Variety (Sep 1946)

WedncBday, September 11, 1946 LEGITIMATE 57 Long-Expected Ballet War Starts; 14 Dance Troupes an Gravy Train Sell 'Born Yesterday' French, Dutch Versions French and Dutch rights to the I Garson Kanin legiter, "Born Yester- I day," .current Broadway hit, have been completed by the William Mor- I ris agency. ■ ' Dutch rights have been sold to Cor Ruys, actor-producer, who; plans an early production in an Amster- dam theatre. Marcel Durand, French playwright, will make the adapta- tion and direct for the Paris version. Deal is pending for Scandinavian production. Yiddish Shows Back At Clinton St., N. Y. Yiddish stageshows return to the Clinton theatre, in downtown New York, this Friday (13) in the pres- entation of Jewish stage stars in one-act plays every weekend, in- stead ot the former straight vaude- ville. ■ Opening program will include such performers as Aaron Lebedeff, Miriam Kressyn and Vera Rosanko, Broadway Legit Parade Resumes Next Week With Two Openings The long-expected ballet war this t season is on^ with one Of the three major companies, Ballet Ruiwe de. Monte Carlo, already performing in N. Y., and the other two majors. Original Ballet Russe and Ballet Theatre, set to start their N. Y. .sea- sons in two weeks. Tn addition, 14 dance troupes (the above three included) are set to tour the U. S. this season, lo indicate a banner year in ballel--but aLso to suggest that the peak has been reached. With bookings completed for the 14, biz is expected to be good; But belief among dance fra- ternity is that 14 is too many; that money is beginning to tighten a bit, and that for the first season in years, audiences will really shop for amusement. The real test it's felt, will come during the winter of 1947, when dickering-for bookings for the | 1947-48 season will commence. (Trend away from ballet is being noticed on Broadway, in the new musicals;.) Fourteen companie.'i set to -traip.se the countryside are: Ballet 'Russe, . Original Ballet Russe, Ballet Thea- i Trend of ballet m Broadway mu- tre. Ballet for America, Jooss Ballet, i ^"^^'-'^ apparently is on the dec line i?t"Madn''aTeUovftroupe°Manti -"--"^ f^'w have ballet chorros-! employed in all theatres of over c'ralfam Co. Chad^s'S^ I^P,'-- ^-^ted as dance director. ! MOO seating capacUy and those witl. mdicating a swjiig away frbm toe j less when.-housing a hit iicket- twifls to the'more standard tap-and- j men point put that latter houses gen- twist chorus lines. ' ^ ■ : ^6^■ally iiave a heavy mailorder, mak- Decline is attrbuted lo the fact i"8 * PftysifaUy impofiW^^ Chi Opera Co. Maps With three openings last week, I the first week in September, Broad- I way's fall legit season dozes off I again, with no openings this week. FnaUck Tran«latiftn* l^s''^^^ ''^''"""es again next week, JjIIgllSU liaiWiaUUIlO I ^^.jf,^ ^^^^ ^^^^^g scheduled: "Gypsy Trend Away From Ballet Musicals Mgrs„ B.O. Aides StiUAtOddsln Pay Negotiations Negotiations . between theatre operators and Broadway box-office men's union remained deadlocked this week when the union again rejected compromise scale offered via James Fi ReiUyj exec-secretary of League of New York Theatres, who is front- I ing for the managers in the con- troversy: I Ticketsellers are . demanding new j scale of $110 for treasurers, $95. for 1 assistants and also requiring that Chicago, Sept. 10: The Chicago Opera Co. plans to commission translations of two op- eras, one of which will be produced in 1947. Idea is to popularize opera for the mai'sfi^. with two shows scheduled: "Gypsy Lady," Sept. 17 at the Century: '"Hidden Horizon" Sept. 19, at the Plymouth.--Lineup compares favor- ably with last year, when September saw nine openings Magnificent Heel,'', seheSul^d fpr.- Abner J. Stiiwell. Opera Co. i tne Miller Sept. 18, will be wilh- prexy, in making the announcement added that the two operas have not been chosen but it's likely they will be among ':Carmen," "La Traviata,," "Cavalleria Rusticana" and' "Pagliac- ci." Final choice will be made by a drawn this weekend in Wa.shington for revisions. The comparison Is even better, considering the reaction to last week's revival of "The Front Page." The very first .show of the fall, sea- VOte of the opera-going public, with son, opening Wednesday H), it was the translation not yet assigned. Tather s 3-Way Partnership Jose Limon & Co., Ruth Pa.ge troupe. La Meri Co., and Dance Trio IDud- ley-Maslow-Bayles) Co. Ballet for America is first out-of-town starter,, beginning its tour in Bridgeport Sal- in-day (141. Of the three majors, Ballet Thea- tre, it's believed, will have the strongest company. Company, di- rected by Lucia Gha.se and Oliver Smith, just finished a fine prestige '.sea.son at the Royal Opera llau.se, London. It retains mo.st of its solo- ists from last year, with its Nora Kaye and Alicia Alonso listed as fin^ est among the younger ballerinas. K did lose Andre Eglevsky to Origi- nal Ballet Russe. Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin, who danced with the company last season, were guest artists, appearing only from time to time, and their lo.ss isn't too serious since guest arti.st-s d<-n t m.ike or break a company. Ballet Theatre made a very good showing this sum- mer in London. London didn't ac- cept it PS on a par with_ its own dance group, the Sadler Wells Bal- let, but liked it as theatre. Audiences were more theatre than ballet pa- trons. The modern works were liked best; the Americana was liked for its flavor; the .standard works weren't too well received, Overall impression, however, was very fa- vorable. Ballet Russe de iWontc Carlo, now finishing a 10-day .season at the N. Y. Cjty Center, is regarded as the most disciplined company. Company is small and compact, and lacking in names except its veterans' Alexan- dra Danilova and Frederic Frank- lin. Promising talent, however, ex- ists in Marie-Jeanne, Ruthanna Boris, Leon Daniolian, Nathalie Krassovska and Marie Tallchief, Company is expected to grops $4.5,* 000-$50,000 in its 10-day stay at the City Center, with $2.40 lop, and had advance of over f.'JO.OOO when it opened there Sept. 4. . The Original Ballet Rus.se, making its bow at the Metropolitan Opera House, N. Y., Sept. 29, after a N. Y. absence ot five years, excites most ihterest. Sol Hurok, who formerly booked the Ballet Theatre, is now booking this group, which performed ,,here five years ago under Col, Vas- sily de Basil as now. Group has - great advantage of having most of ' the standard ballets that were huge successes a few years ago, like "Coq d'Or" and several Leonide Massine choreographies. The new ballets and new names, it's believed, will attract attention. Company will have Miss Markova, Dolin and Eglev.5ky added to troupe. Company has been in South America last fev, seasons, and recently refurbished costumes, scen- ery, etc., in Brazil. that Broadway musicals, in the last few seasons, have had a little too much of ballet, and most of it wasn't good. Ballet experts feel that Broad- way, given to , running to formulae, has, been doing too much imitating, and that this season will complete the cycle. Of the current mu.sicals, the revivals may have ballets be- cause they originally had some. But advance, info on new musical-s. in many cases, doesn't, even list a treasurer and one assistant to han die window sales, phone' ordters arid the mail accounts. Theatremen have offered compro- mise scale of $100-$7,') sans additional staffs in boxpffices and state that such additions, if made, be on a tem- porary basis - and not committing house to permanent staff of three in ticket windows. Another meeting has been set for next Monday (16) or Tuesday ■ (17) unanimously well received and ap- pears,to.,, be, in. The first ,succe.ss last year didn't come until Sept. 26, with "Deep Are the Roots,'' which fol- lowed eiglit flops. "Page" received Okay notices from all nine N. Y. dailies,; a ,<'eat that only five shows accomplished last season: "Call Me Mister," "Annie: Get Your Gun," "O Mistress, Mine," ;"Born, Yesterday" I an;d"State of the' Union." "State," i Jerry Cargill, head of concert (the earliest one, didn't come along ! division of A. & S. Lyons agency, | last: „year :until Nov.^ ! N. v.. and James Kling are partnered ' •l°>^"ething of a' new pattern for a I beplember month usually devoted to Vith David C. Jones in operation ot : jjopj by hitting: the ,bulls%cvright I special road company of the "Life off. I With Father." which will tour by [ "Page" management pulled an un- I bus on the one-niter trail. A 30- i usual stunt in taking a thre.e,-cbl,umn I i'ool van will traniport scenery and Hisplay ad iii Friday's News ..to re- : props. j print in toto the Times review of Experiment, according to CargUl, ' ^"""^^^ Atkinson, "the first review will spot show in stands that , have by one • of,,: Americ.as;, out ! not had a stage attraction of any choreographer, to suggest a playing \ between Reilly and reps of treas- down of that ungle. urer's union, with both sides ..still "Park Avenue," -.'Sweet Bye and : "Wurate on pr(;sc nt deman ds. " Bye" and "Street Scene" li.st no I ' choreographer. "Toplitsky Of Notre Dame" has Robert Sidney. "Cinder- ella '46" has, Charles Weidman, mod- ern dance director, as dance stager. "Yours Is My Heart" had Henry Shwarze, onetime Jooss Ballet (modern) principal. "Gypsy Lady"' has Aida Broadbent, and "Look. Ma, I'm Dancing" has Jerome Robbinij. Michael Kidd is .set^for "Come Blow Your Horn." Only the last three! of tryout trip of "Mary Had a are likely to stage in the ballet tra-, Little," Rosen's latest. ' "Mary" is of same "naughty" type 'Mary' Seemingly Has Plenty for A! Rosen; Big Boff on the Road Prospect that producer Al Rosen has another "Good Nighty Ladies" on hi.s hands is seen in results thus far commercial dates In Pittsfield, Mass., and.' P<>rtland, Me., opening at the] former on Sept. 23 and latter Sept. 28, . it will play auditoriums or high schools. "To circumvent possible local film-theatre opposition to use of high school auditoriums, "Father" will have tieups with local organiza- tions for auspices. Producers claim to be going all out on pro'duction costs for' the in- itialcr so as to blaze a trail of new territory for legits; which the .same trio win send out' if "Father" re- i sponse is sulficiently encouraging. ] Brandon Peters arid Alice Thom- ' son head cast, which went into re- j .standing, newspapermen upot. his re- turn as critic." (Atkin.son has been a: foreign correspondent during the war years.) News' John Chapman wrote a generally favorable piece, with a couple of odd twists. Chap- man gave the third-act curtain line away, reprinting it in full ("The s.o.b. stole ray watch."), even to spelling out the profanity — which also caused a little comment. But he neatly wove it into his own last line, when after saying that the show was exciting now only at moments, he added: "Obviously some s.o.b. has stolen my youth." Blunt speech of the critics in dis- cussing the several shows last week has also occasioned some talk. Dis- "Yours Is My Heart," ^ 1 hearsal this week under direction of I Thursday's (5) opener, starring ; Cecil Clovelly. Others in ca.st are | Richard Tauber, Chapman started Lee Sanders, Henry Craig Neslo, |,his review by giving aWay the Frances Helm, Tom Highes. Sand, tenor's age (.56), while News col- dition. Trucco Re-Signed Meniphi.s, Sept. 10, ■Victor Trucco, winter conductor for the San Carlo Opera Co., has signed a contract to return to the . Memphis Open Air Theatre next summer as musical director and conductoi'. Joseph Cortese, general manager, announced the MOAT will observe its 10th Anniversary Jubilee next summer hy repeating (he ouLstand- ig hits of its previous seasons. Jan Kiepnra Wins Equity Waiver On Alien Rule for 'Widow' as "Ladies." which ran two years in Chicago. "Mary," which cost $27,500 to produce, opened in San Diego for two-day run about eight weeks ago. Show clicked at once, although the two-day run because of the Set- up was at' a loss. Conaedy opened in San: Francisco the following Hollywood, Sept l(j week," where it ran five profitable Actors Equity ruling that an alien weeks. First full week it did $19,500. thesp has to wait six months be- Show moved from Frisco to Detroit, tween legit engagements has been i ^^'^^''e it's now current. It , did about waived to permit Jan Kiepura to co- $19.QO0 (at the Shubert-Lsifayette) Roberta Bellinger, Neville Westman. Ruth Silarr. Eleanor de Vito, Helen IF. Evans. Donald. Dick and David umnist Danton Walker stated that "Tauber looks lik ■ something out ot Madame Tussaud's Wax Works;" At- Frank and Jones. Victor Kiraly j kins,bn spoke Of Tauber as "now Will iiandle advance press, with i somewhat bulky and ripened a.s a romantic opera hero," and later ori. I Kljng and several others pactihg j stand and auspices tieups. star with his wife, Marta Eggerth, in the Eugene Haskell revival of The Merry Widow," skedded for playing oppo.site "Dream Girl,' (Ca.ss) which did $8,000. : After next week, its: fourth in De- tryout in San Diego Sept; 29 and : troit, show moves to St. Louis for a bowing at the Los Angeles Philhar- I vi?eek, and will play around ,Chicago, monic. Ruling is designed to pre- [looking for a Windy City house, vent foreign stars from taking jobs j With Chi theatre situation tight, that citizens could fill. : I Roisen is hopeful of getting the Sel- According. to Equity reps here, i vvyn, if the touring "Dream Girl" production is being built around, the I doesn't hold. "Mary" has Mary Rtepuras, hence the waiver. Al.so, ; Brian and Edmund Lowe for leads, McKay Morris Tabbed With $480 FiHe, Called Down in 'Candida' Vamp Despite inclination of council to maintain a cloak of .se- I crecy on its decision in actor Mc- I Kay iMorris' hearing on conlract- I jumping charges preferred by Jules i J. Leventhal and Frank McCoy, pro- ducers of the revival of "Candida from which he ankled, it ' Was as in referring to the tenor's entrance, mentioned the time "when the big pot appears." Notices on "Hear." were aU un- favorable, although the Post's Ver- non Rice, after panning the show, thought it would still be supcessful! because of Tauber's draw, 'fauber's singing was acclaimed by all' erix, jjquity's I several agreeing show would do bet- ' tor as a concert piece than as the-, atre. Rice, in discussing "Page," ended up a rave piece with: "After re- minding us Of what they are really capable of doing,. Ben Hccht and Charles MacArthur (the : play-, Wrights) should be made to go and the Polish tenor has taken all hi.s exams; and is on verge of becoming ^ an American citizen. . His-last job j piro'cfuct'ion was in . the much-litigated ."Polon- aise," from which- he bowed, last May. ■ ■■ GULLIVER TO TRAVEL AGAIN, IN PLAY FORM with. Leon Errol having staged. ■. Meantime, Rosen has a Broadway mind in , "Baby Grancl,'' a one-set, intimate musical j witri 11: principats and! chbrua of eight. vShi'O'w is based bn. ;a c(imed^^ by Stephen CSross, and Lin ,.S. Root, I "One dood Year,'': seen a dozen i years ago,' With Arthur Johnson and ' Sam Coslow adapting, and adding songs and lyrics. Story concerns a ..... ; music studeht who agrees to hay<; a New treatment on life of Jonathan i baby eugenically for a wealthy I certained from reliable .sources that ! ^J""'! f .^^^^ ""^^^^ '■ actor was tagged with a $480 fine. 1 ,°°'.''' "^J^^'^ 'S*'"" ^ong' is , latter lo be paid to the producers. I P^ayne, for a half hour before cur- ! Amount io .said to cover inconven- ■ Sh ame on you , boys!" ' ienee and expen.se accrued by them V--, , _ ,__^' ^ . ' j ^:Tovml Say"' '^'■^'^^^"r; RADIO'S :1R. D., A. ■ I On an additional charge again.st i 1 the actor by Jane Cowl, star of j , : tnuux;. and other.s of the comprmy i John Wildberg is huddling with Jay Jostyni radio's "Mr. District At- torney," for a starring role in a new niystety drama Wilrtbe'rg plans. EYED BY WILDBERG Swift, English .satirist and author of "Gulliver's Travels," will shortly make the rounds in the script, "Dear Foolish Rogue" by Howard A. Praeger and Mary Wallace, his wife. Written in 1941, Sir Cedric Hard- wicke was said to have been inter- ested in the play, according to author Praeger, Story of Swift wcs la.st dramatized by Win.ston Clewcs in his "The Vio- .lent Friends,'' produced in: London a few seasons ago Praeger, how- ever, is stressing the love triangle in Swift's life and believes his ver- sion to have more appeal for the American audience Currently he's making a few revisions on "Rogue.'' matron for a $3,000 payment. Bergman, Jones Huddle on 'Joan' Hollywood, Sept. 10. ; Margo .Tones and Ingrid Bergman are huddling here on Miss Berg-, man's fir.st legit appearance in this country, "Joan of Lorraine," slated for autumn production on Broadway. Miss Bergman is slated to leave for New York Oct. 4. Meanwhile, Miss Jones is spending several weeks here directing the star in the stage piece., ,: ■ . that the actor's "untoward be j havior might have jeopardized con- j'.iinut'd employment of the other.";, ' he wa.s verbally chaslised and placed on "probation" by Equity for six months. Incident stems back to last July 1 "^""^' '"''^ go into rehearsal as when "Candida" was moving: ,from'i touches are made., If : [Buffalo to Toledo, with Morris faj]-i ^'^"P'''"'^ '^°™P'^*^<^ in,time, show :,ing to put in appearance for per-i **^,*!''3"1.'^^^^ j formanco in -latter stand. Under- ,' I study went on instead. Troupe continued for remainder of route with another actor .sup-: planting Morris. Producers filed charge.s against Morris with Equity, but at that lime he said he had not been provided with sleeper spate for the jump. Producers sub.se- quently proved they had provided .same. Morris did not make a de- fense at Equity hearing. to produce. Play is as yet uhfihished, and pro- ducer refuses to divulge author's 'Barnaby' Balto Opener Baltimore. Sept. 10. Legit season got under way here (his, week with "Barnaby and Mrs. O'Malley'V presented by Barney Josephson and James D. Proctor at Ford's. ■No attraction set for .next week, with "The Temporary Mrs. Smith", starring Francine Larrimore, set to open Sept. 23.