Nonpareil
Council Bluffs, Iowa
1944
lAir^Ataravan jjfcfe on Mond^l
11 Air Forces Have / Professional Show
Representatives of the army air forces and |tbfe Council Bluffs squadron of thl civil air patrol Monday announced completed plans for the/ presentation here
j next Monday night at 8:30 p. m.
in the city auditorium, of the . AAF's famed stage production, the
Air-WACaravan. The show, with
• a cast of 30 former professionals ' of stage, screen, and radio is free
to the public.
1 Commanded by Lt. Robert E.
' Hixson, pilot of one of the AAF's giant Liberators during the first 13 months of the war in the south-
- west Pacific, the two-hour show
? has the same cast which has been
• smashing attendance records in eight states of a nationwide tour.
The Air-WACaravan after open-. ing its road tour before more than
• 14,000 in Denver, Col., went on to
• set an all-time show record in Si. Louis, where it played to more than 16,000 and turned away over
, 7,000 at its ninth performance in the Kiel auditorium in St. Louis. Its Iowa premiere set a new record in Des Moines when more than 12,-000 were turned away from thret night's performances. The Counci Bluffs appearance is its final civil ian performance in Iowa. Top-Notch Band
The two hours of entertainmenl are centered about a 12-piece swing orchestra which drew its member* from some of the top-notch name bands of the nation, including those of Anson Weeks, Charlie Barnett, Sammy Kaye, Tommy Dorsey, Teddy Powell, Red Nichols, Ted Fio Rito, and others.
Among the orchestra's featured instrumentalists are 22-year Bobby Stevenson, rated by Tommy Dor-sey as one of "the five greatest hot pianos in America"; Cpl. Jerry IZiering, the "Harry James of the AAF" whose hot trumpet opens the show; and Cpl. Ernie Felice, an arranger and composer for many a big name band, and a wizard with the swing accordian.
On the sweeter side of its music the Ais-WACaravan had handsome I young Tony Costello "the G. I. Sinatra" who <5hce sang with the famous Frankie and was Teddy Powell's network vocalist. Tony also teams with a cute little Air
WAC, Glenna Schoenbeck, of St. I Louis, also a former network vocalist, in the current favorites of the hit parade. j
In the same mood is the singing of the Air-WACaravan's "Kate Smith of the AAF", Pvt. Dorcas Nelson who was a featured enter-| tainer on the Mississippi river's I famed showboats, the Admiral and the President.
For comedy the show has the talents of a quintet of youngsters who made their names in vaudeville, night-clubs, burlesque, and radio before they entered the AAF. They are Cpls. Fred Way, Lew Slavin, Whit Henry, Stan Green-1 span, and Dickie Cohen.
The show reaches a musical climax in the exotic rhythms from south of the border. They are led by a star of international note, Cpl. Alberto Gutierrez, Mexican-born veteran of movies with Jean-ette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, radio shows with Xavier Cugat and Andre Kostelanetz, and the concert stages of three continents.
Dramatic highlight of the show is the recounting of combat experiences of Lt. Hixson from the days when America's air arm was a mere handful of planes against the overwhelmingly superior numbers of the Japs. Stan Greenspan brings the show to its close with an intense and moving appeal to all Americans that is timed to the current fifth war loan drive and the invasion of Europe.
Because of the limited seating capacity of the auditorium and the Air-WACaravan's phenomenal record for crowds, AAF representatives said today that youngsters under the age of 16 cannot be admitted to the show next Monday night unless they are accompanied by their parents.-
