Evening star., 1951-05-17
On the Air
On the Air
Miss Knight
Would Like
|
Bv Harry Macarthur

by marry MoCAItnuF
Evelyn Knight is singer with
problem. You wouldn't think it
to watch her entertaining a packed
Statler Embassy Room or to talk
to her later. but the problem is
there.
It's this television. A girl in
show business has to go where
show business goes and it is Miss
Knights feeling that lot of it is
going to television. That's where
the lucrative careers will be.
The tall, talented and handsome
Washington contribution to the
entertainment world has made a
number of television appearances,
of course, with Milton Berle and
others. You can't make a career
out of guest appearances, however
though Fred Allen does seem to
have made a season out of them.
What Miss Knight wants is a TV
show starring Evelyn Knight.
II don't want to do what some
one else already has DONE" she
was saying the other night. 1T
has to be different and something
different in television is hard to
find. I can't just stand up there
and sing; nobody would look"
x Y x
This last statement, of course,
is debatable. The Embassy Room
customers look, all right. They put
aside their forks, their glasses and
their idle conversation and pay
strict attention when Miss Knight
comes out to sing. The reward for
this close attention is a thorough
ly enjoyable musical interlude.
Her years away from Washing
ton as a big-time popular singer
have given Miss Knight an abund-
ance of assurance and she can
take command of a dinner-supper
club. She covers a wide range
from ballad to novelty number to
nursery rhyme and she seems
completely at home in everything
she does.
One of her greatest assets (in
addition to a voice which is a fine
musical instrument, as you realize
lif you pause to think about it, is
"a sense of humor versatile enough
to cover everything, including her
self. Singing is fun and she is the
first one to enjoy any Evelyn
knight song. It is an attitude to-
ward her work which gives Miss
knight a great deal of that easy
Inonchalance which marks the
singing of Bing Crosby.
She is quite a balladeer and
quite a personality. There ought
to be some way to give the tele-
vision audience the pleasure of
her regular company.
Too Authentic: You may recall
the scene in last weeks Pulitzer
Prize Playhouse" in which a pair
lof soldiers shared their c rations
with a Korean child. played by
eight-year -old Lawrence Lee. Well,
it seems that Director Frank Tel
ford, a Stickler for authenticity
ordered real C ration used. 1t was,
during dress rehearsal, when
young Master Lee took one bite,
| turned up his nose and refused to
go near the second spoonful
| x X X
Animal Department.: Dogs with
too much family tree and no
pedigree will have their day next
Saturday, when "TailWaggers'
(WMAL-TV-Monday, 6:45 p.mD
will hold its annual contest to
find the shaggy dog with the
most personality. The place will be
the grounds of Western High
School, the time will be 2 pm. and
the judges will be Edward Miller,
assistant Secretary of State; Rep.
Claude I. Bakewell, of Missouri;
Mrs. Frank Allen, of the Washing
ton Tailwaggers Club, and Drew
Pearson, prominent farmer.
r. Marlin Perkins, director of
Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo, will
examine and debunk some legends
and axioms centering around
animals on Zoo Parade" (WNBW
Sunday, 4:30 pm). His guests
will include an owl, to see if it is
as wise as one; a fox, to see if it
is as smart as one; hawk, to see
| if it has eyes like one; a peacock,
to see if it is as proud as one, and
an elephant, to see if it has for.
gotten anything.
x y X
Programs and People: Your al
ternate Friday night problem is
coming up again tomorrow night.
Richard Greene, Stella Andrew
and Iris Mann will be playing
leading roles in Peter Ibbetson"
on Ford Theater" (WTOP-TV)
and Roland Young will be busy
with the lead in "The Queens
Husband" on Pulitzer Prize
Playhouse" (WNBW). Both are on
at 9 pm. Ben Blue may get
another try at Broadway Open
House" when it is cut to three
nights a week. He would be the
Thursday master of ceremonies,
alternating with Jackie Leonard,
who takes over Tuesdays and Fri
days. Jackie Gleason has won
the May Mighty Monarch of the
ho