(Above: Actors Nancy Hopps and Dan Pegoda play the lead roles of Ilsa Lund and Rick Blaine, made famous by Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart, in the movie, Casablanca; photo by Paul Carter)
By Daniel Buckwalter
I had a love return to me Friday night.
Well, fine, Ingrid Bergman and I never crossed paths. If we had met, I’m not sure I would have dug deep, found greater purpose, and let Bergman as Ilsa Lund fly away with actor Paul Henreid, playing her husband, Victor Laszlo, never to see her again, as Humphrey Bogart did, playing the flawed but fine character of Rick Blaine.
Then I remember that Everyone Comes to Rick’s was a dormant, unproduced play. It later turned into an Oscar-winning movie called Casablanca (Best Picture, among others) and a radio production.
The movie, even with its A-list actors, was not expected to do as well as it did when it premiered in 1942. Yet its spoken lines (“Here’s looking at you, kid,” for instance) and its music (“As Time Goes By”) have grown into legendary status.
It all came alive Friday night in front of a near-capacity audience at the Hult Center’s Soreng Theater when Radio Redux opened a three-performance run that concludes on Sunday afternoon, Feb. 10.
The professional ensemble of Radio Redux, along with the music of the Riverside Radio Swing Band, wove the romantic, World War II story of Rick Blaine (Dan Pegoda), Ilsa Lund (Nancy Hopps), Victor Laszlo (Peter van de Graaff), and corrupt Vichy prefect of police Louis Renault (Achilles Massahos, who’s almost a dead-ringer for Claude Rains, the man who played the part in the movie) and others for an eventful, nostalgic night.
It was a quiet, thoughtful adaptation of the Lux Radio Theater production of 1944, complete with the hilarious dead-pan Lux Flakes commercials (my favorite coming from Ken Hof).
Everything was as it should be, much to the satisfaction of the audience.
It was a reminder, too, of how much an accident the legend of Casablanca came to be. The original 1940 play (Everybody Goes to Rick’s), written by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison, really didn’t get off the ground. Warner Brothers bought the film rights in 1942, and by the time filming was complete that year, it was one of hundreds of films the Hollywood machine was releasing.
Yet Casablanca gained classic stature with audiences and critics alike through the years. I came to it late, in my 30s, and loved it through and through.
I was careful not to see trailers of the film prior to Friday night. I hoped to be taken again by the story and the music, and Radio Redux did not disappoint.
Radio Redux will play Casablanca again Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at Hult Center’s Soreng Theater. Tickets start at $15.
After that, Radio Redux will complete its 10th season with Burns & Allen & Friends, on April 12-14.
