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"THE STORY OF GLORIA: A YOUNG WOMAN OF MANHATTAN"

A Serialized Radio Musical
Co-written by Garrison Keillor and Didi Balle

CONCEPT:  A weekly musical-comedy radio serial featuring the exploits and adventures of a sweet but slightly deranged single-woman in her 30s living and dating in Manhattan. Each weekly episode offered a 20-minute mini-musical with book/play and original lyrics/songs with an on-stage band.

MUSIC/CAST:  Broadway actress and radio-comedienne  Ivy Austin starred as Gloria with a cast of rotating characters played by Garrison Keillor and other performers. Music Conductor Rob Fisher and His Coffee Club Orchestra played the songs/music live on stage

PERFORMANCES/BROADCAST: The episodes were the featured highlight of a weekly two-hour live radio program broadcast from Manhattan. The live performances/broadcasts took place at The Lamb's Theatre, Off-Broadway in Manhattan; and at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The shows were broadcast by NPR, WNYC and Minnesota Public Radio.

"Like his Prairie Home Companion,"Keillor's "American Radio Company" offers an eclectic mix of comedy and music ... "The Story of Gloria," a musical-comedy serial chronicling the trails and tribulations of a New York career woman, co-written by Denise Lanctot Balle and Garrison Keillor -- though he uses the on-air name of "Elaine Lois Blintz" -- is charged with whimsical observations on New York life." ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY


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