Variety (Jul 1936)

48 •VABIETY'S* fiONDON 'OrflCBf 8 St. iftirtlaV PIm« Trafalgar Square INTERNATIONAL SHOW NEWS Telephone Tep»p1ei'!*ar . NDON Plays Abroad HEADS I WIN London, June 13. Comedy In two acts by Jose O. Levy >om Prenih play 'Pile on Fac«' by Louis irerneull. Produaed by Margaret Webster at Embassy theatre, Jane 2; '80. JuUen ..Raymond Quyler Delacourt 'George Howe Comto <Je- Vorlgny. Ben Webster Monsieur Courteil ....Aubrey Dexter Prince Slllf Erzeroum...... Edgar McEwen Jean. .Bruce Carfax Male* Xenovlcl............. ,Tanz( Cutava Dominique Philip Leaver In the jpast year|or so there has; been a bounteous supply of conti- nental female stars here, and, Upon reflection the. thought occurs that there is marked similarity in the technique of all of them. Elisabeth Bergner . was . followed by Grete Mosheim, Lucie Mannheim, Anna Sten, Irene. Palasty. and others. And they all seem to attack their respec- tive roles from the same angle. Latest of these -contenders for West End honors is Taiizl Cutava, a Roumanian actress,. She -has been, here -only three months, and has a • very' limited knowledge ;of the Eng- lish language,' Despite this heavy . :. handicap she acquits herself admir- . - ably and gives indication that, fur- ; nished with suitable material after a • gruelling' drilling in, English, She will, be worth, considering. •Piece itself is a typical French. • farce of the school of the last gen- eration, expurgated and. transformed into, a modern comedy.. Whatever . merit it contained in < the original disappeared with the angUcization, and one is left with no plot and forced to depend wholly upon com- edy performances' by the. various members of-the company who, gen- erally speaking, do well tin the cir- cumstances. • Miss Cutava .should have another . chance here with a more suitable play, v' . . Jplo. NUESTRA NATACHA (•Our Natooba') . . Madrid, June 12. Drama. In three acts, (five scenes) bs Alejandro Casona, . ■'' SomoHnoa-. .Tomas Blanco; ■Agilltar ...........'."...■..Itobertb Elanqtfellfl Flora ..-.Concha Catnpos ; . Blvera. .................AKonsO N. Candel "•'<£ ' r Lalo ............Manuel Collado :B6'n Santiago: ..........: r ..Rtcardo Juste Mario .......;,...<,.'. Manuel' Diaz Gonzalez Natacha .......i..JoHePniT>la» de Artlgaa Sandoval .........Jose Pidal Senorlta' Crespo Adela Carbone '' Encama ■ .'.;. .Consuelo Sanz ■ Plna ,..,Lulsa Jerezl Maria ......EnriqueU Broco Concierge ..................Luis Manrlque Marchioness. .......^........ Julia Pachelo Marsa >>................•.■...■.Paotora P«na Juan .V.'i;.-:';Ij[Ul8ll-6: pena Alejandro Casona is one' of the hopes of the Spanish theatre and his work indicates he's headed upward; His latest; 'Nuestra Natacha/ is the ; .. . outstanding drama > of the season; Cbmingata time when-Spain is torn .o- ; ,. l>y ppUtical .passions,; .'Natacha' . is cashing in- nicely, • From an: objective viewpoint,'Nat acha' is purely a. liberal Play, but fanatical Spanish conservatives class- Pify it as very tinged with red. In reality it is an appeal for. reform of reformatories, a. plea for the appli- cation of modern methods to replace the lash. - V ...\T Natacha, an orphan, after the . harsh life in an inquisition-type of reformatory, makes good as a stu- dent and years later returns as di- rector of the reform school. She had lived through the rigid discipline imposed . tor break the prisoners' . . . spirit and had experienced the dark- ness .and bread and Water of the cell . for the rebellious. Despite the handi- cap -of reform school, she becomes ■ '.>," the "first woman to earn a doctor's degree in the university 1 anil is given the reform school directorship. She . shutters the cell, imposes her will . through kindness instead of punish- ment and applies modern practical teaching methods instead-of forcing ■the prisoners to perform tasks or study by force, of the whip.'. • This is too much ■ for, the institu tion's patron, the marchioness, who insists on" iron discipline. Natacha is ousted; She persuades Lalo,. a former schoolmate who wants, to marry her, to let hep use an aban- doned farm he awns where she, with the permission of the state, can take the reformatory' .students and con- tinue her experiment in making healthy, normal citizens out of re- . form school prisoners. Working on a. co-operative, share-alike plan, the ruined farm is made productive and the experiment is successful. , Aiding her in her work is a group of fellow-university students who provide the needed leadership in en- couraging the reformatory product -v *>' *° work for the common good. >'<* Casoha has deftly limited various student types and other characters. - There is Mario, scientific student fanatically addicted to insect life; Lalo, wealthy young wastrel who loves college life so greatly that he .. . . seeks to perpetuate his stay by con- tinually flunking: Natacha, studious. ' serious, ' high-ranking - student re- spected and admired by everyone; a pretentious, vacuous concierge; Mar- ga. rebellious prisoner. £. s . Manuel Collado as Lalo is excel; - lent. He interprets "the role Of the happy-gu>ucky, come-what-may stu- dent in an okay manner. Joseflna Diaz de Artigas as Natacha is in the spotlight throughout and carries the burden skillfully.. Pastora Pena as Margo is a looker who graduated from a musical show chorus and per- forms creditably. Casona's dialog and stagecraft are excellent, He unreels his story in- terestingly and without complica- tions. .Fontanals' scenery is effec- tively designed, but it looks as if it could stand the expense of a few more pesetas. Ziff. Summer Theatres (Continued from page 46) comedy fits well into the role of the son, •' • Miss George gives the central role a richness it does not deserve.. By the tricks of a superb artist she builds a' character for a foolish woman. In becoming hostess gowns and-with her nice sense of emotional coloring she makes a gay and pretty figure out of the woman and it is when one stops" to think-that this is Grace George that one challenges the script. ; . Doul. ROAD TO PARADISE Drama in .three acts- produced by Jules J. .Leventha.1, starring Lenore Ulrlc, written by. Frederick Jackson. Week July 6, '30, at Alden, Jamaica. . - - . Madame JolIIvet..- ......'Andree Corday B'ev, Andrew MacBaln.....;.Leslie Austin Marlse.....(.. Lenore TJIrio Jack Lawson. Frederic Tozere Slick. .'Gerald Kent Dr. Monceau.............,:...Herbert Tell Agent De Police Pierre D'Ennery Mary MacDonald............Molly Pearson Robin r...... .Montgomery Clitt Hamlsh MaoPhall.........Donald Campbell Jeannfe Camexon, .Patricia Moriaon Donald MacTavishCharles Campbell Right Kev. Ian Cralgle.. ,Sf Clair Bayfield Same piece was tried out last sum- mer; and the current production, is supposed to be a revise. Whatever changing or additions were made add little to the play's interest, as it is stills a Weakie. Chances are slim for it ever ta get going. ■ • ■- Lenore Ulric, who is starre'd,- first, appears as a crook . in Marseilles, which is her forte. However, the next two scenes shift her make-up to a Scotch, -minister's wife, and the play starts divingright, there. Cos- tuming is funny, with the actress in Old-fashioned garb and running around with & long bob in full view: It's a bit hard to imagine Scottish peasantry putting up with that for long. . Three crooks, are spotted in a drab room on the- French-waterfront and have a chance to quit-thef country by impersonating:-a departed minister .of a small hamlet in Scotland. Last two acts endeavor to build up via -the redemption ■ road, justifying the play's hackneyed-title. . Frederick Jackson penned the play, with laughs few and far be- tween and the melodramatic ' se-^ querices quite tame. Frederic Tozere and Gerald Kent handle' the other two crook roles.' ■ Star works hard tO v lift it along, but it appears too than. - Three acts are dressed simply. •Supporting. Cast is competent Bl-oT. WING ATE AFFAIR (BEECHWOOD THEATEE) Scarborough, N. Y.. July 7. Mystejfy play In three acta by Herbert Arthur Shapiro, presented by Paul L. Bar ney, staged, by Dan McClure, at Beech- wood Theatre; Scarborough, N. T.: July 0, '30. . Gan2mjller .• i.Arthur Ross Delia Donato .Lujahe Fonnesbeck S? tes ..Jane Ahbott Stephen Wingate. .'....,..Cornel Wilde Connie Carter. Beatrice Cole •Blackle' Ottllo ,.;.. Maurice Manson Webb Wadclrell..., .Jacksonl Halllday Valerie. Muyfleld Sylvia Slrotn Mrs.- Mtiyfleld,,.. ...Eda von Buejow •Haines Gerard Hoyden This is a whodunit of little merit. It is hot novel in theme and the" treatment possesses little originality. Play is tediously dialogued and repe tltious to.an unwarranted degree. • Discovery of the body, climax of the second'act, and'identification of the murderer in the third act, are the nearest approach to the dramatic in the offering, and both are led up to by such a barrage of common- place chatter as to make them fall flat. 'Twas a dark and stormy night and, for no plausible reason, indi- cated or expressed, the entire list of characters had assembled' in the hunting lodge of John Wineate in ^Wyoming county, Penh. Jerkily, and with a lack of cohesive continuity, it becomes known that John had been murdered and the body con cealed or destroyed. Then the finger begins to point and for all the first and part of the second act suspicion is leveled at most of the members of _the party. Towards the middle of the. second act what became of the body sud- denly becomes the burnin? issue. Then the 'suspense' is. relieved when a trick book-case is swung open and the corpse topples over from be-, hind it. • Act three reverts to the task of picking but the murderer. Cop sent Moscow Legit doing Commercial; To Sell Tickets at B. 0. Now Moscow, June 16. Practice which made it practically* impossible for an ordinary Moscow or Leningrad citizen to buy a the-' atre ticket at the boxoffice df a the- atre because the house was invari- ably sold out to factories, mills, schools and other institutions, is eliminated by a new ruling of the All-Union Art Committee which holds that in the future 'not less than 75% of the tickets for every performance are to be sold through" the theatre, district, and industrial enterprise ticket offices.' Special reductions on tickets, prevalent in. the past, are eliminated under the order, except in the case of school children and students; who rate a 10% rakeoft Texas (Continued from page 1) guy that tries to precipitate a fight is going-to find himself in the mid-: die, is local consensus. Dallas' Nudity Ft Worth people feel disillusioned when they visit John McMahon's Streets of Paris at Dallas and find, nakedness they can't hope to eclipse!- The-nudity isn't much different than what Streets'of Paris had at Chi- cago, but it is -pretty« unique down here. Life Class is about nakedest, where .two gals' execute three 30- second poses for 'sketchers.' The girls have no inhibitions whatsoever, wear absolutely no coverings, and. make it a point to never pose, guard- edly. Audience reaction is gaping embarrassment, but everybody has to see : it. Streets of Paris on whole is pretty clean, and all but occasional drunks are orderly. It has the regular run of peep shows, ranging from regu- lar flesh displays through pretty fair nude dances, on down to extremely suggestive burlycue stuff. Streets of All Nations is similar, but goes harder for family type pa- tronage;. Both stage ^artistic' nude dances. Mona Leslie's act at Streets of Paris and Corinne.'s apple dance at Streets of AH Nations have top billing of midway.. . Fourth of July brought as much business as could be handled to Cen- tennial exposition. Day's- gate total was 114,449, and paid admissions' were at least 100,000. It was an all-day, heavy spending crowd that left between $150,000 and : $200,000 on the midway. Ex- hibit, halls were^ jammed from 8:30 a. m. untjl midnight Streets of Paris and Streets of All Nations grossed around $3,000 each on their, main gates, with Streets, of Paris a little ahead. Day- light main shows played to crowds of 5,000 at both villages. . Expo's • gross took a leap when four scheduled performances of 'Cavalcade of Texas' had to be stretched into a fifth shortly before midnight. Spectacle played to around 30,000 persons' during the day. It grossed around $9,000, but like all shows on advance ticket deal, it was impossible to reckon s accurately. 'Cavalcade,' drawing, steadily, has played to about 70,000 people .in its first 19 performances. Gate is 40c. Concessionaires have called meet- ing with expo officicV-s to raise a pot and get expo to double it, hop- ing to obtain, around $60,000 for im- mediate direct, advertising campaign. ONE WAY OUT Berlin Can't Find Tenant for Theatre So Will Ron It • , Berlin, June 30, ' . Following the financial crash of the Schiller theatre some months. ago, the municipality has decided to take it over, after all efforts to find a lessee, failed.- City will appoint a manager, who will be given a subvention of $60,000 annually. Theatre is to play . only seven months per year, starting in October. CIRCUS REVUE FOLDS; A STOCKHOLM FLOP . Stockholm, June 18. Circus Revue,, which was sup- posed to run the whole summer, has been compelled to fold due to poor attendance. Although the revue was without competition, it failed to draw. Owner of the circus, Josef Jonson, is now planning to turn it into a combined vaudeville and dance palace, something like the Valencia in Copenhagen, ?wlth' the revolving stage also to be used as a dance floor with tables around it A show num- ber is to be presented every quarter of an hour, arid change of program every fortnight ' Chicago . (Continued from page 1) play. They're now advertising •all- expense-' tour,- in the same manner as boats," trains,' etc. One bus line is hitting the dailies with an ad selling 'A Night of Cabarets' for $6 per person, complete, plus the ride. Buses leave every night at 9 and the tour includes a trip through the 'bohemian' section, supper at a hotel and visits to three 'colorful' cabarets. Bus line promises that for the six bucks the visitor gets a full supply of entertainment floor shows, danc- ing and refreshments, plus all tips and checking fees. No other expenditure is necessary, though at no-cover spots the visitors are naturally surrounded by waiters to sell 'em drinks. , Seats on the buses must be ob- tained by advance reservation. to investigate the crime is finally Chosen as the culprit and is man- acled with his own handcuffs. The charity of silence is accorded the cast. • One set suffices for the entire play. Cravi* • ENGAGEMENTS (Continued from page 47) Jahet Leland, Charles Scott, Arthur Uttrey, 'Personal Appearance,' Beach theatre, West Falmouth, Mass.; and Island theatre, Nantucket, Mass.. • Margot Stevenson, Joanna Roos,. 'Eric KalkhUrst, William Lawson, Edward Reese, Curtis Cooksey, Har- mon. Craig, Leslie Austin, Milton Parsons, Mildred Dand, Richard Heath, Robert Hazelton, Sara Tan- ner, Frederick Sears, *A Family- Man/ Young Playhouse, Centerville, George Pembroke, Fay Marbe, Richard Edward Bowler, P. J. Kelly, IsoBel Rose, 'The Bat,' Starlight theatre, Pawling, N. Y. Doris Dalton, -Stephen'Kerr Ap- pleby, Elizabeth Cerf, Hayden Rorke, Elizabeth Dean Farrar, Philip Tonge, Charles Trexler, 'Whep Ladies-Meet,' Newport Casino theatre, Newport, R. I. ■ . •' Fritzl Scheff, Margalo' Gillntore, Effie Shannon; Muriei Starr, Charles Coluns, Ethel Wilson, 'Distaff Side,' Chamberlain Brown Players, Bronx-- ville, N. Y. ' Eleanora von Mendelssohn, Maria Ouspenskaya, Olive Deerlng, Her- bert Rudley, Joanna Roos,. Harry Irvine, T. C. Cook, Edith Kelley, Roland Drew,. Edgar Stehli, Gale Gordon, Alice Frost, Barbara Adams, Isis Brinn, Carla Ogle, Elizabeth Young, Julianna Taberna, Cornel Wilde, Helen Walpole, Edmond O'Brien, Tom Neal, Eleanor Powell, 'Daughters of Atreus.' Dorothy McNulty, Ernest Wood- ward, Matthew Smith, 'Personal Ap- pearance,' New York Players, Ivory- ton, Conn. John Williams, Boyd Davis, Wal- lace Widdecombe, Reynolds Dennis- ton, Beatrice Terry, Linda Linde- berg, 'White Christmas,' Red Barn, Locust Valley, L. I., N. Y. Brenda Dahlen, George L. Spauld- ing, Charles Howard, Ross Matthew, William Watkins, Elizabeth Goddard, Virginia - Gately, Thomas Crosby,' Mervin Williams, Edward Lester,'. Harold Grau, Everett Ripley, Ray McCully, Amy Hall, Farrell Pelly, Wentworth Bacon, 'Night of Janu- ary 16,' Millbrook theatre, Mill- brook, N. Y. Grant Mills, 'Rose Hobart, A. H. Van Buren, J. Hammond Dailey, Ben Lackland, Don Dillaway, 1 "They Knew What They .Wanted,' Lake- wood Players; Skowhegan, Me. Richard Hale, Roland Bottamley, Edmund George,- Lewis MaTtin, 'They Knew What They Wanted, Westchester playhouse, Mt. Kisco, N. Y. . John Burke, Henry Buckler, Mo- hawk Drama Festival, Schnectady N. Y. Ellen AyreS, Malcolm Atterbury, Dorothy Berry, Milton Adams, Gary Merrill, Catherine Blucker, Spencer Knight, James Roberts, Betty Moran, Ellen Butler, Gail Richardson, Don- ald McDonald, Margaret Dailey, 'Post Road,' Spong Players, Cape May. N. J. Betty MacDonald, Duane Mac- Kynne, Kathryn Dutcher, Velma Roy ten, Robin ,Batcheller, George Makinson, Phyllis Ellerman, Har- riott Marshall, 'March Hares.' Mav- erick, theatre, Woodstock, N. Y. Lesley Dymell, Isabel Hallin. Rob- ert Currier, Beth Carey, Charles Sheldon, Ann Drexel, Miriam Cath- eroh, Leonard Tobih, Frank My~r, Tina Marnette, 'Personal Appear- ance,' Garrick Players, Kennebunk- port, Me. Thomas. S. Morgan, Mary Lou Taylor, Lawrence Wikander. 'Gold in the Hills,' Willlamstown Summer theatre, Williamstown, Mass. At Apollo, Melb. Melbourne, June 9. Garnett Carroll, in association with the Fullers, is forming a com- pany to present stock musicals at the Apollo here..First try will be be made with George M. Cohan's •Billie,' to be followed by 'Funny Face,' 'O'Brien Girl' and 'Rio Rita/ Cast will include Charles Norman, Kitty Stewart, Rene Maxwell, Eric Bush and Cliff O'Keefe. Top will be 75c. Fullers will supply - scenery^ wardrobe, plays, and theatre, prob- ably on a percentage basis. Most of the performers are en- gaged from the Williamson-Tait forces*; Charles Norman has just completed a run in 'Anything Goes/ Snider-Dean had the Apollo from the Fullers on a .pic try . with second- releases from Par and Metro, but biz was,not very good. S-D is now giv- ing up "the theatre to take over^the Lyceum... • Means that Sir Ben Fuller has just about Jjot his finger in every bit of• entertainment pie in Australia and New Zealand. 'ST0RH SONG; ABOUT PICTURES, UNLIKELY . London,. Jtuy 7. 'Storm Song'.. opened last night (6) at the Embassy.. It is a grimly satiric comedy, which has some in- teresting points but with an obscure plot and unlikely to click. Written by Denis Johnston, Irish playwright, whose 'Bride for the Unicorn' is 'also current at the ' Westminster. 'Storm Song' has to do with film business. 'Professor Bernhardt* which was produced at the Embassy a month ago, will open at the Phoenix on next- Tuesday (14). J. Wallett Waller's current farce, /Aren't Mem Beasts?', at the Strand, is. averaging $7,000 and. $7,500 per week, .which jn this heated period is not ;to be, sneezed at Titheradge and Jeans hi London 'Mile.' London, June 30. . There will be two leading ladles in John C. Wilson's production of 'Mademoiselle/ play by Audrey and Wayeney. Carten based on the French, of Jacques Duval. Their names are Madge Titheradge and Isa- bel Jeans. Noel Coward will direct, rehears- als begin Aug. 24, and the piece will open cold in' London, Variety What Am! . The Hague, June 30. Country's leading legit co. has completed its repertoire for the coming season. Will include cur-' rently popular hits, ancients and re- vivals. 'Call It A Day' by C. L. An- thony, will be one of those selected from crop of past season's successes. Others are 'L'heure H/ by Pierre Chaine; 'Das Blau von Himmel' by Hans Chlumberg'; 'Village Wooing' by G.'B. Shaw; 'Living Dangerously' by Simpson and Gregory; 'Trois, Six Neuf' by Michael Duran; 'Reiterpa-; trouille' by Frantisch Langer, and- 'Lady Warner a Disparu' by Cham- bard. A new, native play by Ben van Eysselsteyn called 'Chattueu de Ber- sac' is also announced. Lillie's Nitery Click London, July 7. Beatrice Lillie opened at the Cafe de Paris Monday night (6) and was greeted by an audience of old friends, creating a definite click. Did several new numbers not heretofore seen in London. Marion Harris-Weds London, July 7. Marion Harris married her agent Len Urry, at Slough two weeks ago, it has just been disclosed. It was one of those secret mar- riage-gags.