Variety (Mar 1936)

RAD 10 SCREEN STAGE T Published Weekly at 154 West 46th St., New York, N«. T., by Variety', inc. Annual subscription, |6. Single copies, 16 centa. Entered ai leoond-claaa matter December 22, 1905, at the Post Office at New 1 York, N. Y„ under the act.of March S, 1879. COPYBIGHT, 1038, BY TABIETY, INC. ALL BIGHTS BESEBVED. iyol. 121 No. 13 NEW YORE, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 1936 64 PAGES OF B'WAY MUSICALS ,000 a Day to Put On Texas Show Plus $150,000 (or Names Billy Bps© will get $1,000 a day for 100 days from the Fort Worth, Texas,' city officials and chamber of commerce- to recreate a Frontier City of '49 as part of the -Frontier—Centennial—celebratlan_on. July 1, 1936. That Is the official day o£ opening. Rose will, headquarter at the Sin- clair Bldg., Fort Worth, and will put on a flash show,' surrounding which will be. an industrial exposition. Centennial is a $6,000,000 under- taking. Mayor Van Zandt Jarvls, John B. Davis, general manager, and Will- 1am. Mohnig, chairman of the Frontier Centennial,. along with local newspapers, " behind the expo. Rose "leaves today or tomorrow '(Thursday) from New York for Fort Worth and will take with him a large staff of collaborators. He anticipates commuting between New York and the southwest, which Is but 11 hours away by plane. The $100|000 to Rose is net. He has an 'administrative fund' of $50,000 at his disposal for the Btaff, such as ■ Albert Johnson who ac- companies the showman imme- (dlately to create the decor. John | Murray Anderson, now In London (huddling on a British reproduction lof Rose's 'Jumbo,* ha*J>een cabled (to return "to" "America within "the Wfeek.and join Rose. A $160,000 fund for name acts is at Rose's disposal for the purchase (Continued on page 68) Palucca the Dancer Palucca (pronounced looka), r foreign dancer, Is be-' _ing peddled to N.Y>' concert managers for next season. Mention of her label gets laughs, but her .prompters, can't, see the humor. ' She's a barefoot interpreter. TWO PLAYS IN SEARCH OF A B'WAY MANAGER Two anti-war plays, 'Bury the Dead' and "'Over Here,' will be shown at the 46th St., N. Y., Saturday and Sunday (14-16) by an independent theatre group! With the hope that they may be taken over by a com-: merclal management. Idea origi- nated among volunteer players par- ticipating in Sunday benefit playlets given at the Civic Rep theatre, 14th street. For want of a better name the benefit bunch was known as the 'Let Freedom Ring Benefit Co.' 'Free- dom', drama was. a. recent, tenant of the house. Original group is re- ported having been shunted aside when casts for the uptown showings were chosen. Understood they may picket the 46th St. in retaliation. TUNGSTEN BALLY COST 180G Wrlgley gum Is paying $180,000 rental a year for the electric sign being constructed atop the new Cri- terion theatre on Broadway, It's a full-block sign, 44th to 45th street, and will be larger in dimension than old Wrlgley tungsten billboard atop" the old Putnam building, now the Paramount. Another big sign for Broadway will be over the new RIalto. Sclven- leys has taken that. PAN N.Y. DAILIES FOR STRIKE SLUR' Broadway legits and nite clubs, both of Which, pay an unusually high theatrical advertising rate, are peeved at the New York dailies' scare stories anent the .alleged ill effect done on amusement places because, of the elevator strike in apartment buildings. Over-empha- sis on thlB, managers of the theatre and after-theatre enterprises aver, has done much to aggravate an already negative situation induced by Lent, etc. Showmen point out that the news- papers don't feature the fact that the paralysis of lift service is also denting department stores, for ex- ample, and while show biz adver- tising isn't as imposing as that of the big stores, it's sufficiently siz- able, argue the showmen, and at inr creased rates, for them to be ac- corded more consideration. The niter ies particularly have been badly hurt by the elevator strike. The residential sectors hit by the situation are those from (Continued on page 58) Politics Is All Right, But Not at the B. O. Portland, Ore., March 10. William Maylon's local legit pro- duction of 'Life Begins at 60/ a piece with a decided Townsend pension yen, connected for only fair pickings at the Mayfair last week. Show was designed to lure pension sympathizers to the theatre but re- lying on a Townsend audience evi- dently isn't the stuff to bring a b.o. bonanza. Rehearsals Commuter Philadelphia, March 10. David Morris, legit juve, current here in 'Squaring the Circle,' at. the Broad St., commutes dally between here and New York, where he is re- hearsing in 'On Your Toes,' musical, for Dwlght D. Wlman. Will leave 'Circle' at the end of this week. Only Four Left on Current List—-Other Factors In- volved -— Rehearsal Coin, Radio Cut-in Figure FEW ANGELS AROUND Withdrawal of *At Home Abroad? and 'Jubilee? last Saturday (7) leaves Broadway with only four musicals, the smallest mid-season representation of that type of at- traction, since ' feefote the war. Sur- viving are 'Ziegfeld Follies,* 'Scan- dals,' 'May Wine' and 'Jumbo,*' lat- ter's score, rating it with the mu- sicals. But, unless business for these shows perks iip, another new low mark will be recorded.. Only one new musical ('On Your Toes') is definite for the spring and only three are on tour, In the 'twenties' there were 23 the- atres which could house musicals on Broadway and there were nearly a score of such attractions on the boards at the same time. Last sea- son at this time the legit list held only five musicals, but they com- manded somewhat better business. Decline in stage musicals has been rather progressive, with Holl- ywood always a factor, especially since the comeback of musical pic- tures. Little doubt that the Coast has corraled most of the pop com- posers and lyricists, and the studio staging of numbers in Hollywood outshine the stage, in comparison; What is even more pertinent .is the fact that few of Broadway's mu- sicals this season have had standout melodies, although the films have. Straight Legit's OK There are other factors of theatre opposition, mostly other diversions, such as radio. If, as indicated, Hol- lywood has chiefly affected legit', the musicals have apparently felt the brunt, because straight^ show clicks on Broadway have been registered right along regardless. Absence of backing for musicals is pertinent, too; there isn't the coin around for such financing as in former seasons, while some leading musical show producers are out of the field, or deceased. Increased cost In musical show production has come with Equity's rehearsal money requirement. When the rules were announced it was quickly perceived that, while re- hearsal coin might not affect straight shows, it would up the out- (Contlnued on page 18) Alley Oop When the elevator service strike spread to Times Square yesterday (Tuesday), agents made immediate arrangements with their adagio acts to have.. themselves tossed upstairs. Critics Pro and Con on That 8 PJH. Curtain (or B'way Legit Premieres the Switch Major Albert Warner has recently purchased in Florida an estate which he has taken over completely furnished even down to sliver, china, etc. After moving in he found the former owner's', initial em- broidered in all the linen; *M. G. M.' LAEMMLE NOT TO LET GO OF UNIVERSAL? Hollywood, March 10. Close, friends of Carl Laemmle aver he is determined to retain control of Universal Plots and doesn't expect the Rogers-Cowdin syndicate to meet his terms for the optional purchase of Laemmle's interest. Vet film man figures that the four pictures nearing release will bring in enough coin to carry him over the summer and provide funds for production start of new releases next season. Th© dignity / th« jiew York press was .practically completely spilled in a, lobby debate at the open- ing of 'The Fields Beyond/ legit play at the Mansfield,. N. Y„ Friday night (6). In deference to the request of several of the dramatic critics, man- agement had announced an 8 p. m. opening and tried .to' adhere to it, A couple of the scribes came. late regardless and objected violently, matter ending in a loud'voiced dis- cussion by some of the boys them- selves which held up the third act curtain for. a minute and was con- tinued outside the theatre after the end of the play. Bobert Coleman of the N. Y. Daily Mirror was the" chief objector. He likes to eat a leisurely dinner, he claims, and get to the theatre at about 9 p. m., but is willing to get; there by 8:45 some nights, Eight o'clock, however, is a barbaric hour, he claims, and he won't have it. Kelcey Allen of Women's Wear, on© of the oldest hands' at drama criti- cism in New York, tried to calm Coleman with the result that both were soon shouting at the- top of their voices. Gilbert Gabriel, who is generally (Continued on page 63) HURRY UP CHURCH TO HEAR MAJOR BOWES At Universal home office yester- day (Tuesday) It was announced that any possible picking up of the option by Rogers-Cowdin (Standard Capital Corp.) was entirely up to those interests. U and, Rogers- Standard have a clearly worded agreement which designates exact amount of coin to be put on the line. Rogers-Standard have un- til midnight March 14 (Saturday) to exercise the option. Nothing else figures in set-up, it was stated at Universal headquarters in N. Y. Conn.'s Gov. in Child Wei. Propaganda Film Cov. Wilbur Cross of Connecticut will participate in a propaganda film which the Children's Welfare Ass'n. of Conn, is producing. A. Sundgar of the Yale Drama School, who wrote 'The Fallow Ground/ due to be presented on Broadway, au- thored the propaganda film script. A little theatre cast will support the Gov 7 . Gene Rodney, Reliance Pictures exec, will supervise. Rodney is nephew of the late Lou- Sagal, New England showman, and is currently on a leave from Hollywood in con- nection with the large <agal estate, Norfolk, Va ; , March 10. Church sei vie 3 Sunday p.m. will be followed by Major Bowes Ama- teur Hour listen-in each week at Hop j Chap I, interden mlhational group in Norfolk. Church has been moved up to 7:15 p.m. Then those wishing to hear the program on the NBC web adjourn to Sunday school room, where radio is turned on. Millionaire Legit Wilmington, Del., March 10. Wilmington Drama League, which gets plenty of interest from the du- Pont clan in front of the footlights and backstage, will have Its own theatre this summer in the mid-city district. Undecided whether to build a new one or recondition an old house. Outside of picture theatres .which are figured, too large, the only thea- tre with stage accommodations suit- able for legit is the Garrlck, which has been dark for several years. Large number of millionaires per capita here gives the little theatre idea a special aspect, the, leisure crews demanding legit at any cost. Samuel B. Bird heads the commit- tee on location., Other, members are William Winder Laird, Jr., E. Paul duPont, William Mapel, executive editor of the town's only two dailies, and Douglas T. Stewart. Gayle P. Hoaklns, artist, Is the league presi- dent. 1! ■ i < ■13 ■i » n w I' ill