Variety (April 1953)

legitimate PSmEty 92 Plays Abroad The WliUe Carnation London, Match 2&. - ; H. M, Tennent, Ltd., prcserifntfon ftl comedy In two acts by R. C. Sherriff. Stars Ralph Richardson. pireQted by Noel Wlllman. At Globe Theatre, Lon- don, March 20, *53. $2 top. . •>. • . . John Greenwood Ralph Richardson Ladv Mary .• Meic MaxW^H Lydia TiXeott .. Merlel Forb^ Mr. Pendlebury Harcoubt Williams Sir Horace Duncan • Colin Gof." 01 } Dr. MacGregor Lockwood West Constable Thompson —Campbell Singer 1 Sgt. Phillips *I oJm ,Em er Mrs Carter • • • Ann Wlton Mr. Gurney Frederick Piper Major Howard Michael Nightingale Mrs. Howard ■ • Fra " c ?s Glare Sir George Wallace .Kenneth Edwards Lady Wallace . Edith Sawe Tony Dale .Peter Wigzell Cynthia *. Gillian Howell Although it has an original open- ing and closing, this rather heavy- weight comedy sags somewhat in the middle. Dealing with an earth- bound spirit, it lacks the frivolous spirit of Noel Coward's “Blithp Spirit," and makes a very earthy ghost of the leading character. There are some amusing situations ahd plenty of sly digs at govern- mental procedure in circumstances f<jr which there is no precedent. It will not have the same general appeal of R. C. Sherriff s last play, “Home At Seven," in which Ralph Richardson also starred.. This will largely depend upon his^lndivid- ual drawing power. Its chances in the U. S. would be slim. The central figure is a wealthy stockbroker who finds himself shut out by the slamming- of his front door while he is seeing off his gyests after a Christmas party. Un- able to make anyone hear, he breaks a glass panel and finds him- self in a dirty, dismantled room. He tells an investigating police of- ficer that it is his own home, but Is .informed the house has been uninhabited for seven years since it was blitzed in an air raid when all the occupants were killed. His emphatic refusal to accept this fact causes an increasing embarrass- ment to doctor, clergy, police and housing authorities. All efforts to coax the spectral visitor to vacate the premises are fruitless, and much of the play’s lighter moments revolve on the variety of means brought to bear to achieve this end. ‘ • Furniture, books and a watchguard are pro- vided and the householder still wearing his dress clothes and age- less white flower digs his toes in for an indefinite stay; He jte only ^dislodged when he receives an ul- timatum from the powers that be notifying him that the house is to be demolished for the erection .of a b.Jock of flats. A clever transformation scene emerges from a darkening stage, when on the anniversary of the .fateful party, the room returns to its early festivity to the sound of the guests chatting and drinking. Tfife host then realizes that his brief return to earth was intended to make him appreciate and ac- knowledge the love and devotion of his wife, whom he had constantly snubbed and secretly despised. In the flashback to the few seconds before the bomb explosion, this is touchingly revealed. Richardson alternates between bewilderment and the irritated petulance of a thwarted child. He endows the role with a maximum of expression and sincerity intiiis own inimitable style. Meriel Forbes is charming and easy as a sympathetic neighbor whose un- derstanding and innocent com- panionship help to make the phan- tom’s. borrowed time tolerable. Among the minor characters, Colin Gordon shines as a tape- bound bureaucrat, as does Har- court Williams as a tolerant, easy- going priest. Frederick Piper is a commercially-minded cop. Play is well directed by Noel Wlllman. Clem. Airs on n Shoestring Edinburgh, March 21. Laurler Lister presensation of revue, with lyrics by Michael Flanders, Nicholas Phipps, Jack Gray, Hugh Martin, Char* lotte Mitchell, David Climie, Jimmy Wil- son, Madeleine Dring, Jerry Mann, Joyce Grenfell, Justin Richardson, Lindsay Kyme, Lionel S. Harris; sketches by James Dyrepforth, Richard Waring, Mary Dunn; music by Donald Swann, Geoffrey Wright, Hugh Martin, Madeleine Drlng, John Pritchett, Arthur Benjamin, Charles Zwar, Dolores Claman. Staged by Alfred Rodri- gues. Stars Max Adrian, Moyna Fraser, Sally Rogers. Betty Marsden. At Ly.cciim Theatre, Edinburgh. New revue, in 34 scenes, has a cast cleverer than some of the material it is called on to use, but achieves fairly good standard of wit and polish generally, despite several sketches that don’t click. Show, badly-titled, has been writ- (Continued on page 93) “Schwartz is definitely O.K. as the celebrated. Nathan De- troit, proprietor of ‘the oldest established, permanent float- ing crap game in New York’." Russell McLaughlin • DETROIT NEWS “Schwartz warmed into his role with remarkable ease to the dfelight of a large, appre- ciative audience. He is a re- markably assured and confi- dent performer." Leonard Mendlowitz PITTSBURGH SUN- TELEGRAPH “Sam Schwartz makes an ideal Nathan Detroit, the dice- k game operator who is betwixt and between love of the domi- noes and a sweet doll named' Miss Adelaide.” Walter Stevenson THE DETROIT TIMES “Sam Schwartz’s portrayal of Nathan Detroit, the operator of the oldest established, per- manent, floating crap game in New York, is Runyonesque to the core." Herbert L. Monk ST. LOUIS GLOBE- DEMOCRAT ★ STARRING NATHAN DETROIT ★ SAM SCHWARTZ in the National Company “GUYS and DOLLS” Currently AMERICAN THEATRE, St. Louis Thanks to FEUER & MARTIN Balanchine Set to Stage . ‘War and Peace’ Opera George Balanchine, Broadway and ballet director who did his first opera staging job this winter' with Stravinsky’s “Rake’s Prog- ress," at the Met Opera, in N. Y., has been inked for his second opera stint. He’ll stage Prokofiev’s “War and Peace" for the Maggio Musical Festival, iif Florence, in May. t This will be first appearance out# side of Russia of the opera which Prokofiev (who died last month) composed *to the famed Tolstoy novel. The Met had planned to present it in N. Y. this season; but dropped the idea because of pro- duction difficulties. Balanchine is now in Italy staging ballets at La Scala, in Milan. He’ll return to N. Y. in June, Feud Vs. Critics — Continued from page 88 ■■ ■ • — * recalled, and the opening perfor- mance of the touring troupe in Chicago was a backstage shambles, it’s reported. Crix Go Overboard? Nevertheless, there is an almost unanimous feeling in New York managerial circles that the Chicago critics seemingly go overboard in picking touring shows to pieces. The situation in Chicago obviously differs from that in other road cities, where touring shows play only one-week or two-week stands. In Chi, where a successful run may extend many months, unfavorable reviews «re a much more serious matter than elsewhere. For that reason, it has been sug- gested that, besides following the fairly frequent procedure of hold- ing intensive rehearsals to brush up the playing before the Chicago openings, some arrangements should be made to play preview performances there .to give shows time to shake down smoothly be- fore being covered. The idea would be to sell the previews to paying audiences, as in New York, so as not to lose receipts by staying dark or holding re-rehearsals. In the case of the Shubert move to have critics cover second-nights, it’s- figured that .the action tended to be arbitrary and lacking reason- able explanation and tact. Appar- ently the only advance notice of the action .was a letter some days previously from Shubert to Claudia Cassidy, critic of the Tribune. Miss Cassidy printed the long complaint in her drama column Sunday (29). First actual word of the move was when Charles Washburn, ad- vance man for the touring “Af- fairs of State," which opens to- night (Wed.) at the, Selwyn, Chi- cago, visited offices of the four lo- cal dailies to reveal Shubert’s or- ders. He offered complimentary tickets for tomorrow’s (Thurs.) second-night, but these were re- fused. Papers immediately bought seats for their critics to cover the opening, and played up the story on the front pages. With minor changes in the in- troductory paragraph in different editions, the Shubert letter to Miss Cassidy said in part: “For a great many years you have been on the various news- papers in Chicago, and now while on one of the leading newspapers in the country, you have unfavor- ably criticized all of the plays that have come to Chicago. - “I do not think it is your inten- tion to close up plays and I know that you are not antagonistic, but the practice in Chicago has not helped having bad criticisms. We have tried very hard, giving the producers all sorts of arguments and in some cases having to guar- antee them against loss to come and play Chicago. “I can only see one thing tha$ might alleviate the situation— *openiflgs in Chicago should be for the public, and the people writing for the newspapers should see the play on Tuesday nights instead of Monday nights. Monday should be for the opening — wherein any- thing happening could be rectified then, so the specialists of the the- atre who have to write for same should see that we do not have a repetition, of ‘Paint Your Wagon,’ “I hope you will take this letter in the spirit in which it is written because I know the reason for not getting plays produced in Chicago." 'Wednesday, April 1, 1953 Legit’s Cliff hanging I ■ _ ■■ =. Continued from pace 89 - men is that the marked shift of audience preference away from the top-balcony seats represents the patronage lost a generation ago to talking pictures and never re- gained. Fact that the upper-deck trade is notably heavier Friday and more particularly Saturday nights is figured substantiation of this theory. Whatever the reason, lively sec- ond balcony patronage is now the exception rather than the rule, al- most as passe as the once familiar playgoer willing to sit in boxqg. Except for the absolutely solid smashes and for premieres, few shows ever sell out all the boxes these days. The top-deck, once the haunt of h§nd-holding young cou- ples on lean budgets, shows signs of ultimately becoming almost equally unpopular. Sell Better For More An extreme example of public reluctance to buy the bottom-price seats was offered several years ago, early in the run of “Mister Rob- erts," at the Alvin, NX The man- agement scaled b couple of rows at the top of the house at $1.20, with everything else going from $2.40 to .$4.80. The $1.20 seats invariably were sold last, occasionally being the only locations empty. Moreaver, there were always abnormal de- mands for refunds of $1.20 tickets, because of claims of poor visibility and audibility. So after a few weeks, the $1.20 tickets were discontinued and the entire rear of the balcony was priced at $2.40. Thereafter, there was markedly less resistance to’ purchase of the same couple of rows. Moreover, the volume of re- fund demands for patrons iii those locatiQns also declined abruptly. In- other words, • the public pre- ferred to pay $2.40 rather than $1.20 for the seats, and. was more satisfied occupying them at that price. In general, the second balcony tends to be easier to sell if it has the same entrance, mostly through the main lobby, as the first bal- cony and mezzanine. For some rea- son, patrons seem to resist having to go outside to reach the upstairs sections of the house, possibly be- cause it makes them feel conspicu- ous as lower-priced customers, and perhaps for other reasons. At any rate, the top-deck seats are apt to be more acceptable if reached through the lobby. It makes little difference whether the section is known as the second balcony or gallery (or, as has occasionally been attempted, some other desig- nation). Broadway theatres having second balconies or galleries, with the ca- pacities of the latter, include Cort (281 seats), Lyceum (252), Empire (269), 48th Street (205), Fulton (190), Miller (200), City Center (800), Playhouse (225), St. James (326) and Shubert (335). -Ft. Wayne Boosts Opera Offerings to 5 in ’53 Fort Wayne, March 31. Fort Wayne Light Opera Festi- val, Inc., has announced a pro- gram of five offerings, in 15 per- formances for its 1953 season in the 2,090-seat open-air theatre at Franke Park here. Last year’s sock success, when the shows hit capa- city for each of 10 performances, prompted the group to add two more productions this coming year, according to Lou Culp, busi- ness manager. * The 1953 repertory and dates are: "Student Prince,” June 19-21; “Kiss Me Kate," July 10-12; “Chocolate Soldier," July 24-26; “Bloomer Girl," Aug. 14-16, and “Blossom Time," Aug. 28-30. Albert- K. Germanson, Colum- bus, O., is producer and director, and Rose Adair is New York rep- resentative in charge of casting. Auditions for the singing chorus will be held in Fort Wayne start- ing April 4. —— ■ ■ - hwav City’s Off-Season Legit Atlantic City, March 31 For the first time since the lal* '20’s, this resort will get out-of- seaspn legitimate theatre when Magda Gabor opens next Mondav (6) in “The Play’s the Thing" in Hotel Morton’s Quarterdeck The atre, located just off the boardwalk in midcity. Ezra Bell, owner of Hotel Mor- ton, heads tfce city’s auditorium commission which .manages Con- vention Hall, and is pres of the Gateway Corp., which this sum- mer will offer legitimate and mu- sical plays at the Gateway The- atre in suburban Somers Point. He is convinced that the calibre of his attractions will make this venture a paying one for the 20-week sea- son planned. Jonathan Dwight, who last sum- mer operated the Gateway Theatre is producing the plays, while’ Max Fischer is director. Rex Part- ington subports Miss Gabor. Sec- ond bill, “Three Men on a Horse " week of April 13, will star Natalie Craveth. North Carolina Outdoor Drama Preps 2d Season Greensboro, N. C., March 21. “Horn in the West,” Kermit Hunter’s outdoor drama, will open its second summer season June 26, according to William Hardy, gen- eral manager. The play will be presented in the Daniel Boone Theatre, near Boone, every night except Mondays through Sept. 7. A< special performance is to be given on Labor Day; In its first season last summer, “Horn in the West" played to an audience of more than 55,000 per- sons. Hardy said a number of changes have been made by play- wright Hunter. Thomas Nichols, musical director and composer, has revised the musical score com- pletely. Kai Jurgensen, director of the drama, is now in the process of- selecting actors and actresses for the cast of nearly 100. Scheduled B’way Openings Horses In Midstream, Royale. April 2. Room Service, Playhouse, April 6. . Pink. Elephant, unspecified thea- tre, week ofoApril 3. Emlyn Williams Readings, Bijou, April 20. Men of Distinction, unspecified theatre, week of April 27. Masquerade, Alvin, April 27. Can-Can, Shubert, April 30. Me and Juliet, Majestic, May 2& WALTER "Daro" WAHL Featured in Comedy Hit "TOP BANANA" Currently 79th Week Now Playing LYCEUM, MINNEAPOLIS Mar. 30 • Apr. 4 ( Direction JOSH MEYER , JACK DAVIES REHEARSAL THEATRE AVAILABLE Ideal stage. SI 1.000 swltohtftard with $3,000 hanging light*. Theatre completely equipped and AIR CONDITIONED. Flve^mlnutes from Timet Square. Call Stanley Kostner—WAtklni 4*6230 or WA 4-8782. THEATER de LYS 121 Christopher St. SUMMER THEATRE AVAILABLE For star system summer stock. Location: center of South Store Jioston resort urea. 750 seats, theatrd fully equipped., good con- dition. one floor. Ample stage room for all types of production.. Forking facilities for 600 cars.. Wanted producer to handle entire operation. Frefer percentage arrangement. Box V-::2053, Variety, 154 W. 46th St.. He* York 36, N. T. CAB GALLOWAY Sportin' Life “Porgy and Bess” Currently ZIEGFELP. NEW YORK: “— A 'natural*. Here Is the best of all performances ef thl* oharaoter—amusing, slick, graceful and enormously artful. Calloway’s singing of ‘It Ain’t Necessarily So’ and Breon's staging of the number makes one of the mest delicious ovonts In today’s theatre.”—John Chapman, Dally Nows. Mgt.; BILL MITTLER, 1619 Broadway, New York