Variety (January 1953)

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58 LECITIMATB PftRlEff Wednesday, January 28, 1953 Ron With 409G; Set (or Balto, D.C. The N. Y. City Ballet wound up an unprecedented 12-week run at City Center, ~N. Y., last* Sunday (25), with' r a $29,300 gross for the week and $409,130 take for the en- gagement. Troupe’s weekly nut ran from $31,000 to $33,000, so that management ended in the black, cost ““on new productions and other outside factors keeping it from making a sizabl%profit. The run itself,, first time a rep- ertory ballet company has ever at- tempted such a long engagement in America, and regarded earlier in the trade as a terrific risk, is also considered now a great achieve- ment. It proved tke draw of ballet as a show biz medium, and the pull of this-particular company. - * * * . r Troupe offered nine new ballets during the run, of which four at least—"Scotch Symphony,” "Meta- morphoses,” "Interplay” and "Five Gifts’’—are regarded as permanent additions to the repertory. Some of the other preems, shorter in length and conception than the above, aroused some criticism. Feeling is that it wasn’t necessary to schedule or hastily devise short, new works; just to have a b.o. sell- ing point; that it was better to do a big work and run it more often, and that audiences would have come anyway. NYCB, which has played only once before outside N.Y., in a Chi- cago date a couple of seasons ago, has. been set for five days of ap- pearances with the National Sym- phony Orchestra, on Feb. 12-13 in Baltimore, and Feb. 14-15-16 in Washington. Troupe is now laying off, and shortly after the National Symphony dates, resumes rehear- sals for a spring season in N. Y., followed by its first visit to the Coast, where it plays four weeks at the Greek Theatre, L. A., start- ing July 6. Anne Sloper has been signed as tour pressagent, Terper Peter Conlow breaking in a nitery act next week at the Town Casino, Buffalo .. . The Sar- asota (Fla.) Foundation will pre- sent a summer festival of legit, ballet, concerts and lectures June 29-July 26. * Current Stock Bills (Jan. 26-Feb. 7) “Art and Mrs. Bottle” (Esther Ralston)—Arena Theatre, Memphis (27-31). “I Married An Angel”—Paper Mill Playhouse, Millbum, N. J. (26-7). “Old Acquaintance” (Ilka Chase) —Theatre-in-the-Round, Baltimore (3-8). “On Approval” (Arthur Treach- er, Paula Lawrence)— Theatre-in- the-Round, Baltimore (27-31). “Petticoat Fever” — Sombrero Playhouse, Phoenix (26-31). “Tragic Ground”—Arena Thea- tre, Memphis * (27-31). Ruth Manning has joined Mal- colm Atterbury’s Colonial Play- house company in Albany to ap- pear in "Glad Tidings,” opening today (Wed,). i LI AlAf * 3 , >*■ - ^ lW»» WM. fields, « 0 W f?f'JS a R ve, ,b n e COMPANY OF 85 prwnhd by BALLET THEATRE FOUNDATION BLEVINS DAVIS, rr«*i<W INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED CITY 7A 1954 •X'X'X* X;*.;X;X :X; : : : x : : v.v.sv •XvXv tS:*x-:*: •X;X;X; v!'Xs;> x : xS: •xx«x X,;X;X; XvXv* LUCIA CHASE and OLIVER SMITH, D/r«lor« •XvX’> vX‘ <fr,v,v. lyXvX «xx*> •XvXv NOW SOARING TO NEW BOX OFFICE HEIGHTS with V.* /•:*X;X; •XvX\> X*>X*> r 7^C<iC tyuaUtt 'Home* i* %><sUUt ALICIA ALONSO • IGOR YOUSKEVITCH JOHN KRIZA • MARY ELLEN MOYLAN CHICAGO 14 PERFORMANCES * 95 , 992.00 DETROIT 3 PERFORMANCES * 14 , 968.00 BALTIMORE 3 PERFORMANCES * 16 , 158.00 WASHINGTON ONE WEEK * 29 , 914 . 00 , BOSTON ONE WEEK * 34 , 829.00 NORFOLK ONE NIOHT * 5 , 342.00 RICHMOND ONE NIGHT * 6 , 448.00 AND THE RECORD BREAKING ENGAGEMENT AT THE METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE, N. Y. CITY, 22 p^o^as *151,656.00 m m NOTICE Due to European engagements which will occupy all of the coming Summer and Autumn, THE BALLET THEATRE will be available in the United States and Canada only during the months of January*, February, March, and possibly April of 1954. * On its current nationwide tour embracing 96 American and Canadian cities, THE BALLET THEATRE is enjoying the greatest artistic and box office success in its glorious 14 year history. A year ago, one advertisement similar to this brought in the above 96 bookings and an additional 100 requests which we were unable to accommodate. Accordingly, it is suggested that you communicate with us-Without delay if you are interested in having this fine company set new )box office figures at your theater in 1954. We are particularly interested in hearing from operators of auditoriums and film theaters having large capacities. Win, FIELDS, Booking Representative 630 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. the worlds finest ballet - MERICA S national company• sy M r p p hony oS«rof as INDPLS. MUR AT CONTROL TAKEN BY BIZ MGR. ROSS Indianapolis, Jan. 27. Cecil Byrne, president of Theatre Productions, Inc., which Operates the Murat, legit outlet here, an- nounced this week that he has dis- posed of his share in the company to Mel Ross, its business manager, to devote full time to his business and fraternal interests. Ross, who is president and gen- eral manager of Starlight Musicals, summer operetta series, and part- ner in Ross & Babcock, ticket agency and travel bureau, now is key man in the theatrical situation here. Byrne, one-time vaudeville juggler and, gymnast, now has a large cleaning business here and also manufactures equipment for that industry. He was largely in- strumental in reactivating the Murat, which had been shuttered for 10 years, and putting it in shape for road shows after the English closed in 1948. He is expected to keep in touch indirectly as officer of the Murat Shrine, which owns the house. Plays Out of Town Continued from page 56 The Fourth Degree more important and good for pub- licity, it’s also' on the notorious underworld biggie. Indict them both and let a jury make the deci- sion. The assistant d.a. doesn’t like it, but he must go along. The trial is on, the jury is almost ready to go out, but the stubborn young public servant convinces the judge to let him make one last try. He will have the events of the fatal night reenacted, giving, the accused gal an opportunity to throw off her block and tell all. In an unbelievable scene, the ac- cused dame does just that without benefit of professional psychiatric treatment or hypnosis, simply on the sayso of the boy who wants to see justice prevail. Martin Rudy, as one of the more plausible cops, and Penny Santon, as the widow of the murdered man, turn in good performances, in addition to Miss* Stoddard’s ef- fort. Staging gets a bit crowded here and there. Burm. Bleak House Boston, Jan. 27. S. Hurok production of' Charles Dickens novel, as adapted for stage by Emlyn Williams, with Williams as Dickens. At Plymouth, Boston, Jan. 26, 1953. Emlyn Williams’ treatment of Charles Dickens’ great polemic on the vices of an outmoded law sys- tem, with peripheral jabs at every- thing from misguided missionaries to a society blind to its own ills, is going to come in for plenty of heated literary pros and contras. His reading of it will undoubtedly score as one of the top virtuoso solos of the day. He endows the dark doings of "Bleak House” with a warmth and force—and a comedy relief as well—that prdves all but hypnotic. The entire reading, in fact, is an act of hypnosis from the time Williams, in the same characteriza- tion as Dickens himself, which he employed last season, appears be- fore the Burgundy reading table until, three hours later, he slams the volume shut with the murder of Tulkinghorn. For in all Dickens there occurs no more convoluted a plot than this, nor a more kaleidescopic gal- lery of characters. In the adapta- tion, Williams, though going to the heart of the matter in exercising the central situation involving Lady Delock’s scandal, attempts to re- tain as many of the characters as possible. He thus introduces, at one time or another, everyone from Mrs. Jelly by to the crazed Miss Flite, frdm this pious Mr. Chad- band to the heart-rending Jo. In all these—and many more—char- acterizations, he is superb, extract- ing every nuance and every inflec- tion by means of voice, aspect, gesture and presence. Yet it cannot be considered a wholly successful venture. For despite the high dramaturgy ap- parent in the treatment, it is nearly impossible to catch every drift of the narrative. As a performance, however, as indicated, it is a smashing com- bination of technical Skill and artis- tic integrity. On occasion, at the opener here, Williams (playing to a carriage-trade benefit audience) spoke on too low a key to be prop- erly heard, and his lighting effects were not always on the nose. But all in all his was a notable con- tribution to the theatre, and he seems set for kudos—and b.o, activity—all along the line. , JEhe*