Variety (July 1950)

114 LEGITIMATE Wednesday, July. 26, 1950 U.S. Ratio, , in New Met New two-year pact which the 4- Three Short Musicals Skedded for Broadway Alfred Nano and Roland Fiori plan -j(»rodil<?tioii-.'"'^'. : ^three.-" short musical plays on Broadway for an early fall bow. : There are “Beauty and the * Beast" by Vittorio Gian- riini, of the Juilliard School, and Bob . Simon, and “Not All Prima Donnas Are Ladies,” also by. Giannini and Simon. The third offering is “Ballet Entr’acte” with music by Vernon Duke and choreography, by George Ballah- chine. 'v. SteWart ChanOy will do the cos- tumes and scenery. ’Metropolitan Opera Assn, and the American Guild of Musical Artists signed last week, covering the 1950-51 and 1951-52 seasons, has Tsome unusual features, as Well as radical changes. Singers and dan- cers, for the first time, are covered by unemployment insurance, an item the union has been working on for some time. Pact calls for coverage under N, Y. State's unem- ployment insurance laws. This was a voluntary gesture on the Met’s part, as it is a non-profit organiza- tion and legally exempt from these laws. Estimated cost to the Met will be $50^000 a year, : Also important was the under- standing reached between manage- ment and union on keeping the Met ' “predominantly ah American Organization.” With advent this fall of a new manager imported from Europe, Rudolf Bing; with many oldtime Met singers let out, and others signed from abroad, AGMA was worried about more; foreign singers coming in, to upset the Chicago, July 25. '5!** obtained heretofore at , • Qji i e git fall picture, which was the Met. Ratio of American smgers ^ S p ai .ked by the advent of the as against, non-resident aliens national company of “South roughly . three to . one—won t b e , p ac ific,” seems to be in a state of A 4- Uux with the' announcement that AGMA also claims it got Bing t mus i ca ^ Which was officially to to re-engage a number of people ! t e e off the fall season in late Sep- let out. ..end, of the season.^ Six or [fember, seems unlikely to open at seven discharged principals were .;■{j^. shubert before Thanksgiving, back | at the earliest. The Shuberts had C A? r i steiS fi r ed r S i previously thoughtof bringing in to house-clean its ballet, and AGMA got it to re-engage 15 of the original 36 dancers let out. Previous two-year pact, which had frozen minimum salaries, was modified to provide for some pay increases to principals, chorus and dancers; for payment to principals for rehearsal weeks, additional ra? dio fees, and an increase in out-of- town sustenance. Pact calls for a minimum 20 weeks of perform- ances in N. Y., aside from touring. Agreement Was reached after five months of negotiations, with Bing and others repping manage- ment and Hyman R. Paine, national secretary, for * the union. Bing okayed final pact before sailing recently for Europe, and both sides commented on the “friendliness and cooperation that prevailed throughout the negotiations.” MULL NEW Lillian Heilman and Leonard Bernstein are mulling writing a legit musical. The composer-con- ductor, just returned from Israel and slated for fall symphony guest- conductor stints following his cur- rent engagement at the Tangle- “Lost in the Stars” in early Octo- ber to fill the void, but now have switched the musical drama to the Great Northern with hopes for an extended run there. Thinking seems to be that Chi- cagoans will wait to see “Pacific,” no matter whein it might come in. With that thought in mind, tiBO seems to be picking up midwest dates in the larger cities. However, much of this trade is that which would normally come in for the Chicago engagement, especially during the summer months and also during the multitude of con- ventions. Whether or not this might affect the b.o. is problem- atical. As yet, the Chicago Shu- bert office is not taking mail or- ders on “Pacific,” so no response from these areas, where the play is picking up extra dates, can be determined at this time. There’s still talk of some of the Shubert houses being bought for teevee studios, and although it has been denied by the Shubert rep here that NBC is not interested in the Harris, net officials say that there is still a chance that, the 1,000-seater will be taken over in the fall. At present, the Stude- (Continued on page 115) rent engagement at the Tangle- d j q i n • Wood (Mass.) Music Festival, has j DOIld MUtH. iMUl&S ItIIcMII done the scores for two. Broadway productions, “On the Town” and the current “Peter Pan.” Miss Heilman, currently working on a new straight play, had her “Little Foxes” musicalized by Marc Blitzstein, who did the entire show solo, libretto and score, when it was retitled “Regina.” Gould Sets Musicals lii Resort Houses Portland, Me., July 25. Edward Gould, currently operat- ing a strawhat shuttle circuit on a split-week basis between the Old Orchard Beach Playhouse and the Peaks Island Playhouse here, states that vacationing audiences want musicals, which discovery is re- sponsible for a midseason revamp- ing of his Schedule. Heavy dra- maturgy .'is being thrown out in favor Of the tuheshows “Lady In I The Dark,” “Irene” and “Any- thing Goes,” with Kyaya Bradley coming in to lead the casts of these productions, which will follow the present “Harvey,” starring Albert Carroll. “Bom Yesterday,” featuring Stu- art Erwin, lost money, according to Gould, whereas “Fihian’s Rain* bow” played to capacity at both spots, with $3,100 rung up in three^- day stand at the O. O'. B. •lone. Miami Beach, July 25. Temporary conversion of Copa’ City nitery here into a summer stock legit theatre has been, called off because of failure, of leasehold- er Ned Schuyler and producer Sandy Scott to agree on a bond. Bond Was to have been used to in- sure the nitery’s return in the same Condition as Sc6tt found it. it’s reported that Scott was amenable to pos ting the coin, bu t wante d It to be held by a neutral party, which was refused by Schuyler. Copa City was rented on a $600 weekly guarantee up to the. first $6,000 gross. If gross reached be- yond that point, producer and Schuyler, would share equally;. First production was to have been “The Heiress,” starring John Car- radine. \ Beach’s other summer stock op^ e.ration, Kitty Davis’ Airliner, also a niterv, started activity Sunday (23) with “Born Yesterday.” Katherine Bard will appear in “The Long Days” at Westport (Conn.) Country * Playhouse next week (31), in support of Florence Reed. . . . Joseph Heidt confined at home all week due to chipped bone in left foot. . . . Janet Blair extended her agreement in the touring “South Pacific” for 18 i months . . Juanita Hall back in the N. Y. “South Pacific” after missing eight performances due to illness. Musa Williams subbed . . . Sardi’s “Little Bar,” in front of the show biz eatery, considered Broad- way’s smallest bar, is being elim- inated during alterations, a larger bar being planned for the dining room. / Howard da Silva will probably direct “Abe Lincoln in Illinois” late next month at the Laguna (Cal.) Playhouse for Howard and Frances Graham, with Jeff Corey the likeliest prospect for the title role at the silo . . Terry Kilburn alternating between film work arid the lead in “The Corn Is Green,” current presentation of the Holly- wood (Cal.) Players’ Ring . . . La- verne Burden takes /over the : femme lead in the Drury Lane, , London, production of “Carousel” next Monday (31). Iva Withers, j who opened the show last month, quits the cast Saturday and is re- | turning to New York: David Brooks of the Broadway cast is singing the role of Tommy in “Brigadoon” for the Houston Summertime Light Opera which opened a week’s run Monday (24). Others in the cast include Dorothy MacNeil, James Jamieson, Gregg Juarez and Nina Olivette ...... “Sky • High,” a newspaper comedy by Powers Moulton, of the N. Y. Daily News copy desk will have late sum- mer tryouts at St. Michael’s Play- house, near Burlington, Vt., and at Basin Harbor, Vergenries, Vt. . . . Jean Parker was nicked with a $378 judgment won in N. Y. city court by . B. Altman & Co. depart- ment store. Jerry Livingstone and Mack Da- vid trekked in from the Coast over the weekend to huddle with Jo- seph M. Hyman about the score for the untitled book musical he’ll produce next season. . . . Barbara O’Neil left Mojiday (24) for Holly- wood tp join Celeste Holm, Regin- ald Owen, Shepperd Strudwick and Russell Hicks in. rehearsals of Louis Verneuil’s “Affairs of State” which begin there Aug. 1, under direction of the author. , . . Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, II, signed Barbara Bel Geddes to play the only feminine role in the cast of four in John Steinbeck’s new play, “In the Forests of the Night,” which goes into rehearsal in September. Randolph Symonette replaces George Jongeyans in “The Consul” (Barrymore, N. Y.) next Monday (31) . . Richard’ Pleasant flew to Paris Saturday (22) for three weeks on various biz matters, including looking for scripts ... George S. Kaufman to direct the new Frank LOesser+Jo Swerling-Abe Burrows musical, “Guys and Dolls” . Bobby Griffith to be stage man- ager for the Irving 3erlin musical, “Call Me Madam” . , . Michel Mok ! on two-week vacation, Ben Korn- ‘ zweig subbing on “South Pacific” and “Happy Time.” Inside Stuff—Legit Ezio Pinza tips from the Coast that Mary Martin will do “South Pacific” in England in the fall of 1951, Which reminds of her profes- sional yen to vindicate herself for the flop she had with Noel Coward's “Pacific 1860” three years ago. Pinza will probably rejoin his original starring partner in the London production, but not until then, since his current Metro film chores figure to tie him up fully in the interim. Understood that a condition of Miss Martin continuing with “South Pacific” on Broadway was her semi-managerial rights for the London production, which has back of it the aboi’tive Noel Coward angle. Announcer Ben Grauer and actor Norman Rose plan to continue very actively in radio, despite their plaris for a professional theatre group in the fall at the Bieeker Street theatre, N. Y. Rose may direct a play, or even act in one, but both wapt to dispel any idea they’re leaving their radio assignments. They figure they can got by with a $10,000 budget and have that amount raised already. The 300-seat house will be scaled to $2.40, and with union concessions granted them, the pair figures they can break ! even at 50% capacity. An all-Equity group will be used, with new plays as well as revivals skedded. Duo plans a schedule of four productions over the season, the first one to bow about Oct. 15. Helen Hayes, before starting recently on her vacation from “The Wisteria Trees,” repeated her plea for aid to be given youngsters in the industry. Reiterating her belief that conditions for budding talent in legit are tougher today than 25 years ago. Miss Hayes said: “We, the stars of today—Katje Cornell, myself—we’re 50. New young stars have to be developed to replace us. And we must help them.” Miss Hayes also admitted she’s averse to touring anymore, preferring to be near home with her husband and son. Latter, she says, is now 12 and needs her companionship. Actress doesn’t want him to go away to boarding school, but to be at home with. her. For coverage of Giari-Carlo Menotti’s “The Medium” and “The Tele- phone,” which bowed at the Arena (Hotel Edison), N. Y., last Wednes- day (19), the N. Y. Daily News sent three reviewers. Reviews, giving “three viewpoints on Mr. Menotti’s writing, music and grog parlor,” ran side by side, covering the whole drama page Thursday (20). Robert Sylvester reviewed the music-drama double-bill as a stage-play; Douglas Watt covered it from the mus^ic standpoint, and Robert Wahls was on hand at the Edison ballroom where the Arena presentations* are given, admittedly “not for the music, not for the drama, but to sample (hotel) manager Irving Kramer’s roast lamb and dry martinis.” Wahls had only one objection to the theatre-bar-dining setup. “After eating an Arena theatre dinner a man needs to walk it off before sitting for Madame Flora, the medium.” - Speaking of eating, Robert Coleman, in his review in the Mirror, wrote; “As one who didn’t rave ovenJhe original N. Y. production, par- | don me if I eat a little tough crow tnis morning. ... I am still tingling 1 from a real thrill.” Richard Watts, Jr., in a recent general column headed “Casual Re- | flections on the Drama,” in the N. Y. Post, apparently disputed the general belief that the critics have more influence with the theatre- going public than ever before. He wrote in part, “Newspaper review- ers Of today somehow lack the prestige possessed by our craft in the days of Percy Hammond, Heywood Broun and Alexander Woollcott. I suspect that we are just as adequate advisers to the public on the state of the theatre as they were, but something seems to be lacking. In part, our comparative weakness of standing is due to a decline in popular interest in the stage. But I fear it goes deeper than that. It ]_is also, I’m afraid, due to certain frailties of ours as to both showman- ship and personality.” A trip tp “South Pacific” just before a trip to the North Pacific was the Oscar Hammerstein, 2d, gift last week to a group of 40 ,Navy flyers Informed by Commander Ingram of Long Beach, Cal., that the men, slated to shove off for the Orient the next day, had Voted a glimpse of “Pacific” as the one thing they wanted, Hammerstein, who was on the Coast for a visit," promptly contacted company manager Harold Gold- berg, and arrangements were made to have the group catch the national company now at the Philharmonic in Los Angeles. It took considerable juggling, but the seats were found. After the performance, flyers went backstage to meet the cast and tie on the feedbag. Herb Rogers, owner of the strawhat Tenthouse theatre in suburban Chicago, has been approached by a Chi television station to put on a j weekly drama, using his present stock company as the permarient cast. | Cast figures TV would be a cinch after the strawhat routine of re- hearsing one show all day, then doing a different show at night. Company was scheduled for its usual fall trek to Palm Springs, Calif., I when Tenthouse folds in September, but Rogers would rather take the video deal. Raymond Massey’s 16-year-old daughter, Dorothy Whitney, will make her stage debut; acting with him in “Our Town,” which begins a week’s run at the North Shore Playhouse, Beverly, Mass., Mon- day (3D. ‘Stars’ Trekking to Coast For Eight-Week Stint “Lost in the Stars,” Maxwell Anderson-Kurt Weill Broadway musical production, will leave N. Y. with a company of 75 next Tuesday (1) to fill Coast engage- ments. Musical will open at the Curran, San Francisco, Aug. 7 and after four weeks will play a similar en- gagement at the Philharmonic Auditorium, Los Angeles, for the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera Assn. *- Former Met Opera conductor Tullio Serafin rumored as music di- rector of Milton Shubert’s forth- coming operetta on Puccini . . Show-of-the-Month Club’s prez Sylvia Siegler in Paris for a week gandering shows, prior to visiting Rome and Switzerland . . . Leo Freedman back Monday (24) from a two-week Caribbean cruise . / . IsadaraJBenuett /to- handle* p ubli c ity. chores for N. Y. City Opera Co. this fall, vice Margaret Hartigan, who’s now with RCA-Victor. Columbia Records released a “Peter Pan” album, with Imperial, N. Y., cast, including Jean Arthur and Boris Karloff . . . A second re- corded version, especially for kids, is due in the fall . . . When a Sao Paulo, Brazil, hotel refused to ad- mit Katharine Dunham last week, the Chamber of Deputies intro- duced a bill making such color dis- crimination illegal, and apologized to the U. S. dancer . . . Oscar Ham- merstein, II, and casting director John Fearriley returned from the Coast Monday (24) ... The George Rosses finally bought a house on Fire Island, N. Y. , . . Gian-Carlo Menotti and producer Chandler Cowles sailed for Europe Saturday (22) to set up details for filming of “The Medium” in Rome. Michael Todd, Jw, in Honolulu for four days this week, en route home . . . Michael Higgins quit the touring company of “Devil’s Dis- ciple” to return to his spot in the NBC - TV show, “One Man’s Family” . . Olney, Md., straw- hatter’s Robert Ullm.an has article on summer theatres in September issue of American Life irtag. Coin for the new Cole Porter musical, “Out Of This World,” which . Lemuel Ayers & Saint Subber will present in N. Y. in November, was | raised by the producers without any audition, the $200,000 needed coming in from one letter sent out by the producers to the backers of their other Porter show, “Kiss Me, Kate.” Musical was reportedly oversubscribed by more than $50,000, which had to be returned. There .won’t be arty auditions, with the show already skedded to open in Philadelphia, at the Shubert,. Oct. ,16. Intricacies of summer theatre business administration and methods , of simplifying them are outlined by C P A. Edward O. Lutz in the July ; issue of .the N. Y, Certified Public Accountant. Lntz T -a-theatre-ae- J countant, analyzes such problems as budgeting, financing, tax planning, break-even point computations, etc. The 15-page piece is tagged “Sum- mer Theatre Accounting Procedure#.” Founders of, the Shaw Society of America hold their first meeting at the home of showbiz attorney Fanny Holtzmann today (Wed.) the drama- irVv b i rt , h ? a ?; the . founders are Dr. Albert Einstein, Randolph Hearst, :Thomas Mann, Gertrude Lawrence and Rob- ert Sherwood. Miss Holtzmann plans to plane to London this, weekend. Clinton (Conn.) Mixing .New Bills With Revivals Clinton, Conn., July 25. Connecticut Theatre Colony (Clinton Playhouse) is making its first break from a revival policy this week by doing “See How They Run,” While it’s not ah actual preem (play opened in Cragsmoor, N. Y.j July 10), it gets away from this spot’s usual lineup of “Church Mouse,” “Peg O’ My Heart,” etc. Biz here has been pretty, spotty this season but has built somewhat each week. Last week hit a fairly optimistic stride With “This Thing Called Love.” House is operated by Charles and Harriet Quigley on a Tuesday-Sunday schedule* Gish-'Mabel' Nifly 10G at Olney, Md. Oiney. Md., July 25* Lillian Gish did sock business last week with “Miss Mabel” at the Olney theatre here. Play took in $10,000, which is hear maximum for the 600-seat, $3-top strawhat. Producer Alexander Ince was here all week, tightening up the show in spots for its fall New York de- but. From Olney, Miss Gish takes her troupe to Newport; R. I., and Westport, Conn..... Olney is completely sold but for Maurice Evans in “The Devil’s Disciple,” which begins today (Tues.). British Ambassador Sir Oliver Franks will be on hand for the opening.