Variety (June 1952)

•\ • J* ' «.■ * f ' * * . * 1 ' 4 t LMVmMTB Shows Criss-Cross in N. Haven Area; Biggest Atlantic City Setup in Yrs. New Haven, June 24. t# the scheduled announcements Auwhits within driving di»- ti« o£ this legit centre materl.l- W t should turn out-to be a sjrt if swords-crossing season m sev- noth Herbert Kneeter’s Norwich playhouse and Lewis Harmon's Stolon Theatre, not too far apart „ the barnyard circuit, are due to unfurl "Kiss Me, Kate" for week of June 30. In the two suc- ceeding weeks, Norwich and CUn- JL, in that order, will play Re- mains To Be SeenA MUton Stiefel’s Ivoryton Play- house, in the middle, geograph- ujiy between Norwich and Clin- ton hits the duplicate booking lituition with Norwich via a. Mae w>ct stand on the one side, and with Clinton via “The Happy Time" on the other side.. Other plays announced for these spots include, at Norwich^ Lanny joss in “Tree Grows in Brooklyn,* July 21: Alexis Smith and Victor Jory in “Private Lives," July 28: Larry Parks and Betty Garett in "Anonymous Lovers" ’ (new), Aug. ll f and June Havoc in “Sadie Thompson," Aug. 18- Clinton’s sked adds Edward Ev- erett Horton in “Nina/* July 21; Eva Gabor In “Her Cardboard. Lover," July 28, and Ilka Chase in "Over 21," Aug. 4. Ivoryton’s list Includes Veronica Lake in "Gramercy Ghost," June 30; ZaSu Pitts in “Ramshackle (Continued on page 58) Golden Getting Mostly Satisfaction on 'Male’ Under Sharing Hpoknp Despite healthy grosses for the revival of “Male Animal,'* current at the Music Box, N. Y., there’s understood to he relatiyely little profit in the operation for John Golden, who took, over the N. Y. City Center production and is pre- senting it for the commercial run- Explanation is that the stars and the Center management get a sub- stantial share of the net, in addi- tion to the regular percentages for the theatre, author and director. The show reportedly breaks even at around $13,500, having cost Golden about $14,000 to acquire and move to a Broadway house. The theatre's 30% share, plus 10% author royalties, 3% director roy- alty, 20% split between stars El- liott Nugent (who also co-authored the script with James Thurber), Martha Scott and Robert Preston, and 15% to the Center manage- ment, leaves Golden only 22% of the operating net. However, since he financed the project himself, he doesn’t have to split his share with backers. ‘Farfel Follies’ Bowing On Coast in October Los Angeles, June 24. Myron Cohen will star in “Farfel Follies," new Yiddish-English re- I'vue scheduled to preem Oct. 20 at the Biltmore Theatre here for a three-week break-in, prior to heading east. Show is produced by Mickey Katz and Hal Zelger, pro- ducers of the successful Coast- originated “Bqrscht-Capades,” in which Katz starred. Show now has tentative Chicago, New. York and Miami dates to follow the local stand. “Borscht" played all of the big centers of Jewish population around the country, during its two-year life. Allentock, Men Tie Up All-Male Tragile Fox’ “The Fragile Fox," Norman Brooks play which the late John Garfield had planned to present with himself as star* has been ac- quired for production in the fall by Max Allentuck and Jay Julien. For- mer is general manager for Kermit Bloomgarden, while the latter is an attorney. The partners are also bqth mar- ried to actresses, Allentuck .to Mau- reen Stapleton, femme lead in “Rose Tattoo" on Broadway and tour last season, and Julien to Julie Harris, currently vacationing as star of “I Am a Camera." How- ever, “Fragile Fox" calls for an all- male cast. *1*5 Si 37 u .« m vl Blondes,’ ‘Stalag’ Close Lush Runs GUILD OFFERS 8 SHOWS TO CHI SUBSCRIBERS Chicago, June 24. Chicago Theatre Guild this com- ing season is offering eight plays instead of the usual six, due to in- creased interest, according to Miss Harriet Watts, Guild head here. Subscription offering, which opened flv We £ k ’ tees off with “Stalag 17" SA,, Erlan S er Sept- 2 and “Four- poster at the Blackstonq Sept. 22. flext two attractions are “Country Girl" and “Gigi.” >. . Tke v ot l ier Tour selections will SL „ fn from “The Constant f ane ” " p aint Your Wag- » Call Me Madam" and “I Am A Camera." Two hit shows closed last week- end, one going on'the road after a successful. New York run, the other a former Broadway smash closing a season’s tour. The latter will go out again in the fall, however. Former was “Stalag 17" and the latter “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.’ “Stalag," comedy melodrama by Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcin- ski, had a 471-performance run closing Saturday night (21) at the 48th Street, N. Y. The show, pro- duced and directed by Jose Fer- rer, was financed for $50,000, cost about $30,000 to produce and has thus far earned about. $100,000 profit, including its share of the $110,000 film sale. It has distrib- uted $75,000 in profits, and has ad- ditional assets of about $25,000, including undistributed profits, cash reserve and bonds. The pro- duction opens its tour tomorrow night (Thurs.) at the Biltmore, Los Angeles. “Blondes," also closed Saturday night, at the National, Washington, after a tour starting last Septem- ber in Chicago. It played 740 per- formances on Broadway, having opened in December, 1949. The musical adaptation of the Anita Loos novel, with book by Joseph Fields and Miss Loos, "music by Jule? Styne and lyrics by Leo Robin, is slated to go on the road again in the fall,, but in a scaled down physical production with a replacement for Carol Channing, the star. The Herman Levin-Oliver Smith production, financed at $200,000 and costing $208,000, has thus far distributed $480,000 profits and has additional assets of about $70,000, with another $60,000 still due from the show’s share of the 20th-Fox film deal. Early Chicago Cirtam On ‘Bell’ Pays Off; Tranbe To Continue It on Tour Chicago, June 24. On strength of the good attend- ance at the ^early -performance Tuesday nights of “Bell, Book and Candle” here, producer Shepard Traube plans'to continue the prac- tice when the play resumes its tour in the fall. He’s convinced that its a boxofftce hypo, particularly in larger cities with residential sub- urbs, such as Minneapolis, San Francisco, Lbs Angeles, New Or- leans and Washington. The upbeat trade at the Tuesday performances of the John van Drii- ten comedy has been consistent from the start, registering a notar ble jump the third week, when Traube gave the 7:30 curtain ex tensive plugging in spot announce- ments on local radio stations. An- other week, when the advance sale indicated only mild results for the Tuesday show, a sudden spurt in the window sale* at 6:30 p.m [.pushed the night's receipts to one of the highest points of the run. Despite the success of the early curtain Tuesdays, however, it wouldn't be feasible to extend the policy to other nights of the week, Traube figures. Fact that local de- partment stores are open until 9:30 p.m. Mondays would be an adverse factor that night. The midweek matinee rules out an early start Wednesday night Thursday might be a possibility, but Friday and Saturday (the latter also being matinee day) are already big nights, so there’s little to be gained then. The producer also feels there’s not much potential in the recent suggestion of a few theatre- goers and managers, that there should be an early curtain for mid- week matinees. The 7:30 performance Tuesdays has been a definite click at “Bell," however. Receipts have invariably topped the Monday figures and have compared favorably with most other nights of the week. For the first week under the new arrange- ment, the Tuesday receipts were $1,450. The second week dropped to $1,239. However, the third week, when radio spots were used, jumped to $1,781 and the fourth to 1,913. Since then, the low was $1,- 558 and the high $1,983. Chi IHoon Setting After 61 Weeks; Senate Okays D C. Child . Washington, June 24. Bill to permit child actors to appear on D. C. stages received Senate okay over the weekend and now needs only President Truman’s signature to make it legal. Measure amends Washington’s child labor- law to permit young- sters from seven to 14 to appear on stage. Previously the children had to be 14 of over. The young- sters would be permitted in eight performances, per Week, and would be allowed to be on stage no later than 11.30 p.m. Requirements for the proper schooling of the chil- dren are also included. Heretofore, shows with young, children—such as “Member of the Wedding," “Ring and I/' “South Pacific," etc.—have been barred in effect by the juve ban. Buck, O’Brien Again Head Catholic Actors Guild r P Sf n , e and Pat O’Brien were tivelv t «?+? re « and -y ee P ee > respec- i a _ f y ’ Uie Catholic Actors Guild second 6 y p Jay Jostyn continues as i °^ icers elected included Jan* recor <Ung secretary; N e n i , Tayl ° r ’ historian; Frank Mc- and °* the exec board; M Sullivan ajnd Madelaine Urntr, K -Sl, s SL cial secretaries. Kirk Panei?n Callah an, Frank Cam- Jtean a rir nne T ’ Cervalo, Audrey OnhS*?. ^ FaUon > Eddie Foy ’ son r t ' rt Galla 8her, Jason John- MoV,;/ 0seph McDermott, Horace We^i°A and Harry B, Oldridge Were ele cted to the exec board. ATPAM Sets Separate Agents for 'Venice/ Aqua Michael Todd’s “Night in Ven- ice,” and the daily aquatic show at the Marine Stadium, Jones Beach, L. I., have been classified as 'sep- arate productions, and the Assn, of Theatrical Press Agents & Mana- gers has required the employment of a senior pressagent .and a com- pany manager for each. As a re- sult, Ben Komzweig has been hired as associate to Max Gendel, Todd’s regular p.a. Robert Ward is gen- eral manager for the shows, and company manage? of “Venice," while Harold Grossman is company manager of swimming show. “Venice" opens tomorrow night (Thurs.). The union last week required Bill Doll to hire Danny Newman, a road agent, as an advance man for the Blevins Davis-Robert Breen re- vival of “Porgy and Bess,” current- ly touring before going to Berlin, Vienna and London. Previously, when the show had been scheduled to come into New York this sum- mer, it had been classified as a try- out, so Doll had been p.a., with an associate on it and his two current I Broadway stints, “Top Banana" and J“New Face*," Swede Lead, Yanks For Aussie SP’ Richard Collett, leading baritone of the Swedish Royal Opera Co. the past five years, has been signed by' the J. C. Williamson Theatre chain for the lead role of Emil de Becque in the 'Australian produc- tion of “South Pacific.” Collett, who’s been in America the past few weeks, was auditioned and signed last weekend in N.Y. by Dorothy Stewart, Williamson's U. S. rep. Miss Stewart also pacted Mary La Roche for the femme lead of Nellie Forbush; Virginia Paris, for Bloody Mary, and Leonard Stone as Blllls. The. Lt. Cable role will probably be filled from London and the Liat part in Australia. Charles Atkins, of the Rodgers- Hammerstein N, Y. staff, who’s been with "South Pacific" for three years here, will go out to Aussie to stage the musical. He’ll , get an assist from John Casson, resident director for Williamson. “Pacific" is set to open at His Majesty’s, Mal- bourne, Sept. 15 or 20. Collett, who was an actor before going into opera and starred oppo- site Ingrid Bergman abroad, audi- tioned here successfully for Rodg- ers & Hammerstein a year ago for the London “Pacific," but other commitments then prevented fur- ther consideration. Miss La Roche played the lead in “Allegro” on the road and more recently was on the James Melton TV show. Both have been signed for a 12-month period, with options. Chicago, June 24. The closing of the, Chicago com- pany of “Moon Is-Blue" at the Har- ris this Saturday (28) will give the comedy the third longest postwar run of any attraction here,, doing 61 weeks. “South Pacific" and “Voice of the Turtle," with <Mt weeks each, surpassed the play’s stand. Only seven runs have ex- ceeded this stint In the past '30 years. One of the quickest road companies formed, only starting six weeks after the New York success, it has been a critical and financial boxoffice success through most of its engagement It grossed more than $1,000,000 and will have played -487 performances to more than 440,000 customers. Original cast' with Leon Ames and Maggie McNamara stayed, with the show until June 1, but the juvenile Murray Hamilton left the cast about six months ago and Biff McGuire took over the role, after several others tried the part for short stints. Arnes. left, to do pic- • ture work and Miss McNamara transferred to the New York cast three weeks ago. They were- suc- ceeded by Hiram Sherman and Marcia Henderson. During last summer, the play had a phenomenal b.o., doing as much as $20,000 weekly at the 1,000-seat house and seldom fall- ing below the $18,000 mark. Pro- duction breaks at about $10,000. While grosses had been slipping in recent months, business took an abrupt drop in the last few weeks (Continued on page 58) Samuel Antek, conductor of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and a violinist in the NBC Sym- phony Orchestra, will be guest conductor of the latter orch for the first time Saturday (28^on NBC. Lewis Young to Ester Concert - Lecture Field With Anderson ‘Readings’ San Franciscw, Juhe 24. Legit producers Russell Lewis and Howard Young enter the con- cert-lecture field this fall with the presentation of Judith Anderson in a program of solo dramatic “read- ings." They also plan other more or less similar projects for next spring. Miss Anderson will appear In a 70-minute version of “Medea,” plus a short scene from “Tower Beyond Tragedy," both adapted by Robin- son Jeffers from the original dramas in whiefi the star previous- ly appeared on Broadway. Unlike the “Don Juan In Hell” program starring Charles Boyer, Charles Laughton, Cedric Hardwicke and Agnes Moorehead, Miss Anderson will use a full stage and no micro- phone for the performance. The program, which was tested recently at the Ojai Music Festival near here, is slated to tour four weeks before Christmas and six weeks after frew Year. Moss 4c Haymon will book the first part apd James Davidson & David Llbl- dins the latter portion. Lewis 4c Young, currently oper- ating the second summer season of the Sacramento Music Circus, have produced several shows on Broadway and have presented a number of touring shows. “MOON IS BLUE" (B’way Co.) Investment $75,000 Distributed profit ' 130,000 Additional profit as of March 29, ’52 21,687 Gross for nine *weeks ending May 31, ’52 139,631 Profit for nine weeks ending May 31, ’52 * 13,453 Less N. Y. State unincorporated business tax 2,449 Assets as of May 31, '52 32,691 “MOON IS BLUE" (2d Co.) Investment * * $60,000 Distributed Profit * 55,000 Additional profit as of March 29, ’52 13,095 Gross for nine weeks ending May 31 102,424 Profit for nine weeks ending May 31 3.341 Less provision for retroactive royalties, etc 2,224 Assets as of May 31, ’52 .• • • • • • • ■ • • (Note: Production is closing in Chicago Saturday night (28), probably resuming tour next fall.) “MOON IS BLUE" (3d Co.) (Closed) Investment $50,000 Returned to backers 5 Assets as of March 29, '52 • 6,454 Gross for tour’s final 6 weeks, as of May 10, ’52 .»«. *. 65,917 Net loss for tour's final 6 as of May 10, ’52 3,312 Income from souvenir program sales 502 Closing expenses ?26 Provision for retroactive royalties, etc 2.918 Balance n *. • .Nothing (Note: There may ultimately be a modest profit from incidental future income, including lease of scenery, props, etc.) ‘WEDDING’ PAYS $22,500; TOTAL NOW $316,124 Another dividend, amounting to $22,500, was paid last week on “Member of the Wedding," bring- ing the total profit on the Carson, McCullers drama to $316,124 thus far. There is still about $10,000 in undistributed profits, plus possible income from the show’s share of the net from the Stanley Kramer film version, stock and foreign rights, etc.. The Robert Whitehead produc- tion, which recently closed after nearly two years’ run in New York and more than a season on tour, was financed at $75,000. Salmsggi Sets 5th Opera Season at N, Y. Triboro Impresario Alfredo Salmaggi is prepping his fifth open-air opera season at Triboro Stadium, Ran- dalls Island/ N. Y. Season begins July 12 with “Aida," at a $2 top. Salmaggi is also rehearsing for the first New York performance of Alberto Franehetti’s. opera, “Christopher Columbus/*