Railroad Hour 52 07 07 (197) Scheherezade

# The Railroad Hour: Scheherezade

Picture yourself settling into your favorite chair on a summer evening in 1952, the living room bathed in lamplight as you tune your radio dial to ABC. The familiar whistle of the streamliner fades, and you're transported not to the rails of America, but to the glittering palaces of ancient Persia. Tonight's episode of The Railroad Hour presents "Scheherezade," and the orchestra swells with Rimsky-Korsakov's exotic melodies as the legendary tale of the sultan's bride unfolds before you. For the next thirty minutes, a full cast of Broadway-caliber singers and actors will weave the timeless story of wit triumphing over darkness, of a young woman whose thousand nights of storytelling save not only her own life but transform a tyrant's heart. The production sparkles with the lush orchestral arrangements that have made this program the most sophisticated musical drama on radio, each note crisp and clear through your speaker.

What makes The Railroad Hour remarkable is its audacious format—a show sponsored by the Association of American Railroads that eschews train schedules entirely in favor of grand operetta and musical theater. For six seasons, host Gordon MacRae and his rotating cast of Broadway stars have demonstrated that radio drama could be both commercially sponsored and artistically ambitious, bringing the magic of musical theater into homes across America during an era when many couldn't afford a Broadway ticket. Scheherezade represents the show's finest ambition: to educate listeners while transporting them to distant lands and romantic ages.

Don't miss this evening's broadcast of The Railroad Hour—tune in and discover why millions of Americans considered this hour their weekly escape into pure theatrical magic.