Evening star., 1950-05-28
TeIevisiOn-Rodio
Daily Color Tests Over WNBW Have Given
Daryl Horpo Whole New Career
By Harry Macarthur

Daryl Harpa. specialist in Latin
American music, thought of him.
self as a travelling bandleader
when he came here to fill q night
club engagement last winter. He
thought he would be here q few
weeks and pass on, but the weeks
stretched to months and now a
whole new career has opened up
for him. sll because it was de-
cided that RCAs color television
equipment should be tested py
WNBW.
The color shows are on the air
daily in the afternoon for the
dual purpose of checking and
improving the equipment in reg
ular use and of showing tele-
viewers that compatibility means
you can receive a black and white
picture from an RCA color trans
mission. Mr.. Harpa, having
staged a bright little Latin Ameri-
can revue when spring brought
retrenchment of a name" star
policy to the Latin Quarter of the
Old New Orleans, took his turn
on the early color tests with a lot
of other night club entertainers.
His sort of thing proved to be
just what tinted TV needed. The
show was lively and colorfully
costumed. In color television, no.
body cares about the color of a
costume, just SO long as it is
red. Latin dancers wear a lot of
red. Mr.. Harpa was signed i'm
mediately to do what the trade
calls package" the daily shows.
He and the entertainers in his
unit open each show. fill in the
gaps between other numbers and
wind things up. They fill any,
where from half to three quarters
of the hour.
Since Mr.. Harpa also has now
taken on another night club chore
playing and providing entertain
ment in the new Caribar at the
Wardman, it seemed that he
might have to set up housekeep-
ing in that elevator which de-
scendS to the -Wardman Park
Theater, where WNBW operates.
He can repeat shows in a cabaret,
but he has to have something new
every day for television.
No strain was showing on him
last week, though. and he was in
his usual pleasant humor as he
brushed aside any thought that
this might be a killing pace.
1T is beginning to get a little
difficult to dream up something
new" he admitted. For a long
time you can go on with the
things you've already done some
where else, but they run out and
you have to start using tricks. A
number called "A Night in Rio
can be "A Night in Havana next
week and "A Night in Puerto Rico
the week after and you can 60 all
over Latin America.
Then you can do things like we
did with a tap dance by jeff
James. We started it off with lust
the claves and when he started
to dance he picked up that same
rhythm. We can do that same
thing with the jawbone, the bongo
drums and all the different rhythm
instruments in a Latin band.
Its work. all right" he went
on. but look at the education I'm
getting. I can write q television
show now and cut it so that the
technicianS know what I'm talking
about and know just the effect ]
want and how to give it to me.
Really" he decided. "the only
thing this schedule has done to me
is make me get up earlier. I get
up at $50. worry from $50 to
11:30 about what we're going to
do that day, rehearse from 1870
10 ana put the show on at 8"
For just a brief moment during
the week we thought we had come
upon the news all mothers and
fathers were waiting for. Forg-
ing doggedly through the press
releases, we came upon one which
started out: Parents can make
sure that television has a whole
some influence on children in
stead of disrupting home life
and study" Then we read on:
That is the opinion of a leading
television manufacturer. :"
u
Several weeks ago-maybe 1t
was months-some note was taken
here that Hollywood was giving
in just a little in the release to
television of a number of films