Katinka

Ladies and gentlemen, the railroad hour. The railroad hour! And here comes our star-studded show train. Tonight, the Association of American Railroads presents the delightful frimble operator, Katinka, starring Gordon MacRae and his charming guest, Anna-Marie Dickie.

Our choir is under the direction of Norman Luboff, and our music is prepared and conducted by Carmen Dragon. Yes, tonight another great musical success is brought to you by the American railroads. The same railroads that bring you most of the food you eat, the clothes you wear, the fuel you burn, and all the other things you use in your daily life.

And now here is our star, Gordon MacRae. Thank you, Marvin Miller, and good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Tonight we travel to the Near East, to the land of mosques and minarets, where Anna Mary Dickey joins me to play the title role of Katinka.

I shall be Ivan, who loved and lost the lady, but who couldn't forget her loveliness. So here's Katinka, Act 1. Here on the shores of the ancient Black Sea, the air is magic in the month of May.

Beyond that line of hills, they say the world was born, and on a spring night, Allah himself walks the earth, and to young lovers, all things seem twice alive. But not for me. I had wandered for many months through many distant lands.

But when I returned home to my native city, I found my willow, if I could tinker, on the very night of a wedding to another man. Welcome to the marriage feast, my friend. Katinkas, see who is here.

Ivan. Good evening, Katinka. My congratulations to you. We did not expect the wanderer to return on our wedding night, but you are a trans welcome cousin. I thank you, Boris Drova. I wish you happiness.