"RADIO GALS" is a musical by Mike Craver and Mark Hardwick, set in the late l920's, and concerning an enterprising woman, Hazel Hunt, of Cedar Ridge, Arkansas who, upon her retirement as the town music teacher, receives a Western Electric 500 watt radio transmitter and begins broadcasting as radio station "WGAL". What comes out over the local airwaves is a small town diary, calendar, and stream of consciousness -- sort of a Molly Bloom crossed with the Farmers' Almanac -- with generous dollops of singing and playing by Hazel's "all-girl" orchestra, "the Hazelnuts", and that lovesick flapper Gladys Fritts. However, due to Hazel's habit of "channel wandering", her broadcasts are not always so local. And listeners as far away as Montreal and Manhattan can testify. Enter O. B. Abbott, Federal Radio Inspector, intent on rescuing the airwaves from gypsies like Hazel Hunt. However, Mr. Abbott soon falls prey to the blandishments of the Hazelnuts, and the Shangri-La that is Cedar Ridge. Inspector Abbott, it turns out, also has a fine tenor voice, plays a mean accordion, and in the course of things falls for the flapper...
Characters:
HAZEL HUNT: Retirement age, matronly. Shrewd, enthusiastic, perhaps a bit dotty, but definitely in control. Hazel is the town's beloved music teacher and patroness of the arts.
GLADYS FRITTS: Middle aged. More dramatic than Hazel: high strung, and excitable. Gladys is a small town gal who yearns for greater horizons. She considers herself artistic and sophisticated. She possesses a deep love of poetry, and has studied voice.
O.B. ABBOTT: Bureaucratic and self important yet underneath he has the soul of a poet. Abbott is a "closet" musician and singer.
AMERICA: Breezy, sunny, open young woman. Unsophisticated yet enthusiastic.
RENNABELLE: cousin to America. Somewhat more tomboyish, and sophisticated.
AZILEE SWINDLE: Elderly, well-dressed lady. Friend and associate of Hazel's.
MABEL SWINDLE: Elderly, well-dressed lady. Friend and associate of Hazel's.
