What happens
Phil Harris leads his band in a Hollywood rehearsal hall, where the musicians struggle with a sour sound and dwindling pay. Elliott Lewis, as the bookkeeper, reports that their last paying job was settled with crates of grapes, which the band has been secretly fermenting. Harris, bandleader, is frustrated by his players, including a German bass horn player named Smolkes. Hearing a rival group's success with a dramatic reading act, Harris decides to combine his music with classic literature. Alice Faye appears, offering her own opinions on the band's repertoire. The episode follows the band's preparations for a Shakespeare-themed show, which will be staged in an unlikely barn venue.
A Hollywood rehearsal hall and, later, a barn used as a makeshift theater in the countryside.
Characters: Phil Harris, Alice Faye, Elliott Lewis, Walter Tetley, Julius, Mr. Stebbins, Smolkes
Listen for: The band's attempt to launch a Shakespeare-themed act, and the mix-up over the posters and tickets.
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.