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PERRY FINELLI: Good morning from the Minnesota Public Radio newsroom, I'm Perry Finelli. Senators are expected to vote on a bonding bill today. The House has approved a measure calling for more than $475 million in financing for the state's major projects. One of the largest projects funded in both bills is a new high security prison in Rush City.

Inmates returned to their light industry jobs at Minnesota's maximum security prison in Oak Park Heights today, following a two-week lockdown. About 175 inmates staged a strike in protest of new restrictions. Warden Erik Skon says about 50 inmates continue to be restricted to their cells for all but one hour a day. He says half didn't want to return to work. The rest have either quit or been fired from jobs or are returning from a more restrictive situation. Skon says the new unit will be reassessed in the near future.

WARDEN: We're going to proceed with that for a two-week period, monitor their behavior, and then develop a program which will allow for more privileges and more freedom.

PERRY FINELLI: Skon says the atmosphere in the prison is calm.

Authorities say a Delano couple died this morning in a fire apparently caused by gasoline from a chainsaw. The victims are identified as 76-year-old Edwin Drew and his 63-year-old wife Phyllis. The Wright County Sheriff's Office says, Mr. Drew was repairing the saw when it suddenly ignited, causing that blaze.

The weather forecast for the state of Minnesota, partly to mostly cloudy today, periods of light to moderate snowfall. High temperatures-- 22 in Thief River Falls, 38 in Rochester. For the Twin Cities today, mostly cloudy, a few lingering snow flurries, and a high temperature of 37.

Temperatures range from 16 now in Bemidji to a high of 29 in both the Twin Cities and Rochester, both locations reporting light snow. In Duluth, some flurries in 26 degrees, International Falls, light snow and 20. That's the news from Minnesota Public Radio. I'm Perry Finelli.

PAULA SCHROEDER: It's six minutes now past 10 o'clock. This is Midmorning on the FM news station. I'm Paula Schroeder.

[PIANO MELODY]

Wendy Lehr's talent for mime made her a star in family stage productions. Today on our Voices of Minnesota interview, we hear from Children's Theatre Company director and actor Wendy Lehr about her stagecraft. One of Wendy Lehr's best known roles is that of Pearl, the mean stepsister of Cinderella. In her 25 years at the Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis, Lehr has appeared in over 130 stage productions.

Now she's director of Education and is also directing plays at the CTC. Most recently, Lehr directed Linnea in Monet's Garden. Wendy Lehr was raised in small town Pennsylvania, then rural New Jersey, and on to suburban Saint Louis. She eventually landed at the University of Minnesota, where she joined The Moppett Players, the forerunner of the Children's Theatre.

Wendy Lehr told Minnesota Public Radio's Chris Roberts that a bout of childhood illness and theater-struck siblings influenced her interest in the stage.

WENDY LEHR: There were many lands around where we lived. There was the land that was the three corner patch across the street, where there was wild asparagus. And there was the land that was the farmer's field. And so it was an imaginative time.

We didn't have TV until I was maybe 9 or 10. So it was just at that time when childhood was still much more from the 19th century than the 20th century, because once TV came in, then of course, we saw how it was supposed to be and tried to emulate that.

And things changed. We would occasionally have our suppers in front of the TV instead of around the table. And it was a really big change.

CHRIS ROBERTS: You had kind of a babes-in-arms existence as a child in Pennsylvania. You put on a lot of shows. Did you naturally gravitate toward performing or were you encouraged to go in that direction by your parents? What were the influences?

WENDY LEHR: Well, I think part of the influences were a brother and a sister four and five years older. And they would go to the movies. And occasionally, I was allowed to go along, very grudgingly by them. And they'd always come back and act out the movies that they saw.

And I was a natural mimic. And I also became comic relief. So I had my area, which was comedy. And also, when they got into doing some things, my brother liked to do the effects. So we he would be the windstorm. And my sister liked to direct and write.

And so I often had the starring role by default. And I remember one time they did a courtroom drama. And my sister thought I was not sophisticated enough, so she cut my hair. [LAUGHS] So it really is just like an our gang comedy.

CHRIS ROBERTS: You always think that actors grow out of some troubled childhood, where maybe they were ignored or oh, they encountered some problems early on that would stay with them for a long time and had to work it out through performance somehow. And it doesn't sound like that's the case with you.

WENDY LEHR: Well, no. When I was ill, I think-- you know, children think of themselves as being immortal. But I probably had a look at some things that are not usually considered at a certain age. But I think--

CHRIS ROBERTS: Do you mind my asking what your illness was?

WENDY LEHR: Well, I had recurrent tumors, which were benign. But I spent several summers at Memorial Hospital in New York, which is a Cancer Center in the Children's Ward. And that was a pretty grim little reminder of mortality, although the people were very supportive and wonderful.

And I think that my parents and my family had started-- everyone had a great vivre, a really appreciation of life. And I think that only deepened my appreciation. And I think artists can be created not just through trying to untie their own knots, as you will, from problems, but also come through just a heightened appreciation of things.

And I love-- I teach a lot. And I just love, for instance, seeing children walk into the dance studio because suddenly, they're in love with space. And they fill the space. And that's a very deep and primal artistic urge.

And I think that-- I know that my parents were deacons of this little church we went to in New Jersey. And I used to love when they had to clean the church because it was such a great space to play in and to fill. And also, dare I go up toward the altar? Will I be struck by lightning?

So I was already able to endow things with importance. And I think that's one of the things that we do as artists, too, is be able to endow things with meaning and depth.

CHRIS ROBERTS: Do you remember your first substantial role as an actor? When you look back and you say, oh, the first one that was actually a really meaty role was this, what is it?

WENDY LEHR: Oh, I had meaty roles before I was ever ready to play them, believe me. I mean, I was in Bemidji, Minnesota for four seasons doing Summer Stock. And I think I played all the great roles. And you'd learn them in a week, and I was just terrible doing them.

CHRIS ROBERTS: No.

WENDY LEHR: Oh, well, you know, acting is not just learning the lines and not bumping into the furniture, although that's-- you have to basically get that out of the way. My very first role was the part of a maid in Death Takes a Holiday at Webster Groves High School. And I was serious about it. But I don't think I was very good at it.

And the next thing that I did is-- I didn't get a role. But I was watching a more gifted actress play in a play as I was holding the book. And when she had a dentist appointment, the director said, would you go up and play Sue's role? And I said, I think I can do it without the book. I've been listening to it.

And I imitated her performance . And it was an a-ha experience because suddenly, I realized that dialogue was talking, listening, and responding. Before that, I thought it was-- my first line, I remember it, "Fidel, Fidel. They're here. I hope there wasn't an accident."

CHRIS ROBERTS: [LAUGHS] You were mentioning all the people who have auditioned and who want to get into theater. Does that make any kind of statement to you? What is that saying about our needs as people?

WENDY LEHR: I am a deep believer in the theater and more so than ever now that there is the burgeoning of electronic entertainment, because there is something so humanizing about the theater. And so community about the theater, you have to go to the place that's being done with a bunch of other people.

It gives you as much choice-making as any kind of CD-ROM because you get to look where you want to look. And if you don't choose to watch Pippy Longstocking but just want to see the carnival goer in the corner who is selling small Swedish flags, you can do that. And it's just a wonderful opportunity.

CHRIS ROBERTS: You attended Drake--

WENDY LEHR: For two years.

CHRIS ROBERTS: --for two years, and the University of Minnesota. And at the U, you became attached to a group known as The Moppet Players.

WENDY LEHR: Mm-hmm.

CHRIS ROBERTS: Tell me about them. Who were they? Where did the name come from?

WENDY LEHR: The Moppet Players is really the precursor of the Children's Theatre Company. But it was a community house for children on the West Bank of the University of Minnesota, which gave art classes, dancing classes, and theater for the children who lived in the area.

And it was founded by Beth Linnerson. And she had a strong belief in this as a community resource. And I think when John Donahue joined that group, the artistic potential was starting to be realized. It was also right before the Children's Theatre became the Children's Theatre that Guthrie moved into town.

And there were people like Zoe Caldwell coming and watching The Wonderful World of Mother Goose at The Moppet Players, which was a little riser and a tiny, tiny-- I mean, in my house we do what we call doorway drama, which is you act while you're going past the doorway for the delectation of anybody who's in the other room. Well, this was practically a doorway drama theater because it was so tiny.

But I think that the interest in theater and that imprimatur from people from the globe helped to stimulate the interest in the artistic side of the theater. And it went in that direction. But it was seminal because for me, I was going to the University of Minnesota.

And with most inexperienced actors, you think, OK, what am I going to do? Well, the only thing that's really visible is Broadway or the movies. So I was Broadway bound, I was sure. And although the idea of regional theater was just starting to rear its head, I went to see a play at The Moppets.

And I found myself in tears in the middle of it because there was something so sweet and noncynical and innocent and in touch with a childlike vision of the world that I was kind of hooked.

So I did do a play for a friend, David Morgan. And I played Billina the Hen in Ozma Ruler of Oz. And that's when I first found out what great humility you have to have when you approach doing children's theater because I was in a chicken costume.

PAULA SCHROEDER: You're listening to Voices of Minnesota on the FM News Station. I'm Paula Schroeder, and this is Midmorning. Wendy Lehr is director of Education at the Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis. And we continue our interview with her in just a moment.

First, I need to tell you that programming on Minnesota Public Radio is supported by Bendix, a frontloading washer-dryer combination designed to save water and energy, new at independent appliance dealers. It's 17 minutes past 10 o'clock. Let's return now to Chris Roberts' conversation with Wendy Lehr.

CHRIS ROBERTS: Do you have to be childlike to be a performer in a children's theater? Is that a prerequisite?

WENDY LEHR: I think you have to remember what it was that delighted you as a child, at least-- maybe not as an actor but as a director because here, of course, we develop all our own plays. So I think you have to remember what it was that delighted you, which is why I always love to have snow at every possible chance in the plays that I do, because I remember.

CHRIS ROBERTS: Would you encourage all parents to have their children take acting classes? Some of them might think that it's a little bit too indulgent, a pursuit.

WENDY LEHR: [LAUGHS] Well, we get a lot of calls. And they fall usually into two categories. One is, my kid is such a ham, he ought to take lessons. And the other is, my child is so shy that they ought to take lessons.

I think most of the kids who come here and want to be in classes have been inspired by seeing other children act. And if it's something that they can really imagine, then they should go to a parent and say, I wonder how I can get to do that, and then perhaps be supported in going through the process of auditioning or whatever.

And of course, we have hundreds of children audition for very few roles. So what we try to do is make the audition process something that is fun, that can already give them a sense of skill and accomplishment, and is nurturing rather than scary and terrible, although every audition that I've ever been to, where I've been, the auditionee has been scary and terrible.

CHRIS ROBERTS: What do you think acting gives a child, any child who wants to give it a try?

WENDY LEHR: Well, perspective for one thing, walk a mile in somebody else's shoes. But the other thing that is so great about it is when a child is in a play at the Children's Theatre, their contribution is equal to any adult's contribution.

So they have the pride of having done an authentic job to the best of their ability. And that is a wonderful thing for a child to have in this day and age where we so often have things that are planned for children, which are insulting to their intelligence and to their growth.

CHRIS ROBERTS: I remember when I was in sixth grade, we did Macbeth. I actually played Macbeth. [LAUGHS] And it was really fun, yeah. It was really fun. And I seem to understand it as well. It didn't overpower me. But do you have any theories on what the limitations are for a younger audience?

WENDY LEHR: One of the big surprises for the Children's Theatre was the great success of doing The Miser even with little kids. But they get-- who is it, Arpagone? Is it Arpagone? Oh, darn, I flunked my Moliere test.

CHRIS ROBERTS: Do you think that the plays that you perform are too Eurocentric to attract a truly diverse audience, young people?

WENDY LEHR: Well, I hope that we choose things that are global. And I know we try definitely to create a sense of diversity and choose plays that are of interest to many different groups.

Let me put it this way. I just went to see Mendl, which is The Adventures of Mendl by Sholem Aleichem. And it really talks about tolerance and intolerance, which I think is a global issue. I just want to learn as much as possible. And I think that every child probably wants to learn as much as possible about themselves in their own community, in other communities, in the global community, in the spiritual community.

And hopefully we always address this, whether it's through. Anansi the Spider-- The Brothers Grimm, we're kind of down on them right now. But Kenneth Graham, Barry Lopez-- and I think that we're always striving to keep ourselves in the risk taking and opening up aspect.

CHRIS ROBERTS: What has been the impact of TV on the work that you do, the productions that you choose to stage and things of that nature?

WENDY LEHR: Oh, I'll tell you, one really good plus impact is we decided to do The Wizard of Oz a couple of years ago. And we had never considered it because we always felt that it was head to head with the movie and that the movie is a-- well, if you will, a work of art.

But since The Wizard of Oz has been reduced to the size of a TV, we decided we would blow it up again and make it stage-sized, which is even bigger than-- well, almost bigger than a movie screen or as big. And it was a great chance to free that piece from that one telling of the story and be able to do it again. So in that point, television had a positive impact.

We also have a CD-ROM that we've worked on, which to quote one of our stage managers who said, "I just have to say this before I talk about what a stage manager does, that I'm against television. But I am for dissemination of information. So I hope that whatever I say will be informative and get a child to come to the theater."

So I think that the TV size, its accessibility, the fact that you're seeing it alone in your room, you can walk away from it, you can stop it, and all that sort of thing is-- makes it such a different animal.

Now, I'm a great movie lover. And I think that movies are put in a bid in, that they're going to be-- there's going to be a lot more productions for families and children that are coming Out And some of great quality. | have not seen Babe yet, but I've heard it's a fabulous piece.

CHRIS ROBERTS: Let's talk about some of the roles that you've played. There have been so many over the years. Pearl, Cinderella's mean stepsister. Now, you've played Pearl probably about 10 times.

WENDY LEHR: Mm-hmm.

CHRIS ROBERTS: How has that character changed over the years?

WENDY LEHR: Well, the play itself has evolved over the years because when we first did it, it was in the old theater, which is what is now the Pillsbury Auditorium in the Institute of Art. So it was all-- we didn't even have fly space. So the roll drops all rolled up on big aluminum tubes. And you had to be careful your skirt didn't get in there or you'd be hauled up with it.

But it started out as trying to do something in the style of British panto, which is a loving yet hilarious look at a classic that is traditionally done at the holiday time for an audience, using people in the company who have played regular repertoire roles during the year.

And then you get to see the guy who usually plays Richard III play the Dame role and play the Widow Twankey or various other things in this wonderful, hilarious repertoire of British panto, which is a very old tradition. And it started out as an offshoot of the commedia, I do believe.

But I know when I got my hands on it, I wanted to take some of the jokies out so that we could really balance the sense of beauty and wonder, the snow and-- [LAUGHS]

CHRIS ROBERTS: Now, that's twice you've talked about snow. What is snow-- snow mean to you?

WENDY LEHR: Snow on stage is magic. And it just-- it is always a reminder of how you can be transported when you watch the theater. But it's my personal favorite to do because I get to be in the 19th century. And there's something so wonderful, the camaraderie about it. Last--

CHRIS ROBERTS: Are you talking about Cinderella again?

WENDY LEHR: About doing Cinderella, I think the last time we did it, we had, oh, big shepherd's pie nights, where we'd all sit down around the table and have shepherd's pie and talk about the theater. And the kids love that. They just love to hear our stories about things that have gone wrong on stage and our lives in the theater.

And it creates that sense-- that familial sense, which I think the companies that did the panto in England have done. And now it is a tradition with us.

CHRIS ROBERTS: What's the weirdest thing that ever happened to you on stage? You were talking about telling stories before.

WENDY LEHR: Oh, there are a compendium of them. Oh! You are going to see the Wallendas when you go to see the theater because anything can happen. Two opening nights at the Arizona Theatre Company, when I was playing Bananas in the House of Blue Leaves, and some-- the telephone that was supposed to ring with the important information had been disconnected.

So I was playing-- I had to go over and intuit that the phone was about to ring and change my line reading to, [GASPS] Howdy, it's the zoo. [LAUGHS] And another one there was when I was playing Big Mama in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, all the lights went out during the scene when I was holding Big Daddy's birthday cake.

So I knew Big Daddy was in the dark. But I was in the light because I had those candles flickering on my face. So I showed my response to all the unkind things he was saying. [LAUGHS]

CHRIS ROBERTS: That's a real test of your skills, isn't it?

WENDY LEHR: Oh, It's sort of probably petty, too. But I went, ha ha, you're in the dark. I'm not. Oh, things have happened. I've ripped down a proscenium arch with my costume already and fell off the stage and had to clamber back up. And my next line was somebody pushed me. [LAUGHS]

So it goes on and on. We have seen some of the funniest things in the world happen on stage. And of course, you just have to keep smiling through.

CHRIS ROBERTS: That's the fun of it.

WENDY LEHR: Right. We did Tomie dePaola's Mother Goose this year. And we had to stop the show because the moon got hung up. And there was Mother Goose with her ankles dangling on stage, singing away like a trooper.

But the stage manager had to say, ladies and gentlemen, we're having a little difficulty now. So we went on with the play. And sometimes an audience will just support you a million percent for having seen your garter fall down.

And toward the end of the play, Mother Goose has a line that's, these moon rides can be pretty unpredictable. And the audience went up.

Probably the funniest one was the Elephant Celeste, after having gone to Paris and wearing her beautiful dress and straw hat, becomes engaged to Babar, drives to the jungle in the red car, gets out, and has her panties fall down around her ankles. And there's no way to ignore a pair of elephant panties because they're as big as a bed sheet. [LAUGHS]

CHRIS ROBERTS: Is that what you're best at?

WENDY LEHR: Clowning? Well, I'll tell you, one thing about clowning is I probably go for it. But the straight dramatic roles, too, have been very good to play. And I've had a chance to play some wonderful roles. And I think the most affecting role I ever played was the role of-- her name was Old Moses and the play was called Falling Moons. And it was about the life of a woman.

And I played her as an elderly woman. And there were three other actresses who played me at younger ages. But it was written by Kirk Ristau, and Kirk was dying of cancer at the time that he was doing this. And of course, it put us all in a very mortal mood.

And I had gone home for Christmas. And in an effort to understand this whole issue of where we come from, our backgrounds, I told my parents that I bought them a big photo album for Christmas and the rest of my gift was to go through all of the photographs and make them the book that was going to be on the coffee table.

And so I got them talking about things. And it was the-- it was personally the most enriching experience that I've had with my parents because doors opened. I heard stories. We laughed, we cried together. And it was how the theater sometimes can be a key to opening up your life.

And this was a straight, dramatic role. But it was so fabulous. And it gave me such an enrichment and an understanding that I think it made me a better actress.

[SOMBER MUSIC]

PAULA SCHROEDER: Actress Wendy Lehr from the Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis, talking with NPR'S Chris Roberts. The producer of our Voices of Minnesota interview series is Dan Olson.

It's 29 minutes before 11 o'clock. I'm Paula Schroeder. Thanks for staying with us here on the FM News Station today. This is Midmorning. Coming up at 11 o'clock, of course, it's Midday. We'll bring you all the latest news and weather.

I'll give you a quick weather update here. And it's going to be pretty much the same the rest of the week as it is today. It looks like mostly cloudy and flurries possible today. High temperatures, in the low 20s in Northwestern Minnesota up around Thief River Falls, getting up into the upper 30s in the southeast in Rochester and Winona.

In the Twin Cities, the high today should be around 37 degrees. It's going to be a little bit cooler tomorrow continued, mostly cloudy. And dry and cold Wednesday through Friday as well. Temperatures really not getting much past 38 degrees or so for the rest of the week.

Arne Fogel is here today. And he is, of course, one of our favorite guests. When we talk about American music, we naturally think of Arne because he is one of the Twin Cities' leading experts on American music from the past and current music as well. And there is a new book out called Ira Gershwin. Guess who it's about? Ira Gershwin.

ARNE FOGEL: And who's buried in Grant's tomb?

PAULA SCHROEDER: Right. Written by Phil Furia, who is, at last report, a University of Minnesota English prof, right?

ARNE FOGEL: Yes, and I think he's a dean now.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Oh.

ARNE FOGEL: And-- but he's got this special added-- special added attraction is his love and his understanding of pop song lyrics and particularly the tradition that we call part of the Tin Pan Alley era or the Golden Age of pop songwriting was roughly from about the '20s up through the advent of the rock and roll era In the '50s.

PAULA SCHROEDER: He wrote a previous book about the Tin Pan Alley poets.

ARNE FOGEL: Yes, The Poets of Tin Pan Alley, which-- which is almost as logical a title as Ira Gershwin. But it was a wonderful book. And it was a very big success. And so he's moving on. And he's continuing with projects like this.

And he has a very, very special insight into the work of somebody like Ira Gershwin, because he-- although he professes to not be a music person, he does have an insight and depth into the form of pop songs and a feel for pop songs. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to write about pop song lyrics as wonderfully as he does.

And he brings his knowledge of the English language, for which he has a great love. To this analyzing of the works of somebody like Ira Gershwin. And Ira Gershwin is a wonderful subject for Professor Furia because Ira Gershwin's trademark, as it were, is his love of the language.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Well, he was the lyricist in that very popular brother songwriting duo, duo of George and Ira Gershwin. And indeed you think about songs "Nice Work If You Can Get It," "They Can't Take That Away From Me," as soon as you hear those titles, you start singing the songs.

ARNE FOGEL: You think of Fred Astaire, too, incidentally in most of those cases. Well, that's-- you sing the songs. That was one of the-- one of the great goals for a lyricist like Ira Gershwin is to come up with a song lyric that had great singability.

And in some ways, that can be a very technical sort of a thing, a certain combination of vowels and long vowels and consonants and things fitting rhythmically into the framework of a song so that the song is singable, almost as if it's conversation. Ira Gershwin always wanted to be conversational.

And he was working with a pretty tricky composer, to say the least. And at one point, Professor Furia comes up with the observation-- not observation, but the Ira Gershwin quote along the lines of, thinking of his lyric as a mosaic, in that the way a mosaic, the little squares, fit into the pattern-- in some cases, a charmingly jagged fit.

Well, he's looking at the structure of his brother's songs as being very, very angular and very, very unique and rhythmically very, very special. And he's got to come up with a lyric that's going to fit into those particular types of George Gershwin-esque rhythms. And of course, he succeeded beyond anyone's wildest fantasy.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Absolutely fabulous songs. Of course, this would not be an Arne Fogel conversation without some music included in it. And you did indeed bring along some samples of Ira Gershwin's tunes and one of Ira himself--

ARNE FOGEL: Yes, this--

PAULA SCHROEDER: --singing.

ARNE FOGEL: --is not the most outstanding George and Ira work together, I don't believe. But it's very interesting because it's a sample of Ira himself singing in a voice that makes you assured as to why he never really did this.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Why he never recorded?

ARNE FOGEL: He didn't make a living at this. But this is Ira in late 37 or early 38 in a-- supposedly recorded at a party, although it sounds more like a demo for a song that Fred Astaire was going to sing in a film called Shall We Dance but never got around to doing for public consumption.

And the other noteworthy thing about this particular recording is at the piano was not George Gershwin but Harold Arlen.

IRA GERSHWIN: "Hi-ho" by George and Ira Gershwin. In the piano is Harold Arlen.

(SINGING) Hi-ho

Hi-ho

At last, it seems I found her

Now I won't be happy till my arms are around her

Hi-ho

Oh, hi

If a kiss, she'd only throw me

Oh, me, oh, my

Her charm

PAULA SCHROEDER: OK, OK, Arne. I think I get why he didn't record, OK? And this particular song, I don't know. It didn't sound like it was-- maybe it was a good reason that it wasn't recorded by Fred Astaire--

ARNE FOGEL: Well, there are-- I don't think it's one of their great achievements, as we said. But there are places in it that are very, very uniquely Gershwin. And as it gets into the bridge portion of the song, there is something that you can certainly-- [WORDLESS SINGING] a very rhythmic thing that you can just tell was for Fred Astaire to sing.

And possibly the setting of the song would have made it-- would have set it off more brightly than what we've just heard.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Did they compose-- George and Ira Gershwin compose for specific people like Fred--

ARNE FOGEL: Yeah.

PAULA SCHROEDER: --Astaire and--

ARNE FOGEL: Well, I always liked the-- I always liked the Sammy Cahn quote that I know Professor Furia is aware of, which is that, "Anytime you write a song for a particular artist, that artist is in the room with you." And what he means, of course, is not physically but that you are thinking that artist, particularly somebody as unique as Fred Astaire.

And of course, when they were writing for plays and they were writing for films later on, and in any given situation, they were writing specifically for these artists. They didn't do the type of thing we think of in later eras of pop music, where they're writing for a record or they're just writing a song to have a hit song.

They were, for the most part, writing for the score of a show of some type, particularly as the era wore on. And most every song that they wrote together is from this or that show, perhaps all of them. I'm not sure off the bat.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Did they have a real-- I don't want to say monopoly, but I guess that's a word that comes to mind, for writing music for shows? Because there is so much Gershwin music.

ARNE FOGEL: Well, in retrospect, isn't it, it's interesting how all the great things from any era rise to the top and everything else falls away. And you'd be led to believe that. But of course, we have our Cole Porter and Irving Berlin, and Rodgers and Hart, and Rodgers and Hammerstein a little bit later, and Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg, and Ted Koehler and all his partners. And so there's so many of them.

But there's that special quality of George Gershwin, who was able to take that bluesy, jazzy sort of feeling and put that into his music. And then what a wonderful blessing to have this self-- not really the same type of personality as his brother, not as forceful and not as aggressive and not the life of the party and everything that George Gershwin was, but this quiet guy who sat in the background and did just absolutely perfectly by his brother's melodies.

And coming up with the ability to-- first of all, Ira Gershwin was very big on slang. He was very big on writing. He loved the language. He loved verse. He loved these sort of-- 1920s was that very big era for Dorothy Parker and the Algonquin Round Table.

He was a man who was fascinated by that world earlier on in the teens and wanted to write light verse and wanted to-- this is a talent that progressed and developed totally independently of his brother's talents as a musician. It was a while before they decided to get together.

PAULA SCHROEDER: OK.

ARNE FOGEL: At first, he didn't want to trade on his brother's name. He wrote under the name of Arthur Francis because he didn't-- because that was-- he wanted to get away from that. But luckily later on, they realized-- they looked at each other and realized that they were blessed each with a wonderful, marvelous collaborator.

Very early on, they wrote a song, for instance, in the '20s, in the late '20s, called "The Man I Love." And this is an example of something very special, not only about Ira Gershwin, but also brings to mind something special about this book, Furia's book.

He mentions one little line in the song, "Someday he'll come along, the man I love." First of all, it's a marvelously simple, evocative phrase to come from Ira Gershwin. And in Furia's book here, he mentions that these opening phrases perfectly match the musical phrases, et cetera.

The tension is strengthened by the clash of verb tenses, the tentative future of "he'll" set against the firm present of "I love" instead of the more grammatically proper, " I'll love." Now, once again, a marvelous insight into Ira Gershwin. Think of how that has changed as the song, "Someday he'll come along, the man I love," as if it's already--

PAULA SCHROEDER: It was already there.

ARNE FOGEL: The fates have decreed. And it also once again highlights Professor Furia's insight. Because of his background as a man of the language, into what makes this guy tick and what makes his work work.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Yeah. We've got another song that is absolute one of my all-time favorites.

ARNE FOGEL: And this is its earliest recording.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Oh.

ARNE FOGEL: You're going to hear George at the piano with brother Fred Astaire and sister Adele Astaire, who at the time was shared billing with him on Broadway. This is from Lady Be Good.

And once again, a beautiful example of the jagged jazz age 1920s, George Gershwin's sense of rhythm, and his brother Ira, who struggled mightily with this song, to accent his words so that--

PAULA SCHROEDER: Where did they come up with a lyric for this tune? Fascinating rhythm.

ARNE FOGEL: Creating that mosaic.

[FRED ASTAIRE, ADELE ASTAIRE, "FASCINATING RHYTHM"]

FRED ASTAIRE: (SINGING) There's a little rhythm, a rhythm, a rhythm

That pitter pats through my brain

So darn persistent, the day is distant

But it'll drive me insane

ADELE ASTAIRE: (SINGING) Comes in the morning without any warning

And hangs around me all day

BOTH: (SINGING) Someday I'll sneak up to it

Someday I'll speak of to it

I hope it listens when I say

Fascinating rhythm

You got me on the go

Fascinating rhythm

I'm all a-quiver

What a mess you're making

The neighbors want to know

Why I'm always shaking just like a bluebird

Each morning, I get up with the sun

Start hopping, never stopping

By that time, the work has been done

I know that once it matter

But now you're doing wrong

When you start to patter

I'm so unhappy

Won't you take a day off

Decide to run along somewhere far away off

And make it snappy

Oh, how I long to be the man I used to be.

Fascinating rhythm

You got to stop picking on me.

Fascinating rhythm

I'm all a-quiver

Why, I'm always shaking just like a flivver

PAULA SCHROEDER: Fred and Adele Astaire, his sister, who, as you were saying, Arne, had actually top billing when she was performing with him.

ARNE FOGEL: Well, she didn't have top billing. They were known then as Fred and Adele. But she certainly was the bigger attraction. It's sort of like Abbott and Costello. Costello has second billing, but he was the more noteworthy, to most people, member of the team.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Yeah.

ARNE FOGEL: And talking about teams, once again, the George and Ira Gershwin, Ira Gershwin preferred to be overshadowed by his brother. He liked that. He was a reticent fella. And he was-- knew that he was working with a genius and knew that the world knew that.

But he had that wonderful quality that some people are fortunate enough to have, which is a sense of security in oneself and one's work and knowing that you're great. So you don't really care if anybody else jumps up and down and makes a big fuss about you. I envy that. Tremendously.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Yes, right. We all wouldn't need approval and applause every once in a while. Where did this talent come from? Has there been much research done into the Gershwins and what they were like as kids?

ARNE FOGEL: Well, there's been-- there have been many, many books on George Gershwin. This is, to the best of my knowledge, the first text on Ira Gershwin. There's publications of his lyrics, for instance.

But for a book to come out on Ira Gershwin at this time in the '90s and have this be the first is a bit of a sad commentary.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Yeah.

ARNE FOGEL: He was born in 1896. And he was indulged by his parents with the piano to-- with which to learn and become a wonderful musician, the goal of every parent back there in the 1890s. And instead, his brother sat down and started playing the piano.

Well, Ira needed to express himself, too. But he was a very studious, very scholarly. He looked at as something of a scholar. And I don't know if you'd want to call him an intellectual because his sense of humor was a little bit too keen in his sense of play. But that would disqualify him as an intellectual.

But he wanted to deal with words. He loved the language. And he loved words. He loved to make-- to amuse people with them and come up with clever rhymes and to comment on love in a pop song but to do it in a wry, off the cuff sort of way.

And some more serious works. Like for instance, "The Man That Got Away," which Judy Garland introduced in 1954. Once again, what a tremendous struggle that he had with this particular song.

And Furia's book goes through a number of early lyrics for this song. (SINGING) The song is played out, the moon is in a fade out. The stars won't glimmer. The autumn wind is grimmer.

Nope, let's go back and try that again. (SINGING) Yes sirree, that's how it is. He had me in a tizz. I guess I got the biz.

And slowly, we arrive at the totally appropriate, aggressive, hard-edged arching lyric for this wonderful, wonderful song, "The Man That Got Away."

JUDY GARLAND: (SINGING) The night is bitter

The stars have lost their glimmer

The winds grow colder

Suddenly, you're older

And all because of the man that got away

No more his eager call

The writing's on the wall

The dream

PAULA SCHROEDER: Judy Garland singing "The Man That Got Away."

ARNE FOGEL: Yes.

PAULA SCHROEDER: The book is called Ira Gershwin: The Art of The Lyricist. And the author is Philip Furia. Local guy, Arne Fogel, thank you so much for coming in and bringing us some of these terrific songs.

ARNE FOGEL: Thank you. It was fun to talk about it and this great book.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Yeah, thanks a lot.

JUDY GARLAND: (SINGING) And undone you

That great beginning has seen a final inning

Don't know what happened

PAULA SCHROEDER: Well, from Judy Garland to Lou Snider, and everyone that Lou Snider meets on her job thinks they're a singer. Lou leads all the vocalists who step up to her piano bar at Nye's Polonaise Room in Minneapolis.

Minnesota Public Radio's Justin Maiman visited Nye and produced today's "Odd Job" segment for Midmorning.

[PIANO MELODY]

LOU SNIDER: OK, we're going to start tonight with my all-time favorite song. I'm sure you've never heard this.

(SINGING) It was just a neighborhood dance

That's all it was

But, oh, what it seemed to be

It was like a masquerade ball

(SPEAKING) This is Lou Snider. I am the pianist at Nye's Polonaise Room, Downtown Minneapolis. We run a piano bar that encourages many singers.

(SINGING) But, oh, what it seemed to be

It was like a trip to the stars

(SPEAKING) You played differently when you got a little older, gentler crowd, because I know what they like because they like what I've always liked

MAN: (SINGING) Is when I fall in love

Is when I give my heart

Is when I fall in love with you

[APPLAUSE]

(SPEAKING) Thank you.

LOU SNIDER: Don't encourage him.

[LAUGHTER]

Now, when we get the young people and it's getting later out, I know it changes somewhat. And we do a little friskier things.

MAN: (SINGING) Are you lonesome

LOU SNIDER: (SPEAKING) OK, now, you're not listening either, like all these other people. And he sings perfect. You went too high.

(SINGING) Are you lonesome

MAN: (SINGING) Are you lonesome tonight

Do you miss me tonight

Are you sorry

LOU SNIDER: Well, I worked in rock and roll bands back in about between '56 and '59. And then I didn't play for a couple of years and started up again. Then I did the single thing after that.

(SINGING) Delta Dawn--

(SPEAKING) I took lessons from a neighbor lady that my mother discovered could play and would teach. And she used to play for silent movies. You can't hardly believe that, I don't imagine.

JUSTIN MAIMAN: You've worked here for how long?

LOU SNIDER: 30 years, I had a big anniversary party back in October. We celebrated for three days.

(SINGING) Mansion in the sky

(SPEAKING) It's my life's work, and I've been fortunate to have fallen into this. I've never planned anything in my life. Everything just fell in. I either-- it happened. So no plans to do these things.

Nowadays, I know they teach you to plan ahead. And who knows what I'd be doing if I'd done that? I don't know.

(SINGING) We'll meet again

Don't know where

Don't know when

But I know we'll meet again

Some sunny day

[APPLAUSE]

(SPEAKING) Oh, yes. I'm sorry if we missed some of your requests. We just ran out. Sorry about that. Night-night.

AUDIENCE: I love you, Lou.

LOU SNIDER: You'll get over it.

PAULA SCHROEDER: [LAUGHS] Lou Snider and her friends at the piano bar at Nye's Polonaise Room in Minneapolis. That "Odd Jobs" report was produced by Justin Maiman.

GARY EICHTEN: The history of "Black Radio: Telling It Like It Was." Hi, Gary Eichten here, inviting you to join us for Midday on the FM News Station as we conclude our series with a look at religious broadcasters and the radio stars of the '70s and '80s.

Lou Rawls hosts. I hope you can join us. Midday begins weekday mornings at 11:00 on the FM News Station KNOW FM 91.1 in the Twin Cities.

PAULA SCHROEDER: That final installment in the history of Black Radio at noon today at 11 o'clock. Gary will be talking to Hennepin County Chief Judge Kevin Burke about a proposed new drug court. Nick Hayes will also offer some thoughts on the situation in Bosnia.

But first, here on Midmorning, it's Garrison Keillor.

[PIANO MELODY]

GARRISON KEILLOR: And here is The Writer's Almanac for Monday. It's the 18th of March, 1996. It's the birthday of the French poet Stéphane Mallarmé, born in Paris on this day in 1842,

who wrote, among many other things, "L'Apres-midi d'un faune, "The Afternoon of a Fawn," which became the inspiration for the famous piece by Claude Debussy.

It's the birthday of the great English poet of World War I, Wilfred Owen, born in Shropshire, England, 1893 on this day. He enlisted in the British Army when he was 23, witnessed the terrible sights and sounds of war from the trenches, became ill, and went to hospital a couple of years later. And then returned to his regiment in France as a company commander in August of 1918.

He wrote many poems set in the war. The one which begins, "Our brains ache in the merciless iced East winds that knive us. Wearied, we keep awake because the night is silent. Low drooping flares confuse our memory of the salient. Worried by silence, sentries whisper, curious, nervous. But nothing happens."

And it's the birthday in Shillington, Pennsylvania, of writer John Updike, one of America's most prodigious and prolific writers, born in 1932 on this day, who has written criticism, verse, drama, and a great deal of fiction stories and also his great quadrilogy, the Rabbit books coming out about once every decade, starting with Rabbit Run in 1960, Rabbit Redux in '71, Rabbit is Rich in '81, and Rabbit at Rest in 1990.

Here's a group of little bouncing poems. If you've heard them, you were much too small and may have forgotten them.

"Dance to your Daddy, my little babby.

Dance to your Daddy, my little lamb.

You shall have a fishy in a little dishy.

You shall have a fishy when the boat comes in."

"Here sits the Lord Mayor.

Here sit his men.

Here sits the cock-a-doodle.

Here sits the hen.

Here, sit the little chickens.

Here, they run in.

Chin sharper, chin sharper, chin sharper, chin."

"Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home.

Your house is on fire, and your children are gone-- all except one.

And that's little Anne. And she has crept under the warming pan."

"Dainty diddle dee, my Mammy's maid,

She stole oranges, I am afraid.

Some in her pocket and some inner sleeve,

she stole oranges, I do believe."

"Born on a tabletop in Joe's cafe,

Dirtiest place in the USA.

Polished off his father when he was only three.

Polished off his mother with DDT.

Davy, Davy Crockett, King of the wild frontier."

"The Candyman was good to me.

He took me up and gave me tea.

Tea and toast and a wee bit ham,

It was awful good of the Candyman."

"Here we come, Looby Loo.

Here we come. Looby Light.

Here we come, Looby Loo,

All on a Saturday night."

"Put your right hand in.

Put your right hand out.

Shake it little by little,

And turn yourself about."

And this one.

"Latin is a dead tongue,

Dead as dead can be.

First, it killed the Romans.

Now, it's killing me.

All are dead who wrote it.

All are dead who spoke it.

All are dead who learnt it.

Lucky dead.

They've earned it."

[PIANO MELODY]

A group of children's rhymes. And that's The Writer's Almanac for Monday, March the 18th, made possible by Coles Magazines, publishers of Women's History and other magazines. Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Thanks for joining us today on Midmorning. I'm Paula Schroeder. I'll be back tomorrow morning. And we will bring you another installment in the "Campaign Connection" as the Republican campaign for president continues to roll on.

And also, now-President Clinton getting a little bit more active in his comments about his potential opponents. We'll bring you that. And we'll also talk with former University of Minnesota Regent Josie Johnson about the role of minority students in higher education, what the opportunities and obstacles are for them.

That's coming up tomorrow on Midmorning. Stay tuned. Midday is next.

SPEAKER 1: The six.

PAULA SCHROEDER: Time now is coming up on 11 o'clock. And you are listening to Minnesota Public Radio. 28 degrees at the FM News Station, KNOW FM, 91.1. Minneapolis, Saint Paul.

In the Twin Cities today, we are expecting mostly cloudy skies, a few snow flurries, and a high temperature around 37 degrees. It's going to be windy with Northwest winds at 10 to 20 miles per hour, cooler tomorrow with a high in the low to mid-30s.

GARY EICHTEN: Good morning. It's 11 o'clock, and this is Midday on the FM News Station. I'm Gary Eichten. In the news this morning, members of the Minnesota House are expected to decide today what, if any, punishment they will recommend for DFL State Representative Jeff Bertram. Bertram is charged with harassing and intimidating his constituents in Central Minnesota.

NATO officials say the Bosnian peace agreement is not breaking down, despite increasing violence in Sarajevo, suburbs being turned over to the Muslim-Croat Federation. Suburbs were controlled by Bosnian Serbs, most of whom have fled.

Bad weather has apparently stalled China's planned war games near Taiwan. China says the war games are designed to warn Taiwan against pushing for independence from mainland China.

In Hennepin County, officials are considering a plan to set up a separate court to deal with the growing number of drug cases in Hennepin County. Those are some of the stories in the news today. Coming up over the noon hour, we'll conclude our documentary series on the history of Black radio with a look at religious broadcasters and the new stars of Black radio.