Variety (December 1950)

4ii LEGITIMATB PT^lSFt Weditegday^ December 20^ 1950 Plays on Broadway nie^is You All Hei'man Levi* & Oliver Smith presents^ Won of revue In two att* fl9 scenes), wim music and lyrics by Harold Rome, sketch- es by Arnold Auerbach. Stars .lules Mun- ■hin. Marv McCarty. Pearl Badey; features ; Blltzstein. Seta Valerie Bettis. Jane Harvey, Byron Palin- , swang; cpstumes. Make au Opera Peter Lawrence St Show-Of-Tbe-Month Club presentation of musical jin two acts. Book and lyrics by Eric Crosier: music by Benjamin Britten. Staged by Marc Sets and lighting* Ralph Al- Aline Bernstein; must- brought him to the depths of lone- liness. There is the issue* of the solid citizen who feels that he has contributed much to the advance- ment of society, only to have his fellow-beings fail humanity in the ^chaos of present-day confusion. There is, too; the issue of mod-^ em-day y o u n g e r girls casting their marital alliances, in the di- Richard Whorf will stage the N. Y. City'Center revival of “Royal Family,” in which John Emery will appear . . . There’s an outside chance that Gary Cooper may make his Broadway debut in Hor- ton Foote’s “The Chase,” which er?Robc"t'Hi 5 “hoim.*‘GVryy "Char-; cal dlfec^r-conduct^^^^ many years their, , lene Harri.s. Donald Saddler, Gene^Baio% : Ar John Golden,^. Y., Dec. 13, And there’s the problem ) John Haggott and Celeste Holm John cf’^^Wifeon^ musfcal en^ Lg Bob and^Sm.?*^Randolph Symonette of medical treatment, or psychia^ i may present next spring . . . Mel^ semble.sV Helen Tamiris; scenery. Oliver ‘ Clem and Alfred. Rawn Spearman 35 opposed tO the simple Will, vllle Cooper, an alien member, haS Smith, co.tun.es, MUes__WWt,;_nm;lcal j SSJff ! to live. All this Ir -- ■ — oniBLiir i;u»tu4iic3# i»***wi» I ^ if - r "R «»l*nd Naddl llVC. All iius in one package, I received Actors Equity pennission mSr E°rJor orStVatE. Don WaiK; !^r^^ . . ;;;;;;;.V.\V.'. . ,Ai*iyne Frank ! Which indicated the play’s absorb- to appear in “Make a Wish,” the lighting. Peggy Clark; ballet music com- j Juliet. . ' 1^8 potentialities. Preston Stiirges-Hugh Martin mu- PSnoR?^ind"Dtm Va'iker.® M HeiuSjer^ sopW^^^ 1 Taking his premise from actual; sical edition of JVIolnar’s “Gpod N. Y,. Dec. 14 , ' 50 ; $7.20 top ($ 9 . 60 ’Tina....................Angela Adamses gyg^^g q£ Qm- times, the author in which Nanette Fabray IS opening). 1 ' '*******'^ ******'’ r' ‘ liiii It his Work nround Josish 1 set for.' the femme lead Cast: Jules Munshin. Mary McC.'mty.! Johnny Santamaria UaS^ UUllCJ S V^ . ITafiiaisin*. rAtmAll will fnM Pearl Bailev. . Valerie Bettis, Jane Harr ) vev, Byron Palmer, Robert Chisholm, Gar- ia has built his work around Josian . ^ * i.* ‘ ! Bolton, eminently successful legal 1 *^3tharine Cornel will fold her i- ' light, who has reached a state of i PfOfjyction of ^Captain Carvallo * . ■ • _• * ■ __ _ 1 • . w - *1 . of rnib r%f tFia tifdolr'o It UUCdll t UClUAlg ^ — - —- - r . V*J? . son. Jo.scph Gifford, Philip Nasta. Berti-am . Bi-njidwaV As an amateur audi- ' reached an- impasse In his liie, in ! . ^ .-j • j? n -li*- ....nwAi. f,o,s. John sandal. ; en^el^^artl^ipftion fholic, it be- ; that he finds.no way to turn as hei: Nash. Elmira Jones-Bey. Gwenha. t.ee ; c/wr’r.i.ih rnm ^ realizes that Kis work Is “finished ” i Webster is set for the femme lead Smith. Deli Parker. JiU Melford. Jeane longS in the hlgh schOOl-ClUb-COm- ‘'W ^ anH dhiimlin will QfaPP Williams. Billie Kirpich. Clive Dill, Irene theatre category, and his wife has divorced him and reri ^Ijd “egnan 5>n™“n wii stage Riley, Bot.sy Holland^ Ray Morrissey^ Kns jt to Broadway, as^a $4.20 married, his daughter is about to • Hosen.s produ^i ion .of Nodiahd. Blanche Grady, Gloria s daughter — - KudiTvn'BeminYrMorg-^wt Wright. Grace conuiiuhlty Sing Setup, wBs a mis- leave nun to marry an elderly ' “Stonge _Sanct^uary;v Varik. Geraldine Hamburg. Eileen Turner, Broadwayites are a little too suitor, his son has virtually aban-! Hastings melodrama wfiiCi^^ Donald Mcifayie, Richard ^ or So whattish to fall into ^oded him, and perhaps most : London hit undei 4he title of Comaddre. o.sborne Smith. Fred 01 , SO ^nauisn lo laii of all humanitv itself' Bonaventure” . . . Paul Douglas, ny Smith. William Sutherland.^ Nor al the spirit of a Community glee —. sJ^dincam or ail n^^^ . plipWprf on HrnnHwnv in Kenny Tormsen:*Jane’^riide.^^olhy Richards. • effect. ' has floun^^d l^dly in-the pres- : cHc^^. {n T 7—nil ^ Fii’st act deals wim^ I tlm Herman Levin.and adults who plan putting | Contemplating suicide, a status J*^ SjL^r’s “SunriL in operators of a mint called Gentle-. an opera. Audience i.s invited .to of wliich only a young medical^ Part of the r^TA men^ Prefer Blondes, . become the chorus, and is taught • family friend ; is aware, Bolton is ; yided a® I ^onr not-tob-easy s o n g s to sing, , gradually brought into closer con-i ^,1?^ Saoed the Siin’» “Bless You All, , new, i e\ue hj j Yralf is the opera presenta- tact with his daughter. And after ! ^.n? the Sun, Harold Rome and Arnold Auerr : bedtime a rugged session of self-anailysis on bach. In this instance^lhe matenal 1 g^gj;y ^ jg^b century London the part of both father and daugli- seems dwarfed by the bcautitui . who escapes from ter, play ends on an optimistic Smith scenery and stunning miles | g^g^. ej^ployers with the aid note. White costumes. And whe_n a ^ a group of children. Novelty of , clive Brook, making his Amerl- cal looks better than it soandh, tt. baving a N. Y. audience singing can sta^^e debut elves a heauti- nmpp^^^?’n*^while^‘BT^^ Air 't P^odhetion has its points-- : fuily-pofished rekfng of office, oo while Bless j ou, au but thev don’t add up to enough. ' min ttic rViaraoifkr will probably have_several montl«i,.yyhole procedure is a little too noteworthy^as is^his acting hfer" i ?**"’* “Seventh -Veil,” according run, P»vt.cu arlywtth its heavy 3,,^.,,^ ^3 ell as, difficult, and by g^ret PhiUips gives credencf to the ‘,2;“ h, IIm 000 ini 1*’’® ee™es, has of the daSghter and stands up ! * regain its $200,000 in . become a little tiring and dull. ; {(.gu bi heavily dramatic moments.: |''®J®f.^ hfe cimith and COS-* There ate many nice things ; gbe seeiiis unable to shed an ac-! Scene (designer Smith and cos about this production. Second-act, winch has a tendency to de- popidai click . . The 1951 turner White a r e the rear stars of .gpgj.^ is a .(‘harming work, with Lgi from her interDretatimi season of the Shakespeare Me- the show, which.IS unusually opu-; gP^^g excellent tunes by Benjamin a basically American girlf^ I morial theatre at Stratford-on- ■Oi.itf/in nc U'aII JIG n liGtpnnhlPi • will direct the Harold Clurman- tV’alter Fried production of S. N. Behrman’s “Let Me Hear the Melody,” in which Franebpt Tone may appear. . Ann Todd and Leo Genn will 'Appear on Broadway next spring characterization Is ' ^ ® legit edition of Michael Mac- lent looking and handsome, even as well as a listenable by the lavish standards 9: score. One or two ensemble num- Hugh Reilly provides an aiithen- Broadway. But the material is ^ i ore uarticularlv choice pro--> , —„ ^ - generally undistinguislied, and ' ^®” J" ^ talented 1™®^?® 'vi’o eventually rouses Bol-, ductions of “Hichard II.” "Heni-y although Jules Munshin, Mary Me- ' “^®®®® we asse ^ t t ,3 If Avon will open next March 24 .arid continue through the follow- Pro-' easy-goirig young ; ing Oct. 27 and will include pro- aitnougn juies iviunsnm, maiy me- vnimffsiprs to aid the few , aciA-i.»kcacxvai.iuM, unu vveam Carty and Pearl Bailey labor vai- ■ *‘'® ‘®"' [the daughter from her May-Decem iantly to bring it to life, the out- ; ^|,jg hitter Pawn Snearman plans to more ro- standing perfo'rmer is Valerie Bet- ; “fine* Ivric tenor Handolnh i >"30110 ones involving himself, tis, whose dancing provides i® ■® ‘^"® ' n»t<.v Vnn Ti'..,.ct„ni.«..« i., i,... tertainment sock. As demonstrated several sea.sons ago in “Inside U. S. A.,” when a dancer is the highlight of a revue it’s an unfortunate commentary on the comedy and music. There’s only one . real guffaw- bringer among the “Bless You All’^ sketches. That’s a jibe at anti weans, IV” (Parts 1 and 2), “Henry V” and “The Tempest.” Michael Redgrave will be a nieniber of the ides the en-I g-, h^V^^'-'i^^sonaXtas;; i V?". Furstenberg. In her j'rttaSlng at*lntg"iug"Xe^ Miss Bettis ! to Nadell is a competent post-strawhat stage appear- paul Vroom, general manager for , f°XMo -^nd Avlyne Frank a i ?>'®®', <1°®? ® completely captivat-; •'Affairs of State" and slated to be lovely as well as accbiriplished so- i I?®*. \ refreshing^ manner i company manager of “Make a piano. Jo Sullivan is altogether a p“minence^ Frediric’k BradleT’asiT* general managerfor treat as Juliet visually vocally i P^oii'^ineiice. KreaeiicK Biaqiee, as jack Segasture, whose production '^°^'“‘^!the Show-mmded son whose read-|of “Sodom, Tennessee” goes into mg -s c 0 p e "prefers Variety to | rehearsal Jan. 15 with Robert and histrionically. Marc Blitzstein has staged the work with a good sense of theatre, and a sure feeling for the artistic \ and musid valuerard Norman BS the gullible patient and Garry l3avis as the enthusiastic druggist. A travesty of “Peter Pan,” as it might be presented for.a parent- teacher entertainment, is moder- ately funny, but a skit about how the next President may be elected without leaving the television studio seems attehuated and over- produced. Of the songs, there may be some popularity for “I Can Hear It Now,” the sardonic “Little Things Meant So Much to Me,” "A Rose Is a Rose,” “Take Off the Coat” and “You Never Know What Hit You— When It’s Love,” but there’s noth- ing like a genuine smash tune in the show. Miss Bailey goes to Mar, who doubles as emcee-con- ductor, does a yeoman job of wheedling the audience into sing- ing and handling his precocious cast. At times he’s a little too cute Blackstone,” is competent in a lesser role, and Gordon Richards completes the cast as an efficient man-servant. Perry as stager, Leo Kerz de- signer, Earl Robinson composing the incidental music and Ben Washer as pressagent . . . The Rob- Sherwood takes over in this re- —which is whole production’s idea : vised version of the Barry original, ^ /K* • • • . 1 J A . ■i J • TT and its downfall. Bron. (Closed Saturday (16) ajter five performances). l^^pconil Thresliolcl New Haven, Dec. 13. Alfred de Liagre, Jr., presentation of drama in three acts (four scenes) by Phil- elaborate lengths to put over You. | Ip Barry, with revisions by Robert E Never Know,” but isn’t able to do is difficult to determine, In any ! event, there is considerable depth to many of the lines, and thougnts have been dove-tailed to produce an overall smooth flow of. story ' content. De Liagre’s staging has carried the script from scenes of pin-drop- ping silence, through a- diversifica- tion of charm and simple comedy, to a very fine dramatic sequence in which the central character lays bare a searing analysis of his much with her first number, “When,'’ Miss Bettis scores in her two ma- jor dance spots, the first involving pictures that come to life and the second a sizzling pash number called “Desert Flame,’’ besides singing a laughable ballad parody called “Voting Blues;” Besides the drugstore sketch arid the TV-Pres- Ident stanza, Munshin wrestles reasonable humor from a skit about a foreign matinee idol, struggles through one about sea- side artists and teams with Miss McCarty in a heavy number called “The Roaring 20’s Strike Back.” Miss McCarty gives what anima- tion she can to a sketch (in which one word apparently shocked some first-nighters) and sOng about south- ern authors, succeeds . in un- corking laughs with the “Little Things” song and.the “Peter Pan” jape, and also appears in the TV satire arid the “Roaring 2()’s” rium-^ her:' Jarie Harvey and Byron Palmer prove agreeable Singers, either solo, in duets or ensemble, with such tunes as “I Can Hear It Now,” “A Ro.se Is a Rose,” “Love Letter to Manhatlan,” “Summer Dresses'’ arid “Take Off the Coat.” A notable addition to the show, definitely in the visual category, are the girls, billed riot iinjustifi- abJy as a “Swarm of Sultry Sylphs,” for whom White has de- signed attractively scanty togs, John C. Wilson has done the over-- all staging and Helen Tamiris con- tributed the striking dance num- bers. Kobe* Sherwood. Stars Clive Brook; features : OWn Deingv Margaret Phillips. Hugh Reilly. Directed I A handsome library Setting gets and lighting, Don-, able visual assistance fromHattrac- ald Oenslager; costumes, John Derro;.pro- A- duction a.ssociate, Philip Barry, Jr. At . Dve appaiel. Boue, Shubert, N^w Haven, Dec. 13, '50; $3.60 j -■■■-■ ' top. Toby Wells Hugh Reilly Malloy Gordon Richards Miranda Bolton .Margaret Phillips Josiah Bolton .Clive Brook Thankful Mather.. Betsy Von Furstenberg Jock Bplton.......,...-.Frei^crick Bradlee Writing represents ari interesting ! ert L. Joseph-Alexander H. Cohen blend of scrivening craftsmanship, j revival of “King Lear,” starring Where Barry left off and Robert j Louis Calhern, is financed at $65,- 000, plus a $6,500 overcall. Any expense beyond $71,500 will be supplied by the producers. With Wilbur Evans due to be production manager and co-sfar of the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Operetta this winter, his singer-actress wife Susanna Foster will be on the Coast with her parerits, having a baby . , , Meivyn Douglas is set for a leading part in “Little Blue Light,” Edmund Wilson drama which the Theatre Guild plans to produce in the spring. Hume Cro- nyn, who co-starred with Jessica Tandy (Mrs. Cronyn) in a tryout of the play last fall at the Brattle theatre, Cambridge, will have an interest in the production . . . Robert Fletcher, one of the Brat- tle theatre members, who played a principal part in andl designed the costumes for the recent Theatre Guild-Brattle revival of “The Re- lapse,” has been admitted into the United Scenic Artists union . . . The council of Actors Equity will give its annual Christmas party tomorrow afternoon (Thurs.) for the union’s office staff . . . Thomas Hammond’s touring production of “Apple of His Eye,” to star . Ed- ward Arnold, has been capitalized at $30,000.. Joseph Harris is company man- ager of “Arms and the Girl,” at the Arena, N. Y., succeeding Joe Moss, who withdrew to tour with Edward On 'Sightless’ Sadler’s Cleveland, Dec. 19. Sadler’s Wells Ballet Co,, rang up approximately $40,000 gross in its twp-night stand at . the Civic Auditorium last week, but poor seating facilities drew terrific squawks from many of the 17,500 ^‘Thresholcl.” is not only the title of this final play by Philip Barry, It is also its exact status as re- gards its Broadway Chances. As of j its premiere,^ it stands on the. brink, facing a moderately good reception or a significant one. ' hailet fane whn almnef fillod thp Whether it steps over that thres- ivrio almost filled trie hold into legit’s Hall of Fame or into oblivion will be determined in the two remaining tryout weeks available for finding—^atid fanning —^the spark that can ignite it into a thoroughly .worthwhile play. Paradoxically, the play’s major hall during the run. G. Bernardi, local promoter, got most of the blame for installing an inadequate rising platform for 1 A% ■ 1 I A v**v**,x^ Tf VWUX TirXl.AA M:J%SWW€SS\ the seats. Although the Wooden I Arnold in “Apple of His Eve I'lGP pnef hiiYi il r/i 1111 for! fiOO in I rise cost him a reputed $1,600 in rental, it was so low that patrons problem at the moment is that it [ in highest prized orchestra seats has no major problem. There is j couldnT see the feet of the danc^ no single factor that protrudes with marked negation in the over- all structure. The theme is good; writing, acting and staging all are good—but not quite good enough for standout acceptance. It is in the ignition .field that further re- search must be conducted. Play poses a number of inter- esting Issues. There is the one of the materially suc(?essf 111 riian who, in middle life, finds that his goal has been only an illusion. Another is tliat of the parent who has severed the bond between himself l and his children, and learns that ers. Majority of spectators in the first 15 rows had to stand in side aisles to get a clear view of George White lias arinounef'ed from the Coast a new edition of his “Scandals” for next spring, with sketches by Irving Caesar, Billy K. Wells and himself, lyrics by Caesar and Jack Yellen and a composer to be selected . . , Since hurley term for chief comic of .a show * . . Pennis Kins will play the ship’s captain In “Billy Budd,’* the* Chandler Cowles^ presentation of the Louis O. Cox-R. H. Chapman dramatization of the Herman Mel* ville novel ... Ezra Stone may stage the Sbuberts’ production o£ “The Man Who Corrupted Hadley* biirg,” the Bernard Evslin adapta* tion of a Mark Twain story, which was tried out last summer at Hedgei’ow theatre, Moylan, Pa. . . , A special perfonriance, to raise funds for the Mary MacArthUr Me- morial Research Respiratory Cen- ter, Wellesley Hills, Mass., will be given Jan. 28 by the Professional children’s School, N* Y. Judith Anderson is chairman of the com* iriittee . . . Caiherine Falcone has resigned as secretary to Felix M, Sommer at Universal’s foreign (ie- partment in N, Y. to join the cast of Lawrence Schwab Productions, for its Music Circus theatre in Miami this winter. Because she lives in New Hope, Pa,, press agent’s wife Mrs. Sol Jacobson generally does her play- going in spurts. Last Wednesday (13), she topped herself by visiting the Modern Museum, N. Y., before lunch; attending the matinee of “Ring Round the Moop,” at the Martin Beck; the 5:30 performance of “tellar and the. Well,” at the ANTA Playhouse, aind the evening performance of “Don Carlo,’’ at the Met Opera House. Margo Jones paid a visit last week by plane to Frank Lloyd Wright, near Phoenix, Ariz. It’s presumed she conferred with Wright concerning a new play- house which is a possibility for Theatre ’50 here. The theatre would be flexible to accommodate both arena rfaging, as at present, and conventional platform staging, with seating capacity of 500 to 600. Mary Chase is polishing her new play, “Mr. Thing” at her Denvei* home, and hies to Broadway short- ly to sumbit it to producers, It has no connection with her first legit hit, “Harvey", or with the currently popular song and shooting film, both titled “The Thing,” “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,*' w'hich has been grossing around $44,000 a wee k recently, is still .hitting an operating profit of about $10,000 a week .i . . Next benefit performance for the Actors Equity and Chorus Equity welfare fund will be “Lady’s Not for Burning,” Jan. 14, with “Season in the Sun’' slated for Jan. 28 and “Country Girl” Feb. 11 . . , Jacquelyn Van Natter, production manager of the Atlanta opera company, due in New York during the holidays to cast singers for her company’s spring season . . . Malcolm Keen, currently winding up shooting with Ethel Barrymore and Maurice Evans in Metro’s film edition of “Kind Lady,” due east next week- end to play Capiilet in the Olivia De Havilland revival of “Romeo and Juliet” . . . Robert Alan Bern- stein will stage the Laughing; Stock Co. revival of Euripides’ “Electra,” slated for February presentation at the Master Institute, N. Y. . . . Joe Shea has withdrawn as press- agent of the American Legion re- vue, “Red, White and Blue,” with Joe Flynn shifting from “Diamond Lil” to succeed him . . . Theatre party age n t Lenore Tobiit* pub- lisher of Stubs, the seating guide to Bi;oadway theatres, is issuing replacement diagrams for the Hel- linger, N. Y,, which recently rear- ranged its seating playout. Frank Duane Rosengren, of San Antonio, has written the book and lyrics, for a musical, “The Walls Rise Up,” skedded for Theatre ’5(), Dallas. Music is by Richard. Shari- nori of Houston. The play will start a three-week run at Theatre ’50 March 12. Margo Jones is the producer. Richard Skinner, just firiished as company manager for “The Re- lapse,” going but in similar post with the Jeanette Macdonald-Gene Raymond “The Guardsman,” which opens in Buffalo Jan. 25 enroute to the Coast. liCwis, Garter in ‘Consul’ For Montreal the procedure has ultimately i on its visits. the dancers. S o m e soreheads ! Whitehead has been de- started a teapot boxbffice tempest 4;he casting of Donald Og- u.. J - .1 . den Stewart $ “Kidders,” Harold Clurman has withdrawn as director of the show and will stage Kermit Bloomgarden*s production of the .new, ..urititied Lillian Heilman play . . . Phil Silvers is announced as star of “Top Banana,” nev^nusi- cal with songs by Johnny Mercer and book by Hy Kraft to be pre- sented on Broadway in the spring by Paula Stone and her husband, Michael Sloaiie. The title is a by demanding ‘refunds and Caus- ing a lobby commotion, in which one hot-head tried to swing a hay- maker at Bernardi’s chin. He iriissed when the promoter dodged. Newspaper critics pointed out that for another $1,000, the local management could have rented the type of platform regularly used for [seats by Metropolitan Opera Co. Montreal, Dec. 19. Montreal Opera Guild, of which Paulina Dorialda is prez, w pre- senting Gian-Carlo Menotti’s ,”The Consul” at His Majesty's here Jan. 9 for a ruri of 10 days or longer. Brenda Lewis, last seen oii Broadway in “Regina,” will sing Magda; Met tenor John Carter will be the magician; Lydia Summers, the grandmother; Gloria Lane, the ! secretary, and Chester .Watson, Mr. I Kauffner. ' Emil (hooper, ex-Metopera maes- I tro, will conduct. William Butler [will stage*