“Kaye Amuses Crowd at Fete”
Sings With Helen Jepson
The Milwaukee Journal – Feb. 2,
1946
By: J. Paul O’Brien (Of The Journal Staff)
More than 6,000 howling, whistling spectators crammed the Auditorium
here Friday night to cheer Danny Kaye, the effervescent comedian, who presented his
Pabst Blue Ribbon radio broadcast from Milwaukee as part of the city’s Centurama
program.
Kaye’s every gag and antic was roundly applauded. Sharing the
spotlight during the radio broadcast was Helen Jepson, opera singer, who descended
from the lofty arias of operatic literature to do a musical parody with Kaye on the
theme of “Jack and Jill.”
Perhaps the most enthusiastic spectator was
Miss Georgia Hauke, of 3301 W. Highland Av., a bedridden victim of arthritis who
was brought to the Auditorium in an ambulance and watched the performance from a
wheelchair.
“This is heaven,” murmured Miss Hauke, who has long been a
Danny Kaye fan., And when Kaye himself left the stage to greet her, she added, “You’re
so wonderful, Danny.”
Entertains Before Broadcast
The broadcast did not start until 9:30 p.m., but a half hour before time
Kaye took the stage with a warmup program and brought cheers and laughter from the
spectators. Kaye was all over the stage, leading the orchestra, tripping over the
podium, testing the vocal qualities of the Centurama chorus and in general thrilling
the crowd with the Kaye brand of mirth.
The “Jack and Jill” sequence upon
which Kaye and Miss Jepson collaborated was done to the melodies of “Rigoletto” and
“Coming Round the Mountain,” and then was concluded with the blues.
Kaye’s
ever popular rendition of “Minnie the Moocher,” in which the audience participates,
was presented as part of the radio show. After the broadcast, Kaye sang “Dinah” and
the “Bali Boogie” to the delight of his fans.
Frequent reference to Milwaukee’s
one hundredth birthday celebration was made during the broadcast, and Mayor Bohn
spoke briefly.
Largest Crowd, Report
According to the Centurama officials, the crowd was the largest of the week and hundreds had to be turned away. Those fortunate enough to squeeze their way in kept their seats until the late hours as the Centurama show itself, with the stars Lanny Ross and Gil Lamb, scored another success.