impressions and Lucille Norman guesting.
June 19, 1950 Review of the Gay Nineties Listen (MP3)
A summer revue of Gay-Nineties favorites, beginning with 'The Band Played On,' with Lucille Norman.
June 26, 1950 Review of 1925 Listen (MP3)
July 3, 1950 Review of 1900-1905 Listen (MP3)
July 10, 1950 Review of 1934 Listen (MP3)
A summer revue of 1934's songs, led by 'I Only Have Eyes for You,' with Lucille Norman.
July 17, 1950 Review of 1905-1910
July 24, 1950 Review of 1938 Listen (MP3)
A summer revue of 1938's hits, opening with 'Thanks for the Memory,' with Lucille Norman.
July 31, 1950 Review of 1915-1920
August 7, 1950 Review of 1932 Listen (MP3)
A summer revue of 1932's songs, beginning with 'Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee,' with Lucille Norman.
August 14, 1950 Review of 1926 Listen (MP3)
An AFRS rebroadcast (retitled 'The Gordon MacRae Show') revuing the songs of 1926, starting with 'Charmaine,' with Lucille Norman.
August 21, 1950 Review of 1935 Listen (MP3)
A revue of 1935's songs, notable for AAR president William T. Faricy's on-air address about that morning's first national railroad strike; Lucille Norman guests.
August 28, 1950 Review of 1929 Listen (MP3)
A summer revue of 1929's songs, opening with 'If I Had a Talking Picture of You,' with Lucille Norman.
September 4, 1950 Review of 1922 Listen (MP3)
September 11, 1950 Review of 1933 Listen (MP3)
September 18, 1950 Review of 1910-1915
September 25, 1950 Review of 1924
October 2, 1950 Allegro
October 9, 1950 Roberta Listen (MP3)
Jerome Kern's Roberta, with Ginny Simms and the standards 'Yesterdays' and 'Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.'
October 16, 1950 Countess Maritza Listen (MP3)
The operetta Countess Maritza, in a radio adaptation by Harry B. Smith, with soprano Dorothy Warenskjold.
October 23, 1950 Revenge with Music Listen (MP3)
Revenge with Music, the Dietz-and-Schwartz musical comedy, with Metropolitan Opera soprano Nadine Conner.
October 30, 1950 Showboat Listen (MP3)
The NBC-season opener: Kern and Hammerstein's Show Boat -- Captain Andy's Cotton Blossom, gambler Gaylord Ravenal and Magnolia on the Mississippi -- with Dorothy Kirsten and Lucille Norman.
November 6, 1950 Irene Listen (MP3)
The musical Irene, in which a working-class Irish girl charms her way into high society, scored by Harry Tierney and dramatized by Lawrence and Lee, with Eileen Wilson.
November 13, 1950 Orange Blossoms Listen (MP3)
Victor Herbert's comic operetta Orange Blossoms, with MacRae as man-about-town Baron Belmont and Dorothy Warenskjold as Kitty.
November 20, 1950 Snow White
November 27, 1950 A Connecticut Yankee Listen (MP3)
Rodgers and Hart's A Connecticut Yankee, with Ginny Simms and the song 'My Heart Stood Still.'
December 4, 1950 The Firefly
December 11, 1950 Pirates of Pensance Listen (MP3)
December 18, 1950 Brigadoon Listen (MP3)
December 25, 1950 Songs of Christmas Listen (MP3)
A Railroad Hour Christmas party opening on 'Noel,' with MacRae singing from 'The Nutcracker Suite' and guest Lucille Norman.

1951

January 1, 1951 Review of 1950 Listen (MP3)
A New Year's Day revue of the best music from the Railroad Hour's 1950 season, with Lucille Norman.
January 8, 1951 Carousel Listen (MP3)
Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel, adapted by Jean Holloway, with Broadway star Patricia Morison and the songs 'If I Loved You' and 'You'll Never Walk Alone.'
January 15, 1951 Student Prince Listen (MP3)
Romberg and Donnelly's operetta The Student Prince, with Evelyn Case and its 'Drinking Song' and 'Deep in My Heart.'
January 22, 1951 Dearest Enemy
January 29, 1951 New Moon Listen (MP3)
Sigmund Romberg's romantic operetta The New Moon, with Metropolitan Opera soprano Dorothy Kirsten.
February 5, 1951 The Cat & the Fiddle Listen (MP3)
February 12, 1951 Sari Listen (MP3)
February 19, 1951 Song of Norway Listen (MP3)
February 26, 1951 Two Hearts in Three Quarter Time Listen (MP3)
Robert Stolz's waltz operetta Two Hearts in Three-Quarter Time, a whirl through old Vienna, with Marion Bell.
March 5, 1951 Vagabond King Listen (MP3)
Rudolf Friml's 1925 romantic operetta The Vagabond King, dramatized by Jean Holloway, with Irra Petina and Francis X. Bushman.
March 12, 1951 Rosalinda Listen (MP3)
March 19, 1951 Apple Blossoms Listen (MP3)
March 26, 1951 Fortune Teller Listen (MP3)
April 2, 1951 Annie Laurie Listen (MP3)
April 9, 1951 The Great Waltz
April 16, 1951 One Touch of Venus Listen (MP3)
One Touch of Venus, with guest Ginny Simms.
April 23, 1951 Madame Butterfly
April 30, 1951 Music in the Air Listen (MP3)
May 7, 1951 High Button Shoes Listen (MP3)
May 14, 1951 Nina Rosa Listen (MP3)
The operetta Nina Rosa, with Metropolitan Opera soprano Mimi Benzell.
May 21, 1951 The Chocolate Soldier
May 28, 1951 Katinka Listen (MP3)
June 4, 1951 Very Warm for May Listen (MP3)
Kern and Hammerstein's Very Warm for May, adapted by Jean Holloway, with Annamary Dickey and the standard 'All the Things You Are.'
June 11, 1951 Gypsy Princess Listen (MP3)
June 18, 1951 The Boys from Syracuse Listen (MP3)
June 25, 1951 The Merry Widow Listen (MP3)
July 2, 1951 Beautiful Dreamer Listen (MP3)
July 9, 1951 Casey at the Bat Listen (MP3)
July 16, 1951 Springtime in Paris Listen (MP3)
An original musical love story of Paris by Lawrence and Lee, Springtime in Paris, set to 'April in Paris' and 'Beyond the Sea,' with Dorothy Warenskjold.
July 23, 1951 Luck of Roaring Camp
July 30, 1951 The Pirates of Piccadilly
August 6, 1951 The Big Top Listen (MP3)
August 13, 1951 A Thousand & One Nights Listen (MP3)
A new dramatic setting of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade as the tales of A Thousand and One Nights, with Dorothy Warenskjold.
August 20, 1951 Long, Long Ago Listen (MP3)
An original Lawrence-and-Lee musical, Long Ago, with Dorothy Warenskjold.
August 27, 1951 Danny Freel Listen (MP3)
September 3, 1951 Innocents Abroad Listen (MP3)
The premiere of an original musical drawn from Mark Twain's The Innocents Abroad, by Lawrence and Lee, with Dorothy Warenskjold.
September 10, 1951 Journey Into the Sun Listen (MP3)
An original Lawrence-and-Lee musical, Journey Into the Sun, with MacRae as Marco Polo and Dorothy Warenskjold.
September 17, 1951 Rip Van Winkle Listen (MP3)
An original Lawrence-and-Lee musical of Rip Van Winkle, with MacRae in the title role and Dorothy Warenskjold.
September 24, 1951 Emperor of San Francisco Listen (MP3)
A season-closing original by Lawrence and Lee, with MacRae as Joshua Norton -- the gold-rush adventurer who crowned himself Emperor of San Francisco -- and Dorothy Warenskjold.
October 1, 1951 State Fair Listen (MP3)
Rodgers and Hammerstein's State Fair, with Dorothy Kirsten and the songs 'It Might as Well Be Spring' and 'It's a Grand Night for Singing.'
October 8, 1951 Madame Sherry Listen (MP3)
October 15, 1951 Martha Listen (MP3)
Flotow's comic opera Martha, an original Lawrence-and-Lee radio setting, with Dorothy Kirsten.
October 22, 1951 Sweethearts Listen (MP3)
Victor Herbert's operetta Sweethearts, with Mimi Benzell and 'Jeanette and Her Little Wooden Shoes.'
October 29, 1951 Holiday Inn Listen (MP3)
November 5, 1951 Rose Marie Listen (MP3)
Rose Marie, set in the Canadian Rockies among Mounties and fur trappers, with Metropolitan Opera soprano Dorothy Kirsten and the songs 'Rose Marie' and 'The Mounties.'
November 12, 1951 Bohemian Girl Listen (MP3)
A popular version of Balfe's opera The Bohemian Girl, with Dorothy Kirsten and William Conrad.
November 19, 1951 Jubilee Listen (MP3)
Cole Porter and Moss Hart's Jubilee, with MacRae as the prince and Dorothy Kirsten as his sister, and the standards 'Begin the Beguine' and 'Just One of Those Things.'
November 26, 1951 Mademoiselle Modiste Listen (MP3)
Victor Herbert's operetta Mademoiselle Modiste, with Dorothy Kirsten and 'I Want What I Want When I Want It.'
December 3, 1951 Marinka Listen (MP3)
December 10, 1951 The Red MILL Listen (MP3)
December 17, 1951 Rosalie Listen (MP3)
December 24, 1951 The Happy Prince Listen (MP3)
December 31, 1951 Review of 1951 Listen (MP3)
A transcribed New Year's Eve revue of the year's best Railroad Hour music, with Lucille Norman and the full company.

1952

January 7, 1952 Blossom Time Listen (MP3)
January 14, 1952 I Married an Angel Listen (MP3)
January 21, 1952 Desert Song Listen (MP3)
Sigmund Romberg's romantic operetta The Desert Song, with soprano Mimi Benzell.
January 28, 1952 The Three Musketeers Listen (MP3)
February 4, 1952 East Wind Listen (MP3)
The Romberg-and-Hammerstein operetta East Wind, with Mimi Benzell.
February 11, 1952 Orange Blossoms Listen (MP3)
February 18, 1952 Frederika Listen (MP3)
Franz Lehar's operetta Frederika, with Patricia Morison in the title role.
February 25, 1952 The Firefly Listen (MP3)
March 3, 1952 The White Eagle Listen (MP3)
March 10, 1952 The Cat & the Fiddle Listen (MP3)
March 17, 1952 Sari Listen (MP3)
March 24, 1952 Kiss Me Kate Listen (MP3)
March 31, 1952 Countess Maritza Listen (MP3)
April 7, 1952 Roberta
April 14, 1952 Rosalinda Listen (MP3)
April 21, 1952 Erminie Listen (MP3)
April 28, 1952 The Pink Lady
May 5, 1952 Sunny Listen (MP3)
Jerome Kern's musical comedy Sunny (book and lyrics by Harbach and Hammerstein), with Virginia Haskins.
May 12, 1952 Spring Is Here Listen (MP3)
May 19, 1952 The Great Waltz Listen (MP3)
May 26, 1952 My Maryland Listen (MP3)
June 2, 1952 Minstrel Boy Listen (MP3)
An original Lawrence-and-Lee musical built on the life and songs of Irish poet Thomas Moore, The Minstrel Boy, with Dorothy Warenskjold and Dan O'Herlihy.
June 9, 1952 Swedish Nightingale Listen (MP3)
June 16, 1952 The Right Dress Listen (MP3)
June 23, 1952 The Little Minister Listen (MP3)
June 30, 1952 Springtime in Paris Listen (FLAC)
July 7, 1952 Scheherezade Listen (MP3)
July 14, 1952 The Necklace Listen (MP3)
July 21, 1952 Love Song Listen (MP3)
July 28, 1952 The Pirate of New Orleans Listen (MP3)
August 4, 1952 Starlight Listen (MP3)
August 11, 1952 The Browning Story Listen (MP3)
August 18, 1952 Miss Cinderella Listen (MP3)
August 25, 1952 Fantasy Impromptu Listen (MP3)
September 1, 1952 The Pirates of Piccadilly Listen (MP3)
September 8, 1952 Swan Lake Listen (MP3)
September 15, 1952 Maestro Listen (MP3)
September 22, 1952 Golden Curtain Listen (MP3)
September 29, 1952 Annie Laurie Listen (MP3)
October 6, 1952 Maytime Listen (MP3)
October 13, 1952 A Waltz Dream Listen (MP3)
October 20, 1952 Naughty Marietta Listen (MP3)
October 27, 1952 Gypsy Princess Listen (MP3)
November 3, 1952 Seventh Heaven Listen (MP3)
November 10, 1952 Dearest Enemy Listen (MP3)
November 17, 1952 On Your Toes Listen (MP3)
November 24, 1952 Vagabond King Listen (MP3)
December 1, 1952 Babes in Toyland Listen (MP3)
Victor Herbert's operetta Babes in Toyland, with Lucille Norman and the songs 'Toyland' and 'Don't Cry, Bo-Peep.'
December 8, 1952 Gypsy Baron Listen (MP3)
December 15, 1952 Holiday Inn Listen (MP3)
Irving Berlin's Holiday Inn, from the Paramount film and dramatized by Lawrence and Lee, with 'Easter Parade' and 'White Christmas'; Dorothy Warenskjold guests.
December 22, 1952 Christmas Party Listen (MP3)
A Railroad Hour Christmas party opening on 'Noel,' built around a dramatized 'Nutcracker Suite,' with guest Dorothy Kirsten.
December 29, 1952 Review of 1952 Listen (MP3)

1953

January 5, 1953 My Romance Listen (MP3)
January 12, 1953 Two Hearts in Three Quarter Time Listen (MP3)
January 19, 1953 Showboat Listen (MP3)
January 26, 1953 The Merry Widow Listen (MP3)
February 2, 1953 Carousel Listen (MP3)
February 9, 1953 Miss Liberty Listen (MP3)
February 16, 1953 Blue Paradise Listen (MP3)
February 23, 1953 Bittersweet Listen (MP3)
Noel Coward's operetta Bitter Sweet, with Dorothy Warenskjold as Lady Shayne recalling her youthful love for her music teacher.
March 2, 1953 Rose of Algeria Listen (MP3)
March 9, 1953 Up in Central Park Listen (MP3)
March 16, 1953 Eileen Listen (MP3)
March 23, 1953 Lute Song Listen (MP3)
March 30, 1953 The Princess Pat Listen (MP3)
April 6, 1953 Sally Listen (MP3)
April 13, 1953 Fortune Teller Listen (MP3)
April 20, 1953 El Capitan
April 27, 1953 The Pink Lady
May 4, 1953 Mary Listen (MP3)
May 11, 1953 Rosalinda
May 18, 1953 Circus Princess
May 25, 1953 Irene Listen (MP3)
June 1, 1953 Quality Street Listen (MP3)
June 8, 1953 Dear Yesterday Listen (MP3)
June 15, 1953 Love Story Listen (MP3)
June 22, 1953 New Wine Listen (MP3)
June 29, 1953 The Man Without a Country Listen (MP3)
July 6, 1953 Penny Whistle Listen (MP3)
July 13, 1953 The Rudolph Friml Story Listen (MP3)
July 20, 1953 Starlight Listen (MP3)
July 27, 1953 The Golden Empress Listen (MP3)
August 3, 1953 On Wings of Song Listen (MP3)
August 10, 1953 Trilby Listen (MP3)
August 17, 1953 Roaring Camp Listen (MP3)
August 24, 1953 Hope Is a Woman Listen (MP3)
August 31, 1953 Lorna Doone Listen (MP3)
September 7, 1953 Night Music Listen (MP3)
September 14, 1953 The Million Dollar Bank Note Listen (MP3)
September 21, 1953 Minstrel Boy Listen (MP3)
September 28, 1953 Familiar Stranger Listen (MP3)
October 5, 1953 Student Prince Listen (MP3)
A festival-season opener of Romberg's enduring The Student Prince (1924), with Metropolitan Opera soprano Dorothy Kirsten.
October 12, 1953 Showboat
October 19, 1953 Sunny
October 26, 1953 The Firefly Listen (MP3)
November 2, 1953 Rosalinda Listen (MP3)
November 9, 1953 Roberta Listen (MP3)
November 16, 1953 The Merry Widow Listen (MP3)
November 23, 1953 The Chocolate Soldier Listen (MP3)
November 30, 1953 State Fair Listen (MP3)
Rodgers and Hammerstein's State Fair, opening on 'Our State Fair,' with Lucille Norman and 'It Might as Well Be Spring.'
December 7, 1953 Sweethearts Listen (MP3)
December 14, 1953 The Cat & the Fiddle
December 21, 1953 Snow White Listen (MP3)
A musical telling of Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, with Dorothy Warenskjold.
December 28, 1953 Review of 1953 Listen (MP3)

1954

January 4, 1954 Vagabond King
January 11, 1954 Gypsy Baron
January 18, 1954 Girl from Utah Listen (MP3)
January 25, 1954 Music in the Air Listen (MP3)
February 1, 1954 Maytime
February 8, 1954 The Schumann Story Listen (MP3)
February 15, 1954 Through the Years Listen (MP3)
February 22, 1954 Martha Listen (MP3)
March 1, 1954 The Great Waltz Listen (MP3)
March 8, 1954 The Red MILL Listen (MP3)
March 15, 1954 Minstrel Boy
March 22, 1954 Irene Listen (MP3)
March 29, 1954 The Three Musketeers Listen (MP3)
April 5, 1954 Great Day Listen (MP3)
April 12, 1954 Babes in Toyland Listen (MP3)
April 19, 1954 Smiles Listen (MP3)
April 26, 1954 Rose Marie
May 3, 1954 Birthday Listen (MP3)
May 10, 1954 Wonderful One-Horse Shay Listen (MP3)
May 17, 1954 Around the World in 80 Days
May 24, 1954 Penny Whistle Listen (MP3)
May 31, 1954 Homecoming Listen (MP3)
June 7, 1954 Rosalie Listen (MP3)
June 14, 1954 The Pink Lady Listen (MP3)
June 21, 1954 New Moon
The Story

The Railroad Hour was a prestige musical anthology that condensed a Broadway musical or operetta into a single half-hour each week, drawing on the great pre-1943 American theatre canon. Advertised on its 1948 ABC launch as the "World's Greatest Musical Comedies" and opening to the strains of "I've Been Working on the Railroad," it starred singer-actor Gordon MacRae as host and male lead, paired each week with a guest prima donna or movie star. Sponsored by the Association of American Railroads as cultural goodwill rather than hard sell, it was a genuine live-orchestra production: Carmen Dragon conducting, with Warren Barker, appointed chief arranger at just 24, holding the post for six years. Scripts came from Jean Holloway and the playwriting team of Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee, later famous for Inherit the Wind and Auntie Mame. Resident sopranos Dorothy Warenskjold and Lucille Norman carried many weeks, with marquee guests including Dorothy Kirsten, Jane Powell, Doris Day, Dinah Shore, Rise Stevens, and Jeanette MacDonald; the repertoire ran from The Desert Song and The Merry Widow to Show Boat and Brigadoon. It kept the pre-war operetta and musical-comedy repertoire alive before a mass postwar audience, and served as a career platform for MacRae, who went on to the film versions of Oklahoma! and Carousel. The show is documented in unusual depth -- Gerald Wilson and Martin Grams Jr.'s book catalogs all 299 episodes with every song in sequence -- and many of its scripts survive at Ohio State University.

Full story — coming soon while it's being curated.
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