Tip Top Motors Theater Cast:

Directed by/Kidd/Sound Efx:
Morgan Locklear

Host/George/Conner:
Justin Atkins

Tracy Lord:
Jeanne Davenport

C.J. Dexter Haven:
Brian Egan

Dinah:
Hanna Kamikawa

Lady Esther/Tip Top Singer:
Patty Egan

Mrs. Lord/Tip Top Singer:
Caroline Bauman

WHEN RADIO WAS KING! will recreate the  "Golden Age of Radio" with staged live performances of classic radio plays from the 1930s.  Live recreation of radio dramas is a fun way to increase public awareness of the popular culture during the art deco era. The event is at the Newport Visual Arts Center.

Like the radio plays of yesteryear, the show will include jingles, singing commercials by the Tip Top Singers written specifically for Newport businesses, and an original song about Newport written by Caroline Bauman.  Directed by local radio and theater maven Morgan Locklear, the performances before a live audience will showcase some of the area's best local actors. Locklear will do the sound effects, and the audience will be able to see how the effects are created.  Live recreation of radio dramas is a fun way to increase public awareness of the popular culture during the art deco era. Deco dress admired - not required.

The play (written by Philip Barry in 1939, adapted for film in 1940 and then for radio in 1942) is a very fast paced, witty comedy about Tracy Lord, a Philadelphia heiress divorcee who is about to get married again. Tracy's first husband, playboy C. K. Dexter Haven who has been working for "Spy" magazine, arrives at the Lord's mansion the day before the wedding determined to spoil things. As the plot develops, Tracy is forced to choose from her past love, her present love, and her new love.

The title sponsor of the program is from Newport's not so distant past. From the 1928 to 1947, Tip Top Motors served as a modern day stagecoach stop on Highway 101. Part gas station, garage and cafe it was at located on Coast Hwy at Alder Street (now Bushnell Stationers.) Tip Top was one of many City Center businesses that catered to the new highway culture when the Yaquina Bay Bridge opened the door to modern transportation for Newport in 1936.

Built in the art deco style, the bridge's modern progressive design affected new construction in Newport's City Center business district. This resulted in a distinct pocket of art deco influence, one with its own unique history and culture.

The Golden Age of Radio refers to a period from the early 1920s until television's replacement of radio as the dominant home entertainment in the late 1950s. At its zenith, live variety shows like the Texaco Star Theater (right) were so popular, that people scheduled their entire lives around being in front of the radio in time for the program.

TIP TOP MOTORS was an anchor of City Center Newport in the late 30s, providing services to the burgeoning highway culture.

The City Center Newport Assn. is registered with the Oregon Cultural Trust as a cultural non profit organization.

You can help support CCNA's mission of revitalizing Newport's unique Art Deco heritage by becoming a member today.