Variety (November 1961)

6 LEGITIMATE Wedneatey, November 22, 1961 Show on Broadway The Gay Life Kermit Bloomgarden presentation of operetta in two acts (15 scenes), with book by Fay and Michael Kanin, Iyr: and mausic by Howard pe and Acthae | Schwartz. suggested the comedy, “Anatol.” by Arthur se tzler. General staging. Gerald Freedman; dances and musical numbers staged by rbert Ross: scenery. Oliver Smith; es, Lucinda : Ballard; hbghting, Jean Rosenthal; orches: trations, Don Walker;, vocal arrange-. ments and musical directlon, Herbert j Greene; dance music arrangemerts, Robert Starer. Stars Walter Chiari, Barbara Cook. Jules Munshin: featyres Loring Smith, Elizabeth Allen, Jeanne Yvonne Constant, Lu* Leonard, Leonard Elliott. Opened Novy. 18. °61, at the Shubert Theatre. N.Y; $860 top weeknights. $9.40 Friday | and Saturday nights. i 5 0, -«-. Jules Munshin Usher ......Cee eeasseene Sterling Clark AMatul cicccccccccccceaes Walter Franz eeee Leonard ee! Helene ... 0... cccacccreaes Jeanne Bal i Liesl Brandel evccccecees Barbara Cook Herr Brandel .........-00Loring Smith Frau ....-...... Se seneve as La Leonard ! Mimi ww ee eee: ..« Yvonne Constant Proprietor .. 1... cceeaes Michael Quinn , Great Gaston ........-Jack Adams : _Otto «tee eee weecces tice Froehlich . “Waiters . Lambrinos, Russell Gocawin Hal Herman Apna .. . . Joanne Spiller ' Grandmother ............ Aura Vainio Photographer .....-se0e. Gerald Teijelo Doorman. .ccce-ceaces Rico Froehlich ‘ Headwaiter .............Carl Nicholas . Magda... 0...) ws aaeee Elizabeth Allen Singers: Ken Avers, Russell Goodwin. Tony LaRusso, Ted Lambrinos, Nicholas, Loyce Baker, Joan Luce Enws. Jeanne rant. Carole O’Hara, Nancy xtadcliffe, Jo&nne Spiller. Dancers: Kip Andrews, Karoly Barta, Sterling Clark. Thatcher Clarke. Ray Kirchner, Louis Kosman, Michel Stuart, Gerald Teijelu. Patrick King. Bonnie Branden. Carotyn Clark, Marion Fels, Carol Flemming. Leslie Franzos. Bettye Jenkins, Dorms Ortiz, Eleozore Treiber, Aura Vainio. Jenny Workman. Musical n.imbers: “What a Charming Couple.” “Bring Your Darling Daughter.” “Now I’m Ready for a Frau.” “Magie Moment.” “Who Can? You Can.” “Oh, Mein Liebchen.” “The Label on the Bottle,” “This Kind of a Girl.” “The Bloom Is Off the Rose.”” “I'm Glad I’m Single.”” “Something You Never Had Before,” “You Neter Will Be Lenely,” ‘‘You’re Not the ° Type.” “Come a-Wandering With Me.” “[ Never Had Chance.” “I Wouldn't Marry You.” “For the First Yime.” The increasingly familiar situation of a show that’s fairly good but probabis not good enough for the brutal economic conditions of today’s Broadway is repeated with “The Gav Life.” which opened last Saturday night :18* at the Shubert Theatre. There’ gs much that’s bright: and amusing about this musical Varia tion of °* » Gite stele Ce te siv 1900's comeds, “Anatol.” The Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz soags are melodious and lively, 1 Herbert Ros~ staging of the dances , and musical numbers is generally witty, although not invariably well. projected. and Barbara Cook is at her best as t:e plain but enchanting Viennese lass who gets the irresistibie piayboy here tuo the church on time for the final curtain But something of the old world artificiaiity, the transparent eleBance, the .chmaltzy sentiment and the cev rene Uiat so often clings to shows located in Vienna seen:s to blight “The Gay Life.” The show isn't billed in any category in the preziam, but although the currently frowned-upon term operetta is avoided, that’s what it is. Perhaps this is evidence of why the word operetta tends to be in bad repute, at least commercially. “The Gzy Life" is a folksy sort of musical that might be fine for ‘tthe beyon1-middleaged. It’s by no means slam-bang entertainment in the mu-tn't-miss classification and doesn’t appear likely to capture the visitiz:¢ firemen and expense account trade. The Kermit Bloo:agarden production reputedly has a: good advance sale, with numerous theatre parties, but with a break-. even of nearly $50.000 a week and an investment of about $300,000 ty rernuyn it stacks up as a doubtFul gambie. If. as a few tall-dome interpreters ot Hollywood trends have been predicting, there’s a cycie of musical pictures on the way, “The Gav Life” could be a screen prospect and thereby recover some of: the autlay. Moreover, with imagination and just a little daring, ‘it mistut be converfed into a reasonabis eniovabie film. The camera *wouid allow greater story scone and ‘novement, and the picturization mizht re-tore some of the frivotous romantic hijinks of the Schnitzler original and thereby vea.in ‘some of the safely naughty un. In Fay and Michael Kanin’s libretto, “The Gay Life,” seems rather respectable. Although Anatol still dallies with a succession of eagerly susceptible ladies, he’s anything but the debonair deceiver. As :his friend. and romantic accom-. plite ohserves, he always starts du. fishing and ends up the fish. '|No. Carolina: Allocates 10G. to Cover-‘Horn’ Loss Boone, N.C., Nov. 21.: That may he reality, even in! The North Carolina: State. conVienna, but it’s hardly a sparkling | tingency and emergency fund has ' basis for a musical comedy, or even.’ been tapped for $10,000 to. cover , a musical with comedy. rabout two-thirds of a defict inThe Schwartz musio has a pleas‘curred this year. by the Southern antly lilting quality, and seems Appalachian Historical Assn. in its ‘ skillfully suited to the situations operation of the historical drama, and characters, and the Dietz lyries |: ‘Horn in the West.” are diverting and frequently effec. | Gov ernor Sanford and the. Countive. But although several of the” ‘cilof State approved. the allocation. numbers are excellent in terms of ! _ OO stage production, there's. nothing ' that echoes in a musical square’s , Carl ° Hal Norman. Michael Quinn, , Bishop. June Card, “Whnv Go Anywhere at All?” : thead after the final. curtain. | On the basis of an initial hearling, the notable numbers are prob i ably “Magic Moment,” “Who Can? }. ' You. Can,” “The Label on the Botitle,” “I’m Glad I'm fore’ and With Me.” Most of the animation and comedy are in the musical ; numbers, particularly the dances. ; Ross. with an unbilled assist by his wife, ballerina Nora Kaye, ‘naturally shares credit with Dietz’. ‘and Schwartz for that, and at the: same time it is a reflection on the : book of what is announced by title as a captivating musical. — Several of the dance numbers _are spectacular, notably “Frau. Ballet,” in which athletic girl ad-., _mirers exhaust thewilling hero: . “Liebehen Waltz.” in which vivid “seenery and red gowns have 4 the Bottle” in whieh three. male dancers assist Miss Cook in an ex _ pression of intended abandon; “I’m Glad I'm Single,’ * spoofing epi Single,” i. ‘Something You Never Had Be-| “Come a-Wardering | humorous connotation; “Label on! NY. City Opera Windup: Looks Like ‘The Crucible’ Earns Regular Spot ‘By ELMER WIENER New. York City Opera ended its fall season Nov. 12 with a final performance of its new American opera: that well might earn a place lin permanent repertoire, namely i “The Crucible,” an‘'-operatic re; working of Arthur Miller's play of the. same title, with the music : composed. by Robert Ward and the libretto’ by Bernard Stambler. ‘Commissioned and __ presented under the. aegis of the Ford Foun| dation, “The Crucible” had an enthusiastic and sympathetic wel‘come. On the night of its premiere, ‘the ovation rose to a virtual clamor 'as Ward, Stambler, bearded Emerson Buckley, the conductor, and the big cast:took their curtain calls. This surely was more than a friend‘ly reception, and there was the feeling that an important and powerful drama with music had been revealed At the height of the ova-. sodes in Anatoi’s pas{; “Come a-Wandering With Me,” in which a. Gypsy old flame overpowers the , said; “Before any of us. began to 'hero; “Who Can? You Can,” in; work, and. long before rehearsals which Miss Cook does a mild but t began, ‘Arthur Miller had given us ingenious terp bit. and “I Wouldn't ‘a great play and without him, this ' Marry You,” with its almost : evening could not have come to choreographic, rowdy hair-pulling ; pass.”-The bespectacled Miller rose. bl two j-alious ladies. ” i from his seat in the orchestra and Miss Cook, who's been ‘a pro| acknowledged . the tribute. gressive click in a series of musj-. The .Ward-Stambler progeny of cal shows for the last 15-odd years, the Miller opus closely follows the gives what may: be her most. glow-~j Pulitzer prize-winning dramatist’s ing performance as the mousey but ‘recital of a-shameful period in indomitable heroine of “‘The Gay. American history, the era of the Life.” -A sort of musical Julie. Saiem witch trials. It is a story of Harris, she sings lyrically, acts. per; ‘greed, lust, revenge, superstition ‘Suasively and has undeniable piogand jealansy.: This is a text with nunce. Which the audience members can ~-: although she now has star. readily identify, for they lived and ibilling, the singer-actress: still experienced similar periods in thei; doesn't have the indefinable but | on lifetimes when maticious slanunmistakable aura of a star per-:der wrecked the lives of innocent sonality. Perhaps ‘if she did ‘she: victims.. This tale carries universal -might lose something of the unYrecagnition,-because it has had its ‘affected, refreshing quality that is , counterparts. in the’ present-day one of her distinctions. ‘In any dictatorships abroad and also in the case. she’s a delightful performer. ; United States during the days of Top-starred W alter Chiari, an Ital-~ ‘the Palmer redhunts and the more ian stage and screen actor recruited ; recent McCarthy hysteria. ‘to play the irresistible Viennese ; Ward's music effectively undercharmer, is a‘slim, dark-haired, | lines the stark tragedy. It is dishandsome performer with a per-;sonant in places, but ina musical sonable manner and the ability of , language that is readily understood getting laughs. He doesn’t pretend; and grasped.. This is no avantto be a trained singer, but mostly ,2arce score, but one that conveys talks the songs passably. enough. ; the meaning of-the libretto, a score tion, Ward stepped forward and and his voice already shows the : that doés not draw. attention to it-| strain. As a fatal femme idol he|self, but heightens the drama onseems adequate, which is to. say |stage. At times, the swelling creshardly the sort of Rudolph: Valen-|cendos in thé orchestra overtino the script requires.. ; Jules Munshin is third-starred | maestro Buckley),. in the long and important but not .significance of the lines and the ; very rewarding: role. of Anatol’s.j importance of the sermon. came | companion and accessory in in-.! through vividly. and with clarity. : trigue, a sort of hokey Viennese. High tension, stirring drama are master of ceremonies for the, the. lifeblood of this opera and atgoings-on. He: gives a professional tention never lags, even for..an performance. Loring Smith struts ' instant. ; ,disapprovingly and gets all the! Allen Feltcher: staged the work, i laughs in the part of the heroine's w ith scenery: by Paul Slyhert and !pompous father, Elizabeth Allen castumes’ by ‘Ruth Morley. The vincingly red-blooded. and Yvonne | vocally. and histrionically, with speConstant and Jeanne Bal are two:cial kudos to. Patricia Brooks, other incidents in the affairs of : Frances. Bible, Debria Brown, NorAnatol. eman Kelley,’ ‘Paul: Ukena, Eunice Oliver Smith has designed | Alberts and Norman Treagle. enough large, lavish looking .and |: not invariably attractive settings to suffice for a whole Broadway ‘production season, and Lucinda { Ballard has provided decorative ‘costumes, in someé ‘cases with -a. nice comedy touch. Gerald Freedman’s overall direction keeps the | non-musical scenes orderly and. conductor Herbert Greene (or did musieal stager Ross and orchestrator Don Walker also have a‘hand in it?) has the pit musicians drown-° see ing out a good many voices, some| . © _ times in key lyrics Except for several. outstanding element s, most of the galety and i o Loy Nilsen has resigned ‘as CBS: JYAART ‘studio supervisor to become stage | ; manager of “The Captains and the l Plus other statistical and data-filled ; Kings.” currently playing a oe: 7 charts ond articles. ‘ Broadway ‘tryout on the Coast. Playwright-Editor Philip Dunning deflates a popular premise that writing is “the easiest of all the . ‘ta his treatise’ | Byli n ers Take Heart professions” -one of the ‘many interesting Features in, the upcoming a ee ramen oo $$$ . ee — — a . ” ne eee 'whelmed the singers (no fault of |} but always the | makes the Gypsy strumpet con-.large cast. set a high standard, |i at the N.Y. City Centre’s bargain | i. top of $3.95. Although a number ; Ij is an ensemble, Its values and its . {charms lie in that faet. There are {| If there is a star, after the direc| li widow of the company's founder, ' {i it would be whoever is responsible : tion of Ernest: Kinoy’s “Something "Asides ‘and Ad Libs Night They: Raided Minskey’s,” was announced. as leaving Monday’ (20) on a three-week trip to visit theatres and. nightclubs in London,: Paris beautiful girls for the show. The release didn’t ‘indicate whether his backers will ask the question. Kenneth Tynan,. drama critic for the: London Observer, is a canny. journalistic controversialist. Having received a recent pasting from U. S. essayist-critic Mary McCarthy. on his book, “Curtains,” the British reviewer quoted “a gracefully turned cullinary metaphor”. of hers in his review of a West End revival of “Heartbreak House” . Miles Cunningham, writing in the Rochester Times-Union, ' reported that Tennessee Williams, in a “stormy interview” before the local opening of his pre-Broadway play, “The Night of the Iguana,” finally broke off the confab with the statement, “I can’t talk to a person like you.” The playwright, apparently. nervous before the break-in. of the new play, reportedly resented several. of the interviewer's slanted questions. He had a large bet wolf in his hotel room, according to Cunningham. ... Victor Samrock, general manager for: producers Roger L, Stevens and Frederick Brisson, is billed as producer associate on.-“‘First Love.’’. He doesn’t take g.m. program credit .. . It turns out that Ethel Griffies, costar of “Write Me 2 Murder,’ ‘not only didn't. come out of retirement to do.the play, but. toured the U. S. five years ago in been in several London shows since then. Arthur and Barbara Gelb (he’s a.member of the N. Y. Times drama staff and they're the authors of a forthcoming biography of Eugene O'Neill) had a well organized and ‘interesting piece in a recent -issue -tre,” and was primarily a selection of .quotes from ‘the late dramatists letters and interviews. The overall impression of the article is. that, O'Neill had considerable conviction about his own work, but. limited it used to be—and the answer Is still: obviously that it never was. education of Bogota, N. J., where he lives... . Leo: Kerz, producer of his dispute and physical scuffle with Randolph Hale,. operator of the reported, and asserts that the incident, was Hale’s fault. The National Theatre School ‘of Canada, ‘which is in Montreal during the regular season and at Stratford, ‘Ont., in the summer, opened its second year of operation last week, The ‘faculty, headed by Jean second group of actors nunhbers 31, out of 245 auditioned, bringing total. enrollment to 75. The administrative head is’ James de B.. Domville readable and warm column about the late James Thurber. last week . After 20 years on Riverside Drive, N.Y.-Times columnist Brooks Atkinson and his novelist-wife Oriana Atkinson have moved to East 30th Street, N.Y., overlooking the East River. They’re maintaining their permanent residence upstate; at Durham, N.Y.‘ .. Eric Keown, drama critic for Punch, the British humorous weekly, is in New ‘York to catch the Broadway shows. ; Carmen Mathews planed to the Coast ‘last Thursday (rey: ‘for. a feas tric. She’s due back Noy. 30... Theatre. Arts Books has published “The | Plays of Georges Courteline, ‘Vol. I,” adapted into English’.by Albert Bermel and Jacques Barzun . ... The Univ. of Washington Press has. published “The Comic Style. of Beaumarchais,” by J.B. Ratermanis and W. R. Irwin. Tom Donnelly, drama: -eritic-columnist for the Washington ‘Daily News, came up with the best comment on that silly. ‘but might have been disastrous) incident in Washington, when ‘the Sayreville (N.J.) high school principal led a walkout of 146. of her students: from -a performance of “Sunday in New York” at the National Theatre. Despite eyeryone’s instantaneous suspicion, it was definitely not a Machiavellian publicity stunt by David Merrick, the play's producer, Donnelly wrote, because he saw some of the kids. and would swear they weren't the type who might have been engaged through the William Morris agency. . World premiere of .De Falla’s opera “Atlantida” (finished ‘according to his orchestra sketches by his friend and star. ‘pupil, Ernest Halffter) will take place June 21 at La Scala in Milan. It. will be :staged by Marherita Wallmann and conducted by Thomas Schippers, since Ernest ‘Ansermet who was originally engaged for an earlier date, could not. free’ himself for the dater date, where ‘these singing-dancing. youth Mazowsze. Song & Dance Co. Sol Hurok: presentation of Polish ¢om-. ‘pany, directed by Mira Ziminska-Sygietyn -| ated villa. The. feeling. is conveyed | ska. Conductors: Ryszard Pierchala, Stanislaw Wysockd. Opened Nov: 15, 61, at the City Centre, N.Y.; $3. 95. top. ;ethnic roots’ .marks everything done. A certain amount of. adagio and. acrobatic verve intensifies the ‘Having already. played five weeks.’ ‘in. the US., this. large and. attrac-:; tive group of young women and! men from Poland is. presented by . Sol Hurok for three weeks in. and ; 'few interludes: are slow, but the ; total impression is pleasant. Such ‘a booking is a “natural” for the. :many communities bers... -At one point a group ‘6t eight ear in the souvenir. ,of names appear a : girls veer out of their native. lingo. : booklet as‘ “soloists,” these: are. Essentally thi ‘the house program. Essentally this : Land. Staff for Soldier Pleaser. :no individual performances. ‘tor, Mira Ziminska-Sygier tnyska,. atre: Guild-Dcre Schary presentafor the wonderful native costumes. | about a. Soldier”. includes Walter. Davis, general manager; Jesse ‘Long,. company. manager; Jean Barrere,. production ‘manager: Wil Tich palette of colors and the frequent changes give the show an optical appeal which offsets a cer-. tain: similarity in the btasically village-square routines. The title is derived from the ‘name of the region outside Warsaw Signer, and Klaus Holm, lighting designer. se eral bressagents. for. the offering. om Leonard Key, producer of the. prospective Broadway mnusieal: “The , Rome, Stockholm, Hong Kong and Tokyo to recruit: ‘the ‘world’s most. expenses will be charged against the ‘production. ‘Maybe potential Coast actress Susan Oliver. was in and out-of New York last week. “The Matchmaker” without ballyhooing: the fact in New York. She's of the N. Y. Times Magazine. It. was titled “As:Q’Neill Saw the Thea-' treet ieee ne meek aire ale eee vision about the contemporary (1920-46) American theatre. His. theme | seems to sum up to the bromide that-the stage of his day wasn’t what. Actor-singer. Stephen Douglass. has® been: appointed: tothe board of the touring “Rhinoceros,” ‘objects to the story. in a recent issue about .-. Alcazar Theatre, San Francisco, during the recent engagement ‘of the.. Eugene Ionesco play at that house: He claims the: facts were. not as. Gascon, of Le Theatre du Nouveau Monde, is upped from 10 to 26.-A.. Noilman Nadel, drama critic forthe N.Y. World-Telegram, ‘had a tured role in a telefilm to be directed by Ida Lupino fof General Elec live and ‘train in a state-appropri-. that an. honest’ devotion to tha’ impact of some of the numbers. A. in Arnerica . ‘where Poles have settled in: num i: -and sing the A ican “Red River alistically, from g the Americ omitted, more re: y : Valley” in English, an audience: .The staff for the upcoming The. || (Wanda Modzelewska is program| Reilly, associate producer; Peter’ |. med as costume consultant). The liam’ Pitkin, set and costume. de-. ‘Nat and Irvin Dorfman are gene ° oe eemenay et teeta te cg tata em ets pe gen ee sae wn ee oe ee A Sain ot RGR EAS SOC EET ot Sn