Variety (Jan 1949)

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204 Forty.thtrd USriETY Anniversary Wedinesdny, January 5, 1949 Vet Aiissie Impresario Reviews Show Biz Down Under, Circa'48 By SIR BENJAMIN FULLER Sydney. Quite an exciting year with Dan D. O'Connor, my co-director, pull- ing off the hat trick. To those who don't understand that piece of legerdemain, in cricket, taking three wickets with three successive balls entitles the bowler to the gilt «f a cricket cap. In this case, the first hit was the Boyd Neel String Orchestra, a de- light, whose first house was its worst. What an artistic treat! The second was the Ballet Kam- bert. It cost us £ 15,000 for trans- portation from London of 40 peO' pie, props, wardrobe, electricals and scenery by sea and air. Their tour has been a triumph of prganization and patronage. Then the third, the Old Vic Company, from London, under the aegis of the British Coun- cil. A heap of non-habitual theatre patrons came to see, in the flesh, Vivien ("Gone With the Wind") Leigh, and Laurence ("Pride and Prejudice") Olivier. Their reper- toire: "School for Scandal," "Rich- ^ard-lll'^ and-^^Skin-of-Our- Teeth.'l. Jn regard to the latter, there were ■ two soirts of dissatisfied patrons; those who thought it drivel, (one critic called it that), and those who said it was "divine" and thought they sensed great depths of mean- ing, therin. with "Under the Counter" at His Majesty's theatre, Perth. She has been hereabouts for over a year and has yet to play Adelaide to complete her tour. Fullers are running a-repertory season under Ronald Fortt at Ade- JaidCi lately playing "Fools Bush In" to" be followed by "The Shop At Sly Corner." Fortt suc- fceeded the eight-week season of straight plays by Kathleen Robinr son and Dick Parry, whose last ef- fort and greatest success was "The Guinea Pig." They went back to the Minerva Sydney, to do "The Paragon." Will Mahoney Active Aussie *bkla.!' Debuts in Melbourne Feb, 16 San Francisco; "Oklahoma!" Will make its Aus- tralian bow at His Majesty's Thea- tre, Melboufne, Feb. 16, with seven American thesps supported by domestic talent. Australian law requires that 70% of each Ameri- can show playing there be com- posed of Aussie" thesps. Planing from here, next week will be Redd Knight, Robert Reeves, Carolyn Adair, Davey Gladstone, Hal Gary and two others to be chosen this week. Rer- maihder of cast will be recruited in Melbourne, and Ted Hammer- stein will direct. Production will be Offered under Theatre Guild- J. C. Williamson Theatres Aegis. Sonth Afiico Stalling To Look Kindly On Comml Radio I N. Z. Army Show's Big Hit Another record that looks like it may beat the one set by American minstrel George Williams at the Gaiety, Melbourne, in the 1890s, of over a two-year run, is the season of the "Kiwis," a: New Zealand army unit that opened at the Comedy theatre, Melbourne, in De- cember, 1946. Only now are they announcing their "farewell" -pro- gram. (A Kiwi is a flightless New Zealand bird). They previously toured New Zealand and all other states, barring Tasmania and New South Wales, and each performer, 30 of them, draws the same salary, and each shares equally in the profits;.: ■'; Dave Martin did a brodie with ••Marinka" at the Empire, a 2,400r seater; originally built by the late Rufe Naylor for musical comedy, but has since been a cinema. Is there a man with itchier feet than Dave? Twice, in as many months, Martin has flown to London and Mew York,m» does he stay put when in his own country. He flies . hither and yon; one day in Welling-' ton, N. Z., next day in Melbournet next in Adelaide, and so on. His Pandora's box has fiot yet been opened to disclose the result of his present tours, but Dave always comes up with something startling. He opened a new vaudeville show at the Melbourne Tivolii' mostly British aits. It was really a joy to behold and listen to, and he ex- pects to run it to panto time. Will Mahoney still runs vaude- ville at Cremorne, Brisbane,, and he is also lessee of the Theatre Royal in that city with occasional, flyers in straight plays; At Perth, Brilce Carroll is featur- ing- Gladys Moncrief and' a , good solid vaudeville company at the Capitol. After the panto season the Tivoll will be converted into an ice rink; and when the Adelaide one is erected, and Brisbane and Auckland- foUow suitrthere-will be quite a chain to accommodate over- seas specialists on ice. Also the international hockey teams. Yankee Maurice Diamond has ac- quired the late George Sorlies' Big Top:;and is to present a show in Newcastle, which has a popula- tion of 150,000 and is "the Pitts- burgh of Australia," with the larg- est steel works and subsidiaries and the best coal in the Southern Hemisphere, Wirth's Circus in Melbourne for the annual racing Cup Carnival and a host of smaller big tops con^- tinue to dot the landscape. I musn't forget to mention that entrepreneur . Levitoff has been exploiting the Joselite Spanish Trio. One-man-shows are having ,a: difficult time. The Government Broadcasting Commission gives well supported concerts ;tvith more or less famous soloists and the State Symphony Orchestras, and the Private Sta- tions satisfy the great majority of listeners. Night trots are well established and a menace to. show biz in most capital cities. Dogs everywhere, American professional tennis en- trepreneurs have bellyached at financial results of their first in- vasion. With proper facilities It will yet be another contender. No drive-ins yet, and keen hostil- ity is displayed wherever they are discussed. Business generally is flourishing and employment is no problem. Buenos Aires Legit Biz Doubles '47 Grosses, Mostly Due to Prices Up - Cape Town. Biggest amusement stofy of year was provided by radio, with' the publication of the long-awaited re- port of the Broadcasting Commis- sion. This Commission sat early in 1947. "Not much attention was paid by listeners, who regarded this inquiry as just another red herring of the South African Broadcasting Corp. to placate its antagonists. When report was finally tabled' in the House of Assembly in March, 1943, it jproved a bombshell, particularly as it -strongly con- ly 50% of total license-holder.<; in the Union, although the station is well heard and listened to in all the other provinces, with the ex< ' ception already mentioned of the Cape Province. The SABC will, if it can provide programs as popular as those from Lourenco Marques have become,' find enough advertisers still un-' touched in the Tri^nsvaal, and a ready field in the rest of South Africa, It'is a fact that a local medium-wave station will always give ■ better reception within its service area than a short-wave one; and should command the listener^ demned past policy of the SABS, a"? s"""'" commana in accusing the corporation of extrav- ' ship ij it goves a good or better agance unbusinesslike handling of , Program than a shortwave rival its affairs and slowness in technical ^ — L Sir Ben Touts This One Cockney Freddy Bamburger & Pam—'keep your eye on this couple of chatter, patter and piano enter- tainers. They are international. I'm picking them as eventually giv- ing New York a thrill. Since Clay Smith and his original partner I have never seen a better double. Gil Lamb heads a corking good show at the Sydney Tivoli, in the: isarne bill as comedians Australian Terry Scanlan and Englishman Bill Shakespeare; all three : getting, great receptions and: responses, showing the cosmopolitan outlook of Down Under audiences. "Annie Get Your Gun," with Evie Hayes and Webb Tilton in the leads, looks set for a year at Sydney. When Garnet Carroll and I booked Peter Gray and Daphne Newton for the production of "Present Laughter" at the Mel- bourne Princess we thought 12 weeks would be a decent run, so in the meantime again booked the local. Grand Opera. National The- atre to open Nov. 19. In their sea- son earlier in the year for eight weeks, with "Aida," "Gar- men," "Rigoletto," i'Faust," and '■Marriage of Figaro," it aver- aged ' £3,700 per week and was a most praiseworthy effort. A new McMaster's London Shakespearian company opens with Rosalind Fuller at the Mel- bourne princess early in February. Cicely CoUrtneidge is doing well Buenos Aires, ■ Plenty of coin poured,into legit coffers during 1948 in Argentina, and the Authors and Dramatists Society (Argentores), which checks for royalty collection; predicts that 1947's estimated grosses of $2j259,- 000 will be almost doubled when the final count-is' .made. Impresarios point out, however, -that -the-inorease is- chiefly-due-to- hypoed admission scales, because there has not been any construc- tion of new theatres, and. only 20 legit theatres were operating for a population of 4,000^000. in the coi- tal city of Buenos Aires. From the point of view of qual- ity entertainment, this deteriorated noticeably, especially as regards drama. Despite the government's Entertainment Board protectionist policy, which prevents companies from putting on translated plays until after their season has opened with the work of some Argentine 4ramatist, no outstanding dramatic material was presented. And local writers seem to prefer journalism, penning historical treatises or novels to any venture into legit ' The heaviest legit returns were marked up during the period from Apr il to Augtisti then star ted to« bogganing. This -is attributed to the flow of tourists into the capir tal city from the provincial hinterr land for the severe part of the win* ter. Los Chavalillos (Rosario and An- tonio), the dance team; gave the most satisfying grosses in May- June-July, at the Municipal the- atre, winding up with two dance recitals at the Colon Opera which were sold out soon after the box:- office opened: Musical revues and comedy were the best grossers all around; and from what is kiH>wn at present of plans for 1949) this will doubtless bring an epidemic of that kind Of entertainment.' improvements. Biggest surprise was the recom- mendation in the report that com- mercial broadcasting should be in- troduced, as it h?d been confident- ly predicted that this" would be opposed by the Commission. The report was strongly against the SABC being granted the handling of the new venture, on the grounds that this might stifle healthy com- petition and also that the SABC, as a pnblic utility corporation, should not be a llowed to .compete with private enterprise. It sug- gested that licenses be granted to companies for experimental pe- riods."' . ■ Commerce has not reacted favor* ably to this decision, reasons being principally a rehash of those set out in the Commission's report, all summed up in the feeling that this monopoly will, in the long run, benefit neither listeners nor spon^ sors. laanguagc. a Hurdle One interesting factor which emerges from the advent- of. coni'^. mercial'radio, is that the hitherto unknown listener's survey on the- lines of Hooper and. Crossley will have to be introduced to South Africa. ■ Advertisers are bound to require information as to how their programs are getting across and will demand something of this na- ture. Television is still a long way off here, and will probably never be a payable proposition owing to the vast .'distances between major citiesrbritlged'only by thinly-popu* - lated villages. Even so, some ap« plications were 'made by private companies during the year to oper* ate television stations. These were;,; all turned down by the Govern- ment, which has ruled that, video:, should also be under the control of the SABC. ,The Board of Govern- ors admits that it will be some con- siderable time before anything ii : done, but, meanwhile, is investigate ing technical details with the Brit- ish Broadcasting Corp. in London. It will probably be at least two years before the "C" network, which will carry the commercialSi is in active operation, as there are many problems to be overcome. Language will be a major hurdle. South Africa is a bilingual coun- try, and SABC transmissions are at present in English and Afrikaans. Advertisers will probably demand to call the tune so far as the lan- guage used in their programs is concerned, whereas the Broadcast- ing Board will almost certainly not be happy about a preponderance of English. Endeavors will most likely be made to strike a SO-SO U. S. - British Good Will Via Talent Exchange iBy VALPARNELLi iManagiiig Director of Moss' Empires Theatres, Ltd., and Controller o/the London Palladium) ■ . London. The recent Palladium vaudeville season seems to have fired British, audiences with enthusiasm, as never beforCi for vaudeville. I be- lieve the reason to be that there' has grown up, during the war years,' a generation who, though keen followers of movies, disks and the radio, have formed the vaude- ville-going habit. It was these youngsters whom I set out to at- tract to the music hall. Their fathers and mothers, who already comprise the greater part of our vaudeville audiences, were accustomed to appreciate live en- tertainment, b\it to the younger generation it was, in the main, a novelty. To that series of per- sonal appearances by American stars, whose names are household words over here; attracted not only the regular music hall patrons; but also thousands Of the. younger set who; had never been inside a music hall before. And, once in, they were to become regular customers. The Invasion There have been comments about the British variety stage be^ ing "invaded" by American acts. Actually, there is no question of "invasion." "Show Business Is Internation- al," Bud Flanagan said to Danny Kaye at the end of the memorable Royal Variety Performance held at the London Palladium in the pres- ence of the Royal Family on Nov. 1. In Britain, we have always sought the best that other coun- tries have to offer. Likewisei we have sent out our best acts in ex- change. And I believe that those of us who are engaged in the book- ing and presentation 'of interna- tional artistes are doing something to show that current trends of thought in other spheres of activ- ity could be diverted into healthier and more cooperative channels by application of the show business maxim quoted above. The interchange of vaudeville acts between the U. S. and Eng- land is a symbol of the goodwill each bears the other. The re- sultant understanding of each other's outlook on life, which is spread by these unofficial' "am- bassadors," serves as a link .be- tween the two peoples which can result in nothing, but good, at a time when such . understanding is a much-needed influence in the ::W01"I«' i^Mir. .:■ Besides the language problem, the question of sites for; new trans- mitters and their erection will take Some time, and an important item is the complete new organization that will have to be built up to handle the whole question of sell- ing time on the radio, a hitherto unexplored field so far as the SABC is concerned. Some doubt has been expressed whether this- new venture will be able to overcome the very strong hold that Lourenco Marques Radio (Portuguese East Africa) has estab- lished.- This station has recently again found it necessary to extend its broadcast hours to' cope with the demand from advertising^ and it at present booked solidly for its 12 hours daily. Early in 1947 the Johannesburg firm of Davenport & Meyer took over the advertising management of Lourenco Marques Radio, and has built' up a worthwhile array of sponsors. John Davenport and Richard Meyer are both experi- enced radio men, while Frank Lamping, who is their chief radio executive, was, before the war, as- sistant general manager of: Radio Normandy. Unless, therefore, the SABC Is able to obtain the: services of radio advertising imen as experienced as these;' their chances of bucking competition of this nature may, on the surface, not appear very rosy. It is also pointed out that Lourenco Marques has a nationwide coverage and consequent appeal to advertis- ers of international products, whereas the SABC will be: able to cater to a largCi hitherto-untapped potential of local manufacturers, storekeepers, etc., in the towns covered by their "G" programs. Further, the situation Of Louren- co Marques in the north means that listeners in the southern cities, such as Cape Town, do not get con- sistently good reception, although the station has two 7,500-watt RCA transmitters, with a third one on order. Principal coverage is, therer fore, in Transvaal, which has near- Yankee Talent Seen Getting Plenty Dates In Australia in 1949 By ERIC GORRICK \ Sydney, "i There'll be plenty of sweet coin-.^ age available to Yankee talent in Australia during 1949, as yen for the Stars-and-Stripes zooms. Thi» takes in legit, Vaude-revue; night- clubs, radio and cinemas. The toppers back of this "Broadway of the Pacific" see 1949 as a lush year for flesh-and-blood. Flying time from the U, S. to Down Under is just four days. This; way makes it that much sweeter for the U. S. talent. Only sour spot right now is that the Aussie government limits coin out-take to, ,, a thousand pounds. It's hoped to have this figure up-jumped before long on strong plea to the powers^ that-be. > Aussie flesh-blood hit record highs throughout 1948, with the, Old Vic Co., headed by Sir Laur- ence Olivier and Vivien Leigh., and the Ballet Rambert, imported by the British Cultural Council- D. D. O'Connor - Fuller - Carroll combo. (See detailed story by Sir Benjamin Fuller.) Ntehtcrub Baild Aussie nightclub biz is on the pickup, with bright prospects for the year ahead after slow kick- off. Talent importations from, U. S. look like kicking the takes, high, this despite less spending dough available to the populace as cost-of-living zooms. Key night- club men here aver there'll al- ways be a fair amount of coinage , on tap for a night out at least once-weekly by Aussie pleasure seekers. ■ :;.■■■ Joe Taylor, well-known Aus«e nightclub operator, reopened the Celebrity Club in Sydney witn Hollywood's Freddie Bartholomew as the marque draw. I^^portea figure for importation is said, W be $1,200 weekly. And Bar* tholomew is getting over nn** with the Down Under job. Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom is next in.^iay- lor runs two bands, Eric lann and Paul Lombard. Possibility i? there'll be one or two top u. band names coming this way soon. Out in the Aussie key urbans there's a decided upbeat 'n nigni club biz. The U. S. enterfainmeni blueprint is used all around tne Aussie zone, copied mostly irout musical pix.