Variety (August 1949)

60 I.EGIT1MATB Wednesday, Angmt 31 ^ Theatre Party Reps, B’way Mgrs. Meet Sept 20 on Mutual ProUems Conference of theatre benefits chairmen of various organizations In the New York area will be held Sept. 20 at the Essex House, N. Y. Confab, called by Sylvia Siegler, president of the Show of the ‘Ur Opens Del. Season Detroit, Aug. 30. Detroit’s 1949-50 legit season Konth" C^ub,‘ is‘a^merto provide i turns on the lights tonight (30) an exchange of views between the-1 when Mae West s “Diamond Lil atre party representatives and i opens a six-day engagement at the Broadway managements. ' Shubert Lafayette. More than 100 representatives The Ca.ss will open its season of organizations, from New York Sept. 5 with “Death of a Sales- City, Westchester county and man,” with Tom Mitchell and Connecticut and northern New June Walker. “Salesman” will be Jersey have been invited. All are in town two weeks, the first on in charge of arranging theatre : Theatre Guild sulxscription. benefits for their outfits. About , 75 have accepted so far. Also,' legit producers, business managers, pressagents and actors will outline their views about theatre parties ■nd how they might be improved. It’s figured that most theatre party chairmen have little knowl- idge of how the Broadway theatre ' t’^under wav operates. Also, those associated ^ei unaei way with Broadway shows are un familiar with the setup of organi- | zations holding benefits. Miss Tinian’s’ to Start Pitt Legit Season Sept. 5 Pittsburgh, Aug. 30 Legit season of 1949-50 at Nixon ' seasons. Labor Day ^ ! week (Sept. 5) with return engage- ment of “Finian’s Rainbow.” From looks of things at present. May Revive Old Socials, With Accent on Legrit Click of the sundry “Rendez- vous With the Theatre” shindigs, staged at the Hotel Plaza’s Rendez- vous Room, New York, has in- spired Jim Sauter and others in the American Theatre Wing to re- vive possibly the old Mayfair or 60 Club as a regular Saturday night social group, with accent on 1 the legit. | The ATW benefited from five musicals, the last being Thursday t night’s (25> tieup with “Ki.ss Me j Kate.” The entire $2 converts go j to that fund. Alfred Drake, Lisa I Kirk, Patricia Morison, Harold Lang, Agnes deMille, Mary Me-: Carty and Ruth Hu.sscy partici-' pated. There were plenty of do- nated gifts as door prizes, dance contest award, etc. I As the pre-Labor Day blowoff was signalized with “Kate,” Sauter, who has been officiating as host for the Wing, bethought himself of the yesteryear Mayfair nights at the old Ritz-Carlton, and their im- pact on New' York’s legit-socialite Strawhat Reviews Continued from pago S 9 Siegel hopes that an airing of house will be dark immediately fol- views may be mutuallv helpful.' lowing “Finian.” relighting Sept. Also the affair is intended as a 19 with “Mister Roberts,” which prestige builder and possible busi-! comes in for three weeks, running ness getter for Show of the Month ' through Oct. 8. It’ll be the first flub. I touring date for the national com- The A.ssn. of Theatre Benefit pany of the Thomas Heggen-Joshua ^ Agents, of which Miss Siegler is a Logan hit. following its 54-week general art of living resumed trade former member and which has op -1 stay in Chicago, where it closes at the Royale, N. Y., last week (22) Till* Madwoman of f haillot (ROYALE. N. Y.) Jean Giraudoux’s rich satire on modern politics, business and the Neptembor TIdo pany. Nobody ever had to over- come a tougher handicap than he in turning a pompous ass into a highly romantic figure, and he scores in a very difficult role, con- tributing in large measure to the play’s overall effect. Others are less important, but Jean Gillespie does well as the daughter, Edward Ash- ley is suitably stuffy as the suitor, Mabel Taylor is okay as the maid, and John Kerr gets in a good lick as the son. The play actually runs a full three hours and could stand a good deal of pruning here and there without interfering with the mood, but held intere.st in the ex- cellent staging by Arthur Sircom. It also has a couple of fine sets by Eugene Filsch. Elie. I’luiii*rbui*k Denver, Aug. 29. Elilch theatre pre.fcntauon of comedy in three ads by Benn W. Levy. Produced by Arnold Gurther. in association with Irving Jacobs. Stars Ruth Matteson. Ruth Ford. Whitfield C'onnor, Walter Grea/.a: features Claire C’arleton. Directed by Norris Houghton. Designed by Alvin Coll. At Elilch theatre. Denver. Aug. 28. ’49. Julian Pugh Whitfield C'onnor Arthur Poinfret Walter Greaza Deborah Poinfret Ruth Ford Jane Pugh Ruth Matteson Clutterbui k Peter Hobbs Walter Fred Sherman Melissa Claire Carleton posed her booking parties, has; Sept. 17. meantime announced the list of new shows for which it will sell benefits. The lineup includes the Maxwell Anderson-Kurt Weill “Lost In the Stars,” Katharine Cor- nell’s “That Lady,” Cheryl Craw- ford’s “Regina” musical, the Maurice Evans “Double Bill,” Lillian Heilman’s “Montserrat,” S. M. Charlock’s Gilbert and Sul- livan series and George Abbott’s “Touch and Go” revue. after an eifeht-week vacation, pick- ing right up where it left off. A few replacements have in no way weakened the play or its punch, so ’Medium’ Claimed So Good, n It Only Seemed Short New York. Editor, Variety: In the Aug. 17 Variety, your feview of “The Medium” and “The Telephone” says that: “Production has been necessarily streamlined for barn travel, but gives the im- pression of having been cut too much. Never too long on Broad- way, it is now too short.” As musical director of the recent tour, I would like to say that not one bar or even note has been omitted from the original produc- tion in the tour of summer theatres. We have performed it in its entire- ty at all times, although some sus- tained orchestral passages were played a little faster in our two- Hefty ’49-’50 Sked Set For Des Moines Season Des Moines, Aug. 30. | ple against the wicked big shots of D. C. Peterson, manager of the I the world remains a fascinating 4.200-seat KRNT Radio theatre «vening. here, has the following se^up to j Martita Hunt continues to give date for the 1949-50 season: Black- | a virtuoso performance as Countess stone. Sept. 19; “The Silver Whis- ! Aurelia, the Madwoman who sets tie,” Nov. 7; “Finian’s Rainbow,” i the world right. If possible, she’s Jan. 1-2; “Mr. Roberts.” Jan. 10-11; ' ^rown in the part self-assured. Ballet Rii.«:.<«e rte Mnnte Carlo Jan ; absolutely captivating. Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, Jan. Marion Anderson, Jan. 23; Her lengthy dissertation on her T‘imr“"F.‘r‘VR. Spending the day is still a VallHei^*^ Feh ^ 91 bit, and the meeting with Vanities, Feb. 21-26, Oscar , jjgj. cronies in her cellar ‘‘Merry , is still the evening’s comedic hlgh- Widow, March 30. | spot. John Carradine, as the rag- Several other shows and concerts ; picker, leads the support, and will schedule definite dates soon, j scores a bullseye with his mock- including the Metropolitan Opera ' defense of the capitalists. Estelle Assn. i Winwood, as Mme. Constance; Le- ora Dana, as the waitress; Nydia Westman, as Mile. Gabrielle, stand out in a uniformly good cast. Mar- tin Kosleck, back after an absence for film work, continues to make a gifted part of the deaf mute role. Louis Sorin, replacing Clarence Derwent as the corporation presi- Play Abroad The I'oeklail Party Edinburgh, Aug. 23. Sherek Playeri. Ltd., production of dent, plays the role more affably. comedy in three act* by T. S. Eliot. Dl- igBs suavelv It n Hiffprpnt intor rected by E. Martin Browne. Setting* by , * SUdveiJ. 11 IS a umereni inter- Anthony Holland. At Edinburgh Inter- ; pretation, but no lesS effective, national Festival of Music and Drama. Jonathan Harris, who originally Edward *Chaml?erf^vne*’ Robert Flemyn* broker’s roIe, has moved Up Julia (Mr*, shuttiethwaite) to the part of the inspector, orig- Cathleen Nesbitt inallv held bv Vladimir Sokolnff piano letup. Maybe the show you ! Celia Coplestone Irene Worth " raiioht wie QO pnnH von it ‘ Alexander MacColgi# Gibbs Ernest Clark ®‘."*Ster looking, caugnt was so good, you felt it was ; peter Quiipe Donald Houston he s just as enigmatic, giving an eX' all too short. WilUajn McDermott. Jennerstown (Fa.) Musical Pittsburgh, Aug. 30. For first time in its long straw- 5 at history. Mountain Playhouse at ennerstown. Pa., will try out a new show, a musical. It’s “Let’s iTake Stock.” Tuner opens tomor- row night (31) and will run through Sept. 10 Unidentified Guest Alec Gulnnes* cellent nerformnnop Tt hacn’l eVia Lavinl* Chambei layn* Ursula Jean.s I-...*- Nurse Secretary C:hristlna Horniman “BVOr of Sokolou S poitrayal, but it Caterer's Men Donald Bain, Martin : has a good flavor of its OWn. Fay Beckwith , Roope, taking over as the broker. ' gives the part the proper bluff, Dramatic highlight of the current pushing quality. Bron Fifiiaii*H nainliow (SHUBERT, N. H.) New Haven, Aug. 30. With some refurbished scenery. Festival, the first new play in 10 ^ years by poet-dramatist T. S. Eliot, emerges as provocative but over- long and a confusing intellectual crossword puzzle. Serious theatre | enthusiasts, especially those con-I Book and Ivrics were written bv ' Eliot’s philosophy, will freshened up costumes and a flr.st- William Wheeling senior it HarV talking about it for a long time i rate troupe, including new lead.s, yard Jid native (if nS^^ probably no tWo “Finian’s Rainbow” stepped off bir Pa ^aSd^the mu?lc bv Wheel- would agree as to what it means, here on the first leg of a tour that Ing’andRuss Ames also an un(?er- ''^^st End production chances look w»ll touch Pittsburgh. Kansas City, irf duate at cLbri’dge vJheeling gSfil w^v Lake City on the forked as an apprentice at Jen- i . I lai J beginning in perstown last summer and found Playwright has written In more: i i* the material for “Let’s Take reali.stic and colloquial terms than enthusia.stic re- Stock” on the job either of his two previous plays p^P^*oo m this town which is ex- BtocK 0 " JOP- ( "Murder in the Cathedral” and ‘remely critical from legit angles. Don Hirst, legit actor, now plav- “Family Reunion”). For the first rests easily on the ears. Ing leads in films for Army sfgnal * chorus is missing. The verse after a couple of seasons. Corps, at Astoria. N. Y.. while con-: »s more felt than heard—in Inter- routines come through ter- tinuing his scripting chores on the oal rhythms of language and height- choreijgraphy get- TV show, “You Are An Artist.” on ened imagery. Though labeled a yP*. upper crust rendition by a NBC. i comedy, play is clo.ser to being ^'oup. Excellent vocal en- ip——— —— ' a p.sychological problem piece or *®*ribles also get a substantial hand. drawing room tragedy, w i t h n Stockwell and Marilyn marked resemblance to Philio * 1 ^^ taken on the top roman- Barry’s “Hotel Universe.” i spots and both are well re- Plot ostensibly deals with tnnor Stockwell has been around and outer conflicts “involvli^^^ Uroup of characters cauRht In a She tangle of marital and extra-marital soarc V'-nJ-Ho appeal to misunderstandinRs, Title, partially , if,his ca“,"does a Sood Job as"the stufT> southern Senator. Joe Yule again does the Finian role in good shape, and other re- peaters who .score are Charles J. Davis. Carmen Guterez. Eddie Bruce. Berenice Hall and Maude Simmons. Although Bretaigne Windu.st Is credited on program as director, actual staging has been handled by Jame.s Busso, who assisted Windiisl on original production. Bone* “Clutterbuck.” giving its Ameri- can premiere at Elitch stock the- atre here to SRO crowds, likewise I packs the house with laughs, espe- I daily when it gets rolling after a I dragging start. Running about two hours and a half, with two inter- , missions, “Clutterbuck” could stand ; some judicious trimming which j should be done before play can go Broadway. It rolls out sex in heavy i doses in such manner that the audi- i ence eats it up. It will go over in j N. Y. without any trouble. Cast Is small, being three couples and a waiter, with the man carry- ing the title role being on stage once in each act and not saying a word, but carrying a load of poten- tialities. Starting rather slowly, the action gets going after long dia- log which sets the stage, bringing the audience up to date in the be- fore-marriage sex life of the two couples who carry most of the show. The two wives each spent a spell with the same man priof^ to mar- I riage. Then, to give the play a i seeming surfeit of sex, it’s revealed that the two husbands each lived I for a time with the same woman, I and to top it off the man and the woman were later marrieti, and are on board the cruise with the two I couples. The men are never en- lightened as to the pre-marital dawdling, nor do the wives receive any Inkling of their mates’ mis- doings. However, the women tell each other of their conquests, as do the men. In the title role of “Clutterbuck.” , Peter Hobbs walks across stage j t^hree times, but with dynamite in I his step. The five with the prin- ] cipal parts, all meaty, carry them- selves well. Their diction is tops, getting everything out of the roles. Ruth Matte.son, as Jane Pugh, has the popular part and holds it up throughout. Claire Carleton, brought in to be the ingenue, snaps the action when she comes on in the second act in a revealing bath- ing suit, and panics the house when, after getting one of her for- mer paramours to do her back with suntan lotion, she a.sk.s the other, with his wife there, to do her legs, and plops one of them in his lap In a few words, “Clutterbuck” is I ‘y triple dose, and then tripled. As one of Miss Carleton’s lines goes. “You can’t blame a tom- cat for being a tomcat.” Direction by Norris Houghton. "'Po js slated to go to New York witli the play, is invigorating. Two settings by Alvin Colt are excel- lent, with the hotel scene the win- Ber. Jaro. Number One-O-Six, a sexy, slinky witch from another world who has been sent to earth to fetch back another female As the wife she is stupidli modest, dowdy and completely un. der the speH of her sister (Maurine Cookson). Gal chosen by the witch to be returned to her outer nlanet IS Vera Marshe, flibbertigibbet wife of John Alvin, Woods’ publisher Sorceress places Woods under her control and forces him to make ardent love to Miss Marshe. This is for the ultimate purpose of lur ing the erring wife to her murder at Woods’ hands. Miss Marshe leaves her husband for Woods, then retreats back to her male when the writer wangles out of tiio romance by a delightfully-done exposition of the reasons why he wants to live out the rest of their davs in a nudist camp, sans clothes, sans food, sans sanitation. I* W'oods doe.sn’t get all the .subtle comedy of his role hut delivers a I faii-Iy workmanlike job. Miss Lewis does ably in her two parts Miss Marshe gives her flighty role a dizzy character, and .Alvin is okay as the publisher. E. Alyn . Warren’s direction is excellent. So is the one-.set Gotham apartment bv E. Willard Schurz. Production by j Norman Mennes, Florence and Har- I old Turney is good. Day. Yiiii Got a llo^tafia , Bellport, L. I.. Aug. 23. I Uesloy Savaxe production of musical comedy in two acts. Book, .Mi** Savage- music. Cy Coleman: lyrics, Larry .Stelirer: . staged by Wade Williams; dances, John , Vlvyan: set. Jeanne Burke. At Bellport ; theatre, L. 1., ,4ug. 17, '49. Robbie Vance Chris Hamilton ' Jeanne Carter Patricia John Canty Mabel Lawrence Paulette .San Marelii David Vance John Vlvyan ; Nina Carter Helen Donaldson I Gary Vance Lou Frizzell Sandra Gloria Mitchell ! _ Rip Collin* , Club Entertainer Wade Williams Ensemble; Lesley Savage. Barbara De , Mar. June Irving, Ann Raskin. Jackie Leve, Ruth Pomeran, ('rank Entwistle, , Dave Pomeran, Jay Johnson. 1 Children: Edo Cook. Judy Gray. Peter Cook, Russell King, Lennic Dacunto. BrcioiiiNtirk FOR SALE Summer Playhouse In Bridgton, >li«lne SeatliiK capacity apjdox. 4(»0 111 operation 10IB.I7-H $4,000 Reply BOX M. BKIIM.TOX, Me. (Continued on page 61) Academy of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament IROADLEA HALL. GOSHEN. N. Y. ELEMENTARY C*®^*'®** HIGH SCHOOL \ boHrdliiir arlimd for rlrla In an Ideal conntrj •o-tting Conducted by THE SISTERS OF ST. DOMINIC OF BLAUVELT Ailfirees: The IflrectreHa—IMione: fiovheii 416 I Mi l ^ Austin, Cal., Aug. 20. production of Norman 1 J?**** Harold Turney pre- Wooru"^#«'^ llHam Bolton. Stars Donald MsuhIi’.^ I** ’'^“‘■she. June Lewis, Maurine Cookson, John Alvin and Eve Ilumi"F Warren;, i Willard Schurz. At Tustin high l»;^‘\n*-O.Six....*.-.®'’’ fune Lewis lShiu n h " Donald Woods : r»o?othv Maurine Cookson V h n Vera Marshe , Eve Halpern Tf Muriel and William Bolton will get hack to their typewriters for a careful job of rewriting, principally polishing, they may have something in this nmu.sing compound of do- mestic comedy, double identity, witchcraft and fanla.sy. JiHie I.,ewis is cast in the double role ol v\ite to Donald Woods, Man- Whether intentional or not, the fact that “You Got a Regatta” con- fines itself to a running time of i approximately 75 minutes is ad- vantageous. This brevity allows I little time for the development of a hackneyed plot and is responsible ' for the show traveling at a fa.st and ; pleasant pace. As a Broadway ; entry, the musical is too short and too threadbare to warrant produc- : tion. but as summer theatre fart : it’s ok. ^ Show, however, could use somt I padding. A dance specialty, an- ; other tune or an additional scene I revolving around the femme comic . would be helpful. If lengthened a ' little, musical might do as a pack- age for the summer circuit or could even fill one-night stands on j the borscht circuit. ! Cy Coleman and Larry Steiner, in the music and lyric department, respectively, show promise. Cole- man, a nitery pianist and composer, i has turned out a listenable score. ; while Steiner shines in spots with i some clever wordage. Show sport.s i 12 numbers, leaving little time to the story of a boy and girl who ' compete in a regatta. Boy wins, girl contests decision. Girl’s wid- owed mother and boy’s wifeless I father, affected by similar situa- tion years ago when they were in love, realize their mistake and. not I wanting the same thing to happen to their children, manage to ; straighten out the whole affair. I Patricia John Canty in the in- genue role gives a pert perform- ance and offers a cute rendition of “Daddy Why?,” questioning the w'hys and wherefores of sex. Chris Hamilton, as the youth and Lou Frizzell, as his father, are okay, with latter showing good voice m his balladeering of “Strange How Love Can La.st.” Paulette San Marchi’s»comic antics are goocl for some laughs, and Helen Donaldson docs nicely as the mother. Best showmanship display ae* companies the tune, “My Called Her Bingo,” done in tne vaudeville idiom, complete witn cane, derby and strut. As i/,'® ing and closing number. “Aff The Glory,” captures tlie feeling 01 the show. Musical accompanimen is adequately supplied by duo- pianists Paquita Anderson *n Edward Hein. BUFFALO TROUPE RESUMES Buffalo. Aug. 30. Erlanger Players resuming Seph 6 with “Trial of Mary Dugan J" six performances, “Springtime Henry” skedded to lollow’- Troupe includes (Walter ' Norma Taylor Sharpe. Sally •