Variety (April 1959)

Wednesday, April 8, 1959 LEGITIMATE 77 PUkieTy So They Say “I know what an Ethel Merman song should be. I’ve been a fan of hers since 1933. She’s a word sayer. Cole Porter, who used to write for her, was a great word writer. The critics and audience of a musical don’t understand "the intent of the music. They listen to the words. But you’ve got to use lines that stay in character. You can’t have a strong personality like Merman singing lyrics that don’t suit her.”— Composer-producer Jule Styne, as quoted by Frances Herridge in the N;Y. Post. - “This is the trouble with having ever been performers. It is a dis¬ ease. It is actually a recurring ailment or, rather, it is like a kind of virulent tropical fever which lies semi-dormant in the bloodstream and can flare up at the mere sound of a pick-up from the orchestra, or hav¬ ing a loose page of Variety flap up against one's legs.”—Betty Com- den and Adolph Green, in a by-line piece in the N.Y. Herald Tribune. Legit Bits ; Continued from page 75 ; fall. He intends presenting a more' simplified production than the one presented on Broadway last sea- on . Livingston is also planning a production of Donald Watson’s adaptation of Eugene Ionesco’s “Killer Without Motive.” H. C. Potter, legit-film director, has aligned*himself with the Broad¬ way producing firm of Richard My-* era and Julius Fleischmann. Zero Mostel is scheduled to re¬ peat the role he originated in the off-Broadway production of “Ulys¬ ses in Nightgown” in Paris and London presentations of the play. Tennessee Williams’ one-acter, “I Rise in Flame, Cried the Phoe¬ nix,” which concerns the recon¬ struction of the death of D. H. Law¬ rence, will be presented with Georges Arnault’s “Sweet Confes¬ sions” the afternoon of April 14 at the Theatre de Lys, N.Y., as part of the Matinee Theatre Series of the American National Theatre & Academy. Viveca Lindfors, Alfred Ryder and Rosemary Harris Will appear in the Williams play, under the direction of Tom Bren¬ nan. Ryder will also direct the Arnault offering. Lucille Lortel, director of the matinee series, pre¬ sented the double-bill to delegates at the first annual ANTA assembly last Feb. 18 at the ANTA Theatre, N.Y. “Free and Easy,” formerly titled “Blues Opera,” is scheduled to E reem the first week in Septem- er in Antwerp, Belgium. A 12- week European tour is planned by producer Stanley Chase. Robert Breen, who at one time was listed as the sponsor, will direct. The musical, based on the 1946 Broad¬ way musical, “St. Louis Woman,” Is scheduled for Broadway presen¬ tation next January . Chase is also planning a Broadway production of Gore Vidal’s “Fire to the Sea” next season. New Drama Productions, spon¬ sor of the current off-Broadway production of Bernard Evslin’s “The Geranium Hat,” has optioned another play by the author titled “Colors of Sleep.” The musical version of “Saratoga Trunk,” adapted by Morton Da Costa, with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by Johnny Mercer, is scheduled to bow next Dec. 7 at the Winter Garden Theatre, N.Y. Da- Costa will also direct the tuner and co-produce with'Robert Fryer, OPEN 11:30 A.M. TILL MIDNIGHT AUTHENTIC DISHES OF INDONESIA mmW COCKTAILS — DINNER . SPM-Mldiiigtit LATE S«»Er| C Idled'Mon. 1 Free Parking 242 EAST 58th ST. PL. 5-8090J with rehearsals starting Sept. 21, prior to a five week tryout in Phila¬ delphia, beginning Oct. 26. Cecil Beaton will design the scenery and costumes. Onna White will be choreographer. “Scene from the Balcony,” by Stafford Dickens, is planned for London production next fall by Bertie Meyer. Actors Equity and the League of N.Y. Theatres will present “Inte¬ gration Showcase” at the Majestic Theatre, N.Y., the afternoon of April 20. The program is designed “to demonstrate the possibilities of the further integration of the Negro actor into the American the¬ atre.” “Northwest Passage,” by British playwright John Mortimer, has been acquired for^ London produc¬ tion by British director Peter Hall. Reginald Denham is in London, where he intends! co-producing “Blue Heaven,” his adaptation of Alfonso Paso’s “Cielo Dentro de Casa.” A theatre party bureau, headed by Gertrude Amerling, has been installed at Leblang’s Theatre Ticket Agency, N.Y. The new de¬ partment will also book parties for music and film presentations, besides arranging for restaurant and hotel facilities. An Oct. 28 preem at the Morosco Theatre, N. Y., is planned by the Playwrights Co for Robert Ander¬ son’s “Silent Night, Lonely Night." Joe Flynn will be company man¬ ager for “A Party With Betty Com- den and Adolph Green,” which re¬ sumes its Broadway run April 16 at the Golden Theatre. George Eckert is now production stage manager and Joe Hill stage manager for the Broadway produc¬ tion of “West Side Story.” Alan Brock has joined the Ken¬ neth Later Agency as head of the drama department. Roy Franklyn will be director at the Mountan Theatre, Braddock Heights, Md. Pitt CLOA Under Camas, To Open Telia’ June 15 Pittsburgh, April 7. The Civic Light Opera Assn., operating for the first time under canvas, will open its summer sea¬ son June 15 with “Most Happy Fella.” The 12-week schedule will also Include “Student Prince,” “Li’l Abner,” “Rosalinda,” “Bells Are Ringing,” “Naughty Marietta,” “Say, Darling” and “Guys and Dolls.” For the last 13 years, CLOA has operated outdoors at Pitt Stadium, where bad weather has been a seri¬ ous complication. The new 2,000- seat tent will be the organization’s summer home until the new Civic Auditorium, with a movable roof, is completed, probably in 1961. The tent site is practically in the down¬ town sector, right next to where the auditorium will go up. The 1959 CLOA staff will include William Wymetal, managing di¬ rector and producer; Lawrence Carra, stage director; Kairl Kritz, conductor; Duncan Noble, choreo¬ grapher; James Taylor, designer and technical director; Tom Bate, production stage manager, and Harry Davies, pressagent, assisted on local promotion by Milnor Roberts and David Crantz. NEW L.A. LEGIT GROUP WILL DO OWN SHOWS Los Angeles, April 7. A new group, tabbed the Los Angeles Theatre Club Inc., plans producing a series of new legit shows. On the advisory board are George Seaton, Rod Serling, Clif¬ ford Odets, Robert Nathan, Paul Francis Webster, Jerome Law¬ rence, Robert E. Lee, John Beck, Raymond Burr, Jeff Chandler, Fer¬ nando Lamas, Gordon Heaver and Leonard Karzmar, the latter listed as production supervisor. The initial project will be a dramatic adaptation of Edwin Ar¬ lington Rofbinson’s Pulitzer Prize- .. winning jjoem, “Tristram.” It’s ! slated to open in June at the Hunt- j ington Hartford Theatre, for which j negotiations are in progress. Karz- mar, who last season produced “A ! Tribute to Carl Sandburg,” at : UCLA’s Royce Hall, will produce. ] Four other plays contemplated i by the group are an untitled musi¬ cal being written by Webster, aimed for presentation in Septem¬ ber; “The Changing Face of Love,” by Edmund Morris; “The Shades : of Night,” by Michael Gordon and j Jay Williams, and a collaborative ! project of Lawrence and Lee. Paris Shakeup mmmmmm Continued from page 1 been managing director of the Theatre Sarah Bernhard, who in¬ vented the tremendously success¬ ful annual Theatre Festival in Paris. Julian will be permitted to keep his reins at the Sarah Bern- hard Theatre in addition to his new duties at the two opera houses, but will designate an as¬ sistant to run the Theatre des Na¬ tions annual festival, probably Claude Planson, currently artistic director. There Is a possibility, though faint, that Albert Camus, the French novelist who won the Nobel prize for literature a year ago, will be involved importantly in the new set-up. Malraux has been trying to get Camus to take over the Comedie Francaise, but the latter has been stubbornly negative. Ca¬ mus, it is believed, feels that the Comedie should continue present¬ ing primarily French classics—and he, personally, is interested more in experimental theatre. Camus is admittedly stage-struck and, in be¬ tween writing novels, has written and directed plays. He was also ani actor for a while. A strong possibility is that Ca- ! mus, with French government fi¬ nancing, will start a new “small theatre,” which “avant garde” productions will be given a chance. When- Julian takes over the Opera and Opera Comique, the first thing he will do, he has ad¬ mitted privately, is to name Roland Petit to handle the ballets and a noted composer (possibly Poulenc) to head the music. Julian, although he ptarted his career in French theatre as an actor, is primarily jUi 4 _ v - .... Stock Items The staff for the Cape Cod Mel¬ ody Tent, Hyannis. Mass., includes Ernest Sarracino, stage director; Arnold P. Goodman, general man¬ ager, and Edward Holtzmann, pressagent. The Stage & Arena Guild of America, by special arrangement with Lucille Phillips, will tour a summer package of “Blue Denim,’* starring Richard Arlen. Michael Ellis and playwright Henry Denker have optioned Sum¬ ner Arthur Long’s “Cradle and All,” which they plan producting on Broadway next fall following a summer tryout at Ellis’ Bucks County Playhouse, New Hope, Pa. James Leon, assistant musical di¬ rector of the State Fair Musicals, Dallas, will he musical director for the upcoming season. Last year he served under Lehman Engel and the prior semester under Michael Kuttner. Tom Noone has resigned as ex¬ ecutive director of the American Shakespeare Festival Theatre. Outnumber Cast? Chicago, April 7. Tennessee Williams’ “Gar¬ den District,” which opens to¬ night (Tues.) at the Civic The¬ atre, has given employment to five pressagents, four of them concurrently. Ned Armstrong had been ad¬ vance agent, and when his stint ended yesterday <Mon.), Danny Newman took over as local press rep. Shirley Herz is being retained in New York . as general p.a. for producer Violla Rubber, and Alan Edel- son is working on the show as regular publicist for the Civic Theatre. Fifth pressagent, Paul Mon¬ tague, is. being employed as. company manager when Jim Miller resigns the show this week. . ... . . Say Paris Agents Veto U.S. Plays For Belgium; ‘Seesaw’ As Example By JOHN FLORQUIN Brussels, March 31. American playwrights’ interests are being jeopardized in French- speaking Belgium through rules of theatrical agents in Paris. No new American play can be done here without their permission. Even the National Theatre, the leading local company, has found it difficult to get round this block, j The scheduled production of “Two for the Seesaw,” which was to have been featured in the Na¬ tional Theatre’s current season, had to be abandoned because of the French veto. The obvious rea¬ son is that when the current Paris production of the William Gibson play closes, it will be taken on a provincial tour, and the French consider the French-speaking prov¬ inces of Belgium as part of their professional domain. The “Belgian season,” comprising 10 perform¬ ances maximum, is waged against the usual minimum of 60 which the National Theatre always se¬ cures for all its productions. This situation is of long stand¬ ing, causing local aggravation and depriving French-speaking Belgian | theatregoers of a chance to see new U. S. hits. The same taboo does not extend to Flemish compa¬ nies in the provinces, but Brussels is mainly French-speaking and has only one Flemish theatre, in con¬ trast to half a dozen exclusively French language. Another drawback to the situa¬ tion Is that in the opinion of some Belgian theatre observers, French adaptations of U. S. plays are apt to b&jjiiiferior to Belgian, generally becay^ft.the latter seem more at¬ tuned to American life. For ex¬ ample, Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” produced by Bel¬ gium’s‘National Theatre, had a tri¬ umphant -engagement in Paris. Similarly, Miller’s “Crucible” had a record 200’ performances in Bel¬ gium, as a. result of which Ray¬ mond Rouleau decided to produce the play on the Paris stage. Paris generally gets first call on U. S. plays, but what the French capital rejects may then be sent to the provinces, including Belgium. For example, “The Rainmaker” was judged unsuitable for French audiences, and was thereby avail¬ able as a substitute for “Two for the Seesaw” on the National Thea¬ tre’s roster. The Belgian company has for some years been trying to produce plays like “Harvey,” “Mister Rob¬ erts” (a flop in Paris), “The Man Who Came to Dinner” and others, but has been prevented by the Parisian agents. ! The Most Exciting News- From Chicago Is AM THE CIVIC THEATRE "Pink Champagne and rosy expectations are popping and floating around the rose and gold Civic Theatre which Alan Carr returned to the playgoing fold." CLAUDIA CASSIDY Chicago Tribune "The jewel case of Chicago legitimate houses." ROGER DETTMER Chicago American "The Civic Theatre is a big hit." GLENNA SYSE Chicago Sun Times An Open Invitation to Broadway and Hollywood Stars ... To appear at the Civic Theatre during the months of June, July and August as part of the CIVIC SUMMER SERIES. ... 1959 will be Chicago’s most exciting INTERNATIONAL SUM¬ MER FESTIVAL. ... The Civic is a 910 seat prosce¬ nium theatre fully air-conditioned for the luxury of both performer and patron. New York Representative: ARNOLD WEISSBERGER 120 lest SiHi St. Hm S-0200 CIVIC THEATRE Mgt.i ALAN CARR ASSOCIATES 20 No. Wacker Drive Chicago, JIL FRaaUta 2-1436