Variety (December 1951)

W«lnc«d»y, PeceaiW 2D, WI Weather, ‘Pacific’ $25,100, Darkness’ S1S1900 Chicago. Dec. 25, Traditionally one of the worn weeks in theatre business, last week was doubly bid due* to the continuing snowstorms and zero weather. Transportation has -been, ntoled, and all added to the usual lull has spelled low grosses. Ballet Theatre opens^ at the Opera House. Dec. 27, to be fol- lowed by two frame? of Fleder- maus,” Jan. 8. “Seventeen’" comes In on the same ; dayj|t the Great Northern, and “Candida” the day before at the Erlanger. Estimates for Last Week "Darkness at Noon/' Erlanger (3rd week) ($4.40; 1,334). Guild helping this over: the snowbanks with. $18,000. ■. . .. “Gentlemen Prefer ^ Blondes, Palace (14th week). <$6j . 2*500). Closed Saturday (22) with light $20,500 for final week. "Happy Time/’ Blackstone (7th week) ($4.40; 1,358). Slim $5,000 and closes here Jan. 1. "Moon Is Blue,” Harris (34th week) ($4.40; 1,000), Also hit hard, $9,400. • ■> "Season in the Sun,” Selwyn (22d week) ($4.40; 1,000). Little sun here -with $5,000, and will fold next week. "South Pacific,” Shubert (58th week) ($5; 1,200). Sagged to $25,100. 'Moon $7,500 Boston, Dec. 25, . With the exception of “Student Prince,” here for a three-week “farewell engagement,” the only newcomer to bow in for XmaS fare is the preeming “A Month of Sun- days,” skedded for three weeks at the Shubert. “Rose Tattoo” re- opened for final week (at the Col- onial) and “Moon is Blue” contin- ues at the Plymouth. “Modern Primitive” is slated to bow into the Wilbur New Year’s Eve. Estimates for Last Week “Fancy Meeting You Again,” Wilbur (3rd wk) (1,200; $3.60). Not quite $6,000 for holdover. “Moon Is Blue,” Plymouth (4th wk) (1,200; $3.60>, About $7,500. GRECO BALLET $16,000 IN 2D PHILLY WEEK Philadelphia, Dec. 25. Philly’s legit has had its usual holiday hypo with the result that, as of today (25), three Of the four regular playhouses are open. “Sev- enteen” re-opened the Shubert last night (Mon.) Tonight (25) the For- rest gets “Bell, Book and Candle,” with Rosalind Russell and Dennis Price, for a three-week engage- ment, and the~Locust has the new comedy by the Kaufmans, “Fancy Meeting You Again,” for two weeks. Last week's only, offering in a legit house, the Jose Greco Span- ish Ballet, reported around $16,000 in the second of its two sessions at Vm^Forrest. Ballet outfit, also on ATS subscription, got nearly'$17,- 000 m its first week. ‘Okla.’ $14,500 for Seven Minneapolis, Dec, 25. Below-zero . temperatures and near blizzards, as Well as the usual pre-Christmas slump, hurt Fredrie March and Florence Eld- ridge in “Autumn Garden,” second A.T.S.-Theatre Guild subscription season offering, here last week. For seven nights and one matinee at $3.6(1 top in the 1,900-seat Lyceum, show grossed a light $8,900. “Cocktail Party” opens a week’s engagement Dec. 30, with the scale tilted from $3,60 to $4.80 for the New Year's eve performance. Met’s Four Toronto Dates •In Memphis, Dec. 25. Pre-Christmas Week was nO'pic- nic for “Oklahoma” last Week; The Theatre Guild perennial ran deep mto the red in compiling a gross of only $14,500 in seven perform- ances divided among. Evansville, ind., Nashville and here. Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Is playing Atlanta all this week. ‘Bell, Book’ Okay $7,500 For 3 iti Wilmington ■ Wilmington, Dee. 22. Bell, Book and Candle,” star- ring Rosalind Russell and Dennis i ooo' got a 8ood reception at the 1,223-seat Playhouse last week and clocked up $7,500 In three per- formances Friday-Saturday (21-22) Next play here wilF .be the pre- miere of “Jane,” Jan. 10. ‘Duck’ $13,400, Hartford . Hartford, Dec, 25. * *1® UShal pre-Christmas show «I Z i u A- and ®?treme wintry weath- .^JJed to dampen the b.o. take of Wild Duck” at the New Parsons here ast week (17-22). Light shows grossed $13,400. 'Garden’ Light $8,900 in Toronto, Dec. 25. On a fortnight’s filling of mail orders only, for over $200,000, sold- out signs are up at the Maple Leaf Gardens (14,500-seater) for the Toronto four nights' engagement of the Metropolitan Opera Co., though the troupe won't be here till next May. Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Toronto, with all profits going to charity, this is the first Met visit to Canada in many years. Initial quarter-page announce- ment in all dailies of the forthcom- ing Met engagement started an avalanche of mail Orders that pre- cluded any need of further adver- tising. This skedded “Aida” for May .26; “La Boheme ” (27) and “Carmen,” (28), with no casts named. Flood of requests for “Rigoletto” prompted. phone calls froin Rotary toppers to Met mana- ger Rudolf Bing in New York, with latter pencilling it in for May 29. This newspaper announcement also resulted in a “Rigoletto” sellout, with Rotary unable to continue pro- posed Toronto bookings because of other Met commitments. With Met experts blueprinting the temporary change of the big sports arena, this will have an end stage of 100-foot frontage, with proportionate depth and proscen- ium. In the oval layout, box seats are $10; orchestra, $7; and other seats, $5 and $3. Productions will have complete Met orchestra, bal- let and chorus; with troupes to travel here in three special trains. Future B’way Schedule (Unless theatre is indicated , none is hooked ) San Francisco; Dec. 25, “Mister Roberts,” with Tod An- drews, at the 1,775-seat Curran last week, chalked up a fair $12,000 for seven performances. “Roberts/’ with Henry Fonda, played the house six months previous. House was scaled to $3.60. “Member of the Wedding/' with Ethel Waters, opens tonight (Tues.) ,_at the 1,550-seat Geary. Theatre [Guild production i5~£Caled to $3.60. 'Dolls’ 63G Sets ‘Roberts’ 12G for Seven Cincinnati; Dec. 25. “Guys and Dolls” overrode a week-before-Xmas, no-biz bogey and Cincy’s worst spell of winter Weather in years, to set two rec- ords by piling up a $63,000 gross on eight performances last Week in the 2,500-seat Taft Theatre. Top was $6.15 Saturday night, highest ever here, and $5;54 other nights, Take was an all-time high for the Cincy Theatre and also the show's biggest week's take outside of audi- torium^ With larger capacities; Engagement was the season opener for road shows locally, due to de- lay over contract, settlements be- tween the Shuberts and Union mu- sicians, stagehands and treasurers. Taft gets “Kiss Me, Kate” for a week starting New Year’s Eve. Musical then goes into the Broad- way Theatre, New York, for 12 weeks, before resuming its tour. ‘SALESMAN’ $8,600 FOR SEVEN IN FIVE STOPS Tulsa, Dec- 25. “Death of a Salesman,’' with Duncan Baldwin and Sylvia Davis in the leading roles, grossed a passable $8,600 last week in seven performances, The Kermit Bloom- garden production picked Up $3,- 100 in two showings at Wichita, $2,600 in two here and the balance m one performance each in Salina and Hutchinson, Kans., and k Kan- sas City, . . The Arthur Miller: drama, cur- rently playing one-nighters oh a southern route, closes Tits tour Jan. 5 in Richmond. “Legend of Lovers,” Plymouth, tonight (Wed.). “Wild Duck,” City Center, to- night (Wed). “Pal Joey,” Broadhurst, Jan. 3. “Kiss Me, Kate” (r.eturn), Broad- way, Jan. 8. “Anna Christie,” City Center, Jan. 9. “Fancy Meeting You Again/’ Roy ale, Jan. 14. “The Shrike,” Cort, Jan. 15. “Desire Under the Elms,” ANTA Playhouse, Jan. 16. ^'Modern Primitive,” Playhouse, Jan. 17. “Come of Age,” City Center, Jan. 23. “Jane,” Jan. 29. “Gertie,” Jan. 30. "Month of Sundays,” Martin Beck, Jah. 31. “Dickens Readings” (Emlyn Wil- liams), Golden, Feb. 4. "Mrs. Thing,” ANTA Playhouse, Feb. 12. “Venus Observed,” Century, Feb. 13; “And~"Then One Day/’ early February (tentative). “Little Evil/’ mid-February (ten- tative), ■ “Dear Barbarians,” Feb. 19. “Mulligan’s Snug/’ during Feb- ruary (tentative). . „ "Paris ’90,” March 11 (tentative). ANTA Play Series production, ANTA Playhouse, March 12. , “Line Between/’ early March (tentative). “Flight Into Egypt,” week of March 10. _ ' . . “Bernadine,” March 17 (tenta- tive). . . , ... “Long Watch,” mid-March (ten- tative). "Don Juan in Hell,” (return), March 30. . .. ANTA Play Series production, ANTA Playhouse, Ajpril 16. I ANTA Play Series production I ANTA Playhouse, May 14. lovers’ Mild $14,400 Id Second D.C. Stanza Washington; Dec. 25. “Legend of Lovers” rang up a mild $14,400 second week at the Gayety here last week. Business was Watered down by the normal pre-Xmas week slump. The Met Opera version of "Fle- dermaus” opens tonight (25) for a two-week stand. Although the Sol Hurok version played D.C. earlier in the season for two performances, advance sale has been good for this company. ‘Fledermaus’ 15G for 3 In Storm-Swept Columbus Columbus, Dec. 25. Met Opera’s “Fledermaus,” hit by snow, sleet and rain, managed to do a creditable $15,000 at the boxoffice in three performances at Loew’s Ohio here last week (7- 19). The 3,100-seat house was scaled to a $4.30 top and at capac- ity could have grossed around $27,000/ Ohio is a downtown first-run house, and this marks the first time, production of this nature has played so large a theatre here. ing’ 1 1?G, L. A. Los Angelas, Dec. 25. Yule downbeat sent “The Mem- ber, of the Wedding’’ into the red last week for the final session of a three-frame stand at the Biltmore. Tally dipped to $11,500. House re- mains dark now until Jan; 21, when “Mister Roberts” returns. ’ Philharmonic relights tonight: (Tues.) with a 12-day stand of the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, but no straight legiter is due until Jap. 7 when “Heir to the Flesh,” a new play about artificial insemination, bows at the tiny Coronet. Great Plays in Seattle Seattle, Dec. 25. Dean Goodman’s Great Plays Co. will. present “Three to Make Ready,” featuring ohe-acters by Ferenc Molnar. William Saroyan atid Thorhton Wilder, on Jan; 12, 13, 18 and 19 at the Center Thea- tre here. j Same company will do “Shad- J ow of a Gunman,” starting Feb. 16. The usual pre-Christmas slump, plus poor weather and illnesses of leading, players in several shows combined to slough Broadway last week. Despite the recent arrival of several big grogsers, which tend- ed to holster the list, the general trend was down, With a few* long- run hits dipping to extreme new lows. The total gross for all 21 shows last weejk was $541,100, or 77% of * capacity (for the corresponding week last year the total gross for all 22 cur- rent shows was $495,000, or 70% of capacity, the same as the previous week). Week before last the total for 23 shows was $591,300, or 78%, a drop of 10%. Although last week's, boxoffice . sag appeared to be even worse than anticipated for some shows, a few entries were affected very little; Moreover, the upturn, which generally arrives Christmas night and continues through. New Year’s night, was felt a day early this year as receipts spurted sharply Monday night (24). Of the new entries, the .OHvier- Leigh repertory of “Cleopatra” re- vivals got generally rave reviews, and played to absolute capacity, while “Don Juan in Hell” and “Guys and Dolls'' were the two shows that went clean for all eight performances. “Point of No Re- turn” was a sellout every night ex- cept Friday (21), when the illness of Henry Fonda brought refunds and reduced the gross. Indicated hits among the new- season shows continue to be “Con- stant Wife,” "Don Juan,” “Four- poster,” “I Am a Camera,” "Gigl,” “Point of No Return” and perhaps “Paint Your Wagon,” "Remains to Be Seen” and “Top Banana.” , Keys: C (Comedy), D (Drama), CD ( Comedy-Drama), R (Revue ), MC (Musical Comedy), MD (Musi- cal Drama), O (Operetta). t. Other parenthetic figures refer, respectively, to top price, (♦indi- cates using two-for-ones), number of seats and capacity gross. Price includes 20% amusement tax, but grosses' are net: l.e., exclusive of tax. . , “Affairs of State,” Music Box (65th wk) (C-$4.80; 1,012; $26,874) (June Havoc). Nearly $10,000 (pre- vious week, $11,800). “Call Me Madam,” (Imperial (62d Wk) (MC-$7.20; 1,400; $51,847) (Ethel Merman). Laid off last week (previous week, $47,200); reopened Monday night (24). "Cleopatras,” Ziegfeld (1st wk) (D-$7.20; 1,628; $59,536) (Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh). Repertory engagement opened Wednesday night (19) with “Caesar and Cleo- patra” to unanimous raves; Thurs- day night (20), “Antony and Cle- opatra” drew six. raves (Atkinson, Times; Chapman, News; Coleman, Mirror; Hawkins, World-Telegram & Sun; Kerr, Herald Tribune; Watts, Post) and two negative re- views (McClain, Jburnal-American; Pollock, Compass);, first four per- formances were solid sellout for $28,300, plus two paid dress re- hearsals for $10,500; limited en- gagement ends April 12. “Constant Wife,” National (3d wk) (C-$4;80r$6; 1,172; $31,000) (Katharine Cornell, Brian Aherne, Grace George). Over $26,100 (pre- vious week, $27,700). “Don Juan In Hell,” Century (4th wk) (CD-$4.80; 1,645; $41,468) (Charles Boyer, Charles Laughton, Cedric Hardwicke, Agnes Moore- head). One of the only two shows to sell out all eight performances last week; almost $41,400 (previous week, $41,600); closing next Tues- day night (31), but returns March 30 for another limited run. "Fourposter,” Barrymore (9th wk) (C-$4.80; 1,060; $24,996) (Jes- sica Tandy, Hume Cronyn). Nearly $22,900 (previous week, $23,900). “Gigl,” Fulton (5th wk) (C-$4.80; 1,063; $23,228) (Audrey Hepburn). Nearly $20,700 (previous week, $21,500). "Glad Tidings,” Lyceum (22d wk) (C-$4;80; 995; $22,845) (Melvyn Douglas, Signe Hasso); Under $5,- 000 (previous week, $7,200h . “Guys and Dolls/’ 46th 'Street (57th wk) (MC-$6 60; 1,319; $43,904). One of the two absolute sellouts; as always, $44,400. “I Am a Camera,” Empire (4th wk) (CD-$4.80-$6; 1,082; $24,400); Almost $184500 (previous week, $20,400). ^ . “King and I,” St; James (39th wk) (MD-$7.20; 1,571; $51,717) (Gertrude Lawrence). With the two leads. Miss Lawrence and Yul Brynner, out ill for six perform- ances, the musical went under capacity for the first time; nearly $49,700 (previous week, almost $51,700), “Lo and Behold,” Booth (2d wk) (CD-$4.80-$6; 766; $23,000). First full week, almost $9,800 (previous week, $8,400 for first six perform- ances)* “Moon Is Blue,” Miller (42d wk) (C-$4‘80; 920; $21,586) (Barbara Bel Geddes, Donald Cook, Barry Nel- son). Laid off last week (previous week; $19,000)-; reopened last night (Tues.). “Nina,” Royale (3d wk) (C-$4,80- $6; 1,035; $29,000) (Gloria Swanson, David Niven, Alan Webb). About $21,700 (previous week, $22,000); closing Jail. 12. ^‘Paint Your Wag®* 1 /’ Shubert (6th wk) (MC-$7.20; 1,361; $46,000) (James Barton). Nearly $42,800 (previous week, $44,000). “Point of No Return/’ Alvin (2d wk) ,(D-$4.80-$6; 1,331; $37,924) (Henry Fonda), First full wbek, standees at all performances ex- cept Friday night, (21), when laryngitis forced the star’s absence, with Bart’ett Robinson subbing; re- funds reduced the gross to over $36,500 (previous week, over-capac- ity $20,400 for first four perform- ances). “Remains to Be Seen,” Morosco (11th wk) (D-$4;80-$6; 912; $25,- 700). Nearly $17,700 (previous week, $20,200). : “Saint Joan,” Cort (12th wk) (D- $4.80; 1,056; $27,000) (Uta Hagen). Nearly $14,400 (previous week, $13,000); moves Jan. 8 to Century; at reduced scale. “South Pacific,” Majestic (140th wk) (MDt$ 6; 1,659; $50,186) (Roger Rico, Martha Wright), Around $35,500 (previous week, $40,000). “Stalag 17,” 48th St. (33d wk) (CD-$4.80; 921; $21,547). Just reached $12,000 (previous week, $13,200). “The Number,” Biltmore (8th wk) (D-$4,80; 920; $22,600). Nearly $8,000 (previous week. $9,500). “Top Banana,” Winter Garden (8th wk) (MC-$6.60-$7.20; 1,519; $51,881) (Phil Silvers). Just a whisker under $50,200 (previous week, $51,200). “Two on the Aisle;” Hellinger (23d wk) (R-$6; 1,527; $49,563) (Bert Lahr, Dolores Gray). Reach- ed $26,300 (previous week, $31,500). OPENING THIS WEEK "Legend of Lovers/’ Plymouth (D-$4.80-$5,40; 1,063; $31,000) (Dorothy McGuire, Richard Bur- ton). Theatre Guild production of Kitty Block adaptation of Jean Anouilh play, staged by Peter Ash- more; production financed at $65,- 000 and cost about $55,000 (exclud- ing about $10,000 in bonds and $8,- 500 tryout loss) and con break even at around $17,000 gross; has a good advance, including Guild subscrip- tion; tryout reviewed in Variety, Dec. 12, '51; opens tonight Wed.L "Wild Puck/’~City Center (D- $3; 3,025; $35,000) (Maurice Evans, Kent Smith, Mildred Duhnock, Di- ana Lynn). N. Y. C. Theatre Co. production of Ibsen drama, staged by Morton Da Costa; production cost about $34,000 (excluding $6,- 000 “bonds; tryout broke even) and can operate at around $22,500 (in- cluding amortization); series has a bigger advance than last season, when it was about $100,000; re- viewed in Variety, Dec, 19, '51; opens tonight (Wed.). ‘KATE’ LIVELY $31,500 FOR WEEK IN DAYTON , .Dayton, Dec, 25. A week's showing of "Kiss Me, Kate” in the 2,600-seat RKO Keith Theatre here last week, brought in a surprising gross of $31,500. This despite the pre-holi- day lag and the toughest weather in years. , . It was the. first time a show of this size played a week in an RKO, house in Ohio. Management re- garded it as a test case which, if successful, would likely result in Other shows of similar calibre playing here. Ballet Theatre $7,150 For Two in Madison Madison, WIs., Dec. 25, Ballet Theatre, making two ap- pearances here last week (17-18), racked' up a fine $7,150, second performance being capacity. Troupe then laid off, to open in Chi Thursday (27), for a run through *Tan. 6. Show has a good advance* with opening night a benefit, the AHiance Francalse having taken over the Opere House.