Toronto, 1971. At CRIB 960, a third place AM hit-radio station fighting to climb past its rival, the on-air magic hides a backstage full of ambition, insecurity and quiet resentment. The architect of the station's turnaround is promotions manager Kristine Wheeler, who knows that gaining ground in the ratings will take more than wishful thinking. She has recruited a marquee morning man and built an audacious promotional campaign — complete with an unmistakable new sonic identity — to put CRIB back on Toronto's radio map. But while Kristine is increasingly the reason the station is winning, getting the recognition she is owed proves far harder than getting the job done.
Her marquee hire, smooth-talking Los Angeles DJ Rick “The Hawk” Steele, arrives to take over the coveted morning-drive show, and immediately upsets the station's delicate balance. The incumbent DJs are understandably less than enthused: Jay-Jay Townsend sees a threat to the career he believes he's owed, and Pat “Sidewinder” McCoy hides behind his on-air persona rather than face what he actually wants. Presiding over all of it is station GM Bob Woolworth, once a celebrated broadcaster himself, now retreated into apathy, Scotch and the comfortable fiction that none of it matters anymore. What none of them expect is that the flashy outsider might turn out to be exactly the hire the station needed.
Into this combustible mix comes Robbie, a twenty-year-old from Scarborough who has made the long TTC journey to CRIB's door eleven times, determined to become part of what he sees as the magic of hit radio. His persistence finally earns him a surprise opportunity at the station. When a crisis hits the studio live on air, an unplanned shot at proving he has a voice of his own.
The reckoning, when it comes, arrives through the one person in authority who truly sees Kristine’s worth: Kitty Montrose, the station's newly widowed owner, who decides that some things shouldn't be handed down as favours — they should be claimed.
Warm, funny and gently nostalgic, CRIB 960 — “The Baby” is less a play about radio than a play about people: the personas we construct, the dreams we cling to, the careers that define us, and the courage it takes to imagine something different. Set against the exceptional music of the era and the unmistakable atmosphere of Toronto in 1971, it's the story of a group of people approaching the end of one chapter without yet realizing another is about to begin.
Keywords: early feminism, toronto, hit radio, 1971, CanCon, warm and funny, ensemble play, 3 acts
Genre: Comedy, Play with Music
Acts: 3
Run time: 110 minutes
Suitable for students 16+
Cast size: 10 actors
Male roles: 7
Female roles: 3
Casting notes: Contains 10 principal roles plus 7 non-speaking parts that could potentially double or flex to company size.
Why stage it?
A woman's story at its centre. Beneath the comedy runs a sharp, timely spine: a woman doing the essential work in a man's world, and the moment she stops waiting to be handed her due and claims it.
A crowd-on-its-feet ending.
The play closes on a full-cast singalong curtain call to an original hit, with the audience encouraged to clap and dance in their seats — patrons leave elated, not merely satisfied.
The soundscape is a character.
A live-radio world built from the ON AIR light, the running “never say the top rival's name” gag, station jingles, and period hits that thread the three acts as a chronological clock — a gift for a sound designer and a
real point of difference from the average living-room drama.
A genuine ensemble showcase.
Seven-plus meaty, distinct roles and no single lead hogging the stage — easy to cast broadly, and every actor gets a real arc to play, which companies and schools value.
Original music, fully cleared.
The signature musical moments — the station jingles and the closing hit (a song already released) — are original works the playwright wrote, produced and owns outright: no licensing headaches on the main audio the show is built around.
Nostalgia as a draw, not just a flavour. For Canadian homes especially, 1971 Toronto — AM hit radio, the birth of CanCon, Frans restaurant — is a demographic magnet with built-in word-of-mouth.
A note on music rights: the original jingles and closing song carry no third-party licensing. Producers should still clear any commercially released period recordings a given production chooses to use. If the cost is beyond the production's budget for acquiring some of the song licenses that are part of the play, the playwright can create licensable, period-appropriate music to suit.
