Variety (Jul 1948)

100 LBGITIMATB Wednegdsy, Jtely 28, 1943 Map 'Grant' of Name Gnestars For Colleges and Little Theatres ■■Regulai' "circuit" of college and-* little thpatre dates by name Broad-' ■way actors is planned for the com- ing season. So far, Walter Abel, £rnest Truex, Alexander Kirkland and the Philip Boumeufs (Frances Beed) h^ve expressed willingness to make such "tours," and the American National Theatre & Academy, which is working out the setup, is trying to recruit others. ' University drama groups and little theatres are generally eager to have Broadway actors for guest appearances. The visitors normal- ly rehearse a week or so with the local players, give several perform- ances (the number usually depend- ing on the available public)' and attend several infolmal confer- ences With the student actoi-s on dramatic theory and practice in the professional theatre. Among the names who have made such appearances in previous seasons are Orson Welles, Blanche Yurka, Judith Evelyn, Ralph Dnm- ke, Mary Morris, Alfred Drake, Sidney Blackmer,. Nelle Fisher, Helen Tamiris and thie Boumeufs. The problem in arranging the dates is not merely in recruiting willing names, but in finding, ones who will unde)?stand the problem and be adaptable to Idcdl circum- stances. . ■ 'While pay for the. colleg«i and little tbeatre engageitients doesn't compare, with Broadway coin, it's generally more fban adequate, and the actor's expenses !are also usu- ally covered. The chief incentive for the guest stars, however, is thfr chance to work with'ardent theatre' beginners and the consciousness of contribttting soiiietlxing toward the stage.. Dallas Little Theatre Maps 1948-49 Season Dallas, July 27, Little Theatre advisory board has announced plans for the 1948- 1949 season with goal to revive the days when the David Belasco Trophy was awarded the Dallas group three years strai^t in na- tional Little Theatre tournaments. Plans call for a permanent play- house, 1948-49 program of five or six "plays' including one original play", two classics and three mbdei'n productions, membership subscrip- tion campaign, guest directors, tours of plays over the state. Until last season, the Little Theatre had been inactive since 1943. New Stages Settles Row, Proceeds With Plans for Teathers' Having settled a controversy be- tween its membership and its two managing directors, New Stages is proceeding with preparations to present Richard Harrity's "Hope Is the Thing with Feathers" as the companion piece to "The Respect- ful Prostitute,"' at the Cort, N. Y. It is also going ahead with its other production plans for the 1948-49 season. Under the revised organizational setupi the' managing directors, David Heilweil and Norman Rose, have an option to buy 30% . instead of 40% of the stock, and there will now be a seven-member board of directors. Mary • Hunter,- Karl Weber, Florida Freibus, Kermit Murdock and Dorothy Patten were a committee representing the mem- bership in working out the agree- ment with Heilweil and Rose. There had been growing opposi- tion among the members to the "dictatorial" methods of the man- 'aging directors. "Hope Is the Thing," originally clone by the Six O'clock Theatre as an Experimental Theatre of- .fering and subsequently, presented commercially by Eddie Dowling, will be revived Aug. 9, replacing Thornton Wilder's "The Happy Journey" as the curtain-raiser to "Prostitute." Members of the New Stages Company will comprise the cast, except for Lou Gilbert, who will repeat his original characteri< zation of the punch-dippy fighter. Joseph Kramm will again direct. The Intention is to continue the revised double-bill at the Cort at least until Oct. 5, when. Ruth Gor- don's '"The Leading Lady" is slated , to take over the house. . - Among the upcoming ■ pirodue tions on the New Stages list are "'Mannerhouse," by Thomas Wolfe ShaRespeare's "Coriolanus," and "The Victors," adapted by Thorn- ton Wilder from Jean-Paul Sar- tre's 'iJIort Sans Sepulture" ("The tTnbtiried Dead"). ' Tom Jone9' Tryout . , . . V^, Seattle, July 27. "Tom LfonesV' a; dvainatizatiqn by Paul s. Clarkson and Joseph Purdy, of the Henry Fielding classic, will oe premiered Aug. 5 by the Ti-yout M>eatre here. Performances will *5 given Thursday-through-Satui- *" i»ights for six weeks, M^f^^'^ original five-set ver- woa lywitieen revised to two sets. B'way Casts Gripe ■ On Brushoff Foi Actors Fund Shows Casts Of various.Broadway shows Iiave been .aroused lately over their inability to obtain tickets for benefit performances of other shows. Performers say they're generally unable to attend . other shows, except on the occasion of benefits, so they're concerned over the situation, The matter oc- casioned "particular - criticism at last' week's meeting of the execu- tive committee of Chorus Equity, though nothing definite was de- cidi^d about it. 'According to'the working actors, many of them' have, tried to buy tick'ets for benefit shows HA soon as ithe' special, performances are announced, .but: in frequent in-: stance^ tiiey are informed at the boxoffice of the production in question "that ticlcets are all sold out. They claim that only a rela- tively fe^ locations are- sold through the show's boxoffice, and thai the bulk are distributed through brokers. The actcfers, par- ticularly those in lower salary brackets, say they can't afford to pay the broker's extra fee, explain- ing that they can justify buying even regular tickets only on the ground, that seeing other shows is a professional requirement. There was particular cotnplaint in Chorus Equity circles over the failure of .many of, the performers to obtain' tickets, to -the recent special; performance of ''Mister Roberts," at the Alvin, N. Y, for the Act(^rs: Fund. Disappointed ap- plicants,claimed they'd been await- ing an eJStra performance of . the play for months, and applied for tickets.as.soOi} as the showing was announced, only to be turned down. , One suggestion from wittiin Equity is tjiat an arrangement be worked out for the union's depu- ties with the various shows to handle such, applications., Under the proposed setup, anyone deSir ing tickets for a benefit would ap ply to the deputy of his own show within a couple of days of the first announcement of the special per 1 ormance. Each deputy Would for^ ward the order to the deputy of the show giving the benefit, and he would get the necessary tickets from the boxoffice. . It's explained that cast members in any show giving a benefit are permitted to buy a number of tickets to such performances. If an arrangement can't be worked out for Equity deputies to act as clearing agents for benefit tickets, it's suggested that the Equity council might require that tickets be made available to Equity members a few days before being put on sale to the public. 4 Legits for Omaha Omaha,. July 27. Tristates, which has taken over the UBO franchise here, has booked four legit roadshows for this season; "Oklahoma," Sept. 13; Judith .^nderson in "Medea," Nov. 10; "Desert Song,'^ Nov, 24; "Show Boj^t,". Jan. 31, Feb. l, z. . These have-all been set. for the''2,100-seat Omaha theatre. The Orphcum gets the Fred War- ing one-nighter with three shows, Nov. 12. There will.be one matinee and two shows at night. Tristates figured the Orpheum's 3,000 capacity would be need,ed\for this one. Boy Prodigy's Guardian Brushed Him, Sues Chicago, July 27. Benjamin Bonito, dressmaker and opera impresario, claimed that Claudio Burco, guardian for Fer- rucio Burco, eight-year-old Italian prodigy opera conductor, knew that he' was a dressmaker when lie engaged him to manage Ameri- can tour for the child. In answer to suit filed in -Chi federal district court last week, Bonito, also owner of New Jersey Opera Co., claimed that he spent $16,000 to bring the Burcos here, and then the elder Burco hired a new manager: Bonito is suing for contract vio- lation and damages. lOG for'Colony; Georgia Rep Co. » Raleigh, N. C, July 27. A fund of $10,000 for "The Lost Colony," Roanoke Island's histori- cal drama, was allocated by the North Carolina Council of State from the contingency and emerg-r ency fund. Fund was voted under a 1945 act authorizing the State to subsidize the drama to that extent if an oper- ating deficit is shown during the previous season. There was an operating deficit of $22,013.87 last year. Georgia Players As Pennanents - St. Simons Is., Ga., July 27. Russell Ford, who operates the Georgia Players as a strawhat group here, is planning to continue through next fall and winter on a permanent i-epertory basis. The idea is ultimately to work out a regional. touring setup, something along the Unes of Robert Porter- field's Barter Theatre at Abingdon, Va. On the assumption that the plan will jell. Ford has turned down an offer to join the new theatre setup of the Henry Street Settlement, in New York. He previously decided not to return tor another season as director of the Macon (Ga.) little theatre. Busman's Holiday , Abingdon, Va., July 27. During, the annual summer lay- off of the Artillery Lante playhouse, St. Augustine, Fla., owner-producer Patricia Dutton is taking a bus- man's sabbatical as chief electrician in charge of^ the master switch- board at the Barter theatre here. She plans to reopen the Artillery Lane in October. Heech's Wilkes-Barre Spot Ridgefield, Conn., July 27. Leonard Heech, stage director at Alexander Kirkland's Ridgefield summer theatre, is planning to re- turn this fall to the Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) little theatre, which he joined, last season as managing director and stager. Group resumes late in Septem- ber. ■ ■ ■ .■ -i, •,. 'Reluctant Lady' Tryout Cleveland, July 27. Maurice 'Valency's' hew musical drama, "Reluctant Lady,", which Canada Lee plans to produce in New York, jjs being tried out in the 3,200-capacity Cain Park strawhat community amphitheatre this week for six days. Valency is the Columbia U. pro- fessor and playwright whose adapt- ation of Giraudeau's French play, "In Praise Of Folly." will be spon- sored on Broadway by Alfred de Liagre, Jr., this winter. 'Turtle' At Laguna , Los Angeles, July 27. John van Druten's "Voice of the Turtle" opens today at the Laguna Beach playhouse with Tom Drake, Nancy Coleman and Betty Furliess in top roles and Gerald Mayer di- recting. "Turtle" will be followed by "Outward Bound," starring Sara Allgood, Marshall Thompson and Frederic Tozere. Akron Groups Must Vacate Akron, July 27. The Weathervane Placers, local reportoij'e group, have received notice to vacate their quarters a converted carriage house, where theye've been presenting plays for 13 years. Board members arc hoping to find a location until the group can biiild its own community theatre. Omaha Oroup Eyes Site Omaha, July 27. Omaha gets its first strawhat this summer if plans carry through. Group is looking for location at either Carter Lake or Peony Park. Unions'Withdrawal for ET Fin^ Project in Need of Drastic Revision Ewings to Europe. To Scout Plays, Talent On a- combined business and va- cation trip, Marjorie and Sherman Ewing sailed for. Europe'last week, to look over plays and talent in- London and Paris. The Ewings, who expect to refurti to New York'Aug. 31. will also coflfei-. :\yith British composer Benjainin Britten during their stay in England: ' Britten did the score for "The Rape of Lucretia," an. opera based upon a French play which the Ewings are scheduled to produce on Broadway in December. Kitty Carlisle has been mentioned for a lead, and there's also a possibility the "producers may import some British names for it. Meanwhile, the Ewings' current Broadway hit, "Angel in the Wings," Will be hit- ting the road in September, the revue, starring the Hartmans and Hank Ladd, to open in Detroit the week of Sept. 6 and going to Chi- cago Sept. 13. The Ewings have also written an historical drama, "Voltaire," based upon the life of the French phil- osopher and author, but it's un- likely they'll produce it them- selves. • , Strawhat Jottings "Othello," starring Canada Lee, Claire Luce and Wesley Addy, did aii' estimated $4,200 in eight per- formances at. $3 top 550-seat in Saratoga Summer Theatre last week. * "Blissfully Yours," comedy by Charles E. Miller, will be given strawhat preem by Theatre Show^ case at Frank Daiiey's Meadow- brook, N. J., Aug. 3 . . . "Madame Is Served," comedy by Joe Grenze- back, bows tonight (Wed.) at Thea- tre-in-the-Dale, New Millord. Conn. Play has been adapted from Guy de Maupassant's "L^Heritage." Au- thor is scripter of "Suspense," "Hollywood Hotel" and other radio programs,- with "Madame"^ 'being his initial attempt at a full-length play ... liunterdon Hills Play- house, Jutland, N. J., will preview its new bills on' Mondays at La- fayette College, in nearby E^ston, Pa., prior to opening at Playhouse on Tuesday nights. Switch goes into effect Aug. 10, when Lynn Riggs' new play, "Verdigris Primi- tive," will be preemed . ," . Al Rosen, former manager of Loew's State, N. y., and now bperator of strawhat at Montclair, N. J,, has arranged with Broadway ticket brokers to handle tickets for the Jersey house, which is about a half-hour's drive from Times Squai'e. » When Ronald Graham withdrew from cast of new musical, "Ting- Ling," being given initial showing at the Playhouse, Ogunquit, Me., this week, Frank Rogier was rushed in ,as replacement. Latter sang leading roles in "The Tele- phone" and "The Medium" during Broadway run and road tour "Ling" was authored by Richard Diamond on book and lyrics, with score by Ignatz Waghalter . . . Wil- liam Prince, filmster, is doing guestar shot in the tryout of '"Two Dozen Red Roses,'' by Aldo De Benedetli, at the Lakeside theatre. Lake Ilopatcong, N. J., this werfc. Supporting cast includes Helen Marcy, Bert Thorn and Vivian Purcell. Ernestine Perrie "staged. Bard College Playhouse, Anhon- "te?,AS1?"' ^- -^^^ Florence Reed making annual appearance at Berkshire Playhouse this week, in "The Torchbearers" Jill Miller, who owns and runs Ti? t P"'"?'" „couniy playhouse, Mahopac, N. Y., stepped to the other side of the footlights last ^^^fS.^'^^i?;'''** P'ayed the mother m "Life With Father." Incidentally, Bobby May, 8, son of comedian Marty May and June Johnson, doughter of Chic John- son, debuted in "Father" as Har- lan, Tom McBride, nephew of Mary Margaret McBride, also had a role. Grant Mitchell will guestar at Westchester Playhouse, Mount Kisco, N. Y., in "The Late Chris- topher Bean" for week of August 2. It will be directed by Gordon Minter, with Dorrit Kelton and John Alberts in support cast. With most of the craft unions 'withdrawing their cooperation in the Experimental Theatre, the project may be drastically revised this season. Possibiltty is that it may be done on a modified basis, without scenery, costumes or elab- orate lights. Decision is up to Equity and the Dramatists Guild, which had an agreement for its operation the last two seasons. The Equity council yesterday .(Tues.) postponed consideration of the matter, after representatives of the unions, all'members of the Fact Finding Committee on the ET, were unable to appear before the council to explain the pur- pose and background of the letter drafted by Oliver Saylor, business agent of the Assn. of Theatrical Agents & Managers, in which the committee announced its withr drawal fi-om' the project. ATAM. the' stagehands, the musicians' union and the American Guild of Musical Artists had already signed the letter. Dramatists Guild coun-^ cil had voted to continue the ar^ rangement another season. Under the proposed modified setup, ET would operate more or less along the lines of its Invita- tional Series last season. There were five shows in the series, all done with minimum production outlay and involving a total cost of less than $2,400. The regular ET series of six shows cost about $121,000. With a subscription income of around $67,500, the operating defi- cit was more than $30,000. This was reduced by revenue from exti-a performances, loans froni Alfred B. Stern and Joseph Verner Reed, profit from a .Martha Graham series and commercial o p t i o n ■money from Broadway presenta- tion of "Skipper Next to God," "Ballet Ballads" and "Seeds in the Wind." The American National Theati-e & Academy contributed over $22,000. Expenditures by pT included $11,418 paid to 223 actors in the six productions, and $19,619 to about 50 stagehands, four of whom were required as permanent crew at the Maxine Elliott theatre, N. Y., for the full sea.son. A general man- ager was paid $150 a week for the entire season, and a house manager was paid $133 a week for six weeks. Another factor, besides pyramid- ing production costs,- pointing to- ward a simplified ET setup this season along the lines of the Invi- tation Series are the results of a survey of audience reactions at the six ET shows. Those queried ex- pressed a desire to see more ex- perimentation in ET presentations the coming season, as well as in- cirea^ed use of music, greater num- bej:, of prductions and less scenery. Type of shows preferred by ET audiences also indicated audience taste for novel dramatic form and simple production setup, "Ballet Ballads" was chosen by 30% of the audience as the best of the series; while "Galileo" was selected by 23%, "Six O'clock Theatre" by iX¥i%. "Skipper" by 14%, "Long Way from Home" by 7% and "Temporary Island" by 4 '/2 %. BLEVINS DAVIS SEEKS HAYES FOR TOCH ADO' Blevins Davis is trying to get Helen Hayes to star in a production of "Much Ado About Nothing" on Broadway, probably for the pres- entation a year hence. Actress, starring in the London production of "Glass Menagerie," is l-epoi'ted to have given preliminary approval on the Shakespeare revival, subject to agreement on terms. She has long had the idea of playing the part of Beatrice in the comedy. Except fot "Much Ado," Davis has no :production plans, but he may go to England to confer with Miss Hayes and incidentally catch 'Menagerie" and other London shows. His last production was the commercial presentation of "Skip- per Next to God" on Broadway last season. ' Ellstcin Batons Skiflnik Show Abe EUstein, composer of "What a Guy," Monasha Skulnik's forth- coming Yiddish-language starrer, has been set as musical director pf the Second Avenue theatre, N. Y., where the musicomcdy opens Oct. ieustein will conduct for "Guy."