Variety (Jan 1942)

Wednesdaj, January 28, 1942 LEGITIMATE 49 NJ. Drama Critics' Box Score AS OF JAN. 17, 1942 K«y to abbrcvlatloiu: SB (shows reviewed), B (right), W (wrong), 0 (no opinion clearly expressed). Pet. (pei '—' LOUIS KBONENBEBGEB (PM) JOHN MASON BBOWN (World-Telegram JOBN ANDBBSON (Journal-American).. BOBEBT COLEMAN (Mirror) BBOOES ATKINSON (Times) BICBABD LOCKBIDOE (Sun) BICBABD WATTS, JB. (Herald Tribune). YHLELLA WALDOBF (Post) BDBNS MANTLE (News) Kronenberger (PM) Leads N. Y. Critics At MidseasoD; Brown, Anderson 2-3 CUT-PRICE TICKETS FOR SERVICE OFFICERS Louis Kronenberger, of PM, leads the pack in the 'Variety' boxscore d the New Yorlt drama critics mid- way in the 1941-42 season. His per- centage of .902 is a lew jumps ahead of the .897 marlc registered by John Mason Br6wn, of the World-Tele- gram. Aisle-sitters aren't calling their shots as accurately as last season, when Richard Watts, Jr., of the ■ Herald Tribune, ■vvas leading the field with a dazzling average of .976 at the halfway post. At that time, ■itrop enberger was tied with Brooks Atkinson, of Uie 'Times, lor fourth" place with a percentage of ,878. Watts was the winner for the full 1840-41 season with a mark of .950, Ihe highest since 'Variety* began the tabulations in 1923-24. In third place so far this season is John Anderson, of the Journal- American, with an .854 .average, wliile Robert Coleman, of the Mirror, is pushing him closely with :tS3. Atkinson and Richard Lock- ridge, of the Sun, are tied for next place with .805 each. In order alter them come Watts, with .800; WUella Waldorf, of the Post, with .725, and Bums Mantle, of the News, with .634. / Ratings are based on 41 shows, as compared to 43 entries lor the cor- responding period last season. Last weik's openings are not included In Mst tabulations, as there has lieen too little time to indicate the chances of some of the productions. Of the 39 plays reviewed by • Brown, 38 were lor the World-Telly, while the remaining one was for the Post That was due to Brown's switch to the former at the start of the season. He was succeeded as criUc of the Post by Miss Waldorf, who thus is in her first season of ■Variety' ratings. Watts, on one of 14s trips to the Far East, did not return in time to cover the first six openings, so caught only 35 shows. Winchell has so far viewed only seven entries, so he is not Included in the tabulation. •Variety' which should know bet- ter, lies a combined average. of .854 for the first half of the season, com- PSKd to a percentage of .977 lor the corresponding interval last year. jooss Met Tied Up With Savoyard Troope Because of Bookings •There are, or were, too many bal- |«w on tour. At least that is what We management of the Jooss Ballet was told and explains the curious combination of the European dance «™lt with the Gilbert and Sullivan ^retta company at the St. James, f!' The warbling, section of the snow is by the Boston Comic Opera ^directed by R. H. Burnside. & S. company, however; Is one of the Shubert road shows and « was understood not aimed for Moadway. idea of combining with we Jooss dancers strengthened the Mtractlon, which has been faring opening last Wednesday f'ij- ,The ticket scale of $2.20 top jntUMtes a moderate operaUng pay- "U despite the number of persons wacerned in the dual show. mr'2^„ dancers opened at the ^•' ^ *all and moved to another theatre, during which period a«finpts to book the road were not wnsumated. It was a case of team- -up with the G. & S. show,- or J^^Z 0' the Jooss posiUon is the • •'•'^ ,.tl)9t. U la .an .endowed. group, Shows in Rehearsal •Plan M'—Aldrich and Myers. 'Under This Boor—Russell Lewis, Rita Hassan. 'Guest In the Hoose'—Stephen and Paul Ames. 'Heart Of s City'—Gilliert Miller. They Sboalda Stood In Bed'— Grisman and Steinbergv - 'Angel Street' (2d Company)— Shepherd Traube. rBmi SHOWS ON GUT-PAY BASIS Five ■ shows on Broadway are known to be on a cut-salary basis, which, in addition to Sundays, has permitted their continuance, but one will call it quits Saturday (31). Weekly payroll and _flrst money to the house, if. not a guarantee, makes the continuance of in-betweeners al- ways doubtful week to week. There is little doubt that two of the shows which reduced the nut would have, expired pronto but lor Sundays, night business being especially strong then. 'In Time to Come' Is the play an- nounced to close at the Mansfield. Play has a lairly large cast and re- quires as many stagehands as play- ers. When the show opened there were 21 in ' the crew, two. being dropped alter the debiit With most ol the cast said to be working at the $50 weekly minimum, the aver- age deckhand draws $4 more, so that the backstage outlay compares to the player payroll Others on a cut are 'Brooklyn, U.S.A., Forrest; 'Papa Is All,' Guild; 'Spring Again,' Playhouse, and 'High Kickers,' Broadhurst. Arrangement lor the latter is effective only lor some weeks, dependent on when the gross drops under a fixed level, and it Is understood the players received lull pay for most of the engagement to date. With the latest 'Porgy and Bess' on the Sunday performance list, mu- sical strength on that day is in- creased, others being 'Sons O' Fun,' Winter Garden; 'Banjo Eyes,' Holly- wood; 'Kickers,' and Gilbert and Sul- livan revivals, St. James. Starting llvan revivals, St. James. Next Sun- day (1), 'Papa'; 'Clash by Night,' Belasco, and 'Crown Cafe,' Cort, join the card on that day. Cut-price ticket service to Army and Navy officers visiting New York is now available. Ret'uctions lor legit and picture theatres can be had by those ol rank not higher than captain in the Army, or .naval lieu- tenants ol senior grade. Office has l>een opened lor that purpose at the Hotel Comjnodore, where tickets can be had at hall the boxoffice price. Outfit is called the Officers Service .Committee and is staffed with debutantes. Charles C. Auchincloss is chairman ol the new arm, with Mrs. Marshall Field co-chairman. John Golden, who, with Mrs. Julius Ochs AdIer heads the mayor's committee lor recreation lor men in the service, conceived the hall-price ticket plan, and reports the coopera- tion ol a majority ol managers. Committee, which headquarters at 99 Park avenue, n^ar the Com- modore, distributes Iree tickets to .shows.-and .pictures, to jinnrcommisr-. sioned seamen and soldiers. It had been active in entertaining visiting service men and thousands ol com- plimentaries are given them weekly. New service was inaugurated Mon- day (26), when Golden was host to 50 boxoffice heads and officials at lunch in the Commodore. Plan was worked out alter conlerences with ticket men. Managers are lo set aside a certain number of tickets for each performance lor the off.'- cers, whether shows are selling out or not Special telephone lines are to be used through ticket agencies to tlie various theatres participating. Likely that the new service will be expanded. Request has come Irom ranking officers that a method be worked out whereby they can buy tickets at boxoffice prices, with- out going to agencies. Pointed out that most officers are in New York for but short periods, especially those in the Navy, and that it Is difficult lor them to purchase tick- ets, especially lor the hits. Matter ol admission tax has not been lully worked out Contention is that the wording of the Federal law exempts all men in uniform, but a ruling whether the provision ap- plies to tickets bought as weU as free admissions has not yet been obtained. Servicemen attending USO shows on military and naval reser- vations even pay the 10% tax. Un- derstood the matter has been called to the attention ol the White House. Reduced price tickets sold otherwise require a 10% on the original price. Other Groups Join Equity In Demand For More Plays on Camp Route; USO Looks to Next Year but the funds are frozen in England Former Dorothy Whitney, who was Mrs. Willard Straight and is now wedded to Leonard Elmhurst, pro- vided the backing. She resides in London. She also is said to be the biggest backer of The New Republic and Theatre Arts Monthly magazines. Ballet is a completely cooperative group. Of the 27 people in the unit, 25 are refugees, there being 12 dif- ferent nationalities represented. Originally the dancers were under the jurisdiction ol the American Guild of Musical. Artists, but no regulations of that union were re- quired because of the refugee angle. Equity, which does not countenance co-ops, ruled that its regulations Would not apply to the Jooss people for the same reason. Saroyan Pots N. Y. Crix In Dither Even When Only m the Abstract Broadway's Critics were in a dither last week over Samson Rapbaelson's new comedy, 'Jason,' which opened at the Hudson Wednesday (21) Play is principally about a fastidious reviewer, not identified by the critics, and a playwright, generally conceded to be William Saroyan. Only one reviewer rated it a hit without qualification, Robert Cole man, of the N. Y. Mirror, calling It the best play of the season, also the. tiest Raphaelson has ever written. Three reviewers liked it fairly well, while another trio took 'Jason' as a personal affront especially one whose wile was bom in the south. Wile ol the play's critic hails Irom below the Mason and Dixon line, too. Brooks Atkinson ol the Times was especially steamed up, calling the people ol the play 'cardboard char- acters' and saying the script was 'written in a vacuum. . . Jason Is a humorless prig surleited with en- nui. . . il drama critics live with the magnificence ol Jason this depart- ment is cheated and hereby puts in lor a stiff raise.' ^ John Anderson, of the Journal- American, liked it and commented that 'drama critics may be fascinat- ing only to other drama critics, (Jod forbid.' Louis Kronenberger In PM said 'we are dull to write about' Richard Lockridgp, of the Sun, thought it good theatre, 'entertain- ing if literary narcissism.' John Mason Brown, of the World-Tele- gram, referred to fellow reviewers as 'ungentlemen of the press in the hallowed Critics Circle.' Burns Mantle, of the News, liked the act- ing, while Richard Watts, of the Herald-Tribune, was moderately amused. Sugar and OM Lace Clinton Sundt>erg, who plays the part of the drama critic in 'Arsenic and Old Lace,' at the Fulton, N. Y, was married Sunday night (18) In New York to Margaret Joyce, under- study and assistant stage manager in the show. They met several months ago when Sundberg succeeded Allyn Josiyn in the cast Other members of the cast did not Icnow the couple intended being mar- rifed, so there was considerable rib- bing when they turned up at the theatre. ' EXTRA- PAY CLAIM Local No. 1, New York stagehands union, has raised a new issue with the managers, demanding that its men be paid double time for work done when pictures of players and scenes are taken for publication. Union says it is okay if the photos are lor lobby frames, but contends that otljer useage is for commercial purposes. Managers have contested the claims heatedly, saying that publicity is vital In prolonging en- gagements. Managers have pointed out that heads of departments are required to ■ be on the job each week day from one to five p.m. whether a performance is played or not Fact that the deckhands have nothing to do on non-matlnee days makes their claims less understandable to show- men. Stagehands counter .with the argument that they don't object to reporting and' working dally on the show, >ut not lor other people. Managers say they have virtually no work in connection with the pho- tography and are being paid the regular rate anyhow. Another argument by the union is that when such photographs appear In magazines, like Llle, lor instance. It saves that publication money which It would ordinarily pay .models, or authors in the case ol text When a claim reportedly around $400 was made by the union for two. hours work at the Hollywood theatre dur- ing the cameralng of 'Banjo Eyes,' matter was taken up with the League of New York theatres, which advised Al Lewis,'the show's producer, not to pay the bill. Another similar claim, but for a much smaller amount goes for 'Junior Miss,' at Lyceum. A third show is reported to have paid under protest while 'The Wookey' (closed) cancelled a magazine photo display because of union demands. Matter of double time Is o;ie of the points to be discussed this week between the managers and the stage- hands, who are conferring over changes of worltlng conditions in contract which expires Sunday (1). Alan Holmes In Army Westljoro, Jan. 27. Alan Gray Holmes, managing di- rector of Westboro Town Hall Play- liouse (strawhatter) announced last week before enlisting in Army that theatre would operate next summer as usual. His sister, Edna Holstrom, who has been Holmes' secretary and treasurer since he came here five years ago, will be in charge. Dann Malloy will handle direction of plays again. Holmes has been assigned to 52nd Coast Artillery at Fort Hancock, Sandy Hook, N. J., where he will be technical director of the theatre in' the Morale Division. Movement to have more legit shows in the army camps Is gaining momentum, other groups In tha legit field besides Equity asking what happened to the promises to book in stage shows. Late last week a pointed communication was sent to Camp Shows, Inc., by the Emer< gency Council of 4he Legltimato Theatre, seeking an explanation. Council had mulled the matter and decided that such an Issue came within Its wartime functions. Protest JoUowed the visit to the Council of a committee from the Theatrical. Managers and Agents. Latter claims it has no axe to grind, as its members are company man- agers and jgents lor the shows tour- ing-the- camps:—A-ttenHon-of-man"-- agers and other groups comprising the Council was called to the poten- tialities, principally that plays in camps would develop future thea- tregoers, biggest percentage of the men in uniform never having seen a play. Reported that some of them refer to the sparse legit showings as 'living moving pictures.' In the letter of inquiry and pro- test it was intimated that contracts for films was limiting the playing time of units and plays to two per- formances in some camps. Charged that picture Interests got the jump on theatre people and, because of contracts, are in a position to dic- tate whether other shows shall be booked. Fact that most camp thea- tres were not equipped, lor stags perlormances ol any kind may ex- plain the 'in' of the film end. Already known that soldier shows, some already playing, are being or- ganized by the Morale Division of the Second Army Corps area. Quite a number of men In uniform are from the theatre, while others are volunteers with a' yen lor theatri- cals. Around 30 such ^hows are .planned, admission gratis.. Activity ol the service people themselves is probably responsible for renewed agitation over the use - of profes- sional entertainment People concerned declare they are not motivated by the idea of profit Actors are getting little over the minimum, while most authors are willing to forego royalties. Others on Broadway are anxious to help and the matter of compensation is not the inspiration.:. USO's Promise , Squawks of legit people that USO- Camp Shows, Inc., has neglected tbem will find no answer this season, but will be reflected next fall In a (Continued on page 52) aUTTS AS STOCK BIBECTOR Howard Wendell, director of the Saginaw (Mich.) Players for three years, has resigned to. organize his own summer stock company at Vir- ginia Beach, Va. Norman Earl Thompson, technical director, \ylll take over his post 3 Theatrical War Refief Organizations Now m Co-Op Setup There are three organizations of volunteers within the theatre func- tioning for war relief which have been developing along separate lines, but which are now more or less coordinated and operating In harmony. They are the Emergency Council of the Legitimate ThFatre, American Theatre Wing and the Stage, Screen, Radio and Arts Di- vision ol the'Fight for Freedom group. Functions of each have been clari- fied. The Wing Is raising $100,000 to be primarily devoted to relief of needy families of professionals in the services. . The Division is vir- tually a production outfit, designed to stage benefit shows or to have such events under Its auspices. Emergency Council is principally to be the clearing house for all pro- posals for war benefit perlormances. Emergency Council was formed originally to function in the event of air raids, a protective body of and lor the theatre. It is made up ol conunitteemen Irom actors (Equity), dramatista, managers (League of New York Theatres), stagehands, company and house managers, and agents and ticket sellers. Only group not represented is the musicians' union, that absence not being explained. Council has expanded its func- tions, but stated that it will not be active In presenting benefits, Jamet F. Rellly is chairman of the council, quartered in the managers' league offices.