Jeanne and Christian both speculate that Frank Sinatra performed in the Vine Street Playhouse during the war, and indeed that is the case. For Lux Radio Theatre, he starred in “Wake Up and Live” on February 21, 1944, and appeared as an intermission guest during “Magnificent Obsession” on November 13, 1944. Following the war, he starred in “Anchors Aweigh” on December 29, 1947, and in “The Miracle of the Bells” on May 31, 1948.
I think some of the above comments tend to sell this wonderful building a bit short. It just so happens that the structure now known as the Ricardo Montalbán Theater is one of the most famous venues in the entire history of American radio. The Vine Street Playhouse began hosting CBS’s highly-rated program “The Lux Radio Theatre” on May 13, 1940, with a production of “True Confession,” starring Loretta Young and Fred MacMurray. The show remained in that venerable location (Monday nights at 9:00 ET / 6:00 PT) until May 25, 1953, with a production of “Lure of the Wilderness,” starring Jean Peters and Jeffrey Hunter. During the course of those thirteen glorious years, a total of 568 broadcasts originated from The Vine Street Playhouse. The program’s titular “producer,” through January 22, 1945, was Cecil B. DeMille, and almost all of Hollywood’s most famous stars appeared there at one time or another in their careers — before live audiences that, each week, filled to capacity the hall’s nearly 2,000 seats. This auditorium should be consecrated as a shrine to the Golden Age of Radio.
Jeanne and Christian both speculate that Frank Sinatra performed in the Vine Street Playhouse during the war, and indeed that is the case. For Lux Radio Theatre, he starred in “Wake Up and Live” on February 21, 1944, and appeared as an intermission guest during “Magnificent Obsession” on November 13, 1944. Following the war, he starred in “Anchors Aweigh” on December 29, 1947, and in “The Miracle of the Bells” on May 31, 1948.
I think some of the above comments tend to sell this wonderful building a bit short. It just so happens that the structure now known as the Ricardo Montalbán Theater is one of the most famous venues in the entire history of American radio. The Vine Street Playhouse began hosting CBS’s highly-rated program “The Lux Radio Theatre” on May 13, 1940, with a production of “True Confession,” starring Loretta Young and Fred MacMurray. The show remained in that venerable location (Monday nights at 9:00 ET / 6:00 PT) until May 25, 1953, with a production of “Lure of the Wilderness,” starring Jean Peters and Jeffrey Hunter. During the course of those thirteen glorious years, a total of 568 broadcasts originated from The Vine Street Playhouse. The program’s titular “producer,” through January 22, 1945, was Cecil B. DeMille, and almost all of Hollywood’s most famous stars appeared there at one time or another in their careers — before live audiences that, each week, filled to capacity the hall’s nearly 2,000 seats. This auditorium should be consecrated as a shrine to the Golden Age of Radio.