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You Can Dream, Inc., by Norman Corwin · Lawrence University: Theatre of the Air

• 0:08
  Timothy Troy, host: Welcome to Lawrence University Theatre of the Air. Tonight, taped before a live audience in the F. Theodore Cloak Studio Theatre, on the campus of Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, we celebrate the work of old time radio's most prolific and poetic writers, Norman Corwin.
• 0:35
  Announcer: This is your announcer, Albert Riser. Our Norman Corwin Festival continues with You Can Dream Incorporated. Mr. Corwin wrote and directed this play for broadcast on 04/11/1944 on CBS as part of the series called Columbia Presents Corwin.
• 1:00
  Actor 1: I'm vice president in charge of sales of a new public utility, a service dealing in dreams of all varieties for every purse. Now let me explain. You Can Dream Incorporated specializes in furnishing daydreams to people who are bored with what they are doing and would like to get away from routine. Simply apply in person or by letter stating the nature of your work and the extent of service desired. That is, whether you wish for daydreams on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
• 1:35
  For instance, take the case of Miss W, a young stenographer who applied for one of our moderate price dreams. She came to us with this story. Sir or madam, I am a stenographer. I work in the law office typing contracts. Puttefath, Hunnabun, Smigley, and Dorset.
• 1:55
  It gets very monotonous. I guess I type about 10,000 words a day, not counting dictation, and answering the phone. It seems as though I'm forever typing. Puttefath, Hunnabun, Smiggly endorse it. Mister Puttefath, just a moment.
• 2:19
  And the dictation I have to take.
• 2:21
  Actor 2: The owner agrees to duly execute, acknowledge, and deliver or procure the due execution, acknowledgment, and delivery to the purchaser of any and all further assignments and other instruments in any form approved by counsel for purchaser that may be necessary or expedient.
• 2:40
  Actor 1: And then I have to type it up and make six copies of it. Do you get what I mean? Madam, we not only get what you mean, but we have the very thing for you. Daydream number eight. Here it is.
• 3:07
  You come to work in the morning, and there is a new partner in the law firm. He is Mackinlay Smigley, young cousin of Uriah Smigley and a graduate of Yale. He is handsome.
• 3:18
  Actor 3: Will you take a contract?
• 3:20
  Actor 1: Yes, sir.
• 3:22
  Actor 3: I hereby grant, assign, transfer, and set over unto you exclusively and forever, my love, my entire love. Moreover, I warrant and represent to you that nothing herein contained shall be interpreted or construed as pertaining to the contrary notwithstanding. Have you got that?
• 3:42
  Actor 1: Yes, sir.
• 3:43
  Actor 3: That will be all,
• 3:45
  Announcer: for now.
• 3:46
  Actor 1: Yes, sir. Then you go to your desk to type it, pushing aside the flowers that have been left there since you were last at your machine, and you begin to type. And now you are no longer knocking out a contract. You are at the keyboard of a musical instrument, and you float with a floating shift. And when you press the margin release, you are released.
• 4:12
  You touch the space bar and drift in space among asteroids and asterisks. Oh, my. The ampersands of time run through your fingers. The crescent moon closes a parenthesis. Contract?
• 4:34
  The keys strike sparks against a platen of platinum. The carriage is drawn by six white minks. You are in a concert hall at the console of the great corona. Around the vast hall are busts in marble of the great composers. Beethoven, Brahms, Bach, Pettifath, Hunnebund, Schubert, Smiggly, Dorset.
• 4:58
  The audience is quieting, hushed, and expectant. The conductor comes out, bows, turns to you.
• 5:06
  Actor 4: The following, when performed by you and by us, will constitute a complete and binding contract between us. You nod your head. The baton is raised.
• 5:40
  Actor 5: Well, that ladies and gentlemen was daydream number eight, and it will give you a rough idea of the kind of precision work we do. For example, our concerto for typewriter comes in several sizes, including those in two, three, or four movements. Also, we are planning for fall release a cantata for a comptometer. Very well now. Is there someone else with a problem who is interested in our high quality dreams?
• 6:08
  My name is Humphrey Bromfield. I'm a cultured and sensitive young man, deeply interested in the arts. And for some time now, I've been worried about the fact that my fiance seems less and less to care about sharing my enthusiasms. She prefers to think and talk about movies and crooners and sensational murder trials. Please, go on.
• 6:35
  I think she inherits her questionable values from her father, a very gross and opinionated man with no cultural background whatever.
• 6:45
  Actor 1: Yes, Well, what is your problem, mister b?
• 6:47
  Actor 5: Well, I would like to apply for an intellectual type daydream in which the girl of my daydreams would be completely versed in the seven lively arts. Have you got anything like that around?
• 6:59
  Actor 1: You bet we have. There's a very fine aesthetic daydream, the 24 d, which we'd be very glad to have you try out. It's fully equipped with a cultured father and, if required or desired, two spare cultured brothers.
• 7:15
  Actor 5: Do you mind if I try it out?
• 7:17
  Actor 1: Glad to have you. That's what we're here for. No obligation to buy. You have just brought your girl home from a symphony concert where you heard the Brahms variations on a theme by Semler, and you are sitting in the living room.
• 7:35
  Actor 5: The Brahms piece was charming, of course, but my favorite of all his works remains the first symphony. Don't you agree, Minerva?
• 7:43
  Actor 6: Oh, I tell you, most of the time he's obtuse and sophisticated, and that gets me down. I grant you, his stuff is magnificent in outline and elaborate in detail all right, but give me the beautiful sorrows of Chopin or the mighty harmonies of Beethoven.
• 7:55
  Actor 5: Yes, my dear, but after all, Chopin
• 7:58
  Actor 6: Perhaps it's too reticent for my dough, you get what I mean. I can see, dear, he has a great fecundity and melodic invention. That I'll give him. Now, take Beethoven. If you was to make analogies with some of the other artists, you could say there's a synonymity between his voice and the thunder and luxuriance of literary power which you find in Shakespeare.
• 8:13
  Hand me another one of those bonbons cookie.
• 8:16
  Actor 5: But my dear, such a comparison.
• 8:19
  Actor 6: Now take Sophocles. Sophocles. There was a guy who saw life steady and saw it whole. He had a high sardonic humor, so to speak, whereas the comedy of Voltaire was different. As Anatol France says, in Voltaire's finger, the pen runs and laughs.
• 8:32
  Ain't that high class corn for you? And while there's a kind of tumultuous splendor and glowing purity in some of Brahms passages, he still ain't got that thing, that blend of impressionism with sentiment that you find in the works of Wagner, for instance. Do you know what
• 8:47
  Actor 5: I mean? Yes, Minerva, but you can hardly compare. Why not?
• 8:50
  Actor 6: You know what Aristophanes had to say about comparisons, don't you? Well, okay. Besides, it ain't nothing the creative artist should be merely a flame with a sense of life. He's gotta know how to control it and synthesize the whole damn thing. And the more premonition, the better.
• 9:01
  Ain't that right, dad?
• 9:03
  Actor 7: What's that Minerva?
• 9:05
  Actor 6: Why don't you pay attention, Colonel, instead of sitting there with that mint julep?
• 9:08
  Actor 7: I'm sorry. I was busy reading an early edition of the Essays of Montania as told to Marvin Lowenthal.
• 9:17
  Actor 5: But Minerva
• 9:18
  Actor 6: Pop, tell Hump here your thesis about premonition is relative to libido.
• 9:21
  Actor 7: I'd rather illustrate my point by quoting the great poet John Keats.
• 9:27
  Actor 6: Go ahead.
• 9:27
  Actor 7: Quote. Quote. When I have fears that I may cease to be, before my pen is gleaned, my temen brain, before half pilot books in character, hold like rich garners the full ripened grain, When how behold upon the night star face, huge cloudy symbols of a great romance.
• 9:48
  Actor 6: High romance, not great romance, you do. But what is this to do? Your point is well taken, bub, but as Shakespeare said in that immortal passage from Julius Caesar, the evil that men do lives after them. The good is often turned with their bones, so let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus hath told you Caesar was ambitious.
• 10:07
  If it was so
• 10:12
  Actor 1: Do you think that's anything you could use, Mr. Bromfield?
• 10:15
  Actor 2: No!
• 10:17
  Actor 5: And if that's a sample of the kind of daydreams you're carrying, I don't want any part of them. Why, it's insulting and ridiculous, furthermore-
• 10:25
  Actor 1: But, my dear man, that's only one of several.
• 10:28
  Actor 5: I'm not interested. Good day.
• 10:38
  Actor 1: Hello, GW? Say, what are you trying to do with that 24 d item? Well, no. We just lost a sale. Well, have you heard it?
• 10:46
  Well, it's terrible. How did the casting get away from you like that? No, I didn't see the memo. Yes, well, whose fault is that? Bill, the very first thing you people should look into is the compatibility angle.
• 11:03
  Well, it's too late for that now. Well, if this happens again, we're just going to have to look around for someone who won't make mistakes. Well, alright. Yes, get rid of the whole line. I don't know.
• 11:14
  Maybe Mammoth Studios. Okay? Yeah. Yes. I saw the report.
• 11:20
  No. Yeah. Okay. Goodbye. Yes, ma'am?
• 11:26
  Alright, Miss Siege Lab. Send in the next customer. Right away. You build a business up from a wishbone. You work night and day.
• 11:33
  You put in overtime and Sundays and holidays, and then your nephew has to mess it up. Oh, come right in, sir, and be comfortable. What can we do for you?
• 11:43
  Actor 8: My name is Steve Chartalk, and I run a local elevator up and down all day long. This can get very dull as I only go to the 14th Floor. Then after you've been operating the car for a while, you learn how to do it automatically so you could practically stop it in your sleep. The elevator is always crowded too, so you don't get to meet people and consequently you make very few contacts that can do you any good.
• 12:03
  Actor 1: Yes, mister C. And I take it you would like an occupational daydream?
• 12:07
  Actor 8: Yeah. I've tried making up my own daydreams, but whenever I do, I miss a floor and get hell from some passenger.
• 12:14
  Actor 1: We have just the thing for you. Good. It's known as the 32 jumbo. Would you like to try it?
• 12:21
  Actor 8: I sure would.
• 12:25
  Actor 1: You take over the elevator on the late shift. It looks the same as it has always looked, but you know there are subtle differences. The elevator is crowded as usual, and you make all the stops up to the 14th Floor. The last passenger to get off is a willowy blonde with very dark eyes. She's about to leave the car when something makes her hesitate.
• 12:48
  Do you go higher?
• 12:50
  Actor 8: Not as a rule, ma'am. This is the last local stop. You have to catch the express car if you wanna go higher.
• 12:56
  Actor 1: I would like to go to the Top Floor.
• 12:58
  Actor 8: Yes, ma'am. Express is just across the hall.
• 13:00
  Actor 1: Thank you very much.
• 13:02
  Actor 8: Just a minute, miss. I'll take you.
• 13:04
  Actor 1: Oh, thank you.
• 13:09
  Actor 2: But you've gone past the 25th Floor.
• 13:11
  Actor 8: Yes. I know, madam. At any moment, we
• 13:13
  Actor 2: will go through the roof. No. No. You mustn't.
• 13:16
  Actor 8: Be calm, madam, and brace yourself.
• 13:20
  Actor 2: We are rising. We are going very fast.
• 13:22
  Actor 8: Yes, ma'am. There isn't so much friction now.
• 13:24
  Actor 2: But what will happen to us?
• 13:26
  Actor 8: Trust in me, madam. I shall see you through.
• 13:28
  Actor 2: Through what? Oh, see how high we are above the city.
• 13:32
  Actor 8: I'm afraid that is to be expected.
• 13:34
  Actor 2: Oh, dear. What's
• 13:36
  Actor 8: that? We are merely plat passing through a series of Cumulocero Stratus clouds. Be steady.
• 13:42
  Actor 1: And we're above them now?
• 13:44
  Actor 8: Yes, ma'am. We are accelerating.
• 13:45
  Actor 2: What's that coming toward us?
• 13:47
  Actor 8: Have no fears. It's a PBY patrol plane. Small wonder they are puzzled.
• 13:54
  Actor 2: But what if he decides to attack us?
• 13:56
  Actor 8: Don't worry. We'll soon be out of range.
• 13:59
  Actor 2: It's getting very cold.
• 14:00
  Actor 8: I came prepared for this. The automatic heater.
• 14:05
  Actor 2: And my ears feel funny.
• 14:07
  Actor 8: I shall turn on the pressure stabilizer.
• 14:10
  Actor 1: You are a wonderful man.
• 14:15
  Actor 8: Not at all. I do my job and I try to do it well. You see, all my life, I've tried to rise above my environment and reach heights never before attained by any other elevator operator, living or dead.
• 14:26
  Actor 1: That's a noble ambition.
• 14:29
  Actor 8: In other words, I've hitched my wagon to a star, and I've often thought that
• 14:32
  Actor 2: I get terribly dizzy when I look out this window.
• 14:35
  Actor 8: Please face in front of the car.
• 14:36
  Actor 1: You are so strong, so good, so wise.
• 14:42
  Actor 8: You are beautiful.
• 14:43
  Actor 1: Oh, please.
• 14:45
  Actor 8: Do you think you could learn to care?
• 14:47
  Actor 1: I might.
• 14:48
  Actor 8: Will you kiss me?
• 14:50
  Actor 1: Don't you think this is rather sudden?
• 14:52
  Actor 8: I I don't want to take advantage of our position. Perhaps you are right.
• 14:57
  Actor 2: What's that?
• 14:58
  Actor 8: The starter. He wants me
• 15:00
  Actor 2: to come back. Are you going to? Never. But what kind of future is there in just keeping on climbing?
• 15:06
  Actor 8: Madam, I am in heaven when I am with you.
• 15:09
  Actor 1: You say the loveliest things. Was
• 15:14
  Actor 2: that an asteroid by any chance?
• 15:17
  Actor 1: Indubitably. That was close, wasn't it?
• 15:20
  Actor 8: Trust in me. I shall see you through.
• 15:22
  Actor 1: But to where?
• 15:23
  Actor 8: What does it matter? I love you.
• 15:26
  Actor 1: Oh, Steven, I love you. I loved you from the minute that large woman stepped off at the 4th Floor, and I saw you for the first time.
• 15:37
  Actor 8: I felt it. May I kiss you?
• 15:39
  Actor 1: Please do.
• 15:45
  Actor 8: Well, then what happens?
• 15:46
  Actor 1: Then you wake up on the 14th Floor. Oh. However, if you would like daydream number 60 a, we can carry you further along.
• 15:56
  Actor 8: I would like that.
• 15:57
  Actor 1: Well, send in your application and please mention the Lawrence University Theatre of the Air when you send it in.
• 16:04
  Actor 8: Yes, ma'am.
• 16:05
  Actor 1: Next.
• 16:06
  Announcer: I'm an announcer named Albert Riser.
• 16:10
  Actor 1: Yes, mister Riser. What is your problem?
• 16:12
  Announcer: Well, I'm an announcer.
• 16:15
  Actor 1: I see. And what kind of dream can we service you with?
• 16:19
  Announcer: Well, I've always felt it's a pity announcers are relegated to opening and closing routines with little chance of self expression. And I
• 16:26
  Actor 1: Do you mean you want to dream about being an actor?
• 16:29
  Announcer: Oh, no. No. No. No. No.
• 16:31
  Just like to be featured in a daydream whereby I could still announce, but with style and dash.
• 16:36
  Actor 1: Style and dash.
• 16:38
  Announcer: Yes. Something by which the listener would remember me by. By which there'd be no mistaking me for Frank Gallup or Ken Roberts or Tony Marvin.
• 16:46
  Actor 1: You'd want them to make no mistake about the fact that it was Albert Riser announcing. Right?
• 16:52
  Actor 3: Yes.
• 16:53
  Actor 1: Easy. What you want is closing routine daydream twenty nine thirty. The program is nearing an end. The studio is tense. The distinguished audience sits with its eyes fixed on a door through which is expected momentarily a high personage.
• 17:15
  At a studio microphone in a press box high above us sits Robert Trout, the famous radio reporter. He's describing the event.
• 17:24
  Actor 9: Ladies and gentlemen, I believe Albert Riser has just entered the studio at the West Portal. Yes. It is Riser. He's standing healthy, and he's nodding to the company as he strides briskly towards his microphone. The musicians in the orchestra have risen to greet him.
• 17:43
  The conductor has stepped off the podium to shake his hand. Mister Riser has graciously accepted the baton that has been proffered to him, and he is now breaking it over his knee and handing back the narrow end. It's an old Chinese custom, I believe, but the significance escapes me at this moment. The conductor is bowing, and now Riser has turned and is heading this way. He has just waved to several justices of the United States Supreme Court who are sitting in the audience, and they have waved back.
• 18:10
  The justices wave right back at him. There is an air festivity and gaiety such as I have never seen in a studio. My, now four actors have stepped up and are presenting mister Riser with gifts appropriate to the occasion. From left to right, they are a bouquet of flowers, a bronze plaque, a loving cup, a model airplane. Mister Riser has just pulled a nifty, ladies and gentlemen.
• 18:40
  In accepting the model plane, he has said he hopes to rise to the occasion. You can see why he is a great favorite here. Now he is continuing his progress towards the microphone, carrying his gifts in one hand and a script in the other. He's a dashing picture with his coattails flapping in the air conditioning system. He is very happy we can see that from here, and he oh, oh, he nearly tripped over a microphone cable, but nothing ruffles his composure.
• 19:07
  No, sir. Good old Al. And here he is abreast of the microphone, ready to make the important announcement for which you have all been waiting. The next voice you hear will be that of Albert Riser. A great hush has fallen on the assembly.
• 19:21
  At any moment now, you will hear the long awaited voice of Al Riser. I don't know what's delaying him. His eyes are closed. He is about to speak. This
• 19:40
  Announcer: is Albert Rising. It is my privilege to tell you you've been listening to You Can Dream Incorporated by Norman Corwin presented by the Lawrence University Theatre of the Air starring Joe Yeager as the vice president, Emma Sweet as Minnie, Devin Cass as Robert Trout, Devin Shafe as the Estite, Steve and the blonde were played by Dan Whiteley and Meryl McNally. Also featured in tonight's episode, Serata Urnshaw, Tom Gilmore, Nick Endres, and Elaine Gajewski. And yours truly, Albert Riser as the announcer. Music and special effects courtesy of Chad Close.
• 20:19
  Our sound engineer is David Owens. This episode was directed by Timothy Troy.
• 20:24
  Timothy Troy, host: This program was brought to you by the students and staff of the Department of Theatre and Drama and was taped live in the Cloak Theatre for Lawrence University Theatre of the Air, where smart people dream and dreamers listen.