Variety (Jul 1948)

J^HlEfr ConventioMers Up Clu; 'Shoes' SRO 38G, 'Annie 27G, 'John' LEGITIMAXB 101 Chicago, July 27. -f Xefiit take was divided mainly among the two musicals here last «,pek Conventioneers kept the ticket windows at "High Button Shoes" and "Annie Get Your Gun busy "John Loves Mary," after almost six months of excellent crosses, Is falling off-, "final weeks" is appearing in the ads, , Advance for "Oklahoma!" is large and mail orders are pouring into the Erlanger, where, it opens Aug 2. ' Estimales for Last Week "Annie Get Your Gun," Shubert (3rd week) (2,100; $4.94). Conven- tioneers gave this an excellent ^^"ifliBh Button Shoes," Great Northern (10th week) (1-,500; $6.18). Still SRO $38,090. . "John Loves Mary," Harris (24th week) (1,000; $3.71). Slid to $9,- 700. .. ■ miAHOMAI' $36,900 INWfflATWASH. Washington, July 27. "Oklahoma!" uijped its grosses at the National last week by $8,000 for a total of $36,900. A Sunday night performance opening the week for nine performances was a help for the second werfc's show- ing; Third week promises to be a sellout with a Sunday starter. Final performance Saturday (31) rings down the cartain on the Cap- itol's only legit antt conversion to flix will start. National's flack, Sam Keller, pulled down heavy local publicity with a trip of the fentire "Okie" cast to Mt. Vernon via excursion steamer. Times Herald and Daily News gave, full pages of pLx and the Star carried a picture the night of the trip. The cast picked Thurs- day (22) tot the river junket. Rain Dampens l^z For 'Rosalie/ 35G,?itt Pittsburgh, July 27. Although no performances were rained out last week, threatening weather practically every night, with downpours in a couple of in- stances coming shortly before cur- tain time, held "Rosalie" down to around $35,000 at Pitt Stadium last week. Show was a repeat from la.st summer's al-fresco season,with «ame principals, .Jackie Gleason, Joy Hod.ges and Ernest MacChes- ney, having been rescheduled be- cause half a week in 1947 was rained out. Under circumstances, that $35;- 000 wasn't too bad but was still rather disappointing inasmuch as "Rosalie" was heading for a record- breaking take a year ago when the splashes came. Stadium series has been running into tough luck right »long this summer from the weather, and is reported to be around 70 grand in the red already. Hardly likely that much of that •will be made up either by the two' remainina shows, "Hit the Deck" and "Babes in Toyland." 'CONN. YANKEE13,500 IN ST. 100 0PM St. Louis, July 27. After an interval of 12 years, the Richard Rodgers-Lorenz Hart musi*. cal, "A Connecticut Vankee," has | been revived for the Municipal | Theatre Assn.'s al fresco playhouse i m Forest Park. After a day of hot and sultry weather the piece teed off a seven-night run last niglit (Monday) with a mob of 9.250 on deck. Gross was an estimated $3,500. Wilbur Evans, baritone, a fave here of many open air seasons, is scoring along with Sue Ryan, comedienne, and 'Gale Sherwood, a clic^ In iier fir.st show here last week in "Jubilee." Mavis Mini, dancing ingenue, in her local debut, won the mob. Outstanders in .sup- port are William Lynn, Edwin Steffe, Norman Young and Rowan Tudor. Cole Porter's "Jubilee," winning a nod from the crix, wound up its one-week stand Sunday (25), with the last performance cancelled by a cloudburst. The washout came 45 minutes after curtain, and rain- checks were issued. Threats of rain throughout the run clipped the b.o. activity, but the piece attracted 60;- 000 payees, who paid approximately $43,000. 'Sweethearts'-CIark 34G, 'Winslow' $13,000, Sf. San Francisco, July 27. "Sweethearts," which , opened Monday (19) at the Curran (r,776' $4.20), rated star Bobby Clark the warmest reviews of the local sea- son. For the first week of its three- week stanza this Civic Light Opera production chalked up a tremen- dous $34,00(). ■ "The Winslow Boy" hit a good $13,000 for its third week at the Geary (1,550; $3.60). B way Up %hdy; Sharp Uptnrn Due Next Week; 'Annie' $20,IM0, 'Finian' Rm'Shoes'mM/lee'm Chi Railroad Fair Draws 98,460 in 3 Days ■ , Chicago, July 27. Chicago Railroad Fair, which opened July 20. drew 98,460 people in first three days, with 35,016 of these attending the' "Wheels A- Kollin" pageant. Fair will run until bept. 2Q Admish is.25c. . Jiquity pageant, for which there >s a 60c additional charge, is pre- sented four times daily. _ A few of the exhibits are present- ing free acts, with the Sante Fe bringing m an entire Indian village and 50 Indians from New Mexico. Shows in Rehearsal "Small Wonder.*' musical^ George Nichols, 3d. / ."Heaven on Earth," musical- Monte Proser and Ned C. Lilwack. 'All the Way Home" (formerly verdigris Primitive"), drama—E. *.dward Hambleton and Alfred R. Stern. Talman on Equity Board William Talman has been named to the council of Actors Equity, succeeding Carol Stone, who re- signed last week. He was ap- pointed yesterday (Tues.) by tbe council, and will serve until the annual election, next May. Next quarterly membership ttteeting of the association will be Sept. 17 at the Astor hotel, N. Y. Kelen TaRitris 5^ (Continued from Page 99) s gestures and facial changes."The drawing-room style of drama is merely an arbitrarily limited form of theatre, in which words are the primary I'lementj while music and dance are not used," she declares. "But the trend in recent years has been toward greater use of all the elements of- expression in theatre presentation, 'fhus, while the dance has been used increas- ingly, there has been a correspond- ing growth in the use of music and color. There is a limit be- yond which words cannot express thought or emotion, but the capac- ity, of music, color and movement to express ideas or emotion is un- limited." ■ Although the use of the dance is bound to extend from the revue and musical comedy to all forms of the theatre, including serious, realistic drama. Miss Tamiris ad- mits that such a development may be slow in coming. "Not only must authors, directors, producers and players learn how to use it, but theatregoers must learn to ap- preciate it. When they do, the old theatre without music or dance will seem dated, and audiences will no longer accept it." Steady Employment • Despite the fact that the pres- ent style of integrated dance came into vogue with the production of "Oklahoma!," in which Ajfnes DeMille directed dances in har- mony wiih the story and flavor of the Richard Rodgers-Osc^r Ham- merstein show, MisS Tamiris says the emergence of ballet as a thea- tre element has been a long, steady development rather than a sud- den event. Miss DeMille, nan.va Holm, Je- rome Robbins, George Balanchine, Michael Kidd and Miss Tamiris herself have been pioneering in that direction for years. They have had studios and classes where their own theories were worked ouf, artd have gradually educated the public to understand and en- joy it. As evidence of how far the development has gone. Miss Tam- iris cites TSlia Kazan's sla,?ing of the prize - winning ".Streetcar Named. Desire," in which bodily movement is brilliantly integrated in terms of the dramatic theme and .situation. That is not an ac- cident, she explains, as Kazan once attended one of her dance cour.ses, with the idea of learning the ex- pression of emotion in terms of bodily movement. "The people who talk about go- ing back to the old idea of a chorus of pretty girl-s doing hoof- ing routine.'; are fjequently the very oqes who praise Kazan's di- rection the most enthusiastically," she comments. "Only it isn't called dancing, so they don't realize that what is stirring their emotions is the imaginative use of bodily movement." B^sbUre Music Fesli^ais Do Big By HAROLD M. BONE Lee, Miiss., .Tuly 27. While other portions of the amusement field are laying in a- fresh supply of crying towels, this Particular segment of the enter- i inment world hasn't even sounded its A for a chorus of the Berkshire Blues. As a matter of fact, despite a marked falling off in tourist travel as compared to a year ago, with previously jammed inns operating considerably below capacity, this mountain-top diversion triangle bounded by Lee, I^enox and Stock- bridge reports activities on the' up^ beat over former seasons. Projecis involved are the Berkshire Music Festival at Tanglewood; the Berk- shire Playhouse, Stoekbridge;' the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Lee. Contrary to reports emanating from similar music centers, the festival at Tanglevrood is off to a banner season. 'First two concerts (July 18 and 20) on the schedule I of 14 were complete sellouts. Tbese were held in the Theatre-Cbneert Hall, capacity of which is 1,200. Exterior bench and lawn facilities brought total attendance to 2,440 and 1,900; respectively. General admiiision to grounds is $2, with a reserved seat top of $4. Concerts in t he Music Shed, with its 6,000 capacity, will be given intermittently from July 29 to Aug, 15. Lawn facilities here make at- tendance possibilities total more than double interior capacity. Top scale for these concerts is $6 for box seats, and advance sales have already taken on a healthy hue. Noteworthy is the fact that high- priced tickets are the first to go. Set for Aug. 3 is a special benefit, "Tanglewood On Parade," to aid creative artists of the Old World. A price range of $2.50 to .$5 has brought substantial early reserva^ tions. The above program, plus the teaching of a student body exceed- ing 400 members, stamps this as one of Tanglewood's most active .seasons to date. Stockbridge Biz Okay At Stockbridge, William Miles has approached the halfway mark of the Berkshire Playhouse's 17th season with figures on the right .side of the ledger at the end of the fifth week. Schedule to date has included "Skin of Our Teeth." "John Loves Mary," "The Intimate Strangers," "1 Like It Here'' and the tryout of "Coming Thro' The Rye," musical. Reaction to the break-in angle has been favorable enough to prompt presentation of a second new play, "The Happiest Years," ».set for Aug. 16. 'fotal schedule is 11 weeks. I Playhouse, a former casino orig- inally designed by Stanford White, has a capacity of 426 and is scaled^ at S2.,94 top. Being the only straw- hat within a radius of some 60 miles, spot lias things pretty much i to itself within a wide area, j Number three in the Bcrleshirc [entertainment triumvirate is Ted ! Shawn's Jacobus Pillow Dance Fest- jival. It's a combination of dance I in.'itruction and public pre.scntation which IS meeting witli success amid wilderness surroundings. Although the enterprise is a non-profit ven- ture which stresses the fact that it is motivated purely by its educa- tional a.spects "and does not intend or attempt to purvey entertainment to the public as in a commercial heatre," nevertheless-it is apparent that a fair portion of its audience attends primarily for the purpose of .seeking—and incidentally find- ing—^such entertainment. I Despite the fact that income from < tuition and theatre admissions docs 1 not cover the cost of operating this I project, thus necessitating patron assistance, it is significant that com- mercial success ha.s been attained to the extent of sellouts for prac-r tically all performances of the first three programs. Capacity is 500, with a scale of maUnees $L80 and nights ,$2.40. Highlight of the .current season, i is listed for Aug. 27^28 when Ted [.Shawn will world premiere his 1 newest group choreography, with j music by Richard Mallaby. Rain Nips 'Conn. Yankee' In LouisviUe, $18,000 . Louisville, July 27. Rainy weather broke the heat Spell, but put a crimp in the at- tendance at Iroquois amphitheatre, last week, where "Connecticut Yankee" drew a medium $18,000. Clouds threatening rain during first part of the week,- and usually just before show time, dampened the ardor of patrons who didn't relish the thought of getting a wet- ting during the al fresco perform- ance. William Gaxton had the lead, supported by Xenia Banks, -A. .1. Herbert, Edward Andrews, Gloria Haniiltoii, C h a r 1 e ,s McCleiiand, Betty Ann Busch, John llaynes, Walter Long, Betty Luster, Audrey Johnson, plus the local ensemble- and ballet corps. "Student Prince," with Edith Fellows, Robert Shafer, Betty Ann Busch, Alexander Gray and Detmar Poppin, is the attraction for week starting Monday (26). m.LlVES^W0W27G IN FINAL LA. WIEK Los Angeles; July 27. The tourists boosted L. A. legit business last week. Indications are next four weeks at least will see hefty business on all fronts, "Private Lives" finaled at the Biltmore Saturday (24) with a fine week's take of $27,080 for a three- week total of $77,000. First two frames were on Theatre Guild sub- scription. House rekindled last night (26) with "Cnroiisel," in for four and one h;ilf weeks, while across the stieet the Pijilharmonic Aud went back into business with the world premiere ■ of "Magda- lena," final offering of the L. A. Civic Light Opera Assn. Estimates for. Last Week "Blackouts of 1948," £1 Capitan f318th wk) (1,142; .$2.40). - Can't do better than this $17,000 but ad- vance sale is growing daily. "Cupid Thumbs Ilis Nose." Cor- onet (Ist wk) (2.'>5; $3). Critics aped "cupid" and despite the $4j80 tap for all seats on opening night (2,1) piece rated only a middling $2,100 for first-four days. "Lend An Ear," Las Palmas (6th wk) (388; $3.60). SRO $6,300 again. "Private Lives," Biltmore. (3rd wk) (1,036; $4.20), Subscription- free final week registered sweet $27,000. "Separate Rooms," New Beaux Arts (10th wk) (560; $3). Climbed again to $5,000 with weekend SRO. "The Vaeraboud Kinrr," Greek Theatre (21st wk) (4.419; $3.60). Second offering of the open-air theatre opened below hopes due mostly to cold weather; $34,000. + The seasonal influx of tourLsts i from out-of-town has still not ma- ; jterialized in full, though business was a trifle better last week on Broadway. Attendailiae is still stifier* r ing its annual eariy-sumihtir slttmp; ^ The real upturn is expected to start ; • next week and build steadily : ■ thrqugh Labor Bay,-after wMoh the new-season rise is due; Mi^iri'vifbtle, the . few^■visitolS■;■'{ffe■vapI>^«S»t^.'^..i^.^ p.itro.ns who long ago obtsiiiited > miiil-order tickets to the smash hits or those who shop for lbw-?price . scats.' .-■ There Were no closings last week, ; the list of shows remaifling at 17. However, "The Play's the 'fMng'* recesses tonigttt (Wed.) at the Booth for aii engagement at Central Gity, ': Colo., and ies<ii>ies biire A^g. 23. "Brlg^doon" j^iiitteifs . BiBtisttdiiir; night <3iy iit jte^NsEfeldl t>te^ .scheduled closltags sure "Ang^l in . the 'Wings" at tfie Cowjo^, ^pt.-4, and "Coinmand Decision" at tile Fulton, Sept. 11. Bstimates for Last Week ~. Kej/: C (Comedy), D iDtamm), ; CD. {C<)imedV'Brama), M (Rem&),. . at (M«8«!ftW, O (Ctoeretfta.). "A»jS«i.»-in tiiis^'witiiss/'■'CbrOfitet'.--" {33d wfe) (B-flSB; $4i88). GHiefly on tlte -strength of tww-for-ones, this intimate revue bounced up about $4,000 to $17,000. "Aaiife Get ITour Criui,'' Imperial . (115th wk) (M-1.472; $R«0), As with oUtei: shows; weather late it) the weejc Wa» {Aainied iot ' business XaU"^; £dtd;«gailt to $20,<^ . "Born Yesterday," Lyceum (129th wk) (C.993; $*.80). Had painful Wednesday and Thursd<»^ tafees, but came back late in the iwwk; jitst under $12;000. "Brleadoon." ZiegfeM ('72d wis) (M-1,628; $4.80), XiOt^^n niiiM«at has felt the general siuRi^ lately % and will filially call it att eng!^ge<i ment Satujpday; up to $1^,400. "Goauaaitd 0oe!sion," Fulton (32d wk) (D-988; $4.80). Up A little to $13,500; Paul McGrAth leaves the ciist Saturday, to be' replaced- : by. his brother, Byroh McGrath; "Finian's Rainbow," 46th Street (80th wk) (M-1,319; $6). Another vet musical that's feeling the gen- eral tough going; $21,000 again. "Harvey," 48th St. (ISftth wk) (C-982; $4.20). Mary Chase comedy getting around $8,500 steadily and continues iodeiiinitely. "Hkh ntttim motar Shubert f32d ivk) (M-1,387; $6). Smash musical eased a little; over $34,000.; "Howdy, Mr. Ice," Center i5lh . wk) <It-2,964r $2.88). Sfcatttlg pro- duction is a major draw lor tour* ist trade, particularly in hot weath- er: juicy $49,000. "Inside «. S; Ai," Century (iith wk) (K4,»70; $6), -Pace eaaecf for this revue, but plenty of margin at $40,000. "Make Mine Manhattan," Broad- hurst (28th wk) (R-1,160; $6). Still getting by amply; $22,000. "Mister Eobeists," Alvin f23d wk) (GD-1,357; $4.80>. Not even a gen- eral slump and steamy weather has " interrupted the capacity pace for TaftmeoV fintv CIQAnfl '^'•^ comedy; nightly standee trade L^arOUSei Uniy $Xy,«MW; is the only variable factor; $34,500, San Diego. July 27. ■ as usual. Polio scare here has slapped | "Strange Bedfellows," Morosco down all local .show busines-s. '■ '28lh wk) (C-935; $4.30). One of the "Carousel," playing the Russ audi- | marginal shows that has been torium. was badly hit, getting only I -2? two-for-ones; $19,000 in seven performances. 1 '^"^Sl "0 ^a*"- _ . „ _ Show is rurrentiv at the Bilt- Streetcar Named Desire," Bar- .■>now IS currcniijf at me mil rymore (34th wk (D-1,064; $4.80). Polio Scares San Diego; more', Los Angeles. Current Road Shows The other constant capacity draw; $27,200 gross includes standees. . - "The Heiress," Biltmore <43d wk)^ (D-920; $4.20). HeldtO about-$9,500 again; management- hoping' to hold on until start of-the tour,' in late September. "The Play's the Thins," Booth (July 26-Aug. 7) . "Annie Get Your Gun" — Shu- bert, Chi. 126-7). "April Fool" —» iMhero, Santa if ]3th wk) (CD-712; .$4.80). Louis Barbara (5-7). ! Calhem, the stcfr, has been making "Blackouts of 194K"-r-El Qapitan,! curtain speeches to plug the com- L. A. (26-7). icdy's skedded retum Aug. 23; "Carousel" — Biltmore, L. A., up a bit to $9,100; closes tonight (26-7). ^ KWod.). "High Button Shoes"—Gt; North- \ "The Respectful Prostitute," artd ern, Chi. (26*7). ; "The Happy Journey," Cort (19th ",Iohn Loves Mary"—-Harris, Chi. • wk) (C-1,064; $4.20). Double-bill (26-7). !got a nice rise to $9,500; Richard "S(Iagdalena"—Aud., L. A, i26-7). I Harrity's "Hope Is the Thing with "Oklahoma!" — Erlanger, Chi,; Feathers" due to replace "Happy (2-7). ' Journey" as the curtain-raiser "Oklahoma!"—.'Vud.. Sacramento } starting Aug. 9. (26-31); Metropolitan, Seattle i-,i-7) < • Metropolitan, Shubert, 'OkkT 30G, Oakland Oakland, July 27. "Oklahoma!" playing the Audi- "I'rivatc Lives" Seattle (26-31). "Sundown Beach" Bost. (2-7). "Sweethearts" — Curran, Frisco '^"wViisIow Boy" —Gearv Frisco torium here last week,"racked up a (26ll" Aud. San Diigo (2);'Fox" Sross of $30,000 for eight perform- Santa Barbara ('3); Aud.. Pasadena ance;;. , ^ ,u kit , is (4); Aud., Oakland (5); Aud., Sacra- Musical moved to the Metropoli- mento (7). i tan, Seattle, for this week.