Variety (Jan 1948)

VcdneBday, Jamiaiy 7, 1948 Forty-$eeond P^^RBE^TY AmitmrMory 23? Freedom From Fear on By RICHARD WATTS, JR. ' iDrama Critic, N. Y. Post) Perhaps we who have some pride in the theatre are living in a fool's paradise. Perhaps if the thought-control boys in Washington went to work OH the drama the way they did on the movies, Broadway would curl up as ignominiously as Hollywood did. But fprtunately we haven't yet been out to any'such test. i did' read in Louella Parsons' column the other day that some film producer had "made the front pages" by saying that a lot of plays con- tained dirty and, I presume, un-American language. However, I think Miss Parsons must have been misinformed, since, to the best of my knowl- edge, the producer's blast didn't reach any front page in this town, save possibly that of The Daily Worker,, which I didn t get around to seeing. Furttlermore, I can't believe that Brock Pemberton was violently in earnest when he told Earl Wilson that there were six siibversive shows on Broadway wMch shoi^d be in^ So I think it is safe to say thai, at the wioisieht of ivriting, the stage is in no immecliate danger. The theatre's current immunity, though, shouldn't make us too proud of Its freedom from fear. For one^thing, it arises from the somewhat ito- flattering fact of its. relative unimportance in the life of the nation. It just isn't big enough or on a sufficiently newsworthy scale. An investiga- tion of the theatre wouldn't rate enough front pages, newsreel cameras and radio coverage to interest the investigators. Nor are there enough glamor-boys of all ages in the theatre to testify against it amid the ap- plause of . the autograph seekers. In addition, the stage's appeal isn't general enough to place it as much at the mercy of pressure groups as the timorous cinema is. The drama is confined to comparatively small groups in a comparatively few-large qittes, and Its remaining audiences, whatever their failings may be, are at least more liberal, tolerant, sophisticated* and adult-minded than the vaster public that goes to the mpvies and listens to the radio. The theatre pays a price for the limited Size ©f its spectator-appeal, but there ai-e advantages to it. i Rich StepLrothcr Whatever these advantages for escaping the attentions of the witch- JiHhters are, the stage is currently in a position to look at its Wch step- brother, the' cinema, and be at least a little vain about its superiority. I think it is safe to say that, if the equivalent of the charges recently hurled at Hollywood by Ginger Rogers' mother and her distinguished associates Were tossed in the direction of Times Square, the result would be laughter tather than fright It would be hard for us to take seriously anything like the charge that there was soBiething Stalin-inspired about a novel written by Theodore Dreiser at the turn of the century ("Sister Carrie"), (Gontinued on page 256) ■ i» ♦»»♦♦♦>»»♦»♦»♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦^♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦■»^ I 1M8 May Be ANTA's Year ♦ ♦♦♦♦ f *»»* » »tBy GEORGE FREEDLEY 1947 has seen the program of the American National theatre and Academy considerably advanced, not only in New York City but through- out the country. This work under the executive directorship of Robert Breen with vital assistance from Col. C. Lawton Campbell, chairman of the Board of Directors, 'Vinton Freedley, its presi- dent, Rosamond Gilder, its secretary, Cheryl Craw- ford, Oscar Serlin, Clarence Derwent and other board members, has come along apace» On Feb. 9, after ANTA had donated the Princess theatre, N. Y., and worked hard to coordinate the joint efforts of Actors' Equity Association and the Dramatists' Guild, the Experimental theatre opened its doors. Five plays were given and 1,500 member- ships were sold. An interesting sidelight on'this was the fact that the critics paid for their own seats. The five nlays performed included' "The Wanhope Building,'' by John Finch, "O'Daniel" by John „ « Savacool and Glendon^Swarthout, "As We Forgive George Freedley our Debtors" by Tiflman Breiseth, "The Great Campaign" by- Arnold Sitodgaiard and "Virginia Heel" by John and Har- riet Weaver. They were staged by such directors as Brett Warren, Paul Crabtree, Jose Ferrer, Joseph Losey and Gerald Savory. The judges for the Sidney Howard Memorial Award selected the Experimental the- atre to receive the 1947 prize as '*tbe most impomnt development in the theatre this year.!* Through the good offices o£ ANTA, Katharine Cornell was induced to tour "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" and so be in a position to open the Drama Festival which marked the Utah Centennial held in Salt Lalie City. The procurement of professional talent was coordinated ttrough ANTA. In addition to Miss Cornell those who participated in the Festival were Judith Evelyn in "Joan ol Lorraine," Orsoii WeUes and a nucleus of Hollywood actors in "Macbeth. These troupes were augmented by the inclusion of townspeople and university students, Arnold Sundgaard wrote. "The Promised 'Valley," an historical dramatic pageant which ran during the summer. Along with the Academy Of Motion Pictinre Arts & Sciences, ANTA has sponsored since June the New Playwrights Program for Catholic University. Such actors, playwrights and critics have participated as Clarende Derwent, James Gow and Rosamond Gilder, fflhe program is under the chairmanship of Walter Kerr, corporate member of ANTA. The national tour of "Arins and the Mah.'* by Virginia State theatre (bom fts the Barter) is befaig conilttCted trader ANTA auspices. Participation in the N. Y. State Theatre Cdsference and the Eastern Theatre Confer- ence was among the year's projects. Margo Jones' theatre '47 and her Southwest Theatre Festival were under ANTA auspices. T.:e first rally to discuss ANTA's projects and to inform people outside New York City of its progress and plans, was undertaken under the spon- sorship of the Art Alliance in Philadelphia last January. A Playwrighting Contest and competition for scene designs was undertaken by the Art Alliance in Association with ANTA.' The judges for this contest were Walter Prichard Eaton, Blanche Yurka, John Gassner, Peggy Wood, Lee Simonson and Jens E;rederick Larson. The first rally to give information on the West Coast was held under the sponsorship oi Theatre Library Association at the Assistance Leagvn Playhouse in Hollywood in June. Kenneth Macgowan of the Univer- sity of California at Los Angeles^ a corporate member, presided. Cobina Wright, Sr., introduced the chairman ot the Membership Committee, your correspondent, as the principal speaker. Blanche Yurka, Peggy Wood, Gilmor Brown and Harriet Hinsdale spoke from the floor. The second meeting of this kind' was held under the auspices of the University of Washington on the campus at Seattle. \ To acquaint the members of the various theatrical imions as well as the general public, a rally was held at Maxine JBll&tt's theatre, N. Y., on Nov. 30 to dedicate the restored house ito the Ejmterimental theatre pro- gram. Derwent and Freedley presided and the ^eakers included Miss Crawford, C. Lawton Campbell, J. B. l^iestley, Frances Rowe, Judith Evelyn, Alan Corelli, Sam Jaffee, Alexander KirBJand and the writer. Plans for a gigantic benefit at the Ziegfeld theat%, kindly donated by Billy Rose, for Jan. 18 are being prepared' under ihe chairmanship of Serlin, Freedley and Miss Crawford, Plans are afoot to raise considerable funds this year so as. to put into effect the great program for the decentralizption of the professional the- atre. Tile rallying cry may very well be "1948 is ANTA'i year." . Central City Strikes Gold By JOSEPH C. SHEA Central City, Colo. An unique adventure in the thea- tre which has developed into big- time operation comparable to any other civic venture in America is that of the Central City Opera House in Central City, Colo., which last year celebrated its 13th "strawhat" season, establishing It as the "Sum- mer Theatre Capital of America." The 1947 season was the most success- ful at the old Opera House, located 40 miles from Denver and 4,000 feet up in the mountains from Its parent city, which itself is a mile high in the clouds. Central City (Pop. 708X has . an opera house five years older -than New York's Metropolitan. After the hard-pan miners, gamblers, mer- chants and mule skinners made their stake, they desired some culture, and built the granite theatre in 1878. Then ^Central City became a ghost town, and was not much in the news until the Opera House Assn. restored the edifice in 1932, follow- ing the presentation of the site to Denver University by the McFar- lane fainily of Central City. In 1860 Central City had a three- month season of plays and operas In a log theatre. Then came the fire of 1874, Which leveled the town, and in 1878 the Opera House opened a nine-month season, to which came the greatest actors of the day. From the standpoint of prestige and advertising for the State of Colorado, the Central City Festival is considered the biggest cultural and tourist attraction the State has to offer. Most of the improvements and rehabilitation, of the Opera House, Teller House, historical libi-ary and miner's museum were financed by gifts from Mrs. Spencer Penrose of Colorado Springs; John Evans of Central City, a descendant of Colorado's first gbvemw;; tise Mc- Farlane family, and E'ranlc H. Ricketson, Jr., and his civic commit- tee. Every effort has been made by- the association to restore Eureka Street to its original setting (plus better paving) ,and tp give tourists the pleasure of visiting a mining town that was the gold and cultural [enter in the roaring '80's. 'Corpse' of Grand Opera Plenty Lively-- Johnson •By EDWARD JOHNSON . tiillian Gista in 'Camille' Starting with an eight-day en- gagement of Lillian Gish in "Ca- mille" in 1932, other attractions at the Opera House have been: "The Merry Widow" with Gladys Swarth- out and Natalie Hall; Walter Hus- ton in "Othello;" "Central City Nights," an original musical revue with Nan Sunderland; "The Gon- doliers," "A Doll's . House," "Ruy Bias," "The.'Yeoman of the Guard," "The Bartered Bride," "The Barber, of Se-vUle," "The Abduction itam the Seragila," ■•'La Traviata," and, in 1947, 60 days for "Marttia," "Fi- deUo" and "HSMTvey." Brock Pemberton, "Harvey'' pro- ducer, presented' Central City with a memorial chair in honor of An- toinette Perry, his associate, who died recently, on Jhe first Saturday night of the comedy's engagement. The gift was handed over the foot- lights, and accepted by Mayor John Jenkins, Some 400 of the hiciliory chairs have been subscribed to- by relatives and friends of pioneers as well as stage stars, who appeared in the Opera House. Among the names which one may see carved into the backs of these kitchen-type chairs are those of Sarah Bernhardt, Adelitta Pattl, Sfoude Adams, Eugene Fields, Grand Diike Alexis, Horace, Greeley, Harry Tammen, Spencer' Penrose, Edwin Booth, Lawrence Barrett, Helena Modjeska, Lotta Crabtree, Kit Carson, Jim Bridger, Buffalo Bill, H. A. W. Tabor, George Washington Hill, Gov, John Evans and Caroline Bancroft. fl<6,8M Gross Only three living persons have their names on these memorial chairs. They include Robert Edmond Jones, who opened the Festivals with "Camille" in 1932; Frank St. Leger, who staged and eoftdHCted six opetas ill Central City, aad BlU? Hamilton, 71-year-old ctstodlan the Opera House. According to the annual report by Davis W. Moore, treasurer and chair- man of the finance conimittee, .hew boxoffice and attendance records were set in 1947 as the association expanded Its season from an original one week in 1932 with ■ gross Of $13,000, to seven weeks in 1947, with (General Manager, Metropolitan Opera Assn.) It often seems to those of us who are in the business of producing operas that whenever the advance guard in musical circles have a little black crepe On their bands, they inva);iably drape it all over grand opera, par>. ticularly as represented at the Metropolitan. The gist of the funeral orations—and they have achieved an almost classic pattern since they are as old as opera itself—is that the acting is lurid and bombastic, that the techniques of production and distribution are obsolete, and that grand opei-a is the prerogative and pleasure of the limited few. What is even worse, we are informed, grand opera does not adjust itself to the times; it Is old-fashioned( Throughout all these obsequies, however, the corpse has a discouraging habit of sitting up and enjoying the proceedings. This bit of necromancy certainly bears investigation. Let us, therefore, ruti over the charges in order and see whether -Qiey are valid. As to the level of acting: of course it is heightened. The total capacity of the Metropolitan Opera House is 3,900 persons, some of whom are seven stories up from the stage and a block away^ The subtle gestures and nuances of facial expression that carry well in a small theatre simply do not project across such distances. Since operas are generally sung in foreign languages there Is an additional barrier to comprehension that acting must surmount. So dramatics are florid and often flamboyant, and indeed are subsidiary to vocal capacity. Yet acting of a high caliber does exist within the operatic pattern as witness such portrayals as Ezio Pinza's Don Giovanni, Rise Steven's Octavjan, or the Azucena of Cloe Elmo." Edward Jobnson Stage Technique I In connection with stage technique, remember that the Metropolitan presents some 30 operas a season, with a different production every night* Each production involves its own particular problems in scenic arrange* ment, direction and' lighting. Operating under these conditions, it is clear" that a program of elaborate pageants on the Holly wood scale is' botll ^ physically and financially prohibitive. Nor are these attentions necessacjr- in .any case. The purpose of a setting is to produce an illusion consistent with the spirit and intent of the opera; to enhance by representation'^||^< lighting the emotional content of the action and music. Each of the sets at the Metropolitan Opera was created by a leading scene designer whose object was not to astonish the audience with virtu- osity of design, but to add the element of art to the unity of operatic endeavor. The fruits of this policy may be viewed in the foismal yet amusing elegance of "Der Rosenkayalier," in the multiscenic evolutions of "The Magic Flute," in the somber power scenicaUy conveyed in "H Trova- tore." Proof of the Met's constant development will be furnished thi* winter when Lee Simopsop's grandiose sets for the four KtUsic-droatas of the "Ring of the Nibelung" are unveiled. • It was interesting recently to read in VarjeW a somewhat breathless account of the extraordinary distribution achieved by the Theatre Gttild, . which is currently reaching the public through the four-fold medium of theatre, radio, cinema and television. According to yMxikn this represents the ultimate to date—but is It? Friedrich Feher, president of International Opera Films, has recently completed arrangements with the Metropolitan Opera Assn. to photograph complete operas in color and sound and to distribute ttiem to ed'ucational institutions. It is probable that these films will eventually be televised. Since the Met ^eady produces on stage, over the air,.and through records, the staid, antiquated old instituiioa -will be one up on even the prolific Theatre Guild. Adjustment to Times The question of "adjustment'to the times" is an interesting one. The assumption is that in an age whose important thinking is guided by Freud and atom fission, grand opera floats idly in the backwaters Of the unin« tellectual past, relying on old devices and hackneyed' themes. To those who really believe this, I recommend Bernard Shaw's critical analysis: "The Perfect-Wagnerlte." "Writing 50 years ago about operas conceived WO years ago, Shaw sums up in devastating clarity the fact 'Biat the "Ring" deals with the dilemmas and fears reflected in today's .headlines; the revo- lutions of society and the concentration of lethal power. Recent re-examination of some of Mozarf s works—"Don Giovanni" in particular—shows musical psychology of the highest order. And our moat fabulous modern institution, the motion picture, depends to a high degree on musical backgrounds to heighten and clarify the dramatic texture—a pure operatic device. One needs hardly cite the recent work of a Gian- Carlo Menotti or Benjamin Britten to show that in a sense grand opera doesn't have to adjust itself to the times; the times are adjusting them'* selves to grand opera. Nature indeed follows art. In the last analysis, however, the answer to the accusation that opera is obsolete must come from the operas themselves. None of the streamlining of mass distribution or of modem stagecraft, not even the recondite appro- bation of the psychiatrists, can breathe real life into opera if it doesn't fulfill its prime role of moving entertainment. And when audiences fail to shudder at the terrible doom of "Don Giovanni," when they are un- moved by the final chocked "Mimi!" of "La Boheme," when they sit placidly through the "Liebestod" of "Tristan," and when they no longer feel the primitive terror of Azucena's wild jeremiads in "H Trftvatore," then opera will be old-fashioned indeed and ready to make 1ra;y for a more advanced form. I a gross, excluding tax, of about $166,800. One Innovation of the 1947 Central City season was the "critique," which offered a panel discussion on "The American Theatre." This single afternoon forum will be repeated next season. Burns Mantle led last summer's discussion by noting the dwindling .scope Of the theatre, pointing out that in the 1920's from 250 to 275 new plays were produced on Broadway compared to the cur- rent average ftt 85 per season. Cressida m Fla. St Augustine. "Dlomedes and Cressida," a mod- ernized adaptation by Julia Wiggins Brinkman of "Troilus and Cressida," will be tried out Frlday^^gX-teJ^" Pa- tricia button's stock company at the Artillery Lane Playhouse here. • Ken Rockefeller is directing and the cast includes Ned and Carson Gould, Tom Hughes Sand, Criff Cothren and Sally Carmichael. Reading (Pa.) Stock Co. Platis to Reoi^aiii20 Reading, Pa. Members of John Kenle/s stock company, which folded two weeks ago at the Plaza theatre here, plan to reorganize. They hope to rent the 1,100-seat film house owned by the Masonic Temple Assn for a series of shows some time in January. Credda Zajac, one of the troupe, told members of a civic club that a Theatre Guild will be organized here' and that it will get financial and other aid from New York theatrical organiiations interested in finding employment for actors how; out of ' jobs. Kenley, who had planned to op- prate here 20 weeks, said-he will not be interested in the proposed re- opening of the Plaza, but that next summer he. will again operate his stock theatre, the Deer Lake, at th« summer colony of fliat namelysai&Kl ' north of Reading. .