Variety (Jul 1948)

WednDHlay, July 28, 194» DON'T BE A CHORINE Reoipnm a Chorister s Defidt The average weekly budget for a working chorus girl or boy {either singer or dancer) on Broadway is reported as follows: Kent ., $16.53 Food - i 24.79 Lessons — ,.... .. .... ... 18.44 Medical Expense .-,.....,... .., . 3.23 Clothes 4.91 Miscellaneous 14.84 Total $82.74 Average weekly pay ($82 gross, less Social Security, with- holding tax) , 72.00 Weekly deficit $10.74 The above figures are based on returns from the seven musicals einploying chorus members for the week of .Tune 21, 1948. The I>reaent minimum pay under the Actors Equity-League of N. Y. Theatres agreement is $60 (gross), which becomes $75 under the new contract, effective Aug. 15. $2^^ EqMH^yiH Theatre 6iiiiil Subscription M by Seasra s Start With an expectation of more-^ than 200,000 subscribers in 30 cities, the Theatre Guild-American Theatre Society will probably have about $2,500,000 in cash in the till at the start of the new season. That is figured to make it easily the biggest subscription the- atre organization in the world. Besides adding nine new cities to its subscription list for the 1948- 49 semester, ATS anticipates an increase of about 10% in the num- ber of subscribers in the 21 cities already on the rolls. ^ The total number of subscribers last season was 151,924, a rise of almost 6,000 Over the 1946-47 season, when there was one less city on the list. The anticipated 10% boost in subscriptions for this season is based on preliminary returns. Added 49,000 new subscribers ex- pected in the nine additional cities bring the estimated total number of subscribers to the 200,000 mark (even allowing for the loss, of Wash- ington). On the basis of approxi- mately $15 per 'season ticket, the Guild-ATS wiU have an advance sale of $2,500,000 on the season. Nine New Cities , The nine new cities (with the estimated membership . likely for • each) are Dallas (8,000), Ft. Worth (5,800), Houston (9,000), San An- tonio (8,000), Austm (3,500), El Paso (3,000), Toronto (4,800), Wilming- ton (3,700) and Richmond (3,200). Already on the list (with last sea- son's subscription figures) were BalUmore (4,207), Boston (11,900), Buffalo (2,294), Chicago (16i784), Cincinnati (3,490), Cleveland (2,612), Columbus (2,462), Detroit (8,187), Indianapolis (2,761), Min- neapolis (2,698), New York (18,950), Philadelphia (13*429), Pittsburgh (4,829), St. Louis (5,829), St. Paul (3,465), Washington (15,800), Kan- sas City (3,168), Los Angeles U 0,106), Mibwaufcee (3,807), San Irancisco (10,783) and Seattle (4,, ob3). ATS subscription shows Will be selected from among nine (iroduc- tions. "Oklahoma" and "Carousel" will be available through the south. For the entire subscription list the choice will be among Allegro," "The Play's the Thing," the second company of "A Street- car Named Desire," "Speak to Me of Love," "The Emperor of China," Jane," "Set My People Free" and Ihe Silver Whistle." The last- named, five would probably play several eastern cities as tryouts and be available to the rest of the country only after their Broadway runs. 'Harveyf Goes % Washington, July 27. During a matinee perform^ ance of "Harvey," at the Na- tional here last week, Sara En- right, New York agent who cast most of the actors in the show, was backstage arguing with a couple of' her clients about commissions. Fred Lewis, who plays the psychiatrist, became so upset that in the third act, 'when he's supposed to rush onstage with the line, "Here, here, what's all this commotion?" he made it read "commission." Audi- ence didn't catch the boner, but it con'vulsed the other actors. JWml Eyes St Louis For ^^irew" Pireeni St. Louis, July 27. Siving the Mun- icipal Theatre Assn's al <resco play- bouse in Forest Park the o.o. dur- ing the presentation of "White fagle, ■ is mulling the idea of hav- ins new operetta, "Taming of tne Shrew," worid-preemed here season. With RusseU Janney ana Brian Hooker, who wcote the book and lyrics of "Eagle," he vis- ♦h» ^J"*theatre, making the trip from :b[oUywo0d. • Beretz a B'way Librettist Allen Boretz, who, with the late John Murray authored "Room Service" 10 years ago* and has been engaged in Hollywood as a writer chiefly since, will be running among three or four legit musicals in the next year or two. Besides Milton Baron's "45 Minutes From Broadway," 'based on some old George M. Cohan songs but with a new libretto by himself, Boretz has written another. With George Bass- man contributing the score. Bassman, for 12 years on the Metro lot as arranger-composer, meantime is doing the arrange^ ments iwith Hugh Martin) for Monte Proser's "Heaven on Earth," new musical by Jay Gomey and Barry Trivers. Boretz's "45 Minutes" may go into rehearsal in October, depend- ing on both Robert Lewis, the stage Joseph Kipness' new musical, choreographer. Latter must first stage Joe KipnessV new musical, "That'^ the Ticket" which Harold J. Rome tunesmithed. Lewis helped with staging in "This Is the Army," and "Brigadoon" if his concurrent handiwork. Boretz, Lewis & Rob- bins may also form a producing alliance. Eddie Albert, who came to attention in Boretz's "Room Serv- ice," is reading '?45 Minutes," Mary Jane Walsh, present lead in "Annie Get Your Gun" (succeed- ing the vacationing Ethel Merman), Is being mentioned for the femme lead although there would be only two or three songs for her to do. T Li ON WMl m By HOBE MORRISON The average working chorus member on Broadway cannot live on what he earns in the theatre. On the basis of an estimated aver- age wage of $82 a week, before taxes and social security are de- ducted, a singer or dancer loses more than $10 a week, even while employed. That doesn't take into accouift his periods between engagements, wlien he has no regular income but his living expenses remain al- most as high. The fact that the minimum chorus salary, under the new contract between Actors Equity and the League of N. Y, Theatres, will rise from $60 to $75, eifective Aug. 15, probably won't alter the situation much, as most managements already pay more than scale. The: cost'»of-living figures for chorus members, both men and women, were obtained recently by a special committee of Chorus Equity. Data was gathered by the CE deputies in seven Broadway musicals. They were "Allegro," "Annie Get Your Gun," "Briga- doon," "Finian's Rainbow," "High Button Shoes," Inside U.S.A." and 'Look Ma, I'm Dancin'." Week of June 21, 1948, was taken. The returns of 112 chorus mem- bers were tabulated in figuring the average hving expanses. (Those from "High Button Shoes" are not included, as the deputy for that company computed the averages himself, and did not state , the number of chorusers involved. However; the various averages for "Shoes" were generally consistent with those for the other six shows, tending to substantiate the find- ings.) According to the chorus mem- bers' own estimates, the average weekly living expenses for ensem- ble singers and dancers; both men and women, is $82.74. Of this amount, $16.53 goes for rent (in- cluding utilities), $24.79 for food, $18.44 for lessons (including coach- ing and classes in singing and dancing, acting, diction, languages, plus cost of' rehearsal studios, sheet music, practice shoes and (Continued on Page 102) BaDet m Hudeomedy Far From Out Sez (^re^a^er Helen 1mm Title Levy-Englund Shov? Levy-Englund Productions new- fall musical by Ken Englund, with lyrics by Ogden Nash and music by Vernon Duke, has been titled "Sweet Dreams." Nash, Duke and Englund are in Ngw Hampshire working on the score. , . Lon Levy, head of Leeds Music, and manager of the Andrews Sis- ters,' is currently in London with the singers, who open at the Palla- dium there nexi'\veek. Fast-Traveling New* How Broadway has migrated to Connecticut was illustrated again over the weekend. Rich- ard Rodgers, who has a . sum^ mer home in Fairfield, set the deal by phone Saturday n^bt (24) for Mary Martin to co-star with Ezio Finza in "Tales of the South Pacific," the musical which he and Oscar Ilammer- stein, 2d, are co-authoring >for fall production. It was agreed. to keep the news quiet for a few days. Immediately after hanging up the phone, the composer and Mrs. Rodgers drove to a party at a neighbor's home, where a number of show busi- ness people'were present. - As she ushered them into the liv- ing room the hostess an- nounced, "I hear you've signed Mary Martin for your new show." MPLS. LYCEUM GOES TO NEDERLANI^ER GROUP Minneapolis, July 27. Withdrawing from local field, Alex Sclfreiber group of Detroit has turned over its Lyceum, legitimate roadshow and film house, to David Nederlander and associates, also of Detroit, on longterm lease!. Neder- lander, who operates the Shubert- Lafayette, Detroit's legiter, takes over Aug. 1 and will install his son, James Nederlander, as manager. Under Schreiber, and for many years before latter's purchase of theatre, house was managed by Leo Murray, a protege of the late L. N. Scott who, in the old days, owned and operated the Minneap- olis and St. Paul Metropolitans legitimate roadshow theatres with Klaw & Erlanger franchises. Mur- ray has not announced future plans. Nat Sorfman Recafis Play Put On for $7,500 In line with the current trend talk about high production costs and what it can do to stifle further adventures in the theatre, veteran publicist Nat Dorfman recalls how his play, "Take My Tip," which he authored, was«put on at the Ma- jestic, Brooklyn, for $7,500. It grossed $2,500 on its break-in in Dodgertown and came to Broadway $5,000 in the red under Mack Billiard and Sidney Phillips' pro- duction aegis Today, observes Dorfman, a simi- lar one-set play costs at least 10 times as much to mount, with re- sult it is scaring off investment capitaL Clarence Derwent, Equity pres- ident, who recently,returned from Prague, where he attended the United Nations. Educational, Scien- tific and Cultural Organization meeting on the theatre, was there merely as an "observer," not as a delegate. Actor has since gone to Palo Alto, Cal., to appear in the Leland Stanford Univ. production of "The Rivals," with Aline Mac- Mahon. There was considerable mixup over U. S. parUcipation in the< Prague confab. The State Depart- ment sent Warren Caro, of tiie Theatre Guild, and Rosamund Gil- der, former editor of Theatre Arts Monthly, but because of official protocol, stipulated that they be present ovist as "observers." Der" went was to .have gone as a "dele- gate" of the .American National Theatre and Academy, and his ex- penses for the trip were paid for by Joseph 'Vemer Reed on that basis. However, when he arrived in Prague, Derwent was implored by fi^ss Caro and Miss Gilder not to present himself as a "delegate," lest his presence be construed as a reflection on the State Depart- ment's "observers." Despite the urging of J. B. Priestley, who liad been elected president of the or* ganization, Derwent acceded t9 Caro's and Miss Gilder's plea. ' Far from being on the way out» the use of baUet in- musical com- edy is just coming into its own. . It's not only here to stay, but will be steadily developed as' an in-> tegral element in the theatre. That Is the opinion of Helen Tamiris, who staged the dance.? (or "In- side U. S. A." and other shows, including the legit and film ver* sions of "Up in Central Park." Miss Tamiris is unimpressed by statements that baUet is merely a passing phase of musical comedy. And she regards as antiquated the; statement that ballet is just a form Of posturing^ or that it lacks the vitality of the tap dane- ing and "popular" styles of hoof- ing routines in musicals of some years ago. Those who advocate bringing back the old dance rout- ines are unrealistic, she says. They're subconsdously trying<'to retreat to the past. In discussing dance as an eI-« ement in the theatre. Miss Tam- iris points out that most of what passes for ballet in musical com- : edy is not sfrictly ballet. "Most of it is modern danice of various kinds," she says, "with phases of ballet, tap and so-on, depending on the choreographer . and' dancers. The vital thing is that the con- temporary choreographer uscs-^ whatever dance form seems suitr ~ able to circumstances, instead of being restricted to any single form, such as tap." liogical DeveSapment In substantiating her theory that the danue is a.natural element in the theatre and that its- present function Is merely part of a log- ical development. Miss Tamiris explains, "Some form" of dan<:ing has been a part of the tiieatre from earliest history, Dancing was an important element in the an- cient Greek drama, and was reg- ularly used in the religious plays of early. Europe. It has always been a vital part of the theatre in the Orient and is the basis of dramatic presentation among primitive people." According to the dancer-choreo- grapher, the dance is fundamrait- ally just the expression - of ideas in terms of bodily movement. AS such, it..iB a means of expression just as are words, color, music, (Continued on Page 101) DHimL mmm SmUNDETERlfflNED The council of Equity has not yet appointed a successor to Paul DuU- zell as chairman of the executive committee of its subordinate union. Chorus Equity. Pending such a selection, the CE executive coinmil- tee elected Brayton Lewis acting chairman to preside over Its regu- lar meeting last Wednesday (21). If a regular chairman isn't chosen by the Equity council before the next meeting, the same procedure will presumably be repeated. The CE executive committee has no power to determine policy for the chorus union, but may merely make, recommendations to the council of the parent organization which has authority. DullzeU's duties as chairman of the CE exec- utive committee were supplement- ary to those as executive secretary and treasurer of Equity. He re- cently retired as Equity exec-sec, but remains nominally treasurer. Ruth Richmond continues as exec-secretary of CE. In that capacity she attends the organiza- tion's executive committee meet- ings but does not preside. Pending the appointment of a permanent executive-secretary of Equity, Anr gus Duncan is temporarily filling the assignment, ' MARGOm PREPS NEWWILLyj^MY Margo Jones arrived Monday (26) in New York to begin prepara- tions for the production and stag- ing of tiie new Tennessee Williaius play, "Summer, and Smoke." Ths author, who is remaining in Lon- don for the opening of Heleq Hayes in his "Glass Menagerie," is due here for the start -of re- hearsals for the new show, 'Au& 15. "Summer and Smoke" premieres Sept. 9 in Buffalo, goes to Detroit for two weeks beginning Sept. 13, to Cleveland for the week- of Sept. 27 and arrives at the Music Box, N. Y., Oct. 6. Margaret Phillips and Tod Andrews will play'the leads: Jo Mielziner has done the setting. Hose Bogdanoff the cos- tumes and .Paul Bowles, composed the incidental music. Miss Jones is due about NovM in Dallas to launch the new sea- son at her Theatre '48. She hasn't .selected the opening show. er's In October Coast fiew Los Angeles, July 27- Lion Feuchtwanger's new legit- er, "The Devil in Boston," is .slated for its world prciniere at the Coronet theatre here the first week in October, with Adrian A wan producing and Benjamin Zemach directing. This wUl be the first Feucht- wanger play ever premiered io this country. His previous ones were introduced in London, Paris and Berlin;