Variety (December 1950)

Wednesday^ December 20 , 1950 Plays Abroad SO its chances are On Her Petticoat about^evln*'*’*”’' London, Dec, 15. The involved stOiy concerns a Alec Rea. E. p. cuft. Roy Limbert pro- middle-aged man Celebrating his ductlon of comedy in \|jre® *cts bjr Aimce ; Wedding aiini with hlS yOUng in Deauville. He is. cag.ey StiJanr" ■.::: '': '• m-T. Mis, OUpnani . .Eleanor Macready .. vPerlUa Neilson Sophie Stewart ^«1 1 * Elspeth McNalrn Alexandra Carmichael. Faith McNairn about an earlier marriage which he contracted when a boy with a much older woman. Ably supporting the two chief f^s‘’^»oun. :.;;;;. ! comeSans^^e auOior Austin Mel- McDou.?ai .. ..... j ford, as the harassed husband; Eve Anolher simple Scottish come^. bv popular dramatist Aimee Stuart provides slight, but charming en- tertainment that disarms criticism.. Its poor - little - rich ^ girl theme arouses sympathy and interest by the sincere method . of its presen- tation but is of purely local inter- est. Should do well in this inti- mate theatre. A Victorian air of ciass-con- scibusness permeates this moving little period story * of a humhw born schoolgirl sought in fnend- ghip bv the lonely, laird s daugh- ter in the castle. Their happy as- sociation is made possible by the aristocrats’ absence abroad and the dragon of a German governess being quarantined with measles. Lister, charming aind appealing as the real novelist, and Bertha Bel- more as the mother-in-law, Her- mene French makes the most of her limited ppportunities as the young wife and And Johansen is decoratiye as an amorous maidser- vant.: ‘ Harry Parr Davies’ music makes a lilting background, but provides little to stay in the memory. Show is lavishly mounted and competent- ly directed. Clem. Frankie IJnd Die lloeiizeit (IMeniber of the Wedding) Vienna, Nov. 28. Akademie Theatre presentation ui. , i- drama in three acts by Carson McCull* ' of Financial Bonanza North Carolina Induns Greensboro, C., pec, 19. The Cherokee Indians of the Western North Carolina mountains are realizing a tidy income from the tragic pages of their past. The re-efeation of the Cherokee strug- gle for freedom through the. me- dium of kermit Hunter’s successful drama, “Unto These Hills,” bene- fited them to the tune of between $500,000 and $1,000,000 this . year. Prawing more than 107,OOO per- sons to the tiny vUlage of JChero- kee during the months of July and August, the drama brought new revenue to hundreds of Cherokee craftsmen, opened up new employ- ment and kept motor courts and tourist establishments filled to ca- pacity; , ■ / An audit . of the Gheroke^ His- torical Assn.’s books has liow dis- closed that the Cherokee realized directly morP than $50,000 from the drama project through con- struction payrolls and jobs con- nected with the two-month produc- Mde Stuf-hgit rrVio ,rr,iin(TPr airl dauehtcr of a • Translated into . German by Martna The yo^iriger^giri. aaugniti ux .d ^ by Berthold Viei-tel. Set prosperous mUliner, is ^ , by Gustav Manker. Incidental music by preparing to attend the. other one S ; Alexander Stelnbrecher. At Akademie, birthday party ^ , wfiUam Addanls. .-.. . .Alfred Neugebauer the invitation was faked by tn® I Frankie .. _ . . lonely child and repudiated by her ■ jarvis .... ..Johanna Matz ......Werner Kreindl teturninB P^rents.'^Distraught I the cruel disappointment_ ot her ■ Henry... ..Peter Dux friend due to her own perfidy, the . Berenice Sadie Brown. . .. . . . .Maria Eis younBstei; dashes out jo^end her . Si,, troubles in the inillstieani. PUl , i jloney Damden Brown... Michael Janisch dulv rescued and smuggled back | Helen Fletcher. Jenny Lattermann ■♦r, tbA />'i<jtlP i Doris ....E. Albrechtshofer 10 me casiie. ; Barney McKean.. ...Gerhart Senft There is a love story maturiiig slowly between the widowed mil- liner and a hot headed malcontent who is always losing, his job. She has declined to join him in his con- templated migration to Canada, but her daughter’s unhappy ex- perience makes her agree to the proposal. Sophie Stewart makes a comely, understanding mother while Ellis Irving is a virile, likeable $uitor. The two young girls are delight- fully played by teen^igers Eleanor MaCready and Perlita Neilson, making their London debuts. Each gives a fresh individually contrast- ed characterization. Muriel Aked, back on the stage after 10 years of screen work, makes a welcome re- turn as an acidly philosophical grandmother. Piece is smoothly directed by Willard Stoker. Clem. 'The books showed that 114 In- dians who were on the: production’s payroll drew mOre than $20,000 in salaries. In additioh, the Chero- kee Historial Assn, paid but^ $25 000 to Indian workmen who con- Mountainside theatre. The association gave $2,000 in cash ' prizes for the best agricultural ex- hibits, and the winners turned over their aw'ards for the purchase of recreational equipment for the vari Arnold Auerbach’s 10% royalty cut on the Decca album of “Bless You All” (songs by Harold Rome) breaks the ice for librettists who often resented being shut but on the A.SCAP» recording and kindred by-product income which the musicomedy songwriters invariably col- lect 100%. It’s not applicable to Rodgers & Hammerstein, since Ham- merstein, 2d., also usually collaborates on the book, in addition to writ- ing the lyrics, but in shows of the Irving Berlin and Cole Porter stripe,, the* book writers don’t share. . . The “ASCAP plan’’ of a continuing income Is something to which many stage—^and film-writers aspire, on the theory that, unlike the songsmiths whose works continue collecting byproduct income, once a show or a picture is through, nobody knows or cares who wrote the libretto. Friml, Romberg, Kern, Herbert, Lehar, Straus, Hbschna, Ker- ker, Hirsch, Luders and kindred composers (and their estates) con- tinue collecting performing rights, but to many the names Of Rida Johnson Young, Harold Atteridge, Harry B. Smith, Dorothy Donnelly, Anne Caldwell and the like are known only within the trade as librct- tistsLwho collabed with such composers as above named. In “Bless You All,” the new revue at the Mark Hellinger theatre (N.Y.), Rome dib all the songs, hut Auerbach did the sketches. Total of 163 people from Broadway legit volunteered for the three blood donor sessions held the last two weeks at the Majestic, N. Y., by the Red Cross. Largest turnout was 23 from “Pardon Our French,’’ while 17 volunteered from the Actors Equity council and staff, 16 from “South Pacific,” 11 from ”Happy Time,” eight from “Tower Beyond tragedy,” $even each from “Mister Roberts” and “Black Chiffon,” six each from “Guys and Dolls” and “Hilda Crane,” five each'^from “Call Me Madam,”.‘‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” “Kiss Me, Kate,” “Relapse,” “Lady’s Not for Burning” and Dramatist’s GuBd, fbur from “Season in the Sun,” two each from “Peter Pan,” “Country Girl,” “Member of the Wedding” and Chorus Equity, and one each from “Arms and the Man,” stagehands, stage managers, scenic artists, producers. Metropol- itan Opera, pressagents and managers’ uniop and ad agencies. Approx- imately half the volunteers were rejected, mostly as underweight. Many Of the volunteers did not appear until the second or third ses- sions, according to instructions from the. Bed Cross.: Another Serie^ of sessions will be held in about two .months, When Dorothy (Mrs. Rich- ard). Rodgers, chairman of the Cross sub-committee on the enter- tainment industry, hopes all shows and organizations Will be repre- sented. Blue for a Boy London, Dec. 1. Emile Littlcr's production of musical, adapted by Austin Melford from the farce, “It's a Boy." Directed by Austin Melford. Music by Harry Parr. Davies; lyrics by Harold Purcell. At His Majesty’s theatre, London. . ,, j Dudley Leake ..Austin Melford This American hit failed to impress the Viennese in its Euro- pean premiere here. Some critics called the production an artistic success, but the majority were un- impressed. The play did hot flop; it was not really given a chance,, the roles of Frankie and the Negro being badly miscast. The German-language theatre does not have Negro actors, and the German language itself has no equivalent for the Negro dia- lect. . So it probably would be impossible for any actress here to' put across the role of a Berenice Sadie Brown. Maria Eis, playing the role in a cultivated Buehnen- deutsch (stage German), sounded more like a figure in an English play of manners than the Negro i. mammy. i The director took an 18-year- oid drama student out of the sec- ond-year class of the Reinhardt Seminar to play the role of the 12-year-old Frankie. She was both too young in experience and too old in age for the role. The only really outstanding per- I formance was given by Peter Dux - - Number of w.k. names in'the British arts, including several West ous Indian schools on the reserva-j gt3g0 stars, were signers of a. letter to the London Times last tion. An additional $3,000 will be week stating that “we are, all profoundly convinced that in .no cii'cnm- paid out this fall to^ Cherokee work-j g^3nq0g .gjjQul^ our country associate itself With the use of atomic men for construction work at the weapons against people who have not used them against us, and that, theatre, , ^ _ [ without sacrifice of our honor or security, our government should take Drama .will open its second sea-> 1-1^0 jn 3 new and realistic endeavor to resolve by mutual agree- son June 23, .’51, and will run six nights weekly, Tuesday through Sunday, until Labor Day. Producer Harry Davis, of the U. of North Carolina, said minor revision of the play would be made. Plans also call for enlarging the cast, which was stretched thin numerically last season and necessitated consider- able doubling4n-brass. On Davis’ recommendation, Jack Frederick Kilpatrick, the Cherokee Indian who composed the music for the drama, has been engaged to revise the score for the play. ment the interriational conflicts which now imperil the peace of the world and human civilization itself.” Signers included actors Leriie Banks, Lewis Casson, Roger Livesey, Miles Malleson and Dame Sybil Thorndike, composers Arnold Bax and Benjamin Britten, conductor .Sir Adrian G. Boult, novelists E. M. Forster and Augustus John, and dramatists Christopher Fry and Laurence Housman. Value of a mailing list composed Of names of mail order patrons of a previous show was illustrated in the case of last week’s short-lived j “Let’s Make An Opera.” From a list of approximately 10,000 names, almost 500 orders were received, involving a total of $4,400 worth of tickets. The mailing list, belonging to Peter Lawrence, co-producer of the audience-participation musical, had been compiled from “Peter Pan”’mail orders. Lawrence is co-producer of theMatter show with. Roger L. Stevens. His partner in the presentation of “Opera” was the Shovi^-of-the-Month Club. Fact that “Opera,” like “Peter,” had a i strong juvenile appeal, is figured to have been a factor in the unusually ! large response to the mailing. • • • • — • • • ^^0 Tolc 6f the boy, John Henry. FJed%ip*cT‘***?,.‘.V.V.V.\\V... Fred Emney Gustav Manket’s excellent set- Anita Gunn.. —Eve_Lister j ting caught the Spirit of the play ES'^?lrmardV:::::::::BSh?BeS jif^^^rem the producUou Hercule BompardCharles Stone . Caprice And .Johansen On the accepted assumption that the British public likes the old fa- vorites best, Emile Littler has gambled on the popularity of the pre-war type of farce, embellished one with some tuneful melodies and submitted it in musical form. This production, based on “It’s a Boy,” depends, as did the original, on the joint drawing power of two comedi- ans, Fred Emney and Eichard Hearhe, in the roles created by Leslie Henson and Sydney Howard 20 j^ears ago. Today the play is even more dependent on the two stalwarts who have really only one humorous scene to bolster up the sagging, incredible story. The tick- et agencies registered their con- fidence in the show’s possibilities as a Christmas attraction to the did not. Barn.. Malli*e Apres Dlou (Second Only to God) Paris, Dec. 1. •lean MercUre and Andre Gerte.s pro- duction of drama in three acts by Jan de Hartog. French adaptation by Jean Mer- cure. Setting by Douking. Directed by Jean Mercure. At Gaite Montparnasse, Paris. Dr, Richters............Raymond Raynal Henley Rene Maze Dr. Willemse Marc Vanclau* Hruguanian Police ...Jean Rognoni Meyer Eugene Frouhins Kuiper.Jean Roger Causslmon Dutch Consul ..Jean Ayme Rabbi Jean Mercure Davclaah.........,. ,. .,.. .Henri Lesieur Bruinsma................ .. Paul Bonlfas First Emigrant..........Francois Nithart Second Emigrant..; K, Selby American Captain........ .Philippe Aurlol Dutch Captain.Bernard Veron Pastor... .. ............ .Lucicn Blondeau C'liililren of llic Lailybiig (YALE DRAMA DEPT.) New Haven, Dec. 12. Yale Drama Dept, production of dra- ma in Uvo acts (five scenes) by Robert Thom. Directed by James Light; setting, George Corrin; lighting, Charles .Levy; costumes, Pat Campbell. At A'ale U. the- atre, Dec, 12, '50. . Cast: Robert Barr, . Sue Aim Young, Elbert Smith, S.vlvia Stpckdale, ' Edwiard W. Hastings, Michael Onofi’io, Walter Boughton, Dorothy Pierson. FOR SALE TOWER THEATilE PROPERTY FRESNO, CALIFORNIA • {Land, Building, Equipment' and Business') : ■Ais.o ■ ■■ RITZ THEAtRE PROPERTY .HANFORP, CALIFORNIA mmd.\Building, Equipm ent and . Business) . ■ For pertinent details write . (Do Not Pliojte) to LAURENCE A. PETERS, Asst. Sec. FOX WEST COAST AGENCY CORPORATION ■ 1609 WEST WASHINGTON BLVD. Lbs Angeles 7, Calilornia Jan dc Hartog’s powerful play, seen bn Broadway' tvfo years ago as “Skipper Next to God,” at once brings’ to mind the tragic odesscy Of the ill-fated“Exodus” and its cargo of refugees that sailed from port to port only to be refused This second major production of the Yale pi'ama Dept., will, in all probability, never get beyond the confines of Eli’s University theatre, but it does serve as ah excellent showcase for some fine writing, acting, and staging. This, in the last analysis, is the primaiy pur- pose of these workshop produc- tions. Whether or not this par- ticular work can be regarded as entertainment, depends entirely, on the amount of mental cooperation an audience is willing to con- tribute. In any case, while it is true that commercial successes have been spawned at Yale, a more important factor to be considered is whether or not these productions provide the proper outlet for which stu- dents in the department prepai'e themselves. In the present in- stance, it doe.s. Written in prose-ver.se combina- Edward M. M. Warburg, banking house scion^ who w'ith Lincoln Kirstein laid out $250,000 between them oh U. S. ballet enterprises, has been appointed general chairman of the United Jewish Appeal’s 1951 fund drive, succeeding Hetnry J. Morgenthau, Jr. Warburg quit ballet activity a while back, on death, of his father^ Felix M. Warburg^ to devote full time to the Warburg philanthropies, which expend over $B000,000 a year. ^ Winthrpp Palmer donated $150,000—^not $40,000—in 1941-42 to Dance Players. Ballet Associates of America have expended $50,000, not $40,000, on dance activities. asylum, although the author main-! tion, script discloses some excel- tains it was Written before that' lent wprdage that stamps the au- ^ event took place. However, Hartog ' thor as a scribbler of promise; An I has vividly pictured the moral cour- ' extensive vocabulary haS been ably age of the captain of a ship en- j employed to project pithy phrases I trusted with the lives of over a 1 across the fpotlights* ; hundrecl Jewish refugees from the j Rased pn the “Ladybug, Lady- ! Nazi regime. Bermuda Season Offer To Dance Group in N.Y. Trudy Goth, head of N. Y. Choreographers W o r k s h o p, is leaving for Bermuda Sunday (24) to survey possibilities for a series of dance recitals on the . island around Easter time. Projecit is be- ing fostered by the Bermuda Art Assn, of which Cristine F. Diel is president. GrPup, picked from Work.shop personnel, ymuld consist of 12 to 15 dancers, plus director and tech- nical director. Programs would include classical ballets, Spanish dances and light numbers. Round trip tt'ansportation, h 01 el,; meals and. smalV; allowance Ip English pounds \yould, be paid by tiie Art Assn.. Brattle Sets Hletlniselali’ SAMUEL FRENCH SINCE 1930 Play, Brokm and Authors' Representatives 25 WCsl 4Sth StreeL New York 7623 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood 46. Cal FairreU-Cowks’ ‘Budd ’ Anthony Brady Farrell will be associated vvith Chandler Cowles in presentation of “Billy Rudd,” the Louis O. Coxe-R. H. Chapman dramatization of the Herman Mel- ^ , . , ville novel, Dennis King will star 1 bug- fly awji<>ihe’’ yerse, tlmme in the dram The play is magnificently acted i points up the tragic outcome when.l fn nnen Fph A at thA Riitmnro . a firie of .otov,. .11 . mothk- fans her breakrin Starting Jan. 25 at the Shubert, Nevi^ Hampshire, and a Weelc at the Forrest, Philadelplua, beginning Jan, 29. I by a fine group of actors, all giv-I a l ing the impression of living their' father follows suit, and the cliil- 1 roles. Dpukiiig’s setting of a ship’s dren -fail each other. It’s pretty i cabin is superb, and the sound ef- grim in spots, but .it offers oppor- j feets of the running motors and the tunity for some eapablc emoting, j final scuttling are excellently hah-i Cast is well choSeh, only minor , , , . died. But it is the play itself that! drawback being the necessity of! The production is budgeted at Farrell is supplying $5,000. holds the spectator spellbound elderly roles being carried by from start to finish. Fred, ^ youthful department members. James Light, Yale’s newly ap- Areria' Stage, the D. C. theatre- in-the round, is plugging business i Soprano Jennie Tourel will do a pointed visiting critic in play di- bicycle stot In. N. Y. Jan, 8, ring-1 rectingj has. staged^ with full ap- , .. i ing with the Little Orchestra Soci-; precialion of the poetic values in -j with a “six plays for the price of i ety at Town Hall, then rushing to : liorcnt in the script, A skeleton-j five” sub.scription series. It ex- , the Waldorf to be soloist with the 1'izdem Vfisett mfwyp shrdluiatheii pects that the six listed plays will , ‘ Israel Philharmonic under Leon- a clever example of imaginative de-1 run from the beginning of January i dragola,” adapted by’Lawrence Hill ard Rcrnstein. ; ,, _1 signing. , Bojie. 1 through April. 1 from the Somerset Maugham stoi’y. Tieups With N.Y. Producers “Back to Methuselah,” Shaw’s five-play drama cycle, will he re- vived by the Brattle Theatre, Carh- hridge. Mass., opening Jan. 16 or 17. The work will be produced in two somewhat shortened versions* each scheduled for a two-week run. The plays will be put into rehearsal next Tuesday (26), with Albert Marre staging. Also slated for production soon by the Brattle group are Pirandel- |o’s“Six Characters in Search of an Autlior,” which may be present- ed first in London; a first U; S. presentatibn*’ of John Webster’s “White Devil,” a hew adaptation of Thomas Marin’s “JFiorenza’’ and a new play by Edmiund Wilson, whose “Little Blue Light” was tried out by the same outfit last fall and is being readied for Bimadway pres- entation this season by the Theatre .Guild.^,r ; : The organization is. going ahead with plans tb; star Hermipne Gin- gold in a revue comprising selected material from her three. London successes, “Sweet and Low,” “Sweeter and Lower” and “Sweet- est and Lowest.” The idea is to try out the show In Cambridge, at a production; cost of about $60,000, and then brifig it to Broadway. Other possibilities on the group’s agenda are tiehps with Broadway producer Oliver Smith for a tryr out. of ‘Tn the Summer House.' by Jane Bowleg and another with Ben Boyar for a tryout of “Man-