Variety (December 1952)

60 LEGITIMATE PfiRIEff Wednesday, December 17, ’ 1952 Plays on Broadway Two’s Company James Russo Sc Michael Ellis produc- tion of revue in two acts <20 scenes), with sketches by Charles Sherman, Peter DaVrles; music,- Vernon Duke; lyrics, Ogden Nash; additional lyrics. Sammy Cahn. Sheldon Harnick: w additional sketches, Arnold B. Hprwltt, Lee Rogow, Nat Hiken. Billy Frledberg, Mort Green, George Foster; ballet music, Genevieve Pitot. Stars Bette Davis; features Hiram Sherman, David Burns, Nora Kaye.Bill Callahan, Stanley Prager, Ellen Hartley, George Irving, Maria Karnilova, Buzz Miller, Oliver Wakefield. Peter Kelley, Robert Orton's Teen Aces. Production under supervision of John Murray An- derson; sketch director, Jules Dassin; dances and musical numbers staged by Jerome Robbins; musical conductor. Mil- ton Rosenstock; scenery and lighting, -Ralph Alswang; costumes. Miles white: associate producer# Clifford Hayman.. At Alvin, N. Y., Dec. 15, '52; $7.20 top <9.60 opening). . With Bette Davis. Hiram Sherman, David Burns. Nora Kaye, Bill Callahan. Stanley Prager, Ellen Hanley. George Irving* Maria Karnilova, Bum Miller, Oliver Wakefield. Peter Kelley, Robert Orton, Francis Edwards, Henry Mallory. Gilbert Shipley. Armstead Shobey, Nor- man Shobey, Michael Mann,.Earl Renurd, Sue Hight, Maurice Brenner. „ Singers- Art Carroll, Clifford Fearl, Bill Krach. Robert Neukum. Franklin Neil, Leonore Korman. Tina Louise, May Muth, Basha Regis; Deborah Resen, Teddy Tavernier. Doris Wolin. Dancers: William Inglis. John Kelley. Ralph Linn, Robert Pagent. Job Sanders. Stanley Simmons, Florence Baum, Jeanne Belkin. Eleanor Boleyn, Barbara Heath, Dorothy Hill, Julie Marlowe, Helen Mur ielle. “Two’s Company” turns out to be a surprisingly enffertaining. show, with Bette Davis supplying, the boxoffice draw and such tal- ented featured piayers as Hiram Sherman, David Burns and Nora Kaye providing the performance. Because of its virtually solid party bookings into next February, the revue is already set to run that long, and it seems likely to span the season. Having taken a week and a half off to recover from a severe case of laryngitis. Miss Davis appears to have plenty of animation and vitality. As one of Hollywood’s leading emotional actresses, the star obviously needed extraordi- nary daring* if not audacity, to make her return to the stage, after a 22-year absence, in a song and dance show. Moreover, she proves a game trouper, essaying not only vocal and terp routines but appear- ing in an assortment of drab char acterizations in the sketches. But there’s no escaping' the fact that Miss Davis is woefully out of her element in a musical show. She is. a poor singer, with minus- cule melodic sense, a‘ harsh voice (perhaps, allowing for her recent throat ailment, “hoarse” would be a fairer word) and apparently no instinct for phrasing or otherwise putting over a song. As a dancer, she attempts only a few simple steps, with no suggestion of style. And in the sketches she seemingly lacks the technique of comedy playing. More surprising, the film star doesn’t reveal stage authority,* but ■ only assurance. Moreover, she lacks warmth, or an ingratiating quality that might redeem her inadequa- cies as a song and dance perform- er. Just as it takes more than will- ingness, or even determination, for a comic to play Hamlet, so is Miss Davis’ gameness no substitute for the talent and experience she so transparently lacks in the song and dance field. But “Two’s Company” is gener- ally shrewdly designed and skill fully produced to present the star at maximum advantage. Jn all but one of the tausical numbers she is surrounded by a large, varied and kinetic ensemble production. In the sketches, there are almost in- variably such seasoned comedy foils as Hiram Sherman and David Burns to set up the jokes, supply the momentum and drive, run in- terference and virtually carry the scenes. Thus, the star’s single solo turn, a serio-conue lament titled “Just Like a Man,” 1 is her worst. In what resembles a virtual parody of lyricist Ogden Nash, her inade- quacy becomes almost embarrass- ing. Sherman and Burns are just as diverting as their material allows, which is occasionally excellent. In addition, Nora Kaye, a star bal lerina on lend-lease from the N.Y City Ballet, scores one of the most spectacular hits of legit memory in a trib of smash terp appear- ances. In the first, a comedy rou- tine, she does some hilarious slap- stick clowning. The second is a fairly standard but beautifully staged and performed ballet with the.ensemble. In the third, a viv- idly sexy melodrama number with Bill Callahan and Buzz Miller, Miss Kaye gets a deserved ovation. In another of Jerome Bobbins’ eloquently choreographed num- bers; Maria Karnilova clicks in a Latin-American satirical dance, with Burns and Miller as willing victims. Among the other notable bits in the show, Bums whacks the laughs in a roughhouse skit about a hammy legit star beset by a scene- stealing moppet actor; Sherman does what he can with a patter song about Frank Lloyd Wright houses; Miss Davis impersonates her ldlocycle enemy, Tallulah Bankhead attending and disrupt- ing a Bette Davis stage appear- ance (Miss Bankhead could play it better), and the star is a mono- syllabic, grubby wife of a jealous husband (Bums). Also, Oliver Wakefield does^ a passable parody of British affcer- dinner speakers; Miss Davis plays Sadie Thompson in a musical bur- lesque of “Rain” and partners with •Sherman in a charade-like sketch about a man and wife colliding on the street as Coward, Sartre and Saroyan might write it; the star plays a nympho Hollywood actress in a skit along the lines of the re- cent “In Any Language” legit com- edy about Italian film-making (with Burns as the eccentric director), and she portrays, the pseudo back- woods maw in a parody of hill- billy acts. The Vernon Duke-Ogden Nash songs, while generally acceptable, contain no likely pop hits, hut the general restaging of John Murray Anderson, who was brought in neiar the end of the show’s Boston engagement, has apparently added considerable smoothness arid pace, Ralph Alswang’s scenery and light- ing are tastefully simple and Miles White’s costumes are properly dec- orative, No 'one is billed as or- chestrator or arranger, but the or- chestra under the direction of Mil- ton Rosenstock has the brassiness of an augmented burley pit crew. Hobe. Whistler’s Grandmother Anthony Parell* presentation o£ com- edy in three acts by Robert Finch. Stars Josephine Hull; features Alan Carney, Lonny Chapman, Dick Bernie, Lou Gil- bert. Staged by Eugene O'Sullivan: sets and lighting. Leo Kerz. At President Theatre, N. Y., Dec. U. '52; $3.60 top. Eddie Lonny Chapman Nick Dick Bernie Lute Alan Carney Sam Lou Gilbert Honest John William Nealy Joy Peggy Nelson Kate Josephine Hull Mr. Carruthers William Padmore It is good to welcome back Jose pliine Hull to the Broadway scene after a two-year absence (spent mainly in films), but the visit is likely to be brief. For though she is* her old reliable, enjoyable self in a familiar, flavorsome role. Rob- ert Finch’s “Whistler’s Grand- mother” is a thin, draggy, one- noteish affair which even Miss Hull can’t put over. It won’t hold up. Playing the role to the hilt, and giving it much more life and flavor than the playwright deserves. Miss Hull enacts .a beer-guzzling house- keeper, tired of her chores, who meets a young saloon-keeper try- ing to marry a dancer. Young peo- ple love each other and want to marry, but the girl balks, wanting a white cottage in the country, or something to suggest an old-style home with security. Saloon-keeper hires Miss Hull to impersonate “long-lost” grandmother., She bor- rows furniture from her former employer,, and fixes up a cozy in town home above the saloon which fascinates the young girl. She moves in, as do three free-loading tramps who frequented the saloon It’s all one happy family, till the rich man shows up and exposes the fraud. But he too is lonely, and the dilemma is resolved with the rich man moving into the menage, and everybody, determined to make a phony' situation real by main taining the happy family setup after all. There are some tender and feel ing moments in this concbction especially in the third act. Bu there aren’t enough comedy situ ations or. laughs to make this ; success. Too much is contrived CAB CALLOWAY Sportin' Life "PORGY AND BESS" Now-(10th Week) , Stoll Theatre, London haft sHcctii”—MANCHESTER GUARDIAN Mflt.: RILL MITTLER, Hit Rrtadwey, Neff Y#rk Definitive Crix Rating A N. Y. producer whose show met with sharp mixed reception was recently asked what he thought of the drama critics. “Those who raved are sheer genuises; the others are downright idiots,” he declared. “What if the critics’ opin- ions had been vice versa?” he was asked. “Then my rating of them would be vice versa,” he said. and slick to be acceptable or real, while the writing is labored or coy as often as it is cute. Miss Hull, holding the stage con- stantly, makes the evening endur- able. There’s one scene, wherein she goes into a long, involved story about her Kentucky background, that’s a honey. Lonny Chapman is good as the saloon-keeper and Peggy Nelson highly decorative as well as appealing as the family- hungry young dancer. The three boozing hangers-on are strictly caricatures, but at least Lou Gil- bert, Dick Bernie and Alan Carney play them with skill and # relish. Eugene O’Sullivan’s staging is stock. Leo Kerz’s sets are fine, and much superior to the script. Bron. College Plays Ham ’n Legs Princeton, Dec. 11. 61st annual production of Triangle Club of Princeton: a revue in two acts (22 scenes) by Robert S. ' Goldman '33, H. Barry Knower '54, and Z. Taylor Vinson '55, additional dialog by John S. Burr '33 and Jack Rand '55. Songs, Glenn G. Paxton '53, Goldman, Fred Stewart ’o4, Frederick Coudert '53, Vinson anti Knower. Costumes and settings, Hugh G. Hardy '54; lighting, Knower. Musical di- rection, Glenn G. Paxton '53; orchestra- tions by Earle Moss assisted by Charles L. Cooke; dances, Bill Powers: entire production directed by Bill Butler. At McCarter Theatre, Princeton, Dec. 11, o". In its 61st annual production, the Triangle Club of Princeton has really hit its stride with a well bal- anced revue that has plenty of sock. Having dropped the idea of a straight musical* as in last year’s show, “Never Say Horses,” the club has come up with an ideal format for its abidance of talent. The show features an all-student cast and orchestra plus an original action at ceiling zero, as it pre- sents Isaac Newton, King Charles, his brother James, the Duke of York, the “middle middle-class” of English life in the person of a prim housekeeper, a subject of a still lower strata, played by a house- maid, the founder of the Order of Friends, Nell Gwynn and a couple of patrician courtesans. Having gathered his people to- gether, Shaw then sets them at each others’ throats, with Catholics arguing with Protestants, and the Quaker crying shame on both of them; the women siding with whichever man seems to offer the most promise of the moment, and Newton, the philosopher, trying to prove by logic that everybody is wrong and that only natural laws govern men and the universe. If it is tiresome, and it is, the fault lies in the fact that the wit is not particularly shrewd or biting. There is none of the depth of • - . , ~ x.xi- ! "Saint Joan”; none of the impas- The opening scene is j s j 0 ned crusading of “Major Bar- bara”; none of the slyness and fun- poking of either “Pygmalion” or “Candida.” This is just Shaw play- ing with words, and inasmuch as it comes right at the end of his 1930 TSie Holy Terrors . London, Dec. 1. London Arts Theatre Committee pres- entation of drama In three acts by Jean Cocteau, in English version by Edward O. Marsh. Stars Fay Compton. Directed by John Femald. At Arts Theatre Club. London: $1.50 top. _ Esther Ledoux Fay Compton Florent Ledoux Ballard Berkeley Liane Marcia Ashton Charlotte Noel Hood Lulu Eileen Thorndike Announcer Alec McCowen Old Lady Empsie Bowman The Arts Theatre wound up their year’s production of foreign and mainly period plays with this modern comedy by Jean Cocteau As in most of these cross-channel comedies, the subject is marital in- fidelity, but in this instance cen- ters around a too-accommodating wife. It is an amusing satire on stage folk who act just as strenu- ously off stage as on, and provides a bright evening's entertainment. The complete happiness of a married couple is shattered after 20 years when a young girl calls on the wife and announces she and her husband are lovers. The pair are famous stage stars, each with their own theatre, and when the girl invades Madame’s dressing room, starry-eyed and eulogistic after seeing the other’s perform-* ance, her adulation peters out, re- vealing the true purpose of her visit. She is a newcomer in the husband's company at the Comedie Francaise Rnd -falls a victim to his mature charm. When the wife confronts her husband .with his immature inamorata, he repudiates the confession as nonsense. Older woman walks opt, leaving the love nest undisturbed. The actor soon gets sick of his. juvenile mistress, realizing she has only used him as a stepping stone to further her career. The youngster ;s anxious for them both to accept a Hollywood contract, which he re- fuses, so the girl arranges for the wife’s return so that she can skip off happily to fresh fields and wider fame. The injured spouse takes back her rightful place, nev- er having had it in her heart to hate anyone or feel revengeful. Fay Compton has plenty of op- portunity to display a range of histrionics as the temperamental* artist but unnaturally conniving mate. Ballard Berkeley srrn*es» and overacts in braggadocio style. Marcia Ashton is attractive and exhibits true feline cunning as the opportunist sharer of the lovenest, and Noel Hood give's a good char- acter study as an inquisitive old- time actress. Eileen Thorndike and Alec McCowen register in smaller roles as an old dresser and a radio announcer. John Fernald directed the comedy with pace and pre- cision. Clem. number that features the entire ensemble and sets a sizzling pace that is generally maintained throughout the first act. From the hot kickoff the show goes to a straight skit on TV flubs called “Off the Air.” “The Worrybird” features good dancing and singing with introductory solos by Francis Foley and Franklin Hatch. The only ballad in the show, “Lonely Night,” has good lyrics and melody but needs work to shape up to the other hits. The “Flagpole Sitters’ Holiday” is the best skit in the act, with excellent dancing and clown- ing by the chorus. These high- stepping chorus numbers are really the meat of the show and do much to carry the weaker bits. The next skit, “Oddessy from Ossining (How Shocking)” is another good one about the delinquent daughters of a prison warden. “The Outcasts” provides a good change of pace in the form of a group of hillbilly guitar players. “Don .Tuan in Heck (A Good Clean Show)” is an ex- cellent takeoff on The First Drama Quartet and is the funniest non- musical skit in the show. The act ends on a somewhat slower pace in “The Gravy Train” which is not up to par with the earlier hits. The second act is a bit slower than the first and tends to drag in spots. The Misplaced Sextette, or “Aih’t This the Gaiety Theatre” is an excellent burlesque ballet. Best skit in the act is “Easy for the Man,” by Charles Schultz, that stopped the show. Other good bits included: “Culture’s Not for Me,” and “Gamesmanship.” Act ends in sock finale on a circus theme, Bring on Bamum & Bailey which features chorus and excellent cos- tumes. Outstanding in their vari- ous roles were Robert S. Goldman ’53, Charles Schultz ’54, Pierce J. Lonergan ’53 and Dudley C. Smith Jr, ’53. The score is tops. The orches- trations by Earle Moss, assisted by Charles L. Cooke, are excellent and do much to bolster the show. The all-student orchestra performs admirably under the able direction of Glenn G. Paxton ’53. Sets by Hugh Hardy. ’54 are excellent and the choreography by Bill Powers is tops. Costumes by Brady are well above average and do much to put the show across. Bill Butler has done a fine job of direction. After three days here (Dec. 11- 13), the show hits the road to Montclair, Dec. 18; Wilmington, 19; Baltimore, 20; New York, 22- 23; Buffalo. 26; Cleveland. 27; Chi- cago, 29; St. Louis, 30; Indianap olis, 31; Louisville, Jan. 1: Cincin- nati, 2, and winds up in Pittsburgh on Jan. 3. Syd. ‘Moulin Rouge’ Author Now Cleffing Tunes Hollywood, Dec. 16. Novelist Pierre La Mure branches out in a new field next month when Criterion Music publishes his first tune, an instrumental ditty tagged “Tango Triste.” La Mure wrote the best-seller “Moulin Rouge,” recently filmed by John Huston with Jose Ferrer starring. He has also scripted a stag6 version and contributed lyr- ics to a Jimmy McHugh-Harold Adamson score. Latter was to have been tried out this week here but La Mure withdrew the script from the Circle Theatre and may make a deal for a Broadway production next year Instead. In Good King fliarles'a Golden Hays Northampton, Mass. Dec. 10. Smith College Theatre Dept, produc tion of satire In three acts (two scenes) by George Bernard Shaw. Directed by Day Tuttle; settings by Denton Snyder; cos tumes. Gene Jones. At Students Bldg. Northampton. Dec. 10. '52. Sally Judy Atwell Mrs. Basham Marlene De Kay Newton Robert M. Boland Charles . Martin Jones Fox Edward .1. Reidy Nell Emma Jo MoConnell Barbara Joan Ford Louise Joan Bryan James lames Durbin Kncller A1 Schoelnann Catherine „ Elaine Dcsautcls Between 1930 and 1939. Bernard Shaw wrote nine plays, and this one. which had its first production at the Malvern Festival in 1939 just happens to be one of them. I has no distinguishing features- to set it apart from any other Shavian effort, except possibly that it’s long, long way from being his best (This is its U. S. premiere.) All the welh-known landmarks are there, with people being used as sounding boards for the old master’s mocking commentary on mores, men and morals, with dash of th# church thrown in to liven the brew. This is a conversation piece, with cycle, it might be the man was just plain tired. If he wasn’t, his play is. Three acts of languid theatre is two-and-a-half acts too many, par- ticularly when there is nothing to relieve the tedium, and the vary- ing philosophies keep repeating themselves. You can stand so much of this type of dialogue, “A man who believes in nothing is afraid of everything,” and then you start 'ooking for the exits. The Snyder interiors, a study and boudoir, are both' stylish and economical; the costumes nicely contrasted, the acting generally good, with Robert Boland a putter- ingly convincing Newton; Martin Jones a foppish, yet shrewd Charles and the women bouncing, or haughty, as befit their charac- ters. If this ever gets to Broadway, it will have to be listed as curiosa, and tucked into a Shaw festival, somewhere, to prove that even Homer can nod. Harl. 60th ‘Charley’s’ Anni to Be Feted in London, Gotham The 69th anniversary of the first London production of “Charley’s Aunt,” which took place Dec. 21, 1892, will be celebrated in London and New York by artists who have participated in many of the film and stage production. In London there will be a small dinner party at Genrtaro’s Restau- rant, a few yards from the old Royalty Theatre in Dean Street. Soho, where the Brandon Thomas farce had its first West End pro- duction. Amonj£ those who will be prt&ent will be A. E. Matthews, now 85 years old, who appeared in the original edition; John Mills, who playe^l the starring role in London in 1930; John Gieldgud; Brandon Thoms, the son of the author, and Charles Periley, now manager of the Empire; Leicester Square, and son of W. S. Penley, who starred in the first presenta- tion. On the same day there will be a luncheon in New York. Those participating will include Jose Fer- rer, who played the ‘foie in New York in 1940; Ray Bolger, who starred in the musical version on Broadway, and subsequently in its British film version; Sydney Chap- lin, who made a. silent film of “Charley’s Aunt” in 1925.. Isaac Stern Set for 50 U.S. Post-Xmas Concert Dates Isaac Stern, who arrivocPin the U. S. Monday (15) after a three- month concert tour of Europe, will be soloist with the Kansas City Philharmonic tomoi-row (Thurs.). After a holiday rest, violinist will do a four-month, 50-date tour of the U. S., starting Jan. 3 in St. Louis. Violinist, who is managed by Sol Hurok, played 42 concerts in Eu- rope from end of September to last weekend. Theatre ’52 Preem Dallas, Dec. 16. The season’s third production for Margo Jones* Theatre *52 will be Robin Maugham’s “The. Rising Heifer,” in its initial stage bow next Monday (22). Currently the group is present- ing Its first week of repertory, with “Hamlet” and “Goodbye, Your Majesty” splitting honors during the weelf.