Variety (Jan 1945)

LEGITIMATE Wednesday, January 31, J945 Plays on Broadway In Onlrnl l*ark ^ti.li.n'1 'I'i.iUI |i|-i)ilili'tiini uf u|hmi'II;i lit fw.i .uls (i-i^hl Mt-PKWI. |.\>:i|llii-s W'lllilll Ki ni> I'.-in t a >i iii-i>. ..Miiuri»*ii-i*:iiui*ii<, Xurili II III.ill.> hiviil. I'l.-.l :in.l Hliilm'. J:..ni W.ilii-i MmKi*. Mum in- I'iiiiUk. I'.iiiI K—1 Si.I lit .Inliil Ki'iiui'.lv. Iliinl, :ill-l 1 > > i-.- U l>..i..i|i> . I lli'iln'il l-V|.l>: ■.•in- liy SiuihiiihI lliiiuhiTK . Mm l inu- l'i ll«iiv.-ii.| N.ii . il.dues In llo|..ii Tumii-is: .ru-run'ifs liy Cirn-- I Itul-Mau mill Kiln-si' Si-li'l.tli-. i>i- ili--li.il! I i-ii Wnlk-i: i ..'nihil Inl. M.i\ iM.-iIi ui.-n-.l ill. tVni ill...-. N.- v.. J.in. -7. N.'i. »'i l..|. ISI'J ii|i-iiiiii; niulMi. / ............. I>:iiiiii 11 ('.ili:lii-. Tlln.HI>> M. ...(,- ..... It.'*-.!- U'l' ill.ill- a J-.liii .\l.ii lli-n - TIiiiiii is N:..-i ■. . Willi.tin li ii An.li-ii Muni.." , Vim. i IN * .: >!;.).., V u..M-r - 11 - ■ 11 - - IXi. li M.l i'..ni'iill> r-i-t .-■•• . .-i.-i... •\\ 11' i.i m .M..1-..1 Tn I. Hi ii l-i . MiMi-1 \\ in. .-r. . . J.i- .si.-n.iil' l'..M-i 1...M'. Sl-l-li.- ■ V. • M." ii- ■ ■ Clrn.. Mr.lining Jlllll,'« l-'li-l.. .11 j>iii-l. . MI I'lnhl S>n.l ( li.-l .'. Sr.l ( lill.l -it Ii < - Ii 11.1 H...hIiv:h|.i I'llS.. H.> Arthur Kni'-li- . .'• • .■ • KM-*!! I.h\i i-mii-o , JBin.l- ;....'. .Sdinl-V S.nlnini.:l. n...iii:.. ;ii.n»-s. '.Ouv Sl:ii.liim; -11. ' .'( Isnl.'-I (Mil slum- BiiR|.i|'- I'liiiiMn ........ i .1 -■ in.-- M.-J-\|.Mi-il . | Tli.unus I A.rlnieiv \ Ki>mi--ill Cusi'i' N>n-,l.„ii. '. ........ ITi~l.li' <;iwy. \ W-illinui NltSS ...... 1 t 'lllirles M'uu.l I'::ll.,. I...i-i . . . . . U .ilt-i lluili • . . . . .1 "li-n 1--' J rii'i.n .11.-in li-ln- . . .\hiui —'-ii t' i ii in. ii U ill.nr Ki -in- . , : .\l tin i—. Kui l." I- '-I. <>ili\iv' ... .I:..i. ii l-i.-l.i I'nlli ll.-.l . .'. l;.ui..in .'I'llilm .. '.. .'.li-'-iii;- 1 --i'ii<. ..: II.Hi M.Vll.ill . . Nujili- H--1V. Siv .. .'ll-l iiri'l l".l:iv.-l- ,l';i-.li.. l-'i..il..i.i-.U.-i '.. I--I...I 11.1111 I l:,iry M.Hli.-U . . . . I H'IIIIM -111 inn . . . . . .K:n : Cilllilli I.M.lilhi Willi"!! ... W.ii.-i.n. « liil .-' ....Iliiui-I Nnjiiiii l..,ui>- 1 l.iM-ii ..: Ann ' 1 h-riiiiiiin h.nh l;:illy ...I:ni-I ii'iMV. .\l;n-i Alii'e Ki:ius . . .' luhli Cjniiti:. Ih'liiv t.'.i|il-i Wnllv C.i Ii- i: 1:, 11 ,-• )<:n Omiin Ci-IihU-i-.-.. . One of the most exhilarating-.first 'nights of the season was occasioned by'tho'premiere oi Mike Todd's " Up in Central Park. - ' It's one oi the flnesl operettas in a decade-. Sigmund Romberg has returned to ■ction. after many, years in virtual, retirement, by writing the music, and the book and lyrics are by. Dorothy, and Herbert Fields, whc- v delivered similarly for Todd's '.'Mexican Hay- ride." which just passed, the year mark on Broadway. Miss Fields and her brother chose one of the most colorful periods in the history of New York, the regime of Boss Tweed, Tammany chieftain who lined his pockets and those of his cohorts with city funds back in the 1870's. Tweed and his gang were then completing Central Park, known as "the big back yard." To this back-, ground sparkling lyrics have been written to the lilting Romberg melo- dies. And the settings by Howard Bav are designed in the spirit of the book, while staging by John Kennedy brings him forward as a craftsman with plenty on the ball. Costumes, too. are in tune with'the transplanted Celtic characters among the political highbinders. Duds are period but quite fetching; Story has The New York Times exposing Tweed, with that paper's Jobn Matthews writing the inside ?torv. abetted bv caricaturist Thomas last of Harper's Weekly. Romance comes to John and Rosie Moore even " though she's inclined to favor the political mob, her dad being a ward- heeler with a brogue. Rosie is a be- witching colleen and in a tiff marries another Tweedstcr but that fellow skips to Europe to beat the rap against the Tweed cohorts, incident- ally taking another girl along, that opening the way for the reals lovers to clinch. The atmosphere is that Indicated by the Currier and Ives colored prints, and one of the drops pictiir- injs the jsenlr-v driving 'heir rins in Central Park' Is quite like, (lie C'-l pictures. "Pari.'.' is parked in the Century I fornicriy .lolsnn's i. adjacent to the."bit; backyard." and it's iinder- .-itood that the biiokim; is a rental.'so if the-hew. musical -getsover, as in- dicated on the lir.-t iiii;lil.. il.-should net a fortune. Al .IolsDil opened (he house jusl 21 vcar- ayt> (liis month. In . Philailel'iiiiia, Belly Brurc. roniodieiuu' and daiieer, copped the honors.'but Maureen C'annoii. who is r Rbsie. i.- the hinh scorer.-.,Miss Can- non.' who replaced Rose Ingrnhain'. was a luipoy, s •lection. Todd insist-' in?; that .-lie have tlie part despite, the opinion of others. Miss Cannoivis a yiiuii!*. vivacious brunel and sings delightfully. She got her training in operettas presenTed. by the St. Louis Municipal-OpiM'ii. Co. Wilbur Evan.-- docs the baritoning and is in splendid voice, easily top- ping his. performance in "'Hayriclc'' last season. Miss Bruce is a sprightly actress, supplying fun and teaming with Miss Cannon then.getling a line hand lor a hoofing specialty. Miss Cannon and Kvans handle the show's top .melody. "Close As Pages in a Book." which is rightly.: reprised. "Fireman's Bride" is among the best tunes, coming late in the first act with the' leads teaming. "The Big Back. Yard." soloed by Evans Willi ensemble warbling- background, is another good thing. '•Apvil Snow' r is also attractive, sung by Miss! Cannon and Evans. "Rip Van Winkle" at- tracts attention, and the duelled "It Doesn't Cost You Anything to Dream" shoiild.be a favorite/loo. . Besides Miss' Bruce on the chore- ographic end, there are . Fred and Elaine Barry. Charles Irwin and' Walter Burke. Ballets devised by Helen Tamaris are excellent and one, skating simulation, with the scene a : frozen lake in the park, is partic- ularly good. There's a snow effect' and it looks like the McCoy. Noah Beery shows plenty in his portrayal of Tweed, so does Irwin as. one of his henchmen. Scenically. "Park" . is something!; The nostalgic finale, that of a band- stand on the Mall, will bring back memories to veteran N. Y. playgoers. "Central Park" is notable for two other factors. .Dated in the early 1870's, show w-as written by authors who weren't living at that time, and the "presentation; is by a guy - from Chicago: Ibee. pcro. and this is probably the Inoat stirring character in the play. Aha Moss performs It excollently. He nai the regal bearing and trenohant voice for the lilies, and even if the plaV sometimes becomes immersed too .deeply in-the plot intricacies, there i» always the stately, dignified Moss to command attention. Frances Heflin as Prospero's daughter; George Vosko'vec and Jan ■Werich, the Czech comedians, are others notable in the outstanding cast. .... ; , , Miss Crawford has given ''Tern-', pest" a magnificent production, aided by Motley's fine settings and cos- tumes, and the incidental music by David Diamond is in proper tempo with, the action. But. by and large, the star of. this production is not a member of the' cast Miss Webster gives to Shakespeake a zest that war- rants an occasional revival of even the most obscure' vork of the Bard. Kofi ii. A 4»»4>8o for (Im» 4>nnd«>r \.TuIt's .1. |.ov^iillui 1 itii.I l-'riiil, .\K*f*o> iltit'llml at i-oiiitMly in itnvi* iii-ts tiy Hill phi .).- Ki , nne<l>. . Sliil-s <;iin'i:i. S\v:it)^<>n iiiitl ('■ihthil ' Nimd. SUim^l liy 'I'.iiniiiy WnrA: n<H 1«y l-Yi'ilri h ; k Vv.\. (>|ifnr.l n-ivliDtise. ■N. V.. .lull. 'S.l, '-f:.; ^lUKt <*l HO op^n- _lni; n.iKhli. • Diiviil:............. Suzy. .•...... I .lit I'ltlld* . Itollffltlt ............. Tony.. i .; K.'tlhrrliiK,^........ .|ini:Hli:i^r........... c 'Iruiflviir... U lillj .......... C^Ml.Ul XhkoI ....... Mnsiiif Sumn . .(''him. .lohnHim !■»> i-t» Slrol;\ , . . M:ii.»l.t .1. KprnfMly (!]<>rl;i Sw:il)Ki>ll .. lolm Vlnliley .(lOnryf Miuitnlls . .. .I>nvl.l Tyiiotl TIh» Tempi**** Chpi-yl 1 ('rtiw.r.ii-il liii'sl'iils Miu-itio'i'l \Vi>Ii- slpr'-H in-uilui'lInn uf rmilasy liy. Wlllhiiu S)lliki'H|i|.:iii. In |.r,.l.,^ iiilil .luii Suns ^'ftrll Xiirfim iuul. i':iii,nhi l.t-i'': r.-.-ilur'.-h Ai- noltl .Muss. SIiik-.I hi Miss Wi'IisIit: si'l • tines an.I (iisiiiini-s hy MoiI-m-; . i-lTi.:iI lllllsii'. DmiI.I HI:. I.I: IIkIiiIiik. .Mii- ll:i,k. Bnfl^tl un luiiilui-tiiin i.l.\i liy Kv.i t.- iltil- llpnil^. ■ 0|ii>iii<i| ■ ni Alviii. N. Y.. Jtm. L , r,, 4.1: tll.llll mi,. '..Tnsi-nli lluiily .'.... .siov-ii l-:ili„ti I'liilln Musi,in f 'ti ii I 1.1-1 ssnr ft-i ry ICi-u-i:-,- KiiKom. S.liii'kliiunti . Arnultl. SIllliliHisli'i- noiilsiviiin..; Aloil.s'i': ............. ,~. . . nznlu ; Anlonlu.. .....,'... Sobiislliiii. Pl-OMPern. MiruuHii, Ills liiiuuliti.i- Ariel fnllhnii '. I.'ei^lliiun,r Aflrlntt I'l'lni'iilu. StepHnnp Miisler of ( Dnno^r Mnrinr>y. .. l--'l'ii ih-i-h lli-llln V,'i:i /.iirilin .'. .: ,t 'il llli.lii I.Hi, Viln t'llllsli ,. ...lni-1. liuHilik ti^orit- Vuslini'Oi' Inn WVi-h'll , .. . : I.:il |-y Mi-pi-s ... .lyiumi Sim-lull' ll;i|n>s .(ili.l" Spli-Ks: Sipvcii l'.l- .•II1IIIIII.S . "A Goose for a Gander." which arrived at the Playhouse after a long tour, again proves that jvhal will go in the outlaiids won't, do for Broad-' way. A thin, dull show, it .won't, slick. .. "Goose" is a tiresome farce about a mildly philaiidering husband and the wife who tries to teach him a lesson. What few situations exist are familiar and not genuinely amusing. There are some funny lines but most of the dialog is commonplace. Comedy marks the debut of silent film star Gloria Swanson on Broad- way, and though she works hard, acr tress, like vehicle, disappoints. At- tractive, youthful and charmingly garbed. Miss Swanson brings a strained quality to' her . acting that doesn't help carry off the farce! There isn't enough situation anyway to get one's teeth Into or sustain in- terest for three acts. While the wife is away, her htjs- band gets drunk- and brings a git 1 ! home. Next day, when the wife un- expectedly returns and learns of this, she invites -three old flames over for a weekend to get even with her spouse. Little follows, out of all this, except some mixed dialog, the situa- tion merely righting itself as- it al- ways does at the end.' . Miss. SwansoiYs support in these insignificant proceedings runs from fair to. so-so. Conrad Nagel. as the husband, achieves the same shallow results <is Miss Swanson. Author Har- old J. Kennedy, as a family friend, gives himself some of the belter lines and gets them off smoothly. Choo- Chob Johnson surprises in an amus- ing, well-done bit as a glamorous Western Union messenger girl. Max- ine Stuart. John CUibley and David Tyrrell handle other important ioles in varying degrees. Frederick Fox's set is attractive, while Tommy Ward's direction is plodding. Broil. ANGELS The backers of Iroadway thews. Namei, addresses, o«nou«ts they Invested In prtvloit plays. The first couplet* research la Hilt field. dltpensabla to producers. $25 per volume LEO SHU LL. Iditor 121 W. 4B»h St.. New York It. WANTED For Summtr Thoatro JVeui England Tryoitt PIht —1 ■«! -7- 8 m i* Cn«t — 4M — SW — limit KMV^IX, Univ. of Okln. . Nornmn, Oklahoma . SAMUEL FRENCH SINCE 1830 Play Brokers and Authors' Representatives M »Ve«( 4fllli Ntreet. New Vork 811 West 7«h Sireet, Lea Aageltm Holt. Iju-ry Kivis. .lusi^liil llnrily. NnrmHii Peek. ''Imrlftllp 'Koiuu-. I>inn;t Sliuiiili-, rnlilila Wliwl. Margaret Webster, who has become the theatre's most active diagnostician of Shakespeare, ..has brought to the Main Stem one of the Bard's lesser- known works in "The Tempest" and has given it a production far more worthy than the written .work de- M.vts. Ai-ir.c'.i::ied--far a:v "ighUnie.ik. limited run. "Tempest" is the.type of play that Will have exhausted Its au- dience by then. Inferior to most of the Bard's plays, it is certainly hot for the curious, theatregoer but strict- ly for the classicists. Cheryl Crawford, who's presenting the play, and Miss Webster, whp has brought a superlative .-imagination into play in slashing the original five- acter to two acts and a prolog, have cast their boxofflce eye on Vera Zo- rina and Canada Lee as the Ariel and Caliban of the piece. If their por- trayals, as such, are not particularly noteworthy, they are at least hovel. And Shakespeare's "Tempest" . re- quires the utmost in novelty for.b.o. prominence. Miss Webster has emphasized the modern-day undertones in the fan- tasy, and if there are moments when the play becomes bogged down, in its pentametrics. leave if to Miss Webster to lift the play with her iiv ventiveness. Miss Zorina has the physical beautv and grace for Ariel biit there are many moments when the. Shake- spearean recitatives are lacking in the fluidity intended by the author. She gives to-the role'the nuances of the ballerina,. which is one of the excellent features of Miss Webster's direction, and as such the actress Is contributing a dual, performance. Lee as the monstrous Caliban is. perhaps, too' animalian- in his .per- formance, but he recites the author's lines with a depth and instinct that once again emphasizes the increasing Improvement of this fine young Ne- gro actor.: . Arnold Moss Is the magical Pros- Play Out of Town Dark of tli«» M«ion Philadelphia, Jan. 26. Kliul,. s rl lu-uiliii-ii,m i,r ili:iin;i wiili muslr- l,y J-liiwiiiil nii'lifiitlsiiu-iiiiil Wllliuni Iti.rm'y. In Iwn iii'Ih jin4 ulna hi-.'iii.h. Hta^eil liy -I'^llU'Ii l^'i"!.-.!-^ Mi»nlns^ dinI IlKlHInu liy i':»iVi ^'"nV-iniins; Hli\i-i-('iS".-i iiy .liJhli- 'Kirui- .iiiKlnu,. liK-iili.nl.ll iinihii- li.v VVnlii-i- .H,-iull. i-lii>ri'UKi'il|ili.i' 1,^ Kslhpi- .lunK"i'. 'Al ].\,ri-e«l. I'lnlliilellilil;i. .lull. IN. '4." .Mm way* eve snip. It rSTi sliowTnah- ew of their youth and lack o'f playhouse back- ground, And there's no denying that they know their background and characters. That background it a small and -primitively lonesome little village back In the Big Smoky mountains of North Carolina, so orude and so primitive that the time, which Is the present, seems almost like some re- mote colonial period. Against this background Messrs. Richardson arid Berney have told one of the several variations of the old "Barbara Allen" legend, famed in song. and story. Barbara is a simple, lusty and ex- tremely desirable village gal who happens to wander one night on a lonely mountainside where she is be- held by .John, a witchboy, born of a witch woman and a buzzard.and ac- customed to sail .through, the air by means of aii eagle. Now John has plenty of handsome wilchgii-ls as company (in- this story witches are not the usual ferocious-looking hags but regular. Ziegfeld beauties), but he falls, hook, line and sinker, for the curvespme Barbara. Accordingly.'he goes to a Conjur Woman and begs the favor of being transformed into a mortal so that/ he can woo and marry Barbara. The favor is grant- ed, with the proviso that if she is ever, untrue to him, he shall be changed back into his wilchlike form.- A normal youth, he goes to the vil- lage, meets, courts and finally .' mar- ries Barbara but when their baby is born it "is a hideous witchchild. An- other village youth forces himself on Barbara in a church during a hec- tic revival meeting and* rather un- justly., the Conjur Woman's curse Is inflicted. John becomes a witchboy again and looks on. indifferently and without emotion when.-his. ex-wife's dead body passes before lilm.. With plenty of incidental : music (all for stringed instruments) and considerable dancing—of the folk, or hillbilly variety but all strictly . au- thentic, and often very colorful and catchy— park of the Moon" has a flavor and an atmosphere all its own that really must be seen to be ap- preciated or. Understood.. Some scenes, notably the' pitiful birth of Barbara's child, and the. riotous and barbaric "revival meeting," are really stirring and exciting theatre.. ' The Shubcrls have Wisely retained the two. leads who played the show when it was tried, out by the Cam- bridge Summer Theatrie group last summer. Il's hard to figure how ajiybody could improve on Richard Ha.rtj. a newcomer, who plays the witchboy With distinction, assurance and a fine sensitive understanding of the eerie supernatural complexes of the character. And Carol Stone,, youngest of Fred's daughters, is cap- ital as the simple and uninhibited Barbara—and very easy to look at, too. Excellent ehara.cj.er portrayals are contributed, by Winfleld Hoeny as Preacher Haggler. Roy Fant as a quaint Viliager, Oncle Smelique, and Georgia Simmons as the Conjur Woman. The settings fnine scenes in two acts) are outstanding and Oeorge Jenkins 1 lighting is as fine as his de- signs. Robert E. Perry deserves a bow on the staging although some changes must be made in this depart- ment to achieve a more consistent tempo and a better balance. Waller Hendl's arrangement of. Incidental music ls 'flavorsome and vigorous but occasionally too obtrusive on the somber and weird- story. There should be a place for "Dark of the Moon" In the theatre although casual playgoers may find it baffling and incomprehensible. Wflters. ('■injur .Mii ii ' I.isl;i ;;. (YmliH fuiijui-. Wuiiuili liunk I'.mlKl'r I. -Misx .M. li nir. Air. .IcllM' 1 " l'ni:lo Sin^llqiiA .' .Mi s, Suuinti;!'......... fcMllll .SlMlllllI'V. H.-ilI■<>. Herrn.pi- .... Mi:. J^prit^n. ' Mr. SlII.IHili.y. ... ....... Miu-i-lii. Hii'lt-'Pim:...... MiiiiIiiiW' Allnn.-. rinyil Alli-il Mis. Allfll. . Mr. AljiMi.; 1'renclier HukkIci-. ; • • • .rti.-hHi'il lUrt . Kinhs AKitlhow . .Iris Whitney Mhi'Ii.i'Ic Relic iu-kIji. Sluiiniins . ..Iiilui - (liirsind l-'rilnri'M llnfiirlll .Cim- Aluoro KuV Full! ..Km )n:y n ■ (.'n mi.run .. .Milllrcni I'nlnniHh '1'ci:k.v Ann Holmes .. A Hun Tnwoi' . .Otiiii'ii 1 lininiiHOn .,-. N'liriiiiin Tlionin.oii : -i'llrnl Stouf <'i,nrnd .tanln Mniiloi Ttu-npi- ftln-rorl Collins i. .Vi'lnO'lrf Ho'eKy. This Shubert production Is spotted here in the wrong house, fiorrest is generally associated, with musical shows and has had none but eye and car pieces this season. Also, despite careful stressing in ads and copy that this is a "legend With music, a lot of ftrst-nighters seemed to expect musical comedy. Naturally they were perturbed and in some instances dis- gruntled. Once, however, that ' Dark of the Moon." properly housed in a smaller and more intimate tVieatre. gets the thoughtful and discerning clientele whieh it deserves, show's chances of clicking will be very mych enhanced. . . In the first place. "Dark of the Moon." written by-tWo young South- erners in their 20's and winner of the Maxwell Anderson prize award for best poetic play in 1942. is not half as arty or as highbrow as might be led to expect. In fact, a lot of it is ODT "Scoop" Yankee Sale Sale of the N. V, Yankees base- ball empire last- week for S2.TB00O0O to the MacPhail-Topplng-Webb syn- dlcale saw Bill Coruni and Max Kase of the Journal-American .scoring a 100?{ beat on their competing' con- freres on other metropolitan dailies sports stalls. Their exclusive also set off some beefs by o(her sports- writers, many of whom seemed iu think Larry MacPhail was the guy who-lipped. Coruni'oh-to' the biggest sports story iii several years. Dan Parker, in his Daily Mirror column the morning (27 l afler lhe story, broke, staled thai MacPhail had denied the sale when queried about it a few hours before the of- ficial. announcement- Friday afler- hoon at. "Zi" Parker followed up by recalling that MacPhail. while head man of the 'Brooklyn'Dodgers, had cull -J him (Parker) a "liar." Coruni, in his Saturday- (27) J-A column, denied his source was Mac- Phail or either'of the blher two. principals; Del Webb and Dan Top- ping. 'Corum and Kase had the slory of the sale all to themselves in the first edition of the J-A Friday (2(i> . Which was on the street before the "ir huddle. Rivals noted that de- tails, as relate' by Corum and.Kase,. Were all in order,-.an indication, they hinted, that the leak came right from some horse's mouth. ■ - 1 J. Arthur ^rledlund, Chicago con- tract specialist, handled legal details. He. is attorney for Arihur M. Wirti and: Sonja Henie; but stated that neither are interested in the Yankee team deal. Fred Allen In Hub Fred Allen returned -to Boston Sat. night (27) as a. guest speaker at the annual Cloyer club dinner at which Neal O'Hara. Traveler'- col- umnist, was installed as president. Comic wowed Willi a satire oh the city, life and politics. Silling mo- rosely Ihroiigh a burlesque of his owii radio show put on by members of the exclusively Irish club, Allen cracked, "now I understand why I'm out of work." Continued from page 1 even such luxury trains as the Cen- tury can't be counted on in any way to approximate schedules listed In timetables. - ■-, Meanwhile, ODT continues to tell roads how much equipment they can use and military reservation bureaus grab huge chunks of what- ever space Is available, while road shoWs thai once used to have special trains set up for them, rribve in what- ever space they can get—and usually at the last minute. 'Porgy' Quit* Road' ~ "Porgy and Bess" came, in from the road. Sunday (27) nearl^ two weeks earlier than the end of its. bookings. It was claimed that travel difficulties between one and two nighters In mldwestern territory, was a' basic reason for ourtailing the tour. ■ However, it's understood "Porgy" lost money for ■ the ■ past 10 weeks. Explained that whenever a date was missed ' through transportation de- lays It meant a-red operation. Show U partloularly expensive to travel because 22 musicians are oarried. "foray" may play a repeat date at the N. Y. City Center and some plans for a similar date are on for "Carmen Jones" (current at the Broadway), also •. colored-cast mu- sical, " VicVI Baum's "Stage Door" •Publication by Didier Co. last week of book, "Once in Vienna," at- tributed Id Vicki Baum. author of best-seller "Grand Hotel" and others, stirred up a tempest, espec-. ially .when book got slammed , by reviewers. Miss Baum. whose works, now are published by Doubleday- Doran. wired edilbrs and news serv- ices that she-neverwrote book of tha.l title.- Admitted she did write book ai age of IS called "Stage Door" ("Eingang Zur Buehn'e" in original German), which was her first novel and which she refers to as "this adolescent, utterly dated and ridiculous sin of my early youth." • But says she never authorized its publication in English. According to. Didier. original of iioyel (published in Germany in 1919) '.was republished in Amster- dam in 1930 and a year ago in Eng- land, -English publishers'•■ gelling righls from German publishers be- fore war. and Didier buying same. Miss Baum admits book was orig- inally sold outright to a German . 'publisher, which would make -whole matter perfectly in order. 'Silver Tongued' Dawson Jimmy Dawson. N. Y. Times box- ing and baseball expert, stepped out- as a master of ceremoi.ies last Wed- nesday (24) . when he officiated . at the Boxing Writers annual feed, replacing the hos«Baa*tzed*Sic«;Met--* cer. Event was held at the scribes' favorite retreat, the grill room atop George Ruppcrt's brewery, upper east side. Dawson was. so good in a company. of accomplished speakers that, other organizations are making- bids to him for m.c.ing assignments. A flock of we[I k'nowns were in ac- tion, on the dais. Quenlin Reyiioldf copping the honors In that direction. Boston Papers Limit A'mus. Adit Amus. ad space in Hub newspa- pers will be hc|d to a minimum from now on, theatre advertisers were notified" this week. - The Post has a maximum of 200 lines daily; Ihe Herald-Traveler's schedule calls for 140 lines three columns, 100 .lines in two columns, or 50. lines two columns in two in- sertions for a maximum of 480 lines. . Similar restrictions on the morn- ing and evening Globe, the Record- American and the Christian Science. Monitor, tatter always monitors copy in any case, accepting ads only from approved plays and films. .