Variety (July 1952)

WedMCTday^ July !!>i 1952 M.ECITIAIATK $1 Leaves Deficit as of May 31 of 57G No Profit for 60G ‘Everyman’ Angels “Everyman,” 16th century drama The American National Theatre-- ti 2 ^“o^ 9 '^rTe*iiVonth^ Bob SHerwood Homing Vt' bSS “he“deS, li For Coast Script Shnt $57 432 as of May 31* According After an extended vacation at to a statement distributed to the his summer home in England, hnard of directors, the organization Robert Ev Sherwood is due Sunday had cash balances of $18,200 in (13) on the Queen Elizabeth to fill General accounts and. $1,853 in the a screenwriting assignment in campaign fund at that time. Hollywood. Among the total assets of $745,- He’ll return east early In Sep- f?69 are listed $11,665 In accounts tember for. preliminary prepara- receivable $77,632 in loans recelv- tions for the Playwrights Co. pro- ible $627,500 as the value (both duction of his new play, “The Bet- land and building) of the ANTA ter Angels,” which will go into re- Plavhouse N. Y., $18,166 in thea- hearsal in December under direc- fre eauiprnent, $4,358 for furniture tion of Joshua Logan. After a and fixtures (less $18,208 reserve short tryout tour, the show will for depreciation on building), $3,- open on Broadway in February. 464 in prepaid insurance and $1,041 cash on hand for restricted gifts. Liabilities include $32,566 in ac-r counts payable, $14,308 in escrow for taxes for the 1951-52 ANTA Play Series, $10,567 interest pay- able on secpnd mortgage, $15,000 note payable' to Irving Trust Co., $26,672 loan payable to Chemical Bank & Trust, $9,000 payable onl ^ $62,500 loan to unspecified creditor, announced for revival on Broadway $7,750 loan payable to Roger L. this fall for the benefit of the Stevens, $1,000 loan payable to G. American Heart Assn., is budgeted Lawton Campbell, $4,950 loan to $60,000. Since the potential H. E. Dowlii^g Corp. and $16,500 profits go to the charity, backers loan payable to City Investing -yvm ^ot receive any profit, but will Co. be repaid at 6% interest from the Other liabilities include $286,(WO profits. The producer is listed as balance on first mortgage due April Everyman Associates. ■ 1, 1956, plus $375,000 second mort- According to a budget break- gage duo next March 31, and $1.9/^ down submitted to prospective in unappropriated balance of restric- vestors, the preliminary expenses ted gifts, as well as the $57,432 will be $39,000, including $17,000 operating deficit. for production, $14,250 for rehear- $246 Campaign Net sals and $7,750 for miscellaneous. A breakdown of the operating Bonds and deposits will require an budget for the 11-month period estimated $9,500 more, leaving a reveals that’the campaign fund in- eash reserve of $11,500. Weekly volved $246 net income - ($128,277 operating expenses . are- estimated gross income and $128,031 .ex- $12,110, including $425 for “con- penses); general activities involved tingencies.” $56,187 net loss ($30,231' gross in- . william Miles is listed as man come and $86,418 expenses), and aging director of the project, with the ANTA Playhouse involved $73,- paul Vroom as general manager, 668 net loss ($4,070 net income Arthur Cantor as pressagent and and $77,738 expenses). . Vincent Bowditch production stage A supplementary report on.mem- manager. Carmen Mathews is ■ bership reveals that, as of May 19, slated for the leading role in the ANTA had 71 life members (indi- piay, which will be staged by Her- vidual), two life members (group), bert V. Gellendre, with. chorco- six sustaining members (indivi- graphy by Doris Humphrey, music duals), 46 contributing individuals, by Norman Lloyd, scenery and I, 300 individuals, one participating, lighting by Donald Oenslager, and 13 library, 119 member groups and costumes conceived by Motley and two sustaining groups for a total executed by Edith Lutyens, of 1,560. It was noted that those dropped due to resignation, death or unpaid dues included one sus taining group, 17 member groups and 44 individual members. Of the 1,560 total membership the fund campaign office was cred- Show Train Topper St. Louis, July 8. The fame of the Municipal The- atre Assn’s alfresco entertainment in the Forrest Park playhouse here has reached Cullompton, in Devon, England, and a group of residents of that town plan to visit the local enterprise next season. In a letter to Paul Beisman, Muny manager, William H. Snow- don has asked for a repertory of the 1953 season, explaining that he and a group will visit the U. S. next summer, and St. Louis is on the itinerary. Build Biz in 17 Cities in ’52-’S3 ited with accounting for 32 members (individual), two life members (group), one participat ing member, three member groups, 24 contributing individuals 'and 658 individual members,, for a total of $38,473 in dues payments. MATHEWS WITH RAINS AS ‘JEZEBEL’S’ LEADS Carmen Mathews will play the life 1. title part, opposite Claude Rains, in “Jezebel’s Husband,” Robert Nathan 'play to be produced by Roger L. Stevens, William- Fields and Hume Cronyn. Claudia Mor- gan will be featured as Judith, other woman” in the yam, and others in the cast will include Nicholas Joy, Ruth McDevitt and O.ssie Davis. , With TV producer Sherman Marks directing, the show goes into rehearsal next ’ Monday (14) 1* 1 I* I slated to play tryout en- Radio, Disk Promobon f—ts sm 4 at the RCA, Sold on ‘Wish’ Revisions, Will Push RCA Victor, which is a $20,000 Investor in “Wish You Were Here,” the Arthur Kober-Joshua Logan musicalization of the for mer’s “Having Wonderful Time,” is sufficiently impressed with the Pocono Playhouse, Mountainhome, Pa.; Aug. 11, Westport (Conn.) Country Playhouse; Aug. 18, Framingham’, Mass., and Aug. 25, Theatre - by - the - Sea, Matunuck, R. I. A Broadway run is planned for the fall. Alan Anderson will scripting changes made' by the au- be stage manager of the produc- thors, since the Broadway pre- tion. miere, to go along with a voluntary exploitation plan. This will take fnp the shape of judicious plugs for the WCW IZu 0.3(6 UlYVyj Harold J. Home score. RCA Victor ^ Ar aaa Total Now $1 ,UjU,UUU (with the onginal cast) in Order to .. J ^ , achieve as many concurrent radio Another dividend, this time and TV plugs. Metropolitan New amounting^to $12,OW, was recently York shows, originating via NBC, paid by Kiss Me, Kate, bringing may also slip in a few choice plugs the toUl distributed profit on the for the legit musical, currently at Col« Porter-Sam and ®jllj the Imperial. wack musical comedy to $1,050,000 It is an open secret that the next as of last May 5. two or three weeks will -tell the Ayers-Saint Subher production, story whether “Wish"' may succeed ** m overcoming the generally ad- costing $174,000, opened Dec. 30. verse notices The N Y Daily 1948, and had a 1 , 077 -perfonnancc News’ John Chapman wVs the lone run through July 28, 1951 enthusiast, and he followed it up According to the latest account ever the weekend with, another ant’s statement, the show had ad- Pleg. ditional income of $4,223, less $1.- ..Nober and Logan have rewritten 539 expenses (including the man- ine romance phase of the musical agement’s $442 share of the strengthen the “heart” • aspects, operating loss on the London pro- «onie may have to rewrite some of duction from Dec. 29, 1951, tne lyrics to fit the new action, through Feb. 23 of this year). That ^nd may possibly also add one new brought the undistributed profit to . $5,073 as of last May 31. Ballet Takes Over Barns; Slavensha Co. Toiir Off To Boff Start at Olney Olney, Md., July 2. Mia Slavenska and Frederic Franklin prove that fine ballet artists can also be practical, shrewd business entrepreneurs. Their strawhat ballet package, at some- what watered-down version of their Ballet Variante touring company of the past few seasons, should be » welcome shot in the arm to the re- vival-ridden barn circuit. ,A for- mula which has become a standard part of bigtime show biz proves to be a happy innovation for its off- spring of the barn trail. Company of 11 dancers and two pianists which teed off a seven- week summer season at Olney The- atre last week, is a compact, pol- ished outfit of youngsters led hy a quartet of ballet greats. Despite a somewhat nervous start in a rather routine, colorless interpretation of musical excerpts from Cesar Franck, outfit shows solid prepara- tion. and assurance in its subse- quent numbers. Routine is un- usually ambitious and varied for any company, ranging all the way from the strictly classical to ex- treme modern. To the credit of Miss Slavenska and Franklin, the two never get mixed. Audience, largest for any Olney opening thus far this season, came alive aifter the initial “Symphonic Variations” throwaway, to give guest Alexandra Danilova an ova tion. Famed ballerina makes her entrance as the Sugar Plum Fairy in the second number, “Nutcracker Suite.” Welcome was a sentimenta one, but the vet ballerina proved there’s still plenty of grace and power left in her famous legs. De spite an obvious slowing down from her prime, ballerina rates cheers j for her display of precision, flaw-] less form and uncompromising dis- cipline in motion. She stops the show with her two appearances on bill. Nicholas Orloff, other guest star. Is also standout in “Nut- cracker.” By far the outstanding dancing of bill is the “Don Quixote” pas de deux of Miss Slavenska ^and Frank- lin. This is tops in ballet form and skill. It serves as a fine showcase for the Yugoslavian ballerina, who apparently is the power behind the troupe, tripling as premiere dan- seuse, costume designer and chore- ographer. Slavenska is a vibrant performer, whose dramatic fl:.ir and footlight personality combines with her skill. Franklin, who duets with both ballerinas, is a competent terper but takes a back seat to the ladles. Excursions into the modern starts off with highly attractive series of interpretations of traditional Negro ^[plrituals by a trio of able young-^ sters, Marvin Krauter, Naomi Boneck and Sally Seven. - It pro- vides a welcome, natural change of pace from its classic-predecessors. Final ballet, “Settler’s Sunday,” an ambitious humorous production number with, a story theme, doesn’t quite come off. Despite limitations of country theatre, and spottiness of the rou- tine, it all adds up to a good evening of entertainment. Tour Is also a tryout for what producers Alfred Katz and Kurt Neumann hope will become an en- larged dance repertory company for the winter season. Group is booked for one-night stands at Lewisohn Stadium, N. Y., and Robin Hood Dell, Philly—a switch from intimacy to mass entertain- ment—^and then returns to straw- hat at Westport. Rest of tour conr sist of a week each at Dennis Ogunquit, Jacob’s . Pillow and Newport Casino. There’s an open week at tail end of tour,, with a possibility of a return to Olney. Troupe is reportedly getting $2,600 for its week at Olney, plus a percentage. Biz, at $3.60 top, was booming. Lowe, Moss Harts to Explore ‘Lady’ for Miss Carlisle Kitty Carlisle, who last week concluded a brief tour in a special strawhat production of “Lady in the Dark,” planes to Europe today (Wed.) with her playwright-hus- band Moss Hart and producer Joseph M. Hyman. While in Eng- land, the actress-singer will dis- cus* a proposed London produc- tion of the Hart-Kurt Weill musical drama, in which Gertrude Law- rence -originally starred on Broad- way in 1940-41. Hart and Hyman are going to London to try to.cast leading parts in the former’s untitled new play, adapted froih the Edgar Mittel- holzer novel, “Shadows Move Among Them,” which Hyman and Bernard ' Hart, the playwright’s brother, will co-produce. OGvia No lady,’ Play Stdl Set Olivia de Havilland, who starts shooting July 21 in “My Cousin Rachel” at 20th-Pox, has with drawn as star of Thomas Ham- mond’s proposed production of “Fortrait of a Lady^” Actress, who starred last season In Hammond’s revival of “Candida,” probably won’t return to legit this season. Meanwhile, Hammond is going ahead with preparations for the show without her. “Rachel” isn’t scheduled for completion uhtll No vember. Star’s decision to bow out of the venture is understood to have been an amicable agreement with Hammond, who feels she shouldn’t pass up a lucrative, dramatically desirable film assignment for the always-risky lead in a Broadway play. However, Hammond has acquired the film rights to “Por- trait,” with'idea of Miss de Havil- land ultimately playing the lead in the screen version. With British stager Michael Benthall mentioned as possible stager, “Portrait” is still tentative- ly slated to go into rehearsal early in September. However, that is dependent on Benthall’s avail- ability, if he is finally signed for the direction. In any case, Ham- mond has revised his plan for an extended tryout and now intends to bring the William Archibald dramatization of the Henry James novel to Broadway early in No- vember after about a four-week tuneup tour. He has budgeted the production at $60,000. Joan McCracken, slated to ap pear in the tryout of “The Fig Leaf” at the Spa Summer Theatre, Saratoga, N. Y., week of July 28, has- bowed out, due • to a picture commitment. Ernest Trucx and Sylvia Field (Mrs. Truex) will be starred in the show. FT. WAYNE OPEREHA HAS CURTAILED SKED Ft. Wayne, July 8. With the Ft, Wayne Light Opeba Festival, Inc., opening its first pro- duction of the season Friday-Sun.- day (11-13), officials announced that backers had decided to spon- sor two additional productions this season in the News-Sentinel Out- door Theatre In Franke Park. In addition to ‘‘■Desert Song,” the .ini tial production, the group will offer “Roberta,” Aug. 1-3, and “The Great Waltz,” Aug. 22-24. In order to launch the Light Opera Festival this year, after two seasons in the red, director Albert K. Germanson, Columbus, O., and many of the staff pledged them selves to take no compensation until the end of the season. Thirty underwriters contributed almost $3,090 to get the season underway, after last season's board of direc- tors had decided this spring to forego any offerings this y^r. The new group of backers said that due to the late start this season just three-shows will be given. If the productions this season prove successful, a more extensive season is planned for 1953, Ti'cke' prices are the same' as last year $2.40 for box seats, $1.65 for both upper and lower terrace, and $1 for general admission. The outdoor theatre has 2,090 seats. Minneapolis, July 8. Sufficient success has at- tended the (jouncil of Living atre’s campaign to revitalize the road” tq make practicaliy certain that it will be healthier and more of a reality than for many years. This is according to Warren Caro, executive secretary o £ the New York Theatre Guild which has joined hands with CLT in the move to put- the legitimate theatre more solidly back on its feet. Here with his assistant Sam Mc- Dowell and pressagent Willard Keefe of CLT to map out prelimi- nary plans for the 'Minneapolis participation next month. Carp re- vealed that so much progress has been made and resulU Thave been so encouraging that Broadway pro- ducers now see clear sailing ahead for road tours* jhe impending sea- son. It’s now assured that the CLT- Theatre Guild-sponsored season of seven subscription shows will keep the legitimate theatre alive in a minimum of 17 cities next fall and winter, and possibly more, Caro says. Heeding an appeal to civic pride .and anxious for the cultural benefits accruing from appeals to civic pride and eager for the legiti- mate theatre’s cultural benefits, seven cities already have been lined up to a degree virtually in- suring the seven sponsored produc- tions against loss in the towns in question, and the way now is be- ing payed for many additions to the list, according to Caro. “In Pittsburgh, the GuIJld sub- (Continued on page 52) Flaylnuse in Wilmington Seeks Major Status For Tryouts, Full-Week Stands Management of the Playhouse, Wilmington, is making an intensive effort to build up the house for next season as a tryout spot and regular touring stand. Paralleling the recent Theatre Guild-Council for the Living Theatre campaign that increased the local subscriber list from 700 to over 2,000, the the- atre is offering unusual concessions for bookings. Since E. I. du Pont de Nemours Co., which owns and operates the house, is not interested in it as a commercial proposition, but wants to expand it as a cultural and en- tertainment feature of the com- munity, it is willing to give general rental and sharing terms for try- outs and touring shows, including a 5,000-name mailing list and a lib- eral budget for newspaper and radio advertising. In one instance recently, the house offered to let the management of a Broadway hit keep 100% of the gross . for a week's booking. Ultimate aim is to build up local audiences, so that the Playhouse becomes a full-week stand rather than the present split-week. Since the Wilmington population includes a high percentage-of employees of Atlas, Hercules, Pullman, Chrysler, General Motors and du Pont, with an average family income of $7,199, the town has substantial purchas- ing power. The Playhouse has a seating capacity of . 1,223, including 535 In orchestra, 42 boxe*, 442 mezzanine and 204 balcony. The top is generally $3.50 (plus tax) for musicals and $3 for straight plays. William H. Doerflinger was re- cently ■ appointed manager of the house. ' Gateway, (Quarterdeck Lannck Atlantic City Atlantic City, July j8. ‘Virtually a capacity audienofe of 1,000 was on hand last week as the Gateway Playhouse at nearby Somers- Point opened with “Briga- doon.” Mayors of nearby munici- palities were among the first-night- ers. . Producer Jonathon Dwight reported later in the week that business held up well. “Bom Yes- terday” will be Dwight’s second offering, opening tonight (Tues.). The Quarterdeck Theatre in the Hotel Morton • opened last night (Mon.) with the Noel.Coward one- act bill, “Tonight at 8:30,” The show, was at the Pleasant Mills Playhouse, HammonLon, N. J., the previous Thursday (3).