Variety (March 1950)

58 LEGITIMATE Wednesday, March 1, 1950 Plays Out of Town Ulintf o fiav! a thespirtg assignment that over ■ ■ , ' shadows her terping contribution. New Haven, Feb. 23. playing the ghostly Kitty, shp does Vhiton Freedley production (in associa very Well by the histrionics. Fur ion with Anderson Lawler and Russell : *-uGj, HancinS however cOUld add larkert) of musical comedy in t\yo acts . Lner uaiiung, uuweveVt tuuiu »uu it scenes). Book by Waiter BuUock and considerable stature to her overall Jylvia Regan; lyrics, Bullock; music. Abra effectiveness. -sr.-**-" v iam EUstein/; Features ^ Vivienne.-^ Segal,.' -t~ ‘ ituarl ErSvin, Valerie Bettis, Mark Daw* ion, Martha Wright, Bambi Linn, Leonard Slliott. Directed by Mary Hunter; chore►grapliy and musical numbers staged by lelen Tamirls; settings, costumes, lightng by Stewart Chaney; orchestrations, iobert Russell Bennett, Donald. J. Walker,. Ians Spialek; arrangements, Genevieve >il6t; vocal arrangements. Crane Calder; nuaical direction,. Max Meth. Opened at Viyienhe Segal , Leonard' Elliott The Myrmidons (Yale Drama Department) New Havdn, . Feb. 25, Drama in three acts, : five scenes. Tunc Yalman. Directed by Beverly 1 son; .setting,*; James^Bileyi costumes?SWorn W*"1*'** ***,?* make an appealing team of ro cast; Phil Hoiiis. Ellen Langdon. waiter mancers. Physically a personality , L. Boughton, Elaine Bullls. Betsey Bacon, pair, their voices blend nicely in Oper Jhubert, .New, Haven, Feb, 23, /50» $4.20 op. ' Leslie Butterfield . . . * Jutch . .... . . .......... . . lake i.. ... Pr.udence ; . > » ... » » • • Etonnie . ... Albert . i ... , i . . ; . . Bod Alexander WaybeUe . . ;...../, . . . . . . . Aleen Buchanan Kitty . . . .v.-. ... .< Valerie Bettis Drumleigh ..... ... ... .... , Jay Marshall Sarol . , . . ; . . . . . . . , . , .. ; Martha Wright; Vince ... ... .... . . . . Mark Dawson W6odro\v TWigg. . . Stuart Erwin Minlsey , ..... . . .1 . . . Marjorie Peterson Horace Paine'. . . . '. . John Neher. Sandra . . . ; . .Virginia Curtia Freddie ... . . . . . . . . . • . > . . . . .Bussell. Nype Blodgett . . ... . ... ,.. . . . i.-» , . ... Lulu Bates J bnathan . . * * * i.< . • • . • • ■■ David . Nillo The Minister; . . . ...... ..... . Crane Calder O’Brien ....... ....... . . . .Don *Kennedy Rafferty . . : . . • w Paul Reed Dancers'; Eleanor. Fairchild,-. Eleanor Gregory/ Babs Heath, Ann Hutchinson, Nbrma Kaiser* Janice Buie, Chuck Brunner. Ted Cappy, Roscoe French, David Nillo . Harry Rogers.Swen Swensom— Singers: Leigh Allen, Jeanne Bal, Virginia Curtis, Buth .McVayne, Joyce Mitchell, Julia Williams, Fred Bryan, Ken Carroll, Ed Gombbs. John. Juliano, Russell Nype, Robert Wallace., Premiere inventory on this new the score’s top tunes, resulting in substantial audience approval. Bambi Lirtn’s youthful charm and dancing grace carry her to added laurels, and Rod Alexander; as her vis-a-vis, is in the upper bracket, , _ Leonard Elliott's task is primarily J 1 . BettyC Dow .[routine but he does okay with what Bambi ' Linn i he. haS; . Adding competent support are J. C. McCord, Betty Low, Aleeij Buchanan, Jay Marshall, as the spirit contingent; Marjorie Peterson. the maidenly Mimes; LUlu BaiteS, family cook; „Don Kennedy and Paul Reed, gumshoe duo; John Noher, a murdered guest; David Nillo, spectre dancer. Score, with several hit potentials, gets generally good rendition, Due for substantial pop acceptance are ‘This Is Love,” “It's a Long Time Till Tomorrow ” “Dreams Ago.” Other sprightly hielodies include “Headin’ for a Weddin’,” “You Appeal to1 Me,” “Believe Me.” ‘‘Blue Day” is an okay torch number, Featuring snappy lyrics are “Redecorate,” “There’s Nothing Like It,” “That’s a Man Every time.” Good Wesley Lau, Anna Leonard, Sue Ann Young. Howard Orms, Thomas Hill, Shirln Devrim Lau,.; William. Francis, Haldun Dormen, Frank Pacelli, Bert Smith, SylviaStockdale, Georgia D, Aune, Robert Ackart, Nadya Grushctzky. ! ensemble tunes are “When the Vinton Kreedley musical discloses Sheets Come Back from the Launassets offsetting liabilities by a ! dry,” “Who Done It?”, “From This margin comfortable enough to war? I Day On,” “What a Day! : : Tunc Yalman, play writing student at Yale drama department, has written a penetrating analysis of the hopelessness of modeni existence as certain segments of society see it. Script offers a specific example in the disintegration of a European royal family crumbling Under the stress of banishment, yet the whple serves as a symbol of present-day confused ; thinking, broken illusions; and loss of faith which, in more than one quarter, have fostered a philosophy of “ What V the Use?” yr Laid in the present on a small Aegean island to which the royal family ;. had been banishedv play opens with the ’ youthful prince coming back ftom the metropolitan ^university where he had' been sent four years ; previously. Filled With enthusiasm, faith and rohianee, he returns "only to find a situation involving illicit affairs, mental breakdowns, frustrated love, suicide and kindred factors that ultimately de Mr. GHlie Glasgow, Feb. 14. Stanley French presentation of comedy in twb acts by James Bridle; Stkrs Alastair Sim. -Directed by Sim. Sets by Hendrik BakeY; incidental : music, Cedric Thorpe Davie. . At King's, Glasgow* Feb. Judge * ,*(,,«• ,<-» ».* « Hi ■ O, Stoker Procurator . . . . . , . . . ; . . , . ♦ .Douglas Muir William Gillie ...... . . ..... .Alastalr. Sim Tom Donnelly. .* ... .. . , . , , .. George Gole Mrs. Gillie . . .Megs Jenkins Dr. Watson.. ... . . ... . . .Gordon McLeod Nelly; Watson . . . . . . * . . , . . . . Janet Brown Mr. Gibb . v . / . ; . Ronald Adam rant an .optimistic prediction for its future. It’s by^no means a matter of coasting down the preparatory Choreography Swings from effer? vescence to simple charm, with a fiery dance story in between. Inci James Bridie takes an unsuccessful village schoolmaster as his central character in this amusing; thoughtful two-acter> set in a fictitious Scot village; It's an ideal vehicle for Alastair Sim’s typical shrug-of-the-shoulders, ; painfullyamused comedy style, with . Sim spouting the Bridie humor superbly. . v William Gillie is the local schoolmaster with ideas ; a failure himself but not loath to inspire his pupils with ideas about living dapgerpusly. Their careers rebound upon him, to much talk in the village, back-biting from the rural doctor; and patronizing from the minister wliio is also chairman of the local education committee. Gillie inspires a miner’s : son, Tom Dphnelly, to marry the doctor’s daughter, laugh at the world, and try his literary career in London. Six months later the hoy returns, lyith his wife a shallow replica of her former sincere self; from a single to a double staircase, Bone. . The Heart of the Matter Boston, Feb. 25. Richard Rodgers and , Oscaiy Hammer? stein n production of drama in three acts by Graham Greene and Basil Dean, from novel by. Graham Greene. Stars Ian Hunter. Staged by Basil Dean; sets, Samuel Leve; costumes, David Ffolkes. At the Wilbur, Boston, Feb. 24, *50; $3.60 • -E. Magnus Uju The Second Boy ...... Chauncey. Reynolds Louise Scoble Alison Leggatt Major Scobie Ian .Hunter Yusef . Peter Illing Mrs. Fellowes. ........... . Cherry Hardy Mrs. Halifax . Margery Maude Police Commissioner Colin Keith-Johhston Norah Howard Helen Rolt Wilson’s House Boy . Colonel Wright ...... A Sergeant of Police ..... Herbert Ellis Leslie Barrie Olvester Polk homestretch, as there are vital ele \ dentally, stanza two could use ments still to be perfected, but the ‘ added terps to equalize dance iniend result1 can materialize, as good ; portance of act one*. The haunting clef-and-hoof divertissement. Tech1 sequence, an offshoot of choreognicolor could do interesting things ' raphy, scores solidly due to novelty, with this setup. i /• Combination of two-world char Priiicipal deficiency, as of now, acters has allowed for striking efis a familiar one— book shprtcom fects in sets, costumes, and light-., ings. A novel and absorbing; story , ing/jplus unusual blue makeup oh idea is somewhat dissipated in the ; the spirits. Contrasting bright telling, due to lack of sock develop j earthly hues and subdued otherment from the dialog angle. It is a world colors make the production bit surprising to note that the same j, a visual treat. A cracker jack firsthand that has scribbled good lyrics [ act curtain introduces an outstand(and they are exceedingly ^bright) ing scenic novelty as setting shifts also penned considerable 'ordinary from a single to a chatter in the spoken sequences, in audience view. There’s radical readjustment . required in latter category. Fundamentally, production has talent, animate and inanimate beauty, a better than adequate score, pleasing voices, good danc” ing, and a thesis with entertainment potentialities. If the -show stubs its toe, lack of cohesion will , . undoubtedly be the prime stum1 ^li bl|ng block. Mary Hqnter is billed as stager, but the final word rests with Freedley. Built around the theme of a ghostly entourage battling against mortals for undisputed possession i Dr. Jessie Sykes of an ancestral mansion in Penn i Lieut. Bagster, r.a.f, . . . John Dodsworth ; jyivania, script utilizes enough fan i tasy to mtngue, but not bore, play(Mrs. Bowies ........... .. Phyllis Morris goers who don’t ordinarily go: for ; Father Rank; .......... • • E. J. Kennedy H m-wnrl H ctufF ' Sergeant ........... . Randolph Sawyer -'•ream-worn StUtt. , I Helen Rolt . . .Y . . . . . . , RosSlle ^Crutchlcy Woodrow Twigg, sole survivor of a family most of whose, members had met untimely ends, has sold the mansion to Leslie Butterfield, a five-time loser divorcee, because he sees ail Opportunity for culmination of the thwarted marriage of a . pair of spirit relatives who were supposed to have wed 87 years previously. Mrs. Butterfield has bought the estate to stage the wedding of her niece, Carol, and Twigg plans to make it a double ceremony by ringing in the ghosts that inhabit the place. The spectres are visiblev only to virgins, which means that a distailt maiden cousin of Mrs. Butterfield’s; Mimsey, and Trigg; a bachelor, are the only ones who can communicate With them. As the double wedding is about to be solemnized, the min: ister is shot and the story then resolves into a whodunit quest. Kitty, . leader of the apparitions; makes a deal to reveal the murderer’s name to Twigg if he will rid the premises of the mortal occupants. Twigg agrees, a haunting sequence frightens Mrs. Butterfield into relinquishing the property, and Twigg goes to her room to help her pack for her departure. When hie returns and, calls upon the spirits to reveal the murderer, he is no longer able to see the ghosts, hut the day is saved •by Mimsey, who is still “solvent.” Topping the list of featured players are Vivienne Segal, Stuart Erwin and Valerie Bettis. As the divorcee, Miss Segal has not yet reached the peak of her role’s capacity, possibly due to required further playing. . Her best vocal Dumber is “That’s a Man Every stroy his better nature and prompt him to live only for the pleasures of the moment. Title is taken from a word meaning the ant, and theme contains an analogy between the lives of humans and the scurrying-about of the insects. There’s some excellent writing in this script, showing familiarity with subject matter. Direction, aside from an occasional snag, guides the story capably. Acting is on a quality par with, the balance of the production.. Single setting of a house on a rocky hilltop is picturesquely done. Costumes are well executed, and there’s an effective contribution from the lighting division. Bone. The Ant Village (JOHNS HOPKINS) Baltimore, Feb. L7. Johns Hopkins University Playshop pro? ductlon of annual Theodore Marburg Prize Play Contest Winner; comedy in three acts by Paul M.' Kendall; staged by N. Bryllion Fagin; technical director, James Byrd. * At Playhouse, Baltimore. Cast: Juliette Palmer* Josephine Shyers, Nina Hughes, Carl Skytte, Ray DeBaugh. Ashby Stiff, Lester Wolfe, Marcia Hovick, Florence Aaronson, Bert Hanaiier, Bill Seldon, John Buxton, . Martin . Raila, Nathan Harris. has become film critic on a weekly London paper and, through various black market dealings, has amassed: a fortune of £5,000. Is William Gillie, •schoolmaster, fit to take his seat among the immortals? Bridie leaves the judgment to a celestial judge, prompted by a procurator’s briefing, and the verdict is that Gillie be given a Seat betwixt Abraham Lincoln and John ‘Wesley. Play is witty with impish Bridie, fun, packed with much thought and philosophizing, often weighty, and marred by a poorish first act. Acting nf Gordon McLeod; George Gole and Welsh-born Megs Jenkins ranks high, while Janet Brown, better-known for her music-hall impersonations, shoWs considerable promisfe in her first straight role. Gord. chosen add carefully drawn. There is the harassed mother tryirfg to keep the peace between her drunken out-of-work husband and. her children; the eldest daughter just returned from the Forces who has developed ideas beyond her station ini life; the 17?yeor-old girl who haa to get married; the younger daughter who is heading the same way, and the young son a bright lad at school who is inhibited by his domestic surroundings. • • This is a sordid picture of life in the raw, which makes very little concession; It isn’t, however a hopeless picture, and the gleam into the future-as depicted by-tire— ^ returning ; ex-soldier fiance offers hope and encouragement, Kathleen Harrison is full of warmth and pathos as the mother, but Nova Pilbeam has a streak of unreality as . ter eldest daughter. Suzanne Wilds and Myrtle Reed are better choices as her other daughters; and William Strange is av standout as the bright boy of the family. There is a solid performance from Barry Morse as Miss Pilbeam’s understanding, imaginative boy friend, and a fine, cameo from Robert Desmond as a stranger; Myro. : Prlitc©ss€zarda8 Paris, Feb/ 18. Marcel Karsenty and Pierre Dux (in association With Fernand Lunibrosc) pi esentatioE of operetta revival in two acts (six scenes); Stars Marta Eggerth, Jan Klepura. Book by Rene Petfer and Andie Mauprey, from the original by Leon Stein and: Bela Jenbach, revised byTKichel Duran and Andre Hornez; lyrics, Henri Falk; music, Emmerich Kalman; adapted bv : Marc Lanjeaii. Directed by Fred Pasquali. Scenery nhd costumes by Georges Wakhevitch; choreography, Leonid^ Massine. At' Theatre de Paris, Paris. Boni ' .......... Edwin . ... i Sylva, Mitri; . . . . . . Stasl. , . . ... , , . .... .Genevieve Kervlne Countess Herlatl . . . ... , . Alice Tissct Prince . . . . ^ .. . . /Roger Vincent The London, Feb. 15. Bedford Theatre presentation of drama in three acts by Dorothy Lang. Directed by Joan Swinstead. At Bedford; London. It is by no means a foregone conclusion that the heavyweight team of Rodgers, Hammerstein, Greene and Dean can haul this dramatized novel above the timber line. On the contrary; faced with the severe obstacles of a too-brief tryout period, an overly complicated: production and a difficult theme to develop, the problems seem, insurmountable. Drawn by Graham Greene and Basil Dean from Greene’s brilliant an<t,4Successfill novel of the same name, the play is most seriously flawed by the many breaks in the This winner of the Theodore Marburg Prize Play Contest, conducted annually by the Playshop group of Johns Hopkins Univ., was selected from among 76 scripts submitted. It is a story of life among the new nobility; the nuclear scientists/ and was written by Paul M. Kendall, ’associate professor of English at Ohio Univ; Hero is physicist who hits the limelight, ahd play deals with the attendant evils of his work on the atom bomb. Certainly topical and a bit of a switch, in dramatis personae, the plot nevertheless bears vintage marks | of pre-Oak Ridge days. It’s an okay try but far from Broadway in its present state*. The shysicist is drawn from the quiet or campus life to world-wide notice because of his work with the atoms-— being urged into windowdressing front-running by an ambitious wife endowed with the cash to make such a splash exciting to her if not productive of added knowledge in the prof’s chosen field. Conflict comes via a combina narrative .line. There are more j tion lab assistant and secretary who can give with a tune on a trick piano and heist a beeker when the than a dozen full stops for scene change; a fact that might not disturb the flow of a play -with more real dramatic trajectory than this, but one which here destroys the mood. For Greene’s theme,, that of a man’s conflict With God, can j standing assistant instead of his not successfully be told in fits and i spotlight-seeking spou|e. That EUeen Prentice . . . Peer Halvorsen . . . . Eric Halvorsen ... Anna Halyorsen... Arnold Watson..,. . . Vivienne Bennett ... . . . . Albert Lieven .Ian Fleming . . Pat Ny6 Basil Dignam Rickajd Olsen ......... .Richard Johnson Jorstad. ..... Stuart Nichol is a promising first, play, With natural dialog and dramatic settings, but story peters out to an unsatisfying finish. Its theme could be developed more to advantage in screen form. But it has moments of real drama and sustains interest. Set on a whaling island off the coast of Norway, plot is obvious in most essentials, but is entertaining in its unfolding. An English girl, grieving for her dead husband, a comes to spend every Easter with the owners of the whaling station,* a couple she made friends with when they escaped En.gland during the war. She falls in love with a stranger who proves a Nazi in disguise, with en suing complications. Albert Lieven, better known on the. screen, makes a creditable, forceful figure of the Nazi, with Vivienne Bennett fine in the complex role of the widow. Pat Nye and Ian Fleming offer contrasting characters as the elderly fosterparents^ and Basil Dignam makes a likable personality of a v u Mvvivvi YYuujii tuc i Y?** 3 u ^ ^ “ yiWUHg occasion demands. Finish is . tele .^hfllish business . man emptionaigraphed from the beginning with y drawn to the girl, final choice by the prof to stick to Atmosphere is well depicted and his protons, neutrons and under1 ?ireGtion helps greatly ,i ism, in its realClerri. . .Roland Leonair .» . ... ; . .Pasquali . . . Jan Klepura « Marta Eggerth Jacques Lore:*; Michel Durart and Andre. HeTnez’s principal contribution to the “revision” of this universally popular-operetta has been to set the story in 1890, which gave Georges Wakhevltch an opportunity to create as colorful a set of costumes as has beep seen in Paris in many a long day. The bustles, frills and furbelows of the epoch greatly enhance and almost modernize the, old-fashioned and typical comic opera plot • of the prince in love with a commoner and the difficulties in the way of their eventual marriage. Fred Pasquali has likewise done an excellent job of directing. While the piece is played straight; he has injected a subtle undertone of irony that reduces the implausibility of the story, and gives the whole production an atmosphere of fanciful make-believe. Leonide Massine has done his hit, too, with a well-trained troupe of dancers in several pantomimes and rousing Hungarian numbers/ As for the stars themselves, both , Marta Eggerth and Jan Kiepura have charm and style, and even thought their Voices aren’t what they once were, their musical training stands them in good stead, so much so that they^sound better than many younger singers in the same field. Alice Tisset and Pasquali do their best with two basically unfunny “comic’’ roles, and the rest of the large cast is more than adequate. The orchestra, directed by Sylvio Mosse, gets all there is to be got out of the familiar Emmerich Kalman tunes. Fred. starts, with jukebox music in ' between. Without a gradually intensifying sense of the impending tragedy of the leading character’s final encounter with God, the play becomes mierely : a routine and not very original tale of adultery in a Somerset Maugham-like backr ground. The play follows the general out? line of the nbvel. A major of police in a British West African colony, bogged down in a desultory marriage and an increasingly strong sense of • failure and unfulfillment, falls in love with a 26? ! Flowers for the l.ivin« • _ London. Feb. 22. Fiedenck Plffaird presentation of drama in three kds by Toni Block. Directed ^? 21,h"50?ltreOn' At’ Duchess* London *FeU comes as no surprise ^t alj after a succession of contrived situations and rather forced dialog: Performances are generally okay with best turned, in by Lester . Wolfe,: as the prof; Marcia Hovick, •• gojnies .. . , .Kathleen* Harrison as the secretary, and Nathan Har , Diokil^Hoimls ’ 1 *■ ' * " ’ ‘ ,w.'i.¥a?«ot RoyS* ris, an understanding colleague in I Lily Holmes V.V.’.’.V: ‘.WlN0aw SZ the secret Work. Standout also isj§V*3ey^°iMe^ Florence Aaronson, as a befuddled ; sid ys ’ ' ‘‘ ' ' . Myrtle Reed campus journalist. . Bum.:: isw A Strantfer . . .......... .Robert Desmond .. ........... . . ; Noel (Carey BROWN ITS PROD. Providence, R. I., Feb; 28. Mr. Holmes. time,” which she puts over in A-l ye^r-pld girl recently widowed. A m 1 • • m ' 1*.+ ' .'■•*. ' J U* 'I M O r n A 1 1 n n-*Vt'AM ' 44 flftiU nla'i;*. i.U X shape. Erwin battles some stuff i— fedng moments hut on the whole acquits himself well. With added comedy material, he can make the Trigg characterization a highly satisfactory one. Miss Bettis, whose forte is dancing, finds herself with , _ A slice of life as seen in an East A 1 new musical, “Once Upon a ! ^Tn<? sl.V.m the end of World War Star,” with lyrics; by William Dyer 1 i1 \s. ^e background of this proand’ music by Harris Ullian, will wade a hit on its be presented at the Faunce House ! SSlir, ye«rs hack. Its. . strong theatre here by the Brownbrokers, f&&r ,u?V01V;ls a Smiting nOunce his love for the girl even ; Brown U. theatrical group. ; th e passing ’• ” ■ ; ■ vShow vflv*-. :of Catholic among non-Catholie$r the major cannot entertain the obvious ■ solution of divorce, nor can he re after she leaves him* Having also his self-respect in his deal(Continued on page 59) * evening performances beginning value/7 — topical dramatic March 13. 1 Principal characters are well Le Don D’Atlel© (Adele’s Second Sight) Paris, Feb. 15. Mireille Pen'ey, Maxi me Fabei*t and Andre Certes , presentation of comedy in . four acts by Pierre Bnrlllet.’ Directed by Jacques Cliareu. Scenery, . Suzanne Rcymond; costumes, Jacques Griff^ e. At:Com-,'edie Wagram, Paris. Adele .. Gaby Sylvia Mme. Veyron-La ffi’te . > . . Suzinne Dantes Solange .. . .... . .Colette Ripert. Gaston Veyrob-Laffite . . .. . .Serge Nadaud Antoine . . ... / , . . . . . . ... . . , . .Daniel Creuet This is one for both Broadway and Hollywood to look into. YounK Pierre Barillet has written one of the most amusing comedies Pans has seen this season which, bej cause of its mixture of the servant: problem and a semi-Cinderella story, has much more thain purely local appeal.; It's a hit here. . Mme/ Veyron-Laffite hires a maid. Adele isn’t art ordinaiT niaid— -she is gifted with seconasight, and since. Mme. VeyronLaffite is not only superstitious, but also involved in some shady, financial deals, Adele is a godsend. So much so that Madame insists that the new maid accompany .the family to a dinner at Maxini s given by the people with Whom sue is irtvolved, in order to have Adele’s reactions and the beiiem of her “gift,” ' Adele’s “visions are accurate enough, but can be, (Continued ion page 60)