What happens
Myrtle McKinley, a young telephone-company hopeful, takes a job at Waller's Opera House and meets the headliner Frank Burt, a singing comedian. Their partnership grows into marriage and a vaudeville act on the road, while the demands of touring and family pull at them. The Lux Radio Theatre presents this adaptation of the 20th Century Fox film Mother Wore Tights, broadcast on February 2, 1948, with its original stars Betty Grable and Dan Daley in the leading roles. The story follows their career and home life across the years, with their daughters Iris and Mikey growing up around the stage.
Early twentieth-century America, including the small-town Waller's Opera House, Chicago, and a Boston hotel, during the vaudeville era.
Characters: Myrtle McKinley, Frank Burt, Alice Beedell, Mr. Waller, Bubba, Roy Bivens, Grandma, Iris
Listen for: The moment Myrtle wins over the audience with her imitation of Frank's burlesque song, and the Christmas night in Boston when the children surprise their parents.
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.