If you're old enough to remember listening to such pop vocalists as the Andrew Sisters and Bing Crosby on the radio, a musical this week at California University of Pennsylvania should touch a nostalgic chord.

"The Radio Christmas Show" is a musical review that captures the feel and real-life experiences of broadcasts in the 1940s. Cal U's production is set in 1944, during the Christmas holidays, with the end of World War II in Europe still five months away.

	Andy Starnes, Post-Gazette Brian Tolle dances with Cassie Sacco as, from left, Lauren Keefer, Marguerite Smith and Mark Rockage sing on stage during a rehersal for California University of Pennsylvania's "A Radio Christmas Show," which will be staged Friday through next Sunday on campus. Click photo for larger image.

"The younger generation should also enjoy the show because the music from that era is so wonderful and upbeat that it's still around today," said Kathy Sacco, the show's music director and part-time professor in the university's music department.

The show's audience in the Natali Performance Center will serve as the broadcast studio audience and experience a day of radio programming that includes a soap opera titled "The Road of Life," a comedy-driven game show titled "It Pays to be Ignorant," snippets of old commercials and, of course, lots of music.

"The dialogue in what is essentially a musical review is really just an excuse to go on to the next song," said Ms. Sacco, of Wheeling, W.Va., who will be at the piano leading an orchestra of seven musicians.

One segment of the production called "Juke Box Saturday Night" will feature student Evan Johnson as Johnny Carducci, a teenage singing idol, with Mike Kirkland, a senior liberal arts major, serving as the announcer.

"In the juke box segment, the choir and soloists will sing tunes like 'Sentimental Journey' and 'Santa Clause is Coming to Town,' " said Mr. Kirkland, an Aliquippa native who is president of the California University Choir.

In another portion of the show, Mr. Kirkland, a member of the Tried Stone Baptist Church choir in Aliquippa, will feature his vocal prowess in solos of "Count Your Blessings" and "White Christmas."

Gary Latshaw, a local theater producer, wrote the script for "The Radio Christmas Show," with musical arrangements by Russ Shively, of Pittsburgh. The approximately 90-minute production will run without intermission and be performed by seven male and six female Cal U undergrads in period costumes with a facsimile of a radio studio serving as the setting.

"The show is a special music project for the students, who will get credits for taking part in the production," Ms. Sacco said. "This includes the technical staff like the sound and light crew as well as the singers and musicians."

In addition to solos, duets and choral numbers, the show will spotlight the Cal Singers, a small, elite branch of the university choir under the direction of Ellen Michael, a music professor. Appropriate to the period, one section of the show will be patriotic and include songs such as "Remember Pearl Harbor" and "You're in the Army Now, Mr. Jones."

Just like in 1940s broadcasts, the entertainment will be interrupted for commercials appropriate to the period, such as Pepsodent toothpaste and Halo shampoo.

One cast member who seems to have her hands especially full is Marguerite Smith, a sophomore elementary education major from West Mifflin and vice president of the choir. Besides being one of the singers in the ensemble, she'll take on the role of Wendy, the Weather Girl, and Melanie, one of the dancers, who sings a solo titled "Santa Baby."

"I've been in four different musicals in high school, including 'Pajama Game,' where I was double cast," she said. "So playing multiple roles is nothing new."

Ms. Smith started taking voice lessons at age 10 and sang in three choral groups in high school as well as in the choir of St. Agnes Church in West Mifflin.

"About 30 girls tried out for the six female roles in 'The Radio Christmas Show' and I'm honored to have been one of the chosen few," she said. "I love the music of the 1940s. Even my grandmother is excited about seeing the show, because she's very familiar with the songs of that era."

"The Radio Christmas Show" is at the Natali Performance Center at California University of Pennsylvania at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and at 2 p.m. next Sunday. Tickets are $5, free with a Cal student ID, and are available at the door. Phone 724-938-4242.