For one remarkable hour of radio history, the great musicals of Broadway and American operetta climbed aboard the train.
The Railroad Hour brought Gordon MacRae, a full orchestra, chorus, celebrated guest stars, and some of the greatest music of the stage into American living rooms—compressing whole theatrical worlds into the intimate dimensions of radio.
In this Listen with Gilbert deep dive, we’re letting Chesterton Radio listeners choose the program. We count down the ten Railroad Hour productions you’ve listened to most—from Rio Rita, Eileen and Song of Norway through Jerome Kern’s Roberta, Victor Herbert’s Naughty Marietta, Noël Coward’s Bitter Sweet, Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn—and finally to the surprising runaway favorite at No. 1.
Along the way, we’ll hear the story of The Railroad Hour itself, explore the journey from operetta to the American musical, and ask a wonderfully old-fashioned question:
How did they fit Broadway inside a radio?
And perhaps there is a larger question hiding there too. We now have nearly every song, show, and recording available whenever we want it. The listener of radio’s golden age had far fewer choices.
But on Monday night, when the orchestra began, they had somewhere to be.
Ten shows. One little radio. An entire world of music.
All aboard.
The Desert Song - Romberg and Hammerstein - Railroad Hour
Holiday Inn - Irving Berlin - The Railroad Hour
Bitter Sweet - Noel Coward - Jeanette MacDonald - Gordon MacRae - The Railroad Hour
The Red Mill - Gene Kelly - Operetta by Victor Herbert - Railroad Hour
Naughty Marietta - Victor Herbert - Railroad Hour
Roberta - Jerome Kern Musical - Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - The Railroad Hour
Sally - Jerome Kern Musical - The Railroad Hour
Song of Norway - Edvard Grieg - The Railroad Hour
Eileen - Victor Herbert - The Railroad Hour
Rio Rita - The Railroad Hour
