Variety (June 1949)

. / 58 lAGlTlMATB Wednesday, June 8, 1949 Minimam of 11 Shows Likely To Play Broadway Thru the Summer Minimum of 11 shows will prob-^ ably play through the summer on | Lefdt Reporters Broadway. That’s three less than > spanned*the hot months last year. However, if several of the uncer- tain entries also continue, the list this summer may equal or even top that of 1948. From recent indications business may be disappointing over the summer. Grosses, which had gen- erally been bettering the 1948 fig- , ures, recently sagged, and for the last few weeks have been running below the level of last season. If that trend continues, the list of i shows may even drop below 11. j On the other hand, if there is a boxoffice spurt, some of the ques- tionable offerings may continue i into the fall period. There are factors about this summer’s pros- pects for Broadway attendance. One is that,general business con- ditions have deteriorated recently, with no improvement in immediate sight. Another is that legit oper- ating costs are somewhat higher than last year. From reports, the expected decrease of New Yorkers going away for vacations, so there may be more local theatregoers in town. But that is expected to be offset by a slump of tourist busi- ness from out-of-town. Light attendance on weekends, a boxoffice pattern during recent summers, has already begun to be felt again on Broadway, and it may Call Selves ‘Drama Desk’ Organization of New York legit reporters, formed two mronths ago, decided this week to take the name Drama Desk. It was also voted to confine the membership to those who actually cover the legit beat (including critics who double as re- porters), excluding gossip col- umnists, copyreaders, makeup men, etc. Luncheon meeting was held Monday (6) at A1 & Dick’s Steak House, N. Y. Off-the-record talks by promi- nent figures in the legit field are to be a feature of future sessions, of which the next will be July 11. Sam Zolotow, of the N. Y. Times, presided at Monday’s meeting, Vpvpral unfavorable Robert Sylvester, of the N. Y. several unfavorable , heading a heckling minority. Mrs. Greg Davidson, who covers legit for Variety in Chicago, was a guest. So Near, So Far Nat Karson, who designed the physical production for the Virginia State Theatre revival of "Hamlet” at Elsinore, went to Denmark several months in advance to look over the court- yard of the castle, where the performance will be given. When he left he hired several people to do research about types of costumes and armor in use around the time the Hamlet legend Is supposed to have taken place. Back in New Vork the de- signer received a cable from his representatives, notifying him that Danish authorities said that the most complete and authentic data on the sub- jeri was in the Metropolitan Museum, N. Y. Ballet Theatre Again Makes Offer of Tour B’way Producers Seen Ignoring Benefit Agents on Show-ol-Mondi Tnidi Schoop Doings Dances for ‘My L. A.’ Hollywood, June 7. Trudi Schoop, comic ballerina, has been signed by William Trenk to do the choreography for "My L. A.,’’ musical revue which he will produce at the Biltmore here in August. Miss Schoop, who has been operating a nitery in Zurich, Switzerland, has already arrived here. Milt Gross, Larry Marks, Larry Gelbart and William Manhoff, lat- ter three radio writers, are work- Move by the Assn, of Theatre Benefit Agents to force Sylvia Sieg- ler out of the theatre party field will apparently be ignored by Broadway managements. Majority of them have Indicated they will continue to accept theatre party bookings from Miss Siegler, or anyone else, regardless of agitation by the ATBA. “ Producers were urged last week by the ATBA to confine Miss Sieg- ler to “subscription tickets only" through her Show-of-the-Mont’h Club. Letter signed by Ivy Larric ATBA president, claimed, “Thit will protect us against unfair com- . . « •* petition created by her subscrin- ing on the book. Manhoff wrRes i business." Miss Siegler re- for the Dennis Day show; Marks and Gelbart for Bob Hope. Comic m • 1 1 * I save them the green light to work lO KIISSI 8 AnVlUn6 on the revue, which is being adapt- w ' aA o K/^rtlr Hv AAaff AVpiflRtrtPlc. ed from a book by Matt Weinstock, Los Angeles Daily News col umnist. Smaller Ageies. Used as 'Gyps By Bigger Outfits Evidence that some of the bigger become even more marked as the ! and more reputable theatre ticket warmer weather arrives. That re- verses the tendency of the cool months, when bullish weekend trade provides the operating mar- , gin for some shows. The current productions appar- ently set to span the summer are , "As the Girls Go,” at the Winter Garden; “Death of a Salesman,” Morosco; “Detective Story,” Hud- son; “Goobye. My Fancy,” Fulton; "Howdy, Mr. Ice of 1950,” Center; "Kiss Me, Kate,” Century; “Lend an Ear,” Broadhurst; “Mister Rob- erts,” Alvin; “South Pacific,” Ma- agencies have been using the smaller “gyp” outfits to carry out wholesale speculation in desirable seats to the top Broadway hits has been uncovered by N. Y. commis- sioner John M. Murtagh, it’s re- ported, The illegal practice has been carried out by means of “ex- changes,” according to members of the commissioner’s staff. That is the latest slant in Mur- tagh’s probe of ticket-scalping on Broadway. If the suspected com- plicity of some of the big agencies is conclusively shown by continued Russian Embassy, which last week turned down an offer of Bal- let Theatre to tour Russia this fall, on the grounds that it was too late to make bookings for the com- ing season, has been approached by BT again. On behalf of Blevins Davis, who made the original of- fer, BT has written the Embassy, asking just when the Russians could take a visit of the American dance troupe, stating that satisfac- tory arrangements could be made for any time. Davis is president of Ballet Theatre Foundation, BT’s sponsors. attempts to work out new Davis is at present in Denmark, out-of-town ticket dis- having gone there with an Equity itribution for Broadway shows ap- troupe to stage a Virginia State to be disappointments. One Theatre Co. production of “Ham- jg jj^p ^ipj^pj office set up in Swern’s let” at Elsinore. Davis is backing .^jppa^tn^pnt store, in Trenton. The the venture, with the U. S. Army j other is the proposed sale of having flown the troupe abroad as tickets bv American Express Co. a cultural goodwill token. Davis offices in various cities. Nelthei had volunteered to back the Ballet project is dead, but both now ap Out-of-Town Tix Distrib For B Vay Does Fade Theatre visit to Russia for a month’s tour, at an estimated cost pear doubtful. The Trenton ticket office, for of $100,0000 for transportation, aj-noe prospects were op- maintenance and salaries. It s be- ' lieved now the cost would be much less, as it’s understood Davis planned to enlist aid of the Army to fly the dancers oven jestic; “Streetcar Named Desire,” ; questioning of broker records, li- Barrymore, and “Where’s Char -1 cense revocation proceedings will ley?” St. James. Definitely slated to lay off from June 25 to Aug. 22 are “Anne of the Thousand Days,” Shubert, and ‘Madwoman of Chaillot,” Belasco be brought against the top offices, the commissioners office indicates. Latest agency to come under Murtagh’s inquisitive eye is Acme, of which Michael Atlas and George Figured doubtful bets to continue Solitaire are the heads. Its books over the summer are "Along Fifth Avenue,” Imperial; “At War With the Army,” Booth; “Born Yester- day,” Miller; “High Button Shoes.” Broadway, and “Two Blind Mice,” Cort. and records are being studied by the commissioner’s accountants, and Atlas has been questioned at some length. He will be recalled for further inquiry. Scalping Furor Continued from pafe 1 when it reached opening, when it reached about $460,000. More or less sin^lar vvhether the disappointing results timistic, had sold only 53 seats as of yesterday morning (Tues.> for all six shows available. Of these, 19 were for “Mister Roberts” and 12 were for “Streetcar Named De- sire.” Something over 20 orders were involved. Although additional sales may come in during the week, it’s be- lieved unlikely that there will be enough to cover the cost of the operation. It remains to be seen situation is said to exist at “Kiss Me, Kate,” “Death of a Salesman,” “Detective Story” and the lesser hits. Mail orders for “Miss Liberty, on this first attempt are conclusive. Managers of some shows involved think it may take longer to educate the out-of-town public to patronize such local offices. Or it may be ported that she had turned the matter over to her attorney. Mean- while, she is going ahead with the booking of theatre parties as well as her regular SOMC operation. Mrs. Larric’s letter to the pro- ducers stated, “We have no quarrel with Show-of-the-Month getting the regular allotment of 30 to 50 tickets per evening; more than this amount would constitute a theatre party.” It added that ATBA mem- bers handle all “saleable” plays and thus “provide bu.siness where it can be used to advantage” and do not necessarily “single out hits which con run on their own mo^ mentum.” Mrs. Larric subsequently ex- plained that her organization re- quires that theatre parties be at least half a house, and usually An entire house. Miss Siegler’s ac- ceptance of smaller bookings is ruining the theatre party field, the ATBA prez claimed. She argued that Miss Siegler should be con- fined to either subscription busi- Neither ; ne.ss or theatre parties, but not per- mitted to handle both. Miss Siegler, noting that there is nothing unethical in engaging both policies, said that many organiza- tions cannot afford to buy an entire theatre at any single timj, but that some of these can take part of a house several times a season. In that way, such a group is not swamped with more tickets than it can handle and isn’t thereby tempted to dispose of its unsold tickets through brokers. All managements queried by Variety predicted they would pay no attention to the ATBA move. Several que.stioned whether it would be legally permissible for them to carry out such a proposal. Meanwhile the license of the the Robert E. Sherwood-Irving that the project would work better “Mi.ss Liberty,” which premieres ' 'T. Aheam agency was re-j Berlin musical which preems July during the height of the legit sea- July 7 at the Imperial, will force ! voked yesterday (Tues.) by license i 7, has already reached about $250.-; son. In any case, another attempt ‘Along Fifth Avenue” out of that commissioner Edward T. ‘ McCaf- house, if it hasn’t already folded focy- And Murtagh yesterday rec 000, with the management hoping will probably be made in Trenton it will top $500,000 by opening or some other sizable town within by then. “Liberty.” scheduled to | ommended the revocation of the li- night. But it remains to be seen reasonable distance of New York open next Tues. (13) for a tryout run in Philadelphia. cense of the Louis Cohn agency ! whether it will react to the whole-1 American Express officials, ap HUROK SEEKS HOUSE FOR SPANISH REVUE Sol Hurok is negotiating with ; the Shuberts for a Broadway house I to pre.sent a Spanish revue, “Ca- balgata.” Finding the house has ’RECOMMENDED’ PAQS USED IN AUTHOR DEALS New “recommended” production contracts, approved yesterday (Tues.) by the Dramatists Guild, are already being used in author- producer deals for new' shows. Re- ^ vised contracts, replacing existing ones negotiated under the now-out- lawed Guild minimum basic agree- ment, will be drawn out from time ' to time as individual circumstances require. 1 The “recommended” form pacts, containing the same general terms ! as the old but without referring to the basic agreement or providing for enforcement by the Guild, are in three categories covering dra- matic plays, dramatic-musicals and revues. 'They are understood to he somewhat simpler in language, as W'ell as shorter than the old form contracts. Special membership meeting of the Guild will be held Wednesday of next week (15* at the Astor hotel, N. Y.. to explain the back- ground of the recent court decision nullifying the basic agreement and outline the present situation gov- erning author-producer dealings. Kate. According to the commissioner, Cohn’s books showed that he had sold 182 tickets to “South Pacific” for ail average overcharge of about $7 apiece. The average illegal markup was about $5 for “Kate” tickets. $4.25 for “Salesman” tick- ets and $4 for “Detective” tickets, Murtagh .said. that attendance is apparently re- i has for years arranged hotel hook- ; Ziegfcld was considered for a time, acting to the general business un-, steamship reser- ' but nixed. Revue would be pre- certainty, the publicity about ticket' nations, but still looks askance at sented by Hurok on his own, simi- abuses is figured having a par the theatre ticket propo.sal, Ac ticularly ill-timed impact. If pro- cording to its representatives, they ducers felt that any permanent anxious to risk getting the solution of the ticket problem were company involved in the corrup- ‘Salesman’ for Dallas Dallas, June 7, Arthur Miller’s Pulitzer Prize play, “Death of a Salesman.” is due here next season. No actual date announced. Company would be the Chicago group, now being readied. Wing’s ‘Brigadoon’ In Overseas Dates Something of a return to the old USO-Camp shows days is seen in the overseas booking of the Ameri- can Theatre Wing’s hospital tabloid show. “Brigadoon.” Musical, which recently completed a tour of 30.000 miles, playing 42 states in 120 ho.s- pitals, goes overseas next week un- der Army Special Services aegis, to play theatres in occupied terri- tory for four weeks. Most of the original 12 members will make the trip, including Shir- lee Dw'yer, Bob Dwyer, Stuart Mac- intosh. Henry C Neslo, Michael Higgins. Thelma Fuller. Pat Rogers. Vic Smiley and Jeff Warren. .Added are Heqry Gresham, John Ander- son and Hugh Williamson. This is second hospital show to go abroad, other being the Wing’s ‘The Butter and Egg Man.” tion prevalent in Broadway ticket distribution. However, they have not definitely turned down the sug- gestion. Mamoulian to Coast For ‘Country’ Casting be abmil $ 20,000 weekly " Hurok, meantime, flew Mavor Moore, Canadian radio actor-producer and author-direc- tor of the New Play Society, of the Museum theatre. 'Toronto, is cur- rently in New York on a radio as- signment fur the United Nations. i the existing abuses remain. likely to emerge from the present situation they might not be so discouraged. But they fear that any improvement is likely to be only temporary. So they see the present uproar as merely accen- tuating the seasonal decline in busine.ss. without promising any lasting benefit. On the other hand. Murtagh is emphatic in declaring that his probe, though it has obviously only scratched the surface of the ticket situation, has already uncov- ered deeply-entrenched and whole- sale abuses. H^ sees the investiga- I tion as centering attention on an es.scntially antiquated setup for ticket distribution, and he believe.s that the result may be the elimina- tion, or at least substantial im- provement, in the whole ticket sy.stcm. The commissioner expects to put most of the price-hiking ticket brokers out of business by the re- vocation of their licenses. After that, he hopes that the theatre it- •self will find a way to police the ticket distribution setup He ex- pects the system to be revised and modernized, but is understood to be determined to keep on riding Story.” to present the drama at the herd on the situation as long as Fhnpre.ss, Cllasgow' J_a!___^ ft . - ^ lar to his previous Broadway presentation, such as “Tropical Revue.” Hui*ok would bring the revue in immediately. Production, consist- ing of about 50 Latin Americans in variety acts, opened recently on the Coast to okay reviews, after an eight-month run Havana and en- gagements in Central America, Nut for the troupe in N. Y. would Roubeu Mamoulian. who will stage the Maxwell Ander.son-Kurt Weill adaptation of Alan Baton’s “Cry tlie Beloved (’ountry,” went to the (’oast last week to cast sev- eral white actors for the drama about South African racial condi- tions. He’ll cast the remaining white and all the Negro parts on his return about June 30, Play, which may be retitled, goes into rehearsal early in August for a September tryout and an Octo- ber preem on Broadway, possibly at Hie Music Box. The Playwrights’ Co. is presenting. to Eu- rope Sunday (5) to finalize detail* of the visit of the Sadler's Wells Ballet, of London, to N. Y. in Oc- tober. and arrange a U. S. tour of the Vienna State Opera for the 1950-51 .season. He’ll also attend to bookings abroad of his H. S- artists. He’s due back in N. Y. in mid-August. H’wood-B’way Axis Glasgow, May 31. Glasgow Unity Players inter- rupted their filming of a slum play, Rohci't McLcish’s “The Gorbals i Then they resume filming. Moncrieff’t ‘Maid’ Record Perth. May 31. Gladys Moncrieff. vet native mu- sical comedy star, who is here for Williamson Theatres in a revival of “Maid of the Mountains.” has ju.st chalked up her 2.289th per- formance In the lead role, “Maid is about the most revived show in the Antipodes, a la ‘Student Prince” in the U. S. . ,a i Miss Moncrieff, an Au.ssie idol, has appeared on the London stage and has visited the U. S. She pro* fers acting at homo.