Variety (Apr 1949)

W*anaa»y, April 27, 1949 LECITIMATB 57 Farrell s 'Show Train Burns Tar; Fear It Will Put Chill on Series , New LA. Legiter Hollywood, April 26. New Horizons, a new profesr sional theatre' group headed by Garrison P. Sherwood, has started construction of a new theatre in Equity Members May Now Procedure by which the Actors Theatre'will seat about 100 Action of Anthony B. Farrell in ^ thartering a special train tonight Jwed) on the New Haven railroad to bring patrons to his production ot "All for Love," at the Hellinger theatre, N. y.. has burned the man- aeement of "Lend an Ear," at the, BroacHiUPst Officials of the.! Equity membership may overrule 1 New Haven are said to be em-1 the council has been adopted by ! barrassed at the situation, but are the union. , Measure adopted yes^^ j unable to do anything about it. ! terday (Tues.) by the council would i Bpwntment of 'the, "Lend ah require the latter body to give an var'- nroducers, William B. Katzell, j explanation at the ensuing quar-1 wrnnldin Gilbert and William | terly membership meeting when-1 Fvthe stems from the fact that a ever it has disregarded a resolu- ■ fnprial ""Show Train" of the New ; tion voted by the membership. Haven is scheduled May 3 to bring | I" such a case, the membership Todd Won't Gamble for All Profits Hereafter; Will Take in Partners I the Palisades section of Los An- I geles. Building should be com- I pl«ted about Aug. 1 and will op-i r; .r im Ci i erate on a 52-week basis, with 17 > Cytlie IViay Mage t\ I ii f .1 i productions a year opening every I in % r i i ; ^'■""'■•'i ..«•• ■"-.•vv^v• -^» "»«^—^ UVerrUle the tOUnClI i ^^Ird Wednesday and playing 16 I fcar fnir LondOIl! productions on the usual partner ♦ Michael Todd, who has always i kept full ownership of'his shows l and thereby, retained all the profits. Will henceforth ilnance his fhMtreeoers to their show from | may by a two-thirds vote overrule various Connecticut towns, with a ! the council. But the council then special connecting train from 1 has the power to appeaLthe ques- Waterbury and other communities in the Naugatuck Valley. The "Ear" management fears that such a weak show as "All for Love" may ci-eite a bad impression among Connecticut playgoers and thereby hurt -attendance for their and sub- sequent theatre excursions. It's pointed out that "Ear" and ■ previous shows have been selected by the railroad on the basis of en- tertainment merit, whereas to- night's "All for Love" train was Buy Own Lighting Equipt. to Pare Operating Costs ship basis. Havingi as he says,, If, as expected, "Lend an Ear"! j "taken the cure," he's decided not is done in London, co-producer and i to gamble fqr all the profits any actor William E.vthe may stage it. I'"O^e so he'll foUow the customary „ ,. , J »u i J..- -'Broadway procedure ot getting his He directed the Coast edition of ^ production coin from backers, with I the Charles Gaynor revue before ■ whom he'll split the profits. I it was recast and brought to Broad- Under the liniited partnership way. The British company may be | setup Todd figures he will be psy- tion to a referendum-of the full membership. Revision of , the In a mov« to pare operating ex- union's rules in this regard follows i penses, a number of Broadway recent criticism from some of the L,.,',,,,,.-^ li^utsU;. members to the effect that the old \ P'o^ucers are buymg lighting setup, under which the council equipment for their shows rather could ignore recommendations of! tha" continue to pay rental fees, the membership, was "undemo- 11^** ultimately to haVe a pool cratlc" : of such equipment which . can be The council yesterday reserved "sed for various productions at at. least: partly recruited- in New York. Emile Littler and Hugh Beau- mont reportedly have the inside track on the English rights to the 1 show. However, terms for the deal I are not settled. decision on an appeal from a group nominal rental. of Choreographers, including Helen I Latest to purchase such equip- Tamiris, A gne s DeMille and i ment are Richard Rodgers and Os- Jerome Robins, for the union to car Hammerstein. 2d, for their and Leland Hay ward's and Joshua Lo- gan's i)roducitjqh of "South Paciflc.^^ Also HaS<\var^, for his production' of "Mister Roberts." The Play- wrights' Co. , previously ; bought sortie lighting equipment ior its "^T* "i'l***^ u Tt;^«r fh^ admit them to membership and chartered by Farrell Under the ^^^^^^^.j covering regulations, anyone buying a sp^^^^^^^ employment. It . also dele- fied number of tickets may have a; Louis M. Simon, executive- special tram. Another angle of, ^^^^^^ ^ conference Farrells promotion for All for, 26 in Washingto^^ „ . Love" Is that he s advertising it as | tgrtginment for the armed services. , productions, and George Abbott a "Show Train while technically, gj authorized to urge that and Cheryl Crawford, among it's not one of the New Haven s I ^^^^ ^j,^^,^ ^ ^.^^ ^^^.^ Specials, but his own Brivate under-1 gjgjjjjjgjjjj taking. , |' • • ■ . ■ . " As soon as Farrell's train was | announced, the management of | "Ear" contacted the New Haven to ] protest, but was informed by rail- road officials that the venture was booked by Farrell and that they are powerless in the matter. Other Broadway productions for ■ which the New Haven , previously - ran "Show Trains," are "The Silver I Feds Widen B'way Prohe others, already own some. Rodgers and Hamroerstein are understood to have paid about $50.- 000 for the basic lighting setup for 1 "South Pacific." They own it per- I sonally and will rent it to the pro- ! duction until a portion of the pur- I chase price is recovered, after which they will lend it free for the remainder of the show's run. I Haywardi who paid $25,0OQ for the _ , . I equipment for "Mister; Roberts^'" U. S. Internal Revenue depart-1 is following a more or less similar SeUmtle' Subsid Rights Whistle" and "Where's Charley?" i ment, already investigating admis-, policy in renting it to the produc Both are established hits, as is "Ear sion taxes on Broadway shows, is I understood to have widened its in- quiry to include income returns on "ice." Government's only interest in these ticket agency payments to boxoffice men, managers and pro^ ducers is to see that they-are re- ported as income for tax- purposes. Although it isn't generally $7.05 from New Haven New Haven, April 26. Stealing a clap from the thunder of the regular New Haven road chow train, now in its third stanza, Anthony B; Farrell has chartered a train of his own. to operate as a , Government's decision to widen suburban builder-upper for h,s ^^^^ rumored Broadway musical A 1 for Love f . stemmed from a tip .v^^i^?';^^'^"?'''^^,,* *• tin^ifom a Broadway producer who tkedded to origmate here, picking , jjs^„v„ed an abnormal portion of up show fans en route, with grad-1 werr in the r»npto*Jrn^^*7 n^^^^^^^^^^ hands of brokers. Investigation of lZ^?^il^ fJS^. rri^nwh |tax return^ on theatre admissions "Vl ?S%or"?L%'eire%r. ', bee n in progress some time, rell took a booth at the local Arena 1 exhibit of a home show last week i n -jJ„_i. r fl8-23) and ballyhooed the stunt by ! AUdnid RcalUClll VO. having cast members help with the tion. Cost of renting the "Rob- erts" lighting .setup was previous- ly about $275 a week. Idea of buying the lighting chblogically freer, to devote, hitn- self to prbduetioii mattei-s, without worrying so much about the finan- cial angles, He: is ready to go 50-50 oh the .profits rather than risk losing the «ntirfe production coin Involved. , Hov^ever, he^^ deter- mined to retain complete authority On all questions of production ajid management, vvitli ho intetferehce from any backers. Considering the profits Todd has made on his past hits and the amount he stands to get from his current "As the Girls; Go,'' at the I Winter Garden, N. Y., his deelsioia f is a major one. Although he sub- Deals for various subsidiary i sequently lost all the money he rights to Robert E; McEnrpe-s "The ! made on his previous shows, he's Silver Whistle" have been and are being set. Amateur "rights were sold last week to the Dramatists Play Service and a contract is about to be signed for the Scanda- navian rights. Negotiations are under way. for French rights to the comedy. Irving Lazar, who has I concluded an arrangement to rep- resent- McEnroe's agent, Claire Leonard, on the Coast, is handling the screen rights. Theatre Guild hasn't yet reached a decision on what to do about its production of "Whistle" when Jose Ferrer goes to the Coast around June 1 on a picture assignment. If a suitable star could be signed as replacement, the play might bie continued through the summer at about due to start cashing in heav- ily On"Girls." Production cost about $340,000 to bring to town, including a huge loss on the try- out. -But it has earned back nearly $300,660 ih Its weeks on Broad- way and may be completely in the clear within six or eight more weeks. ■■■■■ "Girls" breaks even at around $32,000 and, under Todd's four- walls deal with the. Shuberts tot the Winter Garden, the show get* almost all the difference (only the authors and Howard Bay get a per- centage, even Bobby Clark, as star, drawing a straight salary). Oper- ating profit last week, when the gross topped $50,000, was about $16,000, although the profit has been around $8,000-$9,000 in re- cent weeks.' Since Todd financed "Girls" on a loan rather than the usual part- the Biltmore, N. Y., with a tour of unpiayed .subscription cities in the | nership basis, he'll keep virtually fall. Or the show may be clo.sed all the profits When the show has for the summer, with Ferrer re- paid off- A small slice will go to equipment is one ot the propo.sals | ^^/t^/J" ^^^^^^ Sp'J ."f,?'^^' """f Z^T.^'^Jll worked out bv the joint committee lllT^^^lL iJ^.^A^TlZ ' .T*** cf^Mnfll^ of Droriiirers and author.; whirh ^""^ Francisco, followed by the the successful opening last Novem- ot pioauceis .<na autnors wnicn n^^^j. of gubgcription cities - " has been conferring recently on possible methods of cutting thea- known what brought about the ^^^j J^^g^b ^ in looking over various show budg- ets, noted that the Mighting tental item might be eliminated by buy- exhibit's official opening. ' Response to the train lias been light, indicating another Farrell trip to the stocking to make up the venture's indicated deficit. 'LITTLE JESSE JAMES' AS BRIEFIE MUSICAL Folds Amidst Heavy Hollywood, April 26 ing the equipment outright. . It was recalled that producers formerly iised their own li:Shtihg, but the Practice of ; renting it beCattie estab- lished during the war, ^yhett: equip- ment was scarce. , -, ■ ■;. According to Michael Todd, the cost of renting lighting equipment for his production of "As the Girls Go" has already arhounted to more than $17,000 since the musical n. . I i|i I I opened last November. He also rinanClSl lanSleS lPlans to buy the equipment to use , , ., ~, 1 in that and future shows, . Atlanta, .April 26. ' -■■..'.■.-....■■■; ' ■ ■ • Stage, Inc., Atlanta's resident I stock company, did a fold last week. Mrs. Lucia Cooke, pro- ducer, issued statement that heavy financial drain of staging "River j. Fire," a musical drama premiered I , j ^ t amidst much fanfare, sunk the William B. Steur and Ned J. Warren, who were arrested m San LEGIT PROMOTERS' JAM ON 16 LARCENY COUNTS 1 ber. If, as Todd expfects, "Girls'* I plays through the suinmer and into I the better boxoffice period next fall, the musical should coin a for- tune and enable the producer to get completely Into clear df past obligations. ,^ v Unless "Girls" proves to haV« unexpected staying power, how- ever, it may not surpass Todd's top money-maker, "Up in Central Park." That musical set some sort of modern record for quick payoff for a musical show, gettins back, its $112,000 production cost li> about eight weeks and thereafter nai^'luir'Tn" pro'ducUon I » P^^* .^Tnfh?^" a? I a week tor several months. Ac- i tually, though, eVery musical Todd I ever produced ran at least a year ■ on Broadwiay. cussed by Harry Archer and pro- ducers AlBorde and George Mcr Gall. The new version will have music by Archer, book by Harlan Thompson, lyrics by Gladys Shel- ley.. : 'Archer, and Thompson were rcr sponsible for. the music and book ot the original.' Plans for the production of a ' pomooser Richard Francisco on the charge of collect- streamlined version of "Little Jes-; rebutted wrstftement' mg money from wbuld-be backers sie James," originally produced on Valence ^^bu^ ^ Broadway play rtever pro- Broadway in 1923, are being dis- jha', S^-^ge wa.s^bio^^^^ ^^^.^ ^^^^.^^^^ and that local angels put up money ] Sessions New .York, on 16 counts to keep it going so "Rivet Fire" Pf grand larceny and two Of pub- COiild debut. j lishirig false statements of a cor- After one week of "Rlvef Fire'' j fioration, The Iwo: men collected announcement was made that it; about $7,000 from seven investors would run a second week. Valente, ' in their play "The Happieist P.ays,' musical director, took ;a walk and . for which the prospective backefs company assayed to present a iwcre told negotiaUOns were in musicless "musical." It didn't progress "to pbtain J:une AUyspn work. Everybody concerned show- • or .LuCille Ball and Dick Haymes V ri f <r I » cd new interest, and hatchet was or Alfred Drake." The performers lOUnS UeiS tarle buried when Paramount Pictures deny knowing anything about such * ' evinced interest in production. Lo- negotiations. cal reps : of Paramount viewed it, i Steur; and Warren are being; held as to ; without bail for trial on :May 2 extreirie after pleading not guilty. . , , T-j , ..u..vL,o.i/..i public couldn't. tell ' Maria Matray and Edward , .whether "Jfliver Fire" was on or off Heyman will produce at El Patio ^^^.-^^ j/g^nd week, so it didn't .? .?''}°^^''\ y"<u"^«> do so well at boxoffice. started to clef the first of the 16, stag^.g pjay^ ^^,^^6 put on at numbers he'll do between his ■ Atlanta Woman's Club Auditorium, *hores at Paramount. vvhich seats 800. Prankish P.A. Releases On the Increase Again; Mayhe It's Just Spring Practice of sending waggish pub- licity releases to the newspaper drama editors is apparently on the increase among . legit pres.sagents. Possibly it's a manifestation of spring, but more likely it reflects the seaso; activities. Most prolific author of gag hand- outs recently_ is Tom Weatherly, p.a. for Dwight Deere Wiman's production of "The Big Knife," at the National, N. Y. He's been send- ing about one goofy "news" bulle- tin a week for the last month. First was to the effect that with the Clifford Odets drama estab- lished on Broadway there was noth- ing for him to do; so he was tak- ing a vacation in Florida. As was obvious from the announcement, he didn't actually go. VAN DRUTEN, DELIAGRE TO HUDDLE ON 'CANDLE' Clefs 'Carte' Hollywood, April 26. Victor Young has been inked to ^^'^ 'n|;thing4" be'en"'heaVd"» turn out the score tor A La ^^^j^. ^eaciion. Due to ext Carte ' new revue which _E, „st, ^.^^^^^^.^^ ^^^.^ couldn't and And put you off with a 'naughty boy.'" .lohn ;McIntyre, ShubCrt press- agent in Boston* issued the latest release last week about a; mythical BeahloWn producer named Lafa- yette iVIcGuffy; who has postponed his long^promised tragedy, "Blood, on the White House Stairs," be-^ HOME TOWN HONOES WOOLEY; cause the star. Chenille O'Leary, Saratoga Springs, April 26. I "cannot get her release from the A community testimonial dinner Lechmere Reformatory fo^ Women for Monty WooUey will, take place Johii van Druten, currently at his ranch at Thermal, Cal., IS due east within., the ne?tt couple of Weeks to Confer with Alfred de , U.U... -..u<»., e„. , Liagre Jr., on plans for the fall Weatherly's release last week i Production of Bell Book and stated that "Knife" continues to, Candle." He'll probably remain "enrage the intelligentsia" by play- ; m New York several weeks and ing to "audience after audience of j then return to the Coast for the dear, darling cash customers," so | summer. instead of "foisting a phony feuil- [ New van. Druten play will re- leton upon you,'' the p.a. added I quire a cast of five, with a single a bit of original verse about that ' setting, which de Liagre figures certain age you reach; i will cost about $50,000. The au- "When, all of a sudden, the ; thor will probably direct, girls get coy Sketches for the revue now are being mapped and will include some of the Ideas the Matrays and Heyman will employ in a revue until late October." Among the actors slated to appear in the show Gallery-Goers to Do 2 New Plays in N.Y. The Gallery-Goers' Group, which gives''admission-free shows in hos- pitals, settlement houses and such spots in New York, will present two new plays May l; They are "This Will Spells Doom," a melo- drama, and "Sit Down and Think It Over," a farce, both by Joseph Carleton Heal. Matinee and ever ning performances' will be . given the opening, day of the,'facing sea- ' son, Aug. 1, at the Crrand Union jhotel, Saratoga. Springs, ^ . i O'Brien and Effiemae Mulrooneyvl Dr, Leo W. Roohan is chairman ! all members of the Leftover Playr! ^...r."., ... " .^y^^ LimeivvMuiiK oi uie mei upeiii committee and former. ers. Dublin, Ireland." The, Mc-| - . *i, v, • they plan to present in Paris Ibis .sea.son hi-re has reached $210,000. Mayor Clarence H. Knapp is full-: Guffy handouts occa.sionally make making 11 spots where me inowt summer. J Last year's total was $180,000. ■ time director for the affair. > the legit columns in Boston. ' are given. 210G for Met in Dallas Dallas, April 26. Underwriting of the Met Opera Sife^s".ia!uSe" *Bffido"o'^;at the Grand Street Settlement. Kings County Hospital bai joined the "social ..service circuit,"