1948 Vintage Souvenir Program Jerry Lester in Raze the Roof revue

Description

Vintage Souvenir Program Jerry Lester in Raze the Roof revue--September 1948
Raze the Roof Program--very rare find!
14 pages
12” x 8” (closed)
Good Condition—there is cocktail napkin from La Scala affixed to front cover and b
ackside has paper stuck to it as it came from scrapbook.
.
Raze the Roof
--featuring Jerry Lester, the Wiere Brothers, Chili Williams and Bobby Sherwood.
Even had a dog act!
Raze the Roof was a musical revue that opened on September17, 1948 at the Curran Theater in San Francisco, California.
Hopes to make it to New York never were fulfilled.
Chicago Tribune called it a “shoddy little horror”.
Jerry Lester
Jerry Lester (born Lester J. Goldberg; February 16, 1910 –March 23, 1995) was an American comedian, singer and performer on radio, television and the stage.
He hosted the first network late night television program as host of Broadway Open House on NBC, a vaudeville-esque combination of comedy and music, whose success demonstrated the potential for late-night television and led to the creation of the Tonight Show.
He performed nationally in music halls and nightclubs, going on to appear in vaudeville, several Broadway musicals including Beat the Band and Jackpot, and Hollywood films in the 1940s, as well as being a performer on radio.
In 1950, he became host of Cavalcade of Stars on the DuMont Television Network.
Lester later quit Cavalcade of Stars and Jackie Gleason was hired as his replacement; the show was soon renamed The Jackie Gleason Show.
Broadway Open House went on the air in May 1950 with Lester hosting three nights a week and Morey Amsterdam hosting two nights, but Lester soon became the show's sole emcee. The program introduced and made stars of Steve Allen, Jack Paar and Johnny Carson, all of whom would go on to host the Tonight Show.