The Waterbury Democrat., 1936-12-22
ROAMING THE AIR WAVES


 The sound of America dancing, shouting and singing in salute to the New Year will be broadcast over the combined networks of the National Broadcasting Company in gala program, America Dances, which will begin at 11:30 p. m., EST, on December 31 and continue until 500 a. m., New Years day. NEG networks will be kept open an hour later than ever before on New Years Eve to bring listeners five separate greetings to 1o37-from New York to far-away Honolulu.
 Revelry in night clubs and swank grill rooms of New York City will open the program. At midnight the first blast to 1037-"Auld Lang Syne" intermingled with all the squawks, rattles and footing that America traditionally associates with New Year-will go over the coast tO-coast networks. Some of New YOrk's finest dance bands, including the orchestras of Ray Noble at the Rainbow room; Emil Coleman at the St. Regis; Mario Braggiotti at the Pierre; Bobby Hayes at hte Edi- son, and the Three T's at the Hick- ory House will be heard during the eighty-five minutes the program is held in New York.
 yessica DragOnette, radios
 most celebrated soprano, will
 bring new series of musical
 love stories tO the Columbia
 network microphone when her
 new series Is inaugurated on
 Wednesday, January 13, from
 9:30 to 10:00 ?. m., Al Good
 man will direct the orchestra
 for this series, which Is new
 edition of the Palmolive Beauty
 Box Theater. After ten years
 on the air, Miss Dragonette will
 have another opportunity, in
 this series, to display her baility
 as . dramatic actress. The musical love stories will be bas-
 cd on the plots and scores of
 famous distinguished for their
 powerful, romantic situations.
 The music most beloved by lis-
 teners and dramatized plots will
 make up the weekly half hour
 series.
 Walter Hampden will star in a Christmas play on Rudy Vallee's Variety Hour on Christmas Eve Thursday, December 24. The play is "That Strange Man" written espec- ially for the Vale Hour by Milton E. M. Geiger. Other guests besides Hampden are Edgar Bergen, the ventriloguist who scored hit on the show last week; Sonora de Euarez, 8 singer who is also the wife of the Cuban counsul general in New York; and Len Hammond, Movietone newsreel cameraman who has just come back from China. [. Geiger, author of the play for Hampden, wrote One Special for Doc" in which Henry Hull starred on the program few weeks ago. The play was 80 successful that he was asked to write another. Hamp- den, one Of the greatest personali- ties of the American theater, re- turns to the variety hour about once each year and his performance es have always been applauded by listeners.
 ] Irene Wicker, the "Singing
 Lady" of radio, became Lady
 lyOuntiful the other day, when
 she distributed books and toys
 to the child patients at the Hos-
 Hal for Joint Diseases in New
 York. Miss Wicker also told
 stories and sang for the children
 in the wards, who joined her in
 singing Christmas carols.
 Among the books distributed
 nnended by her for juvenile
 reading, were: Nifty on Mir.
 Syrup's Farm" by Ruth and
 Richard Holberg; "Jerry on the
 Pony Express by Sanford
 Tousey; Molly and MichaeP' by
 Florence Bourgeois; Traffic" by
 Marion s. Lowndes and Frances
 Chrystie; Strange PettingaIe
 Puzzle" by Augusta Heille Sea-
 mAnS Ahe MABC Fuuunk Dy
 Norman Lindsay; "Skazki" by
 Mary Duncan Carter; Ming
 and MehitabIe" by Helen Sew
 ell; willy Nilly" by Marjorie
 Flack; Billy Butter" by Berta
 and Elmer Hader, and Lucky
 pete" by Barbara Fleury. Miss
 Wicker is heard over the NEG
 Blue Network five days a week.
 Few who hear Stuart Churchill's appealing tenor in that Saturday Night Party program know that he is also an accomplished performer on-of all instruments--the bas- Eoonl
 Stu took up the bassoon origin ally by accident. As freshman at the University of Michigan he was much awed by fellow boarding house lodger, law student who happened also to play saxaphone in the University Symphony Or chestra.
 One day the law-student saxa- Brain fwiz7lnve