Variety (Sep 1933)

S2 VARIETY L E CI¥IMATE Tnesdayr. September 26, 19$3 Jewish Pageant Hailed by Crowd Of 20,000 as a Dramatic Triumpli Kanfiiuui Melo Set *s pageant of pi'pgress was glvfen Sunday (24) in Kings- bridge Armory, Bronx, way of a gigantic About; -^ItOOO 7TK!opTe-^?taw—^thie—show, the openlhg\night, AT.lth geveral thr^^ sand turned away. Those who got in saw 6ne of th^ most Colorful,, beautiful spbiitacles concfelvable, with . cast of 6;20p portraying a moving story in di*a.nta,tio form. 'Romianice of a People/ as. shown at the Artnory Sunclay nighty is riot merely a pag6ari.t. 'It's real the- atre of the first ranH. it! , singing, ;actlng and staging oh. a gigantic: stage. Presentation.,of the; sjb^tacle in the ^ enclosed armoi-y. Minturn Stages Second ni t ■ Cl' I n 1.* I Aiexi^naer wooucotc^ jK.auiman laie; flay tor Mock Katmg cdHaborating 'Snake* will go oil af tei JLef 'Em Eat Cakia' ooeha a 'Snake In the Grass' will be the next attraction at the MorpscQ, N. T., where 'The Blue Widow' Is current. 'Snake' Is a melpclrama« first play of the type In which George S. Kaufmaii has figured on the writing end. Play" was- originally written by Alexi^nder TVopUcott^ Kaiifnian later lilcago, Sept. .25< Harry Minturn company, doing 'Uncle Tom's Cabin* at the; Stude- baicer, ill do another imme- diately/ It will be 'The itonster,' with the second production n.e(ie$r sary' to meet . Eqiiity reqiairements since Minturn company - Is now operatirig under stock contracts | whicii means at least tvyo shbAvs. Without a second, show Miiiturn Would have to pay preseot conlt)?>ny accoirding to: Equity producer terms. tei -Let' 'Em ISat Cake' opens at the Imperial. 'Cake' is the musical successor of 'Of 'ifhise I Sing/ Hayr ing the same . authors^Kaufman, Morrle Ryskind .and Geprge cihd Ira Gershwin. IHOROSCO THEATRE TAX CASE IS COMPROMISED Inside Stnff-Lei^ ■/ After . long cpntest over funds - , '1^. , i liii i I sequiestered by the Government, an rather than a.n qpln air arena,. as Stock contract- permitting Minturn Lj^^^^^gj^^^^^ granted heightens, the! originally, •plahhed, theatrical effect. Armory is laid out . exactly ias are theatres. One ehd is completely cut off'for the stage and scenery, with seats laid put straight back of that fof the entire arena.. About.;three quarters way back, seats are ranged oh a slighlf Incline. •One gigantic set spreads across the gigantic stage. It :is . a i)eau- tlfiil job representing a hiigh dPmed^ temple, in the centre, with other buildings near it. In front of that there is a 125-foot raiised circular stage, bri- which Is superimposed another somewhat smaller circular : stage. Stei)s from this lead to. the temple--gates'r";'-— - . Pageant, .tepresehtd the 40 - cen- turies of Jewish progress through the ag;es. First scene la in dark> ixess; only a scroll being yisiblev A vpice is heard, suppogi^dly reading this scroll. Ad most important items are ..mentioned, voice ceases, and actioii begins. First scene is before the creation p£ the world, ivlth the seas "turbulent and God ordering them to part, for creation of land Girls are slowly seen mpving about as a sea, Illusion being well, car rled through because of the several thousand, persohs doing the sceiies, Next scene has' pagans wPrship ping^ a gigantic - cow-like Gpd Moloch, with Abraiham appearing, talking of God, .and the idolatprs ruiuilnis: .away in "fear. From that scene to the Pharbahs; and Moses and so on In ten through the. ages,,lending in ak..:;^ene depict-. Ing: the present day settlement, of Jewish land In Palestine for-Jew ish rehabilitation. . Show Names to Fore pelicacy of handling throughout Is noticeable. In the Cast were a number of well known stage and radio: ifplks such as, for InstancCr Arthur. Tracy, but credit is diie no one actor, designer, or. stager. It's oiie case where this whole triumiphs most emphatically over: any In- dividual. If niehtlonlng names at all, prpbably Jacob Ben Aral's Should be. Yeteran actor In this Instance, didn't use iany makeup, but was in charge P£. the stager^, of Which there were about a dozen. Idaac Van GrPve, general maestro of the entire pageaiit, who officiated at the World's Fair Jewish Day in Chicago, again; handled: all the mu- sical details. Music was especially, arranged from ancient .and modern spiirces, SPUnd >mplihcatiPn, beneath the stage, was far from perfect and hurt, the . singers . considersthly, but the -quality of tlie voices and the music was good despite that,' 'Shir Hashirlm' ('Song of Spttgs*) prob- ably the outstanding composition, aft sung by Ti-dcy, -n^hp gpt his the atrical training,, incidentally,' in the Yiddish theatre, before coming to Broadway.. Capacity marked the first three performances. Advance sale tP do 10 shows weekly; meaning an;.| extra matinee on Sundays. mE HORSE'NOT OFF, BUT DEFERRED A YEAR i^ew irprk production of 'ifVhite Horse. Inn' is.now definitely set for the Hippodrome, but won't- be seen for anotheir .year. . Erik Charrell,. who's been In New Tork f or thie past cpuplP' mohthig to i^age -the show* as he did in Berlin and London, has meantime signed a: Fox picture CohtraGt and- ■will—ma;ke- two plc- tureSj, undecided which piles or Whether in Hollywood or Pariai. Charrell, with an Einglish financial syndicate backing hlnri,. wanted to put- "White Horse Inn' on this sea- son but couldn't find a theati:^ but- side of the Hippodrome large .enough. HippP'dronae, however;. Is leased to the opera, cPmpany, current there lintU Nov. 11. It will take him, lie figures, a minimum oiC. six weeks to rebuild and redeporate. the theiatre into a miniature village .as necessi tated for his play, that bringing the play. into, tlie hoUse too late In. the fall for a possibility of getting a lengthy riin. Therefore, the hpuse has been taken by. his group for. the following, year, with the termi pf entry calling, for' late July, There' was also a money angle, While the .f rom an English isyrt- dica,te was. pke, up tp $150,000, a $260,000-^$250,opd investment seems necessary. Meantime, .<^harrell, with Fox, has a straight two-picture Contract with time out any time.he w&nts It. 'It's to. start In December. and. Coa^t i>rp duction is mentioned.. He is ordered, however, to cohfer with the- receivers of thei Mprosco .thea- tre. New York. Irving Trust CPm- pany, as receivers since 1^23] will b.e paid about |34,6.00. ikouse -was formerly owiied and pperatfed by Oliver Morosco, who went: bankriipti at the-time.. Govemmeht claimed admissions , and other taxes and stepped In with a writ of restraints InCliided in the*' mpney tied up was $7,3.00 bwed Ed ('BuU') airous by Morosco, th*t money being used tP pay actors sal- dries,, Girpux, who continued tP manage tl^^ house for the Shuberts Will be partly reimbiirsed froni the receiver. Estimated he will rec€iive about 6iQ% .Df his claim.; LdBDY MUSIC tir FOUR STANDBY MUSICIANS Chicago, New wrinkle In legit being -tried at the Studebaker, where a colored orchestra Is being used in the pit. for 'Uncle Tom's Cabin,' leaving np ropm'.for the four white musicians house must use. Since it's play or pay for tbe four musicians, house Is spptting the fpursome out in the lobby to play for the lobby walkabpUts. Sheehari, Erie ppmmer 'and Bob Kane,. In ■ Paris befPir© starting ac- tivity. He .Wprked with Ppmmer on production of 'Congress iDahces' and several other musical extravaganzas, leading to the supposition that he may continue the Pomraer partner ship abroad. No matter What the first picture he makes is, or whether done in HollywoPd or Paris, the second Is likely to be the same 'White Hprse Inn,' on. which FPx has an pption That would neCessarily, It Is ex' plained, call for production abroad Charrell sailed Saturday (23) on the lie de France for his conference with th(B;F0x execs abroad. UPSTATE GBOUP ACTIVE iCbchester, Sept. 26, Rochester Commnhity Players are putting on membership drive for 2,000 members, Liast year the en^oup signed , up 1,600., against Its high of 1,800 in the past six years. Mem bership. provides ducats for each ot the-iilx regular .productions. Two srecial .plays are put on to raise Winnie, I added funds. Organization. Is sell Current number of 'The Natlpn* carries an article headed 'The ActPr andHhe Pepresslpn,' .it being the seventh of a series on the ecbnoinip crisis and .the profession, it was authored by Robert Mlddlemas, fin actor who appeared in a ntimber of Broadway attractions. First point he makes Is^: 'Although^tbe road was dying during the years Pf the big buU market,, theatrical condiUons'in the: big cities was far. from bad' and after nanilng a scPre of Succea[se8 he adds: 'Perhaps it Is close to the .truth to say that the depression has Intensified many times the tcoublea and eylls that existed in the theatre five years ago. ' The actor has siif- feired accordingly, as ha,ye other workei-s in tlie theatre. Everybody has been hit-^managers,. authors, musicians,, stagehands, * right down to the stage-dopr man.' ' After pointing Put that the drop in grosses, at the box bfflce forced the nianager.to. reduce expenses or quit producing, Mlddlemas cpntfehds that because of the rigid rules of back stage labor unions—-from the .transfer wagon to the orchestra pit—the actor has been forced to stand the brunt of the! nianagerial cuttings Although 'union la.bor cazinbt be blamed for wanting t<> . maintain its hard-won 'economic poisttion..'. .the fact re- inains that the manager In hlstdespprate effort to keep the play gPing. has. received almpst np concession froni the unions. The actor has made many concessions.. The stagehands and musicians will not, and so , the-actor must. In tiiei cPnfiict between cai>ital and labor,, the actpr-^like many others in the white-collar classr-^Is crushed between them. The public with its buying power, reduced to almost nothing, can hardly- be blamed for giving Up a luxury like the theatre; the manager with bankruptcy Jiist around the corner Cannot be blamed for reducing expenses..,. Nevertheleiss, all this dpea not ameliorate the tragic plight of thousands of actors—'Including, some-whose names once glittered In lights on , Brpadway—Who are. destitute, and of thousands of others who are living from, hand to mouth.* Evidence that actors.are In great distress: 'The Actors pinner club.... is. nightly serving SOO- inners- to unemployed actors;'. ;the FrlarS Club and the I^mbs,-in default of dues ; from their menibiers. Friars has. already passed .into the hands of a receiver and the future of the Lambs Is most uncertain.. Actors have always tried to .care for their needy; they aire doipg this rtpW, but eVery-.relief agency is strained'to the limit. The- ActPi's Fujid Home, the Percy Williams Home and the Edwin Forest' Home, are carfng for the aged;, ^the N.V.A. at Saranac Lake is caring for those. In 111 health; the State Relief Fund rrpvides shelter, food and. clothing; the Actors' Fund expends about $200.00.6 aii-: nually.. .In iielplng .the sick, the aged^.and. the .destitute.. Actors. Equity.' and the vartpus social and religious groups, though not formed primary Ily for charitable purposes,, are doing their' bit. The amount of relief needed is Indicated by the 70% decline In paid up membership in Equity. Thpse who still hold paid-up cards are by no means regularly employed and. their salaries have been reduced from 50 to. 90%.' After mentioning that big time vaudeville formerly employing thou- sands of actors, had already passed, out of the picture, Middlemass Writes: 'In 1927 there weire 166 permanent stock compianies; last season there were 30. Tent shpws had reduced iii number from m'pre than 300 to less than'40. The old burlesque wheels gave up. the ghost several years ago;: to be .supplanted by the present-^-day resident company in which the 'strlppera' play hide and seek with, the police. 'All'this Indicates unemployment and hardship, but It would not bo~ accurate to say that this state of affairs Is entirely caused by the de» prfsslph. We think of November, 1929, as the starting point of the. dis- aster, but long before this the theatre was in trouble and actors were not altogethier happy. Many things were wrong, but perhaps the grad- ual decline of the road—the very backbone of the theatre—was the chiief symptom. of ill health . . '.'The acting, profession Jiaa always been a precarious one. Previous to'' 1919'; 'wheii the Equity contract now universally used came into existence, the. actor faced many more uncertainties that he does now....Ih 1914, between June and, December, I was left stranded three times. The manager in each case skipped out, leaving his company unpaid for past performances and for transportation back to New York. Let rhe say parenthetically that one manager wjio skipped town 'with the week's re- ceipts and abandoned the company in Atlanta, Is now a prominent mem- ber of Eq.uity and loudly taises her voice from time to time In condem- nation of managerial villainies,' supporting and owns its SO.O-rseat playhouse. Plays scheduled this, season by I Director Robert Stevens include i 'One Saturday Afternoon',- 'Three- cornered Moon',. 'Whistling In the bark', 'Best SellCrs' and 'Both Your { HPuses'. GPIMAN FIAT SEADT Rehearsals pn *A Hat, A Coat, A Glove,' German, play fpr Crpsby Gaige, are to start early next week. William Drake,. Who adapted, ar- rived In New York Mpnday (25) with a completed dcrl]>t and will be ..present at 'the :beginnlng- of re- hearsals. Revival of 'Uncle Tom's Cabin* going on tour under, the mana^emeht- of Rowland Stebbins,. whose production activities haye- the- corporate name of Hiaurence Rivers, Will be pretty much a Players Club 'outfit. That takes In the brace of advance agents Including Beauvais Fox who handled publicity on the name-cast 'Tom' When presented a,t the Alvin, N. Y., last spring by the Players. Club .made the request to' Stebbins that he use as niany Players aa possible. Fox selected a fellow club member, Kane Campbelli as second man In advance although Kane, whp was an advertising man, had no- experience as an agent. Kane's first stop out of. town was Hartford. From there he teleV graphed the Rivers office that he had been unable to Ipcate the house manager of Parsond' after searching for. two hours. Understood that dince the early summer try out-of Shubert shows the Parsons' manager was off the payroll, and was put of ..town when the: new boy with the' 'TPm' show arrived. Cohan Vs. Griffin in Catholic Guild PoH the. fpllpwihg 10 scheduled per- formances was scattered and Ihdi' cations Were that the tickets were dcaled top high. Bulk of tickets are |6, Patrons' tickets piiced: at $10 each were good for the first per- formance only. Task of exchanging the tickets originally calling for admission in the ^ ball park was taken over by tn'e. Leblang agency, the lower floor jiuarters . of the Postal Telegraph ";ti^lret~^quaf£ers'^Tl)"eIng'^u"^e^^ blang's assigned 30 people tp make the exchangeg. Up to Saturday 70,- 000 tickets had been switched at Leblang's, balance being exchanged In .Brooklyn and Jersey. Advance ^ale had totaled 115,000 tickets. •'—Pageant is a replica of that orig- inally istaged on Soldiers Field, Chicago in July, where It was | scheduled for. one performance, but three were given. Kauf. There Wlll ..b6 two tickets when the Catholic .Actprs Guild hPlds its election Oct. 21, Qeprge M. &ohan opposing Gerald^ Griffin, who has f6r 1 been president for the. past tWP years. Other officers nominated: Father Leonard, treasurer; Ilugh O'Con- nell, .first vice-president; Marie Louise Dana, second yice-president; Ed Finney, recprding' secretary; June Mullen, social secretary; Wal- ter Connplly and Joseph. DonPvan, advlspry board; Elizabeth .Loner- gan, historian. ■Lrndei'stood the ticket headed by Griffin will Include, same, nominees -Ttrw'tiv5nc^5K^^banefr^=^'= New Play By Group Cleveland, Sept. 26. Eighteenth season of the Play House,.Cleveland's nationally known repertory little theatre, is getting under way Oct. S with .Krnst Tol- lei'*.s 'Machine Wreckers.' First time it has been done m America. 'Etienne,' comedy by Jacques Deyal, goes . into the Jackson Heights tryout. Deval' is the. author of 'Madamoiselle,' done last season [ by Brady. 'Give Us This Day,* by. Howard kpch, to ppeh ih. Phlia. Manage- I miertt of Curtis & Myers. 'Bi.rthnght,' by Richard Freeman, is being put intP rehearsal by Irving •Barrett and Robert Rossen. Due I to show in November. 'For God .and Couhtry,', by Daniel Nf Bubln, will be Al. Wpods' first this season. Fay Bainter will be starred. * pnica/ with Alia Nazimova In =the-cast>='Willi=-be=done=^by-=Robert' Martin productions. Adaptation from the Polish. 'Spur Grapes.' Roy Atwell will produce this comedy which he wrote in cpllaboratiPn with James W. Davis. It's about practical Jokers. 'Thoroughbred,' by D.pty Hobart, will be presented by Theodore Ham- merstoin and Denis Du For, whp have combined as a new managerial team. Show was tried out at West- port last summer. Late Martin iEIerman,. W/ho died suddenly of a heart .attack alone in his New' Yoirk apairtment. Suffered with a similar ailment about two years ago. Although that illness was known to'only a . feW intimates^ he was regarded as being critically ill at the time, in.spite of his robust' appeat^ance. ^ . Shortly afterward he went abroad and' took treatments, Ing that as the reaspn for the extended stay. The seven musical numbers In 'Murder at the Vanities',, at the New Amsterdam, N. Y., are credited to nine different writers and composers. Two songs have; tunes and lyrics by Herman Hupfeld. All the others- Were done by writing teams, Edward Heyman coUaboraitlng .on two; Newest and youngest: writers iii the .group are Irving; and Lionel New- man, kid brothers of Bobby Newman. They cPntributed 'Dust In Ypur iSyes*. lOUlSyiLLE STOCK STAETS Sept. 25. Harry Martin has engaged Jean May and King Calder as. leading woman and leading man for - The Martin Players, who will open a =S;eason-=ofstock^'^^ on=0ctob6r 7=2=?atf the old Walnut Tljeatre, renamed the Drury Lane. 'Candle Light' has been selected as the opening, play of the season- tentatively set for only five weeks. J. Arthur Young,-- Ruth Gates, Hollis Durbin, Katherlne Maskayl, Tucker McGuire, Donald Kpehler and Joseph Holicky. are other mem- bers of the Martin Players and Ad- dison Pitt >vill be director. ENGAGEMENTS Geo, Murphy, Julie. 'Gowns by Roberta.' Leona Hogarth, Paul Guilfoyle, Harlan Briggs, 'Give Us This Day.' Percy Warram, 'Ruy Bias.' ~AT-Pv=Kaye,=^with-Katharine=Gornw=^ ell. Martha Hodge, Eva Condon, Mil- lard Mitchell, Harry Gresham, Leona Hogarth, Paul Guilfoyle, Harlan Brigga, 'Give Us This Day.' (Complete cast.) , Raymiond Middleto'n, William Hain; 'Gowns by Roberta.* Mary Servoss, Montagu Love, Al- fred Corn, 'Etienne,' Ina' Claire, Earle Larimore, Ar- nold Korff, Jay Fassett,' Charles Rlchman, ' lography' (road).