Variety (Dec 1936)

C • N C E VABlETr 89 as Japi hmi tlie looss Ballet Main reason behi Japan's nix- ing of the Ballet ;j:doss fto an island tour iff said to 1* The Green Table* t>aUet which points its flnger af war, X; G.' Greiftmn, general manager, in town for a short'time, says nio deA- nife explanation . was giveiii him,: outside of a formal notice. How> . ever^ the fAiove baUet iisl ^taken tb .be the ahsWer the cold shoulder. Company : had piannetd to foUoW lip the Japaiiese stay iof 45' dates, irilo China, Wariila and. Java* These are all out now. Troupe is istlll on the Coast .and heads eastward di- rectly to return to Europe. 'T^bie* Is considered the troupe's ace halliet m its repertoire and is geberkliy a 'muist* on all the ipro- gramff. Anti-imperialistic thenie rtins through some ^of their other hum- bieri^ also which the Nipponese are said to'have frowned^upon. - Columbia Concerts which steers >them in the U. S. has th^ attraction down fo^ a I'Cturn tour next season. Company niadie a. short .subject for MGM while in HoUywood. (Continued friOm page 5iB) Agairi?' (Borden)', , 'What You've Done td Me' (W. C. Springer, '40), arid *Julst Not .the Type* (Borden) standi a pleasant radio chance. What with the ride orch leaders generally give . the .ladsi .. 'Princeton Libraree' (Blprdeh; and Marvin) is cleverest from a lyric standpoint but too.local for general usage/ / Story of the piece has to do with Hollywood fllni' producer' Who, wanting to fOllOw up on the Shake- speare cycle, decides to make 'Mac- beth.'- vHe $ends for a troupe of Princeton college boys io act it for himv figuring * it as a good cultural gesturie. Lads arrive , and "pande- monium hits Hollywood; ; Seem^ Princetoh can teach even the wild film colony nlerity;. And no one—^ neither /the ' flirtiltes, nor the, college boyfe—remembers the story of; 'Mac- beth.* Nor. is there a coby of the play- .p'ureha^able in all' HoUyiv^ ' That's th^ situation ^nd- plot and around this i^ wound, a. fair enoiigh miisical CoHiedy- script There are sdnie good laiigh-lines aridcc^tp^e of funny laugh situations, .Iri toto, however, it's'stretched too ihin Arid there are top many .dullish portioris. !Natiwally' the pro patriii 'that's-my- boyV4iudience loved .every line, sign and :gesiture; and apiplause. wuis'ai very loosely bandied coiximodity; ' ♦ From ah aCtiiWK stahdpo.int^well. who "can tell? Kids «re; mostly all -good eriougih, * considering they're kids:' . Prijgram Jists k .whole ;line of fdbh«t**ftiift«eim;"«m now in m\\f§)oo^ iiPtr^ib l!»Iayb<e the¥e ate sorine ^ovuigsters iri, this tt'oiipe who nan make good.the same way. They'll have to be ieiveri a more accvriate ehaiice^ W. C. Hubf bafd; for; instance, looks, .like the best, bet On personality x^6. hlstri- oriism,' but neither Hollywood nor Broadway -will let him sing solos, as he does here.: Kauf; IN THE BAG .Coiiiedy in three acta preserite.O at . el- incnti N. Y.i'Dec. 17* '30. by Muck HUllurrt; wiUten. by £lon fjHile Gillette; etaged by Fr.mk WcGormlck; '{.30 top. ..■.iPWIip Van Zunat ..;;.,.,;... .liuth .Lee ,..., .'.Morgan .Conway .Don' Ahthbhy sudderily the phone rings and there is a picture offer. . Also, the pi-esis agent says the critics. liked it, he having talked it over with 'Allen Kelcy,' . At this poi . one of 'the few re- viewers' Tpriiai ing- in the hou^e gave out a loiJ 'guffaw. All the others had retired iafter acts one and tviro. Again, a laugh'canie when there was a line about someone leaving: .after the- second act. when the wise-crack- ing: secretary pipes: 'He must be a eritic.at heairt.' But . those are trade' laiighs .and not for general audiences. . Regretful that the play brodied so sharply;, for soriie well-liked .rieople ^are-concerned. Ibiec.: . • iVIxthdrawn Satur4tiy after. jive perforrndnces; p^'tnted /of the rec ord.) Sntn Bu<]w«M;;y Suisle. . ... ,... Bud Gral ..... Guit. Alkin "im JDyck^ Jamaiuh.. Jones, Sybil...'....;,.,;;. N<»43 Crane......'; 'Tony.. Dolly-Mill tin...., Petectlve ^\nTt^ Wf. Bmion...... , .Heed McClellund ..Dutllcy Glc.nienW ,.; .'.Tonla Xiawton Teddy Jone» ; .Chui'les IjaTorre .., . Joan ChurchUl rank McCormtk^k .Henry Antrim To date there has not beeri a play about show. prbducei"s which reached . Here is an-; other of that: it strikes out, too. V Topic /jnay . be used: some day to better effect, but essentially it is ab- horrent. For his debut as an. authtWt Don Carle Gillette wrote-and put some of his own coin into -In the Bag. Best thirtfe about the sho^f/ is Its title.. He quit the Pilni Daily to devote him.?slf to; legit, but made a unlucky guess. ■ W9"^ set attraction is scencd in the piiice of a Would-ble manager seek- ing • a bankroll. .Fast talking seller .01 cemetery lots comes in oh the promotion and he sells the idea to a •'Potblack vwho'd saved up $2,000 and an itahan cafe keeper. Such a set- "P-,7"»eht; seem comic, but , it isn't. *'lay to be done is Called 'The En- ^{■^*^ted Lipstick' and, when a lisping ?i°'J5e ,kisses a proposed leading man/ ine .fellow drops to the floor, osteri- MDiy dead. Come-complications and graveyard guy is using it all for the BLACK RHYTHM .'Musicail'in two acts presented nt Cemedy. N. T., -bee: 1», ',S6. by ^atl Dancer :and .J. ril-.I^evey: ^vrjtten-by JJonald Heywooil; .Btnged: by Dancer and.Hey wood;' fS.30 top; Jetiny. ,,',.. < ,... '. r.'Jenr.LeQoh Laura... ..v...,,,•>••• •'< • .'Maude-' Russell '.Mr. -Hey-don'...........'..,. . .'WUIInin Walker Cornbreod, iV............. AJex Ijovejoy Babe. i.., ...... .. ............. .Babie. Matthews Da-vld 'Soniffarrd..'.Walter Btchardson Btaythm,.......;......;.v i ...>.. Ayon I.*nif Me. Fe|ri»jteln;....i.....i.. .l<;rahklln Klleii Duaty.v........ .< ;. .'.......'... ;.'..,. Joe B'yrd 'BodlUly.... V.. ^. . Speedy Wilson Eva....... .i.,.Gene.va Washington Slim'.. . ...i.,;.'.,..,....... .Eddie Baer Eugene..;.. i, .;.'4• •.'..... . John..Foss 'SoXiy.'. Sammy .Gardner Stvinir... i.'i.. t .'^........... .Sinclair BrbokH Ghlchl,; .,.■'... i i,....... k".. i;. I; Waldcr Davis Money.lurfince Albright Joe. Mlcha'e.ls'.........'...'«.... , Eddie. Mutthews Wardrobe.' Sdl.............:;'.;.'.Iria Duncan' Van Bub'M;....... .. i. i..... W<jodi.ow WUHon '.Sonny..;..;..'. v.,.....■.'.Barrlngton' Guy IS publicity purposes. K,.V^^^°'^*^y cop fiets in on the going JMit the play still isn't funny. Show supposed, to go on and flop but ; Siniultarieouis .with the rise of the cUrtaan, .a .^nauseating odor sSVept over this longrdark theatre.: Devel- oped that a . stench .bomb had: been ^dropped, arid, before the first act was over, it was apparerit that the person who. tossed the chemical hiad wasted, money. > H6. or she could have created an equally pungent odor by dropping the book of . this: colored musicals 'Black Rhythm' moved: out of its element in x>periing in a downtown theatre...-Not everi second-rate Har- lem :eritertainriient,;, iVi fourth^rate on'Broadway. . ' .Biesides its poor book and music, show received a very cheap 'produc-i' tiorii A back-stage musical, its only set is a bare rehearsal hall; its cos- tuming is equaily cheap. i^ere. and thiere > sOme good clancirig,. but. the -show's only top- flight'eiitertaihment' corner from the Cotton: Club^oys, a; makeshift swing orchestra using . washboards,^ jugs and old-iphoriogi . h 'hbrris. : doubling, from the C. C. nitery on Broadway. Aside from them and some solo terp-^ ing, there's nothing meritorious and. plenty otherwise in the 0rst act. At the end of the latter it appeared that another stench bomb had been tossed and half the audience, which brily filled half the theatre in the first place, walked. ' Stenchirig may have bieen . the .re- isult of uriion di^culties, though it'^ also possible thf * it may have been, brought about \>y Harlem factional differences. Donald Hey wood; au- thor -and coh^poser, was slugged, a year or sO' ago while he was leading the pit. orchestra at the premiere of his previous musical at! the Venice theatre." SchOi DAYS TO COME Drhni'a In three: acts presented ' at. Vfin- derbllt, N. Y.. Dec.' 15, *3fl, by Herman Kliuinllri; written^ by t.Ullari Hellman; stalled, by;"prdduc'er; $3;30:'<op. Hannah. ......Clsil-e Woodbury Lucyii.... .Muriel Gnlllck Cora': odman..Frieda Altnmn Henry El Hcott,.. .'i...."....... Ned Wevcr Andrew Rodinan..,.i....WilHam HarrlRau: .Tuile Rodman..........iiFlorenoe Eldrldgis .Tojii FIrt.h, J Joseph .Sweeney I.*6 Whi\ ien,....,......«; «■.«'.,.> .;Ben Smllh ■ .Sain Wllkle.;. ^. .,.. .Charles Dingle •MoHsle Dowej....v^.ack Gnrr Jge Easter... . .Thomas FlsheV . Alert Herman Shumliri saw some^ thing in Lilliiui Hellnian's script that could not be transcribed to the staige. That could explain why he expended his talent her grim,, curiously written, .stdry, 6he Which could hiSve but little .'iappeal to the average playgoer. , 'Days td Come* starts out like a ■capital-labor propoganda drjania, then develops the theriie of frustra- tion. Oddly; few first riightcrs per- ceived, what the authoress was shobtiriV* at. And perhiaps they didn't care. She'exhifalts none of the writ- ing skill that made-her first play, 'The Childreri's Hbur.' a big mpney- maker. That play, by- the. way, is faring excellently on tour, despite the . fact that its picture, version ('These Three') has been in circula- tibn since early summer, i Story of 'Day.s* is set. In the living room of a .^siriall town: manufac- turer, a man in hi.*? forties, wed but childless. There, too,"-resides An- drew Rodman's, neurotic, spinster sister,, a ^spiteful snob., whose' re- marks are. generally enervating. Men have..gone on strike and^ on this bve^ Cheap ahd Liyely .Minneapolisi Dec.. 22; Here as, Minneapolis Sym- phbhy orchestra jguCSt -coriduc- tor, Leon Batziri says, the Way to make sylriphony concerts pay for themselves is to erase the thought they ar:e highbrow. 'Here's how: Mik the prograrii, with little- frivolous,' humorous and touchi iriciderits to keep all.patrons awake; a^l^^ halls so large that ,^lpw admisr sion pirices, ill be within. the purses of . young people; ning, Sam. Wilkie had .brought a gang of strike-.bfeak^rs down ft-orii Cleve- land.' Two, one just otit of jailj-'are assigned to guard the Rodman; home iarid; in act. two, one of; them is knifed to death by his evil-temoered corii- planion. There ariother killing off-stage'.. Thiat occurs when: the iii-. Vaders "start - a gun-fight: Young daughter of a factory ;worker; Tom Fii:th; who formerly: idoliaed Hod- man, is the victbm. "Fight is against the order&.of Leo Whiiieri, tinion -organizer, temporarily in the ! pen . .over the framied-up charge.: of niurdering the strike- breaker- ; It is. that scrap .which climaxes the sti-ike and the Wilkie crew is shipped out bf: t'bwn.^ ".Tirbubles .gang up '. kodirian, who. had .«ngaiged 'Wilkie agairist- his better j«dgnient.r He has lost the respect of hiis men arid lost his stand ing in- the coriiriiUnity", the thing he pvi^ed most.; Then therje is an in-: evitable expose of his. wife's conduct: She had carried On ari affair with .Ellicotti :his attorney :arid best friend; .and there 'were other loose riibments. .Her only ; explanaition is that ' she. rievei? loved Rodman, befbire or after they Were wed. Coira had, fallen for Whaien, the imiOnist-^first sight-sttiff: which is hardly believable. Dialog between the woman arid ^ Whaieri when she'conveys'the :,of lier affection ' "much .tob ' iriyolyed. Whether the. .performances of the cast -are good:;or nbt .does riot courit; but some, at least, are autheritic. Ibee. (CTlbscd Saturday. (19>; review printed for the fecordi) TH'liihiensiohul ((Toritinued froiri page .5), , MARIAN Anderson rests Siripier.'s Throat Needs Layoff—Tour Sot-Ba«k Throat, trouble, is detai ing Mariari Aridersoni colored diva oii .the other side for » time, - with initial appear- ances pf her. U. S; toUr shifted to k|tei: -dates. Tour. ..ias re-arranged now .Opens Jan: :29 'iri;Rochester^^ .She; :was ori inally sealed to'stairt put oh Jan. Tour oyer. under Hurdk banner will now end in May instead of April She is in-Vienna iioW. 43 Spats Hollywood^ Dec. . Nelsbn. Eddy will bperi a;.cbricert tour - in San Francisco^ Jan. 13. Before returriirig here, Metro player will appear iri 43 concerts and make 11 feir-oaidcasts.. rSh Louia^Robs Out 80% . Lotiis, Dec. 22. ..With 80% of • deficit erased by recent; appearance of Xily Po.i)s, at Municipal Auditeriurii, ~ Guy Gblter- rinan,. prexy of'St. Louis driand Opera Ca, is in New York coriferring with execs of Metropolitan .Opera Co. .vtrith view of lining : up oiifetainding war biers/for - appearances. here ./during midrWinter and spring seasons;. .Gol terriiari' believes^ local.. high. brOW musical eriLterprise, can eriierge tcqm red with two brief .sessioris befbre spririg.', St. Louis opera took a $10,000 set^ back last : spring, when heat and strong competish, from .-many quar- ters forced cancellation of sked. pared,'- ecbriomiCal'iy^ to handle them, and showing some enthusiasm bVer the . new .developments. Eastman Kodak ;:has' cross-li&ensing agree mentis with" Technicblbr and the lat ter coriipany^ undbubtedly, would en- ter into the picture if soriie: process not . unlike Kbdachrome -was made available .in .standard istock.^ Thi; fourth consideration would ; be that of tying in-with "three-way sound. It is<no particular .'trac^e secret that Electrical; Research Products^ Inc;, desires to iwait* tW^ att'i^aB'Of'three- dinierisional visuaVoostqQl^rfsbeJ^dfjre launching its;thH;4^<^C!n$fo)kt0oundi process, now sai^ntoVh<97''i^)''t<^P^''^^ fection. 4u ^i\\i<.<irf., ffsst? '4-«;ii Polaroid ' "proved •■ ■i'eriiarfctftlllfr successful as ia'diapted. to cariieVa'ti^.' In taking a picture, it prevents light from striking at-wrong angles which ha.s produced foggirig Of plates. Only Way tht general public may obtain Polaroid riiaterial for use pn a canl- era.. or. expeririientatiori is by purr chasing what is called a Pola-screen froni Eastman Kodak. This is availr able Only iri 2A4-irich size, cOsting $20 for the screen plate • and ■ holder. Harlarid Ricker Detroit man, who has Awhat is regarded as the /riibst . practical slide films in color, may use the, K^ and pos- sibly the Polarpid inveritioris in his futiire product^. He was. in New York; last week and conferred: with Dr. ri. T. Kalmiis,' Technicolor chief- tai , but n.o .finial agreeriient bn bpth was reiached.vit is reported. IT. Gal in Vicima Opera ; Dec. . Jean Terinyson; appeared as 'Mimi- in Puccini's 'La Boheme' ' the yolks .^Opera. .. Critics -wrote .very favorably about ;the American singer. [ Fare Qtiis Nixed \ ^AngeV Moore (Continued from > '■ ■ 1) for the iatter'S financing of a Lights Club cruise;. .It was an; annual eVeht in those days . and ^ the club usuaU rnade enough from the show.bbat trip to .pay expenses: and show a profit. But the 1926 ri took a ferodie and the club douldri't pay pff.r so the bank tobk judgment for its, $10,000. That .was bn Feb. 10, 1927. Moore imed >at that time, that the bsirik agreed to suspencl cpllecr lion of the judgment if he, in :return, would help the bank' obtain the club's bbiids, :throtrgh \vhich theJ'debt would be satisfied. :And the bank, through Moore's help, did bbtairi, the bonds, which took in the clubh'ouse arid trimmings for J a total value pf about $13,000; Moore . thought that would satisify the bank, inasmuch as it riot only took care of the $10,000 (Continued trbJri. page 55); coaich tickets made good i . Sleeping cars, thus rerideririg it - unnecessary to present 30 coach tickets; '(c) That, a free baggage car be jfiii'ttiighed' on presentation of 20 tick- lets of ^^kft"^'*^a&s,"ttah*ijr-'e*c4ifslbtf ibtrfferWislA«f»W»A^t5>-« Y'mA p!i«ifttUiH'vWfere»\ffer3«'eB«auli:^ faftffi*u!ftr*««iiW»Wd9tft'tW iri'g of• bw':rii6mtfeWhip-imei btt'Cfcl^ 2, but iVWte the consensuis bf'views that such exceptional arrangements could, ribt be consistently confined to theatrical parties, and, while being sympathetic with the objects of the thea;trical interests, it was individu- ally cbricluded that the carriers Would riot be warranted irt institut- ing them, owing to the adverse ef- fect on their revenufB generally. 'It is alsb proper to direct yoiir attention that iri considering the mat- ter there -was in mind the: important: chariges which occurred in the basic passenger fares of the eiastern carriers effective since June, 1 laSti under which; the regular daily passenger faries •were reduced iri the- Substari- tial measure .of .about .25%, or . ap- prbxiriiately Ic per mUe, for; passage in paflor .or sleeping c^rsj and, byer 44%,. or 1.6c per mile^ for ;passage in cbaches,. first-class reductibn alsb be?; ing extended' to cover a pairty :of .20 trayeling with one baggage car, airibunting. to a; saving of,. 12c per riiile, so that theatrical, as well as all other travel, both individually and collectively,- have, been materially benefited thereby, 'You ipay ;be assured. that our membership lines . will,, as in the: past, serve the .theatrical :prbfession in haridling their mbvenients. Which it is hoped may iricrease unde? tii duced pa.sscnger;fiai^es:in the mutual interests.* touch, but also. included a slijght profit. But .the bank thouight other- wise: ianx^: a,.fe,w years .lateit, gave notice tfiait, it Varited the money dUe., on the judgiiiiBrit as well. George; Barry, Walter Clinton. James Diamond, _Bert Leighton and the late 'Arthur'Deagon Were also on the same note, bjut nioore decided to lake \he rap for eyerj'bpdy. i Louis, Dec. 2i. Combined aririiial leaidirig symphony: orchestras, in U. was set at'$4,3it6,5()6, according to first consolidated .fijiancial 'i-eport made public' at end bit two-day of 12 managers of symphony cKiicieties here; at Cor<onadO: hotel 1^^ week. Orks, which employ,; l,i0O musicians, each have an .<average , budget of, $334,346 anriiially. Of total combined budgets, $2,782,i06 is estrned by come, leavrrijt total ;;deficit 411,564,400, or^an average of $^120,339 per prk,, according ^ to report. Only three, of .13 prks are .riiain- tained by- endowment: fundi, others dependirig on funds raised ; annual* ly .in cariipaii^^,., None Of otliis <ape supported V by iaii individual,. sriu^l group of municipal subsidy, and -hone is self-sustaining, report :Sfa^ Largest carried incbriies were re- ported by orkar iri Bpston, Neyir Yopfc, Philadelphia and Chicago arid report asserts that 74%. Of total budgets ii} tised for salaries Of .cbnductoi:s, mu-' sicians and assistin|r artists. An 0sr timated number of >,,5bO,OQ0 persoitfi attend th^: 1,200; concerts:: riuallyv according to the report Those, in attendance^ .(jebrge Judd, Boston; Aithur. Judson, New Yotk; Alfred Reginals Alleri, ilia- delphia;, Henry Vbekeli, jC^icago; Carl Vosbur^h, CleveUmd; llseodorie; Ganrion, Cincirinati; Mrs. Carlyle Scott,: Minneapolis;,MiSs Grabe Kaufi>' mann, Kansas City;;MuiTay F'attersojv l>etrOit; Arthur M. See; Roche^r; Walter; Jb. Howe., Wai^ington,' Arthur. J* (iaines, Sti.. Louis.. •Probienis cbnfrontii^ . syrriphony orchestras,- such: .ias' campaign mebi> bds. for; attrit'ctirig audiences^, ways of finaricing deficits, effect of radio on attendance find iadvisability of opera prpductions by syriipjibny orks were discussed. Caines, with 2* years in work, fias lorigest rc%or4 of continuous,. service of ahy. ' wh<o attended meeting, vj|hich was first in three years arid also fii«t; (orie held here; Operiinjg ight . business foir. the- 1936-37 season at: the Metropolitan C>pera, N. Y^ on; Monday (21) skw a is9}^vWt;,,,G^93l^nfiW (admission Went; at an average;.-i$.lP jtop scalCi Au4ifi]ll^ was as usual {very s^y|„rfP^|»S^Mal?y»H^)?^^ ; Main jiQv0,x>.Wr'J^^ son's Wagnerian opener, .'Die Walkure' with cast . topped by kirsteri Flagstad, Lkuritz . Meichoir^ .. Emanuial List, Friiedrich Schorr, Elisabeth llethberg.. Besides these established artists., thei^e were three debuts/ Anna Kaskas : (Sherwin-. 'Williams opera , audition ; winner of ' last year; over NBCJ); Irene Jcssner, Austrian sopraino, and Kirstin Thbr«' burg, Swedish contralto,, all made, their debiits. Two -Kirstins On the stage together in the , second act ca;used most interest;, both being first-raito Wagnerian artists ori their own, and niaking the operiing night's perforriiarice something of a tiig-of- war. NeWcoirier is a stattiesique diva, slim dnd attractive; With a nice flair, for. histrionicsr- which gets, over With a Metf house. Strayiniky iii U^S;.A« Igbr Stravinsky Jhai arrived his UvS, dates, under Richard Cbpley helrii. He Will baton Philharmpnici N. Y./ for two weeks, Jani. 14-25. Music for American Ballet's ■ new' productibri Will also be; polisfied up on ; this side. -He will confer With George Balanchi directly on: the actiiai staging, Samuel Dushki team with Stravi concerts. violinist, will' ;:Ia;ter bn Oerald Goode on Own erald Gpode, in charge of pub- licity for S. Hurbk, Office,; branches but as /independent the first of the. year, handlirig concert and. general, amusement accounts. He has han- died the Hurpli;'attractions fOr thje' past six: years, and, will Icontinue so on his own. Offices will be I^adlo'Cily. (