Variety (Dec 1940)

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80 UGITIMAtB Wednesday, Dcccnibcr 25, 19 i6 f Device PiBrniitif Sirigtirs to^ Voice Without^ Ghost Qiit 6f This Woridr-^Robesori StimuUicd Experimehtf . ■■:By\EDWAED,;SMITH •■ >;■; . A reydlytibn in the presentatiph Qf grand opeirai .as. well as Jegit pro- ductibhs, through changied . dontrol and betttir -use of $6uiid, is a, p^ap'^ -ilaal_pnBgihility fif thff next year "dr SO- The; changes which technlciaiis have, made or are capable, 61 making, are niittierous. They, might even pro- duce a revival of' piiblic,: interest In- both stage . and, vbcal presentation that would usher, in a .world of reriais- isance.- ■ At ieast the .ihsiilers ' Bre■ thirikihg In siich bobmisH tetms^ Harold BurrisTMeyet of the Stevens Institute of Technology has' been -working oh ideas for audible as well as visual presentation for. a. decade, and this winter, turned his attierition tb the. Metfop.Ql|tan Opera Co. of N, Yi Most singers haye found the MetropplLtan acbustlQS excellent, liut , a iack . of. balance. b'etwQieh qrchestra and singers;; has always been a dis- turbing influence r in the house, and" .back stage, choruses and orchestras have tnahy times found it difficult to stay bn pitch or follow the baton of the conductor before the curtain. Also, especiaily irt more modern tim6S. singers have appeared , at the Met ^Yhose fundamental training wis insecure, . and . with . tiny Voices stretched to the limit to fill the vast reaches -, of the, auditorium - have .forced their itones beybnd-their, capa^ bilitiesVrui,hing their voices, and ^vha■t Is perhaps more. impoirtant, hurting the ears of the paying public. While the Met is conditioned .better than any .theatre in N. Y. for yoc'al preSr;-. entation. the stage, is, dead, and fi'e-; quently a vocalist unable to hear himself, will force in trying to,se- cure a bigger tone. voice ■ Itself',' whiph made the, job: . much eaTsier, ps . in :-th^ , latter cas^^ thete was always , dinger that the. sound niight^travel; to the 'audience. Robeson christened his device^ 'Syn» the:),': and the successful concert tdur hi? lius ju s t cbf h p le t ed , w ^th^iii v p i c ce topinost galleries-it is probable most, frequencies ire althpse inaudiblj^.: It would be these portions of the Met that would-:be treated,-while chestra. iiid pairtB Pf th9' balconies would be , left $lpne., thus making for equiat, hearing in any,'pairt of the i,hbuse. ' ■V::,':'-.. ■_', y' '\.. The theatre tod radio also are re- Pipients bf ' the ■ control' of; .{/oUnd. .Buutrisr jyi^y.er 'explained.: how. in 'Hamlet," the: ghost. ,was given : a sepulchr.ai voice* which ! could .not hMn pi-nHilp»nl Iw a •Kiimnn as fresh as it was. at the .start,: seetris to bear out; the; contentions of the engineers. ~At; the climaJc pf ;the tour, the baritorie, , singing in Car-: negie -Hall.,-N. Y., won rave -nbtices for his deliyi^ry iof >Waterboy*,'sung in ' the lowesl, key Vllobeson hiss- eyer ,attempted. . Thiis Would have, been impossible without the aid of 'Syn- thea,' and the baritone able to hear his!,own voice. -The Stevens Institute, \yhich is be- hind the experiments, has retently' received a: grant/frbm the. Rbbke-; feller Insititute "^f or .three y^ars.; The main objects.$n<i purpose of its ex* pierimentatlph- were -to control .the ;intensity bf ' any sbund ' which may be . used iiv. the . opera. • house or thie- atre, the contrpl pf pitch,, the- 'con- trol of ' quality, cpntrpliing the .ap- parent' direction from' which the sound is, coming, controlling the ap- parent distance f torn , Which • the sound is, coming, and contrblliing. the form of - the spuhd, making it rever- berant or non-reverberant as the oc- casion may demand. All theatres will corrie under the:cpntrbl,;bf the engineigrs regardless of how bad acoustically they may be. Burris-Meyer. explains that some years, ago he . might have believed In the impossible but no niore. He related an amiising incildent at the Met rehearsals, when through con- trol of sound, Herbert Graf, stage ,dl-, rector, was given the vbiee pf Erich By useTf the mechanical develop- [-Leinsdorf. the conductor, (The Met pave- ments made under, the wing of biir- ris-Meyer these tragedies of the op- , era tic stage are ,no longer necessary.; Contrbl of soun.d has now .reached a ppint. as, was successfully demon- strated to the Met board of directors, whereby.;through the development of an 'acoustic :envelope,' it Is possible for a ,singer to hear himself as thoUgh he was in a small highly reverberant roPni. The singing: thus becomes easier, forcing ceases, and the natural tone of the voice is prevalent. The Stevens. Institute has developed a microphone which will allow either iiicrease or decrease in the volume of a singier.'s voice without effecting the quality or allowing, the audience to know that any amplification has been made. . , Johnson Sbid, Edward Johnson, general manager of the Metk^ commented on this phasf, when he explained that in the Cleve- land tour of last spring the Met had played to a 10,0ptl-seat house, and on the opening night with 'Traviiata- scheduled with small voiced singers of pleasing qualities, amplification was used With excellent results. The following night when Kirsten Flag- stad arid Laiiritz Melchior, two; of the most powerfully lunged singers in the; iqbmpahy sang, the. ampliflcv tioh. was not used^. and the perfbrjn- ance sounded the ^ same. Had it not been used in 'Traylata.' it is .doubti ful ■ the singers- could ■ have; been heard appreciably. Actual: development of -this giadget might keep this idea in'mind for, its annual- surprise party,, and giVe Lily ipbnis :the .voice of Ezio Pinza, and vice versa for a duet together); ;. ..Boon To:-A..K.'s?. ■■ Difference;in altitude can be conr trolled, So that the historical exr ample of Enrico Caruso almost strangling in 'Aida' it) ; Havana be- cause of the rarity of the air, will no longer be true. The ultimate may mean that radio singers with almost inaudible voices, but with . luscious qualities may be giyen the brazen tones of a Ruffo in his prime. Sing- ers past tiieir prime with dramatic ability, left, would be able to carry bh ,f9r years, singing in half voice, with lio strain or effort, and amplifi- cation, unknown, or at least un- realized, as far sis the audience is concerned, will give them the vol-, ume of their youth. In, the same regard as happens fre- quently when one singer ; by the sheer magnitude of his voiqe is able to overpower , and. butshout another, the regulation of . the microphone will , enable the engineer to control the duet, SO : that the voices will ap- pear evenlymatched. Lack of time' has prevented the. Use of the .apparatus at the Met so far> 'The iiet, old in 'tradilibii and custom, • also looks askance at such new . fahgledi .methods; and Perhaps fears alsb the scathing rearnarks by: .critics - who'; too frequentiy have ■ re- marked-that ;a .number of regular ihrbat' On pne occasibh, in -Jt .pre* ' sehtation of the. 'Brainstorm scene' ; fronv Elmer Rice s 'Adding. Machihe,' an attempt.'.was made; to 1^^^ audience feel . the.; rejjbtibia of the "^)rincipal character as ; he' lost . Ws reason; and in the :32-secbnict: inter", val, using an. iilmost pure" tone which wairbled^ ■ with' raising of frequency and intensity, the audience was air mpst; driven to lose their, minds. Since that' time,; physicians ,' have been consulted , before trying any- thing of that-sbrt;' V . . Radio:has been more difJicuUi ber cause- it' can only ;yield .frequencies of appiroximately 10,0.00, . while Bur.- ris-Meyer insists on at leiast 16,00,0.; Experimentation is going ,. ' h.bw- , ever.' At the present time, since con- .'eluding his Met experirnent,- Burris- I Meyet has' aided in.- film ■ work re- cprdingi tackled the Center; Theatre, N. ,Y., to estimate the cost, of 'rhak- ing that white , elephant, iaseful for stage i)resentation, ; and is experi- menting with sound, iri ihdilstry. In this regard,- he. is picking lip? the threads and bits left here a'rid there by a scattered i few, and is, develop- ing them to find out Just how music can aid the worker; Already he has discovered the ef- fect of a wjaUs tbwavd slowing down production; and :the .effect of other types of music for an industrial speed up, and firbm the succeiss he has had with his other experiments, his sirhple: statements 'regarding his aims, .which might loom so; priepos- teroias firbm another, .bear cai-eful Watching.,, t ♦ ♦ ♦ »♦ ♦ ♦ » ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ t <;♦»♦# ♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ ♦ » ♦♦♦»♦♦♦>»♦» ♦ ♦ ♦■♦^-H By HAROLD SE.TON 'As the matter is. of up-to-the-rniinr' iite. interest; I herewith; present the fbllowirig-data bn the Herald-.Square section, :which -is now- hieing, recoh-' structed and revived, it- is. i(;iong tinie since We. . veteran" playgoers heard . George. M. Cohan first siiig 'iSivie My Regards to Broadway; Re- niieniber ;Me to Herald Square.' . 1 seem to 'be"the last of the flrist-hight- ers, 'and, W'th - a ii'andsome monur inent recently unveiled at 35lh;street and' Broadway:' jhowliig the .^brbhze MinerVa 6n<i. two. oronze beUringers, .whirh jiis^pri to stand o n tty! roof of rema.ined unchanged.' so far^ as. thq exterior is concerned, ^ince it opened in 1883.' arid.I heard. all the famous singers who sts-irred there-^-Melba, NPrdica, Emrna;Eames,. Emma Calve, Caruso,'.etc.' :-':.•■'■'. Waii: itiade by the Stevehs Institute, f.'artists at the'hbUse.,;could' be s4en ' but a 'laTge parVpf the credit thereof belofis .to .Paul Robeson^ The cpl- pred bai'jtprie had' been having sonic difTicOlty in his concert appearances with: thie acoustics of the theatres in which he sang,: and .being. Unable ,to hear. ..his voice in-, many of these places; Was forced to : transpose his but riot heard::; To use a microphone would ierid-spine justification to the criticism and. the ; H4et has „seldom bc6n :a" place, for pioneerings . How- eyer; tlie time has hbSv arrived "when ' jt ; ■ no - longer . a question , as to ■whether it^-ivill be used,; but rather,, when,:.: it\ will be. .; It WPuld;• steemi . inusic to a higher kevi-to secure more .,, » j:. j volume : and^.iill the: holase.^ "The ^^."^ T^,''^}^^ :^xpressed, richest .portion of ^the .baritone's hf^'^l^f^-'^'^^Pf ^^^^^f'' V^flVl^^" '^'^ range- lay.'in the lower and ihiddlel - v' • .^.^fP^^nientation. may registpr.s, and, continual singing in the upper rebesscs Pf.'hls vpi.ce-tired hiin physically, and made ;his yoice tagged at the end of his tours. Robe talte place in actual:, perfbrmances ;Unbekn6wh to any but the manage- ^ment, and the technicians later ' the .sea.soit, and if as successful, as it son camb: to Stevens with his I has: -worked , ' controlled: practice, troubles; arid it Was'found through ft niay be adopted after, informing experimentation at Maplewdbd, N. J., the pubili; thz^t they. have already; that an 'acbustic ' envelope' could be ! been 'listening to: the new method. ' used' to surround: just the singer, [ . . Jiisi The; Dead Spots ,t,,; Without the audience being,' aware. ; VUse .Pf the' devices., iri the Mel: of anything out of the; :ordiriary "oc-'I wpUld bp confined tp .those. pbrtions cui'ring.. : ■ . / I of .the house where certain - sound; It was discpvered that a ; singer frequences are dead. In c^ i^'afi satisfied .with hearing the. har-' Pf the hoiise low; notes 'are ipst, arid,- monies of his voice, rather .than the, in other parts; tlie top tbnes. Jn the ' •■ ■ ■>;■ ;.' ^' -' .::-ri-. ' ' Uiirence Schwab W^^ $3,480 Verdict vs. tee Shubert on'Coin'' Flop Award of $3,480 against Lee Shu-; bert in; fayor. of Laurence Schwab, ; made last Week, echoes an ;-$80.00O j; •flop of last season. Show was 'Nice ' • Goin*,' musical version of /Sail or Be- j ware,' presented out ;of town but never on Broadway. Cbntract seti ting forth Shubert'.4 participation in the productibn. amounting to approx- imately: 20%; had a stipulation that iri the. event pf differences with ' Sellw;ab such, issues were to , be adr justied by arbitration. When.Schwab called upon ShUbert ; i to pay the final amount of his .share | I the latter clamed that as ■'Gon'', I didn't open in New Yprk. he wa? . not; liable- He couriter-clairned fpr. j $i3,(100. Schwab had the foresight to; stipnlaite arbitration, , eliminating court prbcedings which might have strung the case but indefinitely. : ,;■ : Charles F. Hughes, sitting as a brie- rhan arbitration board, heard a flock I of witriesseis, the Winning testimpriy being that; no riiatter^vhether a show ; flops in tbwii' or on Brppdway;- the ,1 inanagerlal liability js the same, \ '-Beverly. HiiLs," wliich.- :S;chwab "rc- ^^cently, presented with ,Otto Premin- i ger,. erided,,:$16,pp0 - in the red. , Etb- I cause of thbatre parties the Ho.l.iyr ; wood cpmedy did not ipse iri pperat^ . :ing during its short; stay at tlie Fill-. , ton. N/^.^ It had been reiJOrted that I Mrs. Bror Dahlbei^g; .;Whpse liusbahd • manufiacture.'; Geletex, had..: ^nve^ted ; i)lenty in JHills/ but her participation -, amounted to only *2,.5b0. Others w;ith, . .interests included Paul Beisman and. i Richard Berger, pf the, St..Lbufs jtiu- i rticipal opera cpmpari'y,. krs. DahU. ; beirg ■ is , said - to,,-be the. principi j backer of Gaiit Gaither, who oper-^ I ates, a, tlieatre ih.lVIiaml Beach. - * : SchW.ab,.!who has; gone ip Florida, ,had . a . royalty interest in; 'iQuict Please;'^ also a »short-lived Holly wood comedy Which stopped at; the Guild after, three ■performance.s: He' cblr Tabprgited with Milfon LaziirUs in're- Writirig the playi which \vas fried out in the east under the title bf 'Once Upon -a Night.' Tilm rights Were sold . fpr $4,500; Schvv?tb .heirig;,entitled to^ i 4()% - pf the amdunt. : . ■ ihe old. Herald ' building . (just:; re placed, by -a rriodern - taxpayer), pUr pid.New Yorfc he'artS: P'y'erflpw with sentlirientai meiMDries- ' . . -. ■ ? As a small: boy -I. remember; when. She Herald -mbved: 'uptown,'.r irbm Park-Row to its hew buildii^ at-35th Street,, arid tHie nanie Heraid Square, was created. As a lad I u^ed to Watch the bellrihgers striking the hours, and, as > IGryear^bld,. I became a 'flrstnlghter' arid saw Anna Held in 'A parlor ;;jyiatchr :at;'the;.'Herald; Square theatre; in a building- erected in 18'73. and once known as the Cpl- osseum.. In 1900 It,: .saw ; Augustus Thonias' play, 'jfl^rizoria;' at. the; Her- ald Square, the cast; including -El w nor Robspij::arid,Edgar Selwyn, ATo- day,, as ..Mrs.: August Belmoriti the fbrrtier- Miss Robson has brie o' the most; beautiful voices heai'd on the: air, through occasional broadcasts;) At the same.'theatre I saw Mrs. Les- lie Carter,in 'The'Heart of Maryland,' in which slie, a.s a Civil War heroine, ■swu.rig: froin the tpngue; of, a bell,^ Ithiis 'stopping the. tollihg which was to signal the death of her sweetheart; , Harrlgaii's oh East 35th ^ . Further east, on;35lh street, istbod Harrigan's: theatre, later called the Garrick, where,; in 1899,' I saw Mrs. Carter's opening night in 'Zaza,' arid ^iso witnessed, rtiariy other ■successful piremieires,; Southward, on Sixtli ave- nue, stood the Standard; whei:e. Wil- liany Brady and Florenz Ziegfeld starred their respective wives, Grace George and Anna Held; .-and 1 at- tended all, of those ppenings. West- ward, on 34th street, stopd Koster & Bials' MUsic Hall,,and I went; there very often/. Where' Gimbel's rib\v stands Was Jim Gprbe'tt's -salooni ; The .Herald Square hotel: was. erected at abbut that time. Later I •remember the erection :0f the: Hotel. McAlpirii which has maintairied; its prestige ever since. Another land- mark is, the Hotel Martinique, at 32d street, which hais just . undergprie considerable renovation, • and has spent a lot :of money on its exterior illurniriatibri. The Hotel Gregorian has remained a:-landmark -through several decades, and so ha.s. the Sirtip- son pawrishop,; at the corner of ^5th and Sixth avenue; / As a ;small bby. I used to-be escort- ed to 14th street to view the Christr, mas Windows of R. H. Macy St Co., and, in seeing their Chiristma.s'. win; dows the other day. I remembered the sensation that was created when, Macy's moved 'uptown' to Herald Square, and when Gimbel's opened, :and Saks also.- The only old theatre, that :,still stands in this part of; tpwri is the Savoy, now a movie house.; In the : early IQbOs :! ,attended many operi-., ings there, including 'The Governor's ' Son,' ;stafring Cieorge M., Cohan, In 1901.: Also 'Glad of it.' by Clyde Fitch, in- Which. Madge:: Carr-iCook was featured,. (This talented actress was the: mother of Elea"ndr Robson.) , Just inorth of,;Heraid' Square, dri Broadway, .^.s a hotel,, the Marlbpr- ! ough, which had. been popular iri the i ,18708, 'BQs arid '80s, iSpmeWbat further ■. upto.wri ;w.as another old hotel, the Horniaridife. Between Herald. Square and Longacre Square' (later . called "rimes Squaire) stood three fariious theatres-^the Knickerbocker, the Cn- slnb and the Empire..;: Empire Aldhe Survives The^Empire is the sole sfuryivbr. 1 saw ail the. 'fahibus Frqhman stars at the-; Empire:^john .Drew; Maudei AdairiiSi .'Virilllam Fayer^h.am,; 'Vibla All»n, -and the yoUng and .beautiful Ethel" Barrympre. ,; At the Caslrio .1 attended the premiere of "Floradora,' in , l?pO,. and ' I sa.w Lillian; Russell tiie.re,; .iri;: many^ musical, comedies (then liriown.as:'comic operas'), prior to her jblriing: the; allrstar cast at Weber & Fields, .several blpcks- be- Ipw iSerald Square. 'I never missed a Weber & Fields opening durlrig the years : thoise .wonderful revues: held I forth. ;;,■ , - . , ;: ,,'.1 The. Metropolitan ;'Opera .Hbuseha^^ iContihued from: page: S; -are entirely : new to IlKO. Which would l^ave among the possible out-; casts, Harold, Llbyd. A'Girl, Guy and : a Gob'); Harold B. Franklin ("This"' Villain Still Pursued Her',); SftephV ens-Lang fPr. vGhristian' series)-: Jack; ybtiori and §atri CpslowCLum 'n . Abner');; Jerry . ; Rra Charles' Ford;, CScaltergdod Baines* series);: Lou Ostrow ('Li'i AbherV); Frank 'Ross' C'Thp Devil . arid Miaa Jpncs'), ■ arid . Andre; Deyari and .Nit Wachsburger ,;:(twp Charles -Sbyer filins).,William,; Hawks- Cpii man unit' hjas already, annburiced its shift of release to 20th-F6x. Indie^s are behig hacked. „away, Scliaefer; said, becajise;.as a group,; they are putting-put.'prograriV pic- tures, which is 'Avhat :RKO; iinder tlie consent decree can biest do withbut; Policy: of fewer pictur'eis of better quality ;yirill be the ,moSt prplitabJe, ; he said, adding that vTbo many sWiall,- unimportant; films are - how being', made.'; ;:' ^ ; ,;■-••' :; ■.■•'/ ,: Sludlp' .Sbakiiup?': ■■ (^Ueistibn; cpncerriing the iPng-re- ported executive chariges^' at, the stiiv. dip was left bpeh by Schai'efer. To tii quei-y y concerning a shake()p, the RKQ: topper replied, 'Leave-that as a question aisked but nbt. answered;' He made ho hesitation, however, In^ denying any changes impending in. eastern personnel Harry Edington, studio head, whP has been !with the ] cpnipany a year and has 1^ months ' more to go urider his contract has at numerbu^ times been the subject of .Hollywood reports of a change, on: the;lot. . ' ' : C)rily changes at the home-oft'ice; Schaefer said, would be enlargement of the publicity-advertising and .sales departments to • cope with the more intensified selling which will be. needed under .the decree.:, ; ^FIrst^ blpck-of-fl.ve pictures to,, be sold for the 1941-42 seaspn will he ready.: for screeriing in July, PVez, said, and the second will be screened in September. He explained that the cbmpariy will keep further ahead of ■ release schedule on the early pic- tures : than it will later on wheii it is believed selling will-be speedier as exhibs get used tp the new sys- .teni.-,' There .will prpbab)y be no mbre of the old-time international sales conventions, Schaerer ventured, at: which the corripany's product lineup for the year is announced; Instead, it is, likely that smaller scale meet- ings will be held: for the pin-pose of educating the sales department. ' - The decree; RKO head: asserted, will get. the fllrii companies awiiy from' present allocation system and rnaice percentages and rentals con- form to the quality'of the Alms of- fered. 'No Ball for Toe-Stubbers' 'Producers who stub their toes can no longer be expected tp be bailed out by dLstributor.s arid exhibitors,' hb deciared, adding that; lie favors .a 'prbfit-sharing system' fpr Rroducei:s and has beeri leaning that way bri ail iriecent dbals,,, .■;.-■ : ;.'■•,■';-.;',;..,: :. -Not only, sales cp.<ts but productioii .icbsts; Will go up as a .result ofi.tlie decree because; bf the necessity of holding., films. until a bloc-of-ftVe is refidy fpr pifteririg. While cbsts. wJH be up; there Will be no-cbmpcnsat- ing iiicrease .; in revenues, Schaefer said, which will necessitate Xurtlier ' ecbriomies; -wherever;. they 'cari. he .made.\'-■,'■ ; !;/■'. ; ■' RKQ . rii'ahatma' a vq.i;rcd: he .\ no rieed,for an'admiMipn j^Uiiip now. but insisted vthat.a change, in the ; •Federal tax structure must be ri-ia.cle to start the adriiish levy on lOd titk-.; ets instead;,bf 20c as, at,preserit; Lo't^^^ ering of.;, scales by exhibs -to gel beneath : the ,20c figure, ■ Schaefe.i,-; said, was bringirig down the ayeragf • a'dinish in, the entire industry. ; : Problem of tradesho.Wing all pic- ture?; will be solved; •.Schaefer. be-' lleved,' by all companies in ^" chaiiKt! arc't'i . c()opi?rat,ii>n.: iii' Jea.'^'iv!' oh a perriianent basis & sniall theatre^;; We.sterns, Schafefei'. said, will be solcV ; in /separate groupis of IJye. while: ■ riewsreels; and shorts are. npt affected by any terms of the decree..: Schaefer said he will spend more, tlrrie on the Cpast tban herbtpfore. His ,pi"esent plrin i.s to,, returii to Hollywood lii January-;;