Variety (July 1953)

Wednesday, July 1, 1953 LEGITIMATE Hayes-Healy Sought for Philadelphia, June 30. .-f— Playhouse inr the Park, Philly’s. /list tent-show venture, after fin-' jshing first two weeks of its second season, is well ahead of .last hummer’s financial record. Last vt.ar's season started two weeks liter and extended 11 weeks, where this year’s program skeds 13 offerings. . . ■ ■■■ ■■■.■_. First two, “Road to Rome (June 15) and “The Moon is Blue,” were virtual capacity at all evening. • show’s and did better than expected. tit the two matinees. Last year’s attendance, while ehcouraging from the start, was a long way • . from capacity until after the third cr fourth week. Entire schedule, has. how. been completed with’ exception of 13th. and final offering, Sept. 6, which will he announced later.. Latest bookings. : are "‘Charles ; „Aunt ’ . , with Roddy •McDowell, July 27, and ‘'The Show Off, “ with Leon Jan . ./ ^ , . * ... ’Next.’week’s' booking is “Room Service,” with Skedge Miller, who will remain over to support Uta Ilagen in “The Lady’s Not For Burning,” July 13. Hub Biz Perks. Boston. June 30. Biz picked up slightly at County Playhouse this stanza, with “Moon Is Blue,” starring Zachary Scott, nabbing a near-$7,800 at the L400-. seater. House is scaled, at $3: top; Billie Burke in ‘‘Life With Moth■; er” is current. . . , ■ . ; Alexis Smith-Victor Jory vehiclr, “Bellv Book and Candle,” teed off the . I4th season of the. Lee. Falk A1 Capp operated Boston .. Summer. T-heatre tMonday (29). The Group 20. Players kick; off their outdoor, season at the Wellesley College Amphitheatre tonight (SO) with “Taming of the Shrew.’* ‘FjflcUe* $9,500, Westport Westport, Conn., June 30. West port Country Playhouse,; • with increased seating through mezzanine revamping, has opened to good but considerably less than peak biz first two. Weeks, New version of “School for Scandal,’7 with June Havoc, the opener, was panned more than usual for a teeoff show, and 760„ seater gross was $8,800 at $3.60 top. Last week, Betty Field in “Second Fiddle” was better.with $9,500. , Payton-Neal Package Barbara Payton and Toni Neal will team for the first time in a . new barn package of James Cain’s “The . Postman Always Rings ; Twice.” which opens a four with a one-week engagement at the Norwich (Conn.) Summer Theatre beginhihg Monday (6). Miss Payton’s last and only stage appearance, .was in “The Second Man,’’ opposite Franchot Tone. F erguson $3,900, Stockbridge Stockbridge, Mass., June 30. Elsie Ferguson, in the new Courtney Abbott melodrama, “And Two Make Four,” rang lip a $3,900 gross In the opening stanza of the Berkshire Playhouse, here last week. This represents approximately 70% capacity for the 436sea ter. . Current is“The Moon Is Blue,” featuring Edward Andrews. Armstrong Tryout ‘ See You Tomorrow,” new play hv legit , pressagent Ned Armstrong. will be tried out July 29 at •Jill Miller’s Putnam County Play-, house, Lake Mahopac, N.Y,■ ’ ^ Author is flack this summer for : ■Richard Aldrich’s Falmouth Playhousei . Coonamessett, Mass. ‘Turtle’ $5,450, New Hope 4 > New Hope, Pa„ June 30. ... ; > • > o i ce of th e Turtle ” grossed a l“trS5.450 at a $3:50 top. last Week . M f heron . Bamberger!$ ■ 432-seat nucKs County -Playhouse . here.: J l 1 ‘:,rl A . 1 Toy e . was we 1 1 r e c e i v ed 1 n the femme lead, originally played ; on. Broadway , by Margaret Sulla van, *}id John O’Hare ana Natalie. Core ciff'ked in the other two parts, . Jessie Royce Landis is current : l}1 A tryout, of “Celia,” by Gebrge. Ration.. • • • ‘Kate* Tees Vancouver .. . Vancouver/ June 30. . . ''m^uver’s outdoor Theatre Unl/‘l‘rhe. Stars iii the city’s Stanley ,VlTk, opened its 14th season, with a iP' Production of .“Kiss Me Adte, Overcast skies held draw to around 12,000 patrons for first t,x performances in the 5,000-seat -■■■■■: ■ ---- * • ’ ■ ' ,-^w. Yorker .Ralph Magelssen, r ^jhport in cast, 'played the ^ ua Graham-Petruchio role and (Continued on page 51) Accountant Wanted Under ail agreement with other theatrical craft unions,, the.. Tre.asurers..-.'$r..'Tii(>ke.t:‘ Sellers, Local 751 , IATSE, is making; concessions to off-Broadway groups to encourage legit production. One. such outfit, unable to put up any bond to. cover , the special. $90-a-week boxoffice salary, was permitted; to use a union treasurer with the understanding that the b.o. .man would get . the • first $15 put of each night’s receipts.. ...-• . ' . Arrangement worked out okay for the first three nights,' but. bro.died the fourth night, when the take, for the, performance. was less, than $15. When the bo. man phoned union officials to ask what he should do, ' he was instructed that he might as well forget it. “They don’t, need a treasu rer , ’ ’ he was t.ol d , ■ Th ey. ne e d; a life-saving squad.” , • r vegas musical tor d way Hoi iV wood, June 30. Peter Lind Iiayes and Mary Healy are being sought as leads in “Las Vegas,” musical comedy w ith book by Stephen Longstreet. and songs by Sam Coslow, to be produced oh Broadway next fail by Rita Allen and Archie Thomson. Edward . G. Robinson is mentioned as possible eostar. Yarn deals with an overgrown kid who persuades a gangster to subsidize a system to beat the wheels at Las Vegas. James Russo and Michael FHTis. producers . of. .. last ; season’s flop. “Two’s Company,” have reached .an agreement with Lloyds oh their $90;00Q claim against .the insurance company. • Original asking . sum' . has . been: whittled down to $35,000 Of that amount, $29,000 will have to be shelled out in preferred claims, of which about $1 6,000 . goes to ' Warner Bros and around $1 1.000 to the U. S. Treasury Dept. The film company, which originally loaned the duo $27.000 , took an a s'sign m e n't o f the ..claim against Lloyds to ' the extent of its creditorship. Producers have offered to pay the general creditors. 10% of their total indebtedness, by Sept 1 . They’re currently in the process of getting signatures of acceptance on the. offer, Duo, incidentally, Is slated to put another show on the boards next season. They plan to bring “Howe & Hummell,” Howard Teiehmann’s dramatization of the New Yorker articles by. Richard Rovere, to Broadway In the fall. With adoption of a new agency code apparently delayed indefinitely, Actors Equity is considering a number . of long-stand i.rig /ranch jse applications ; from; New York percenters,. A were sent out last week, to ' about B5 agents . whose bids, for .franchises had been on file with the union for some time, / At least some of the a ppl (cat ions will be considered within the next few days by , t be union's, agency committee, arid recdmmendatj.o.Us will probably be made to tire eouhcil for grant ing ones eonsidere.d in order. AH pf the bids . .are expected to heft processed within the next coiiple of : months. ; :. All requests for new franchises have .been held up by the union for a year or more while the agency comm it tee' studied proposals for revision of its regulations. It had been expected that the re-drafted . code; would be passed last spring, but’ several hitches developed and the. new rules are now being considered In detail by the council, after which they will be submitted to the union’s membership for approval. . . ’ ... ' ■ .' — ’ • ' • ■ Despite flurry of contradictory v . . A i f V | reports early this week, “Carnival ■>.; Angel Avalanche J in Flanders” will go through With V Novel method .Of raising > Us scheduled tryoiit engagements : capital for a .proposed Broad ip Los Angeles and San Francisco, way production is being used [.Move by Cpn.st producer Edwin: by Eugene Endrey for a play Lester to cancel tlie bookings and titled “Avalanche." by an nn--. substitute “llazel . Flagg" fell (lisclosed author. In n letter . through, to .pqtential hackers last week,, y After three dire weeks in Plvilly, Endrey Ul-‘j . cm’^Ksed^ a , “t'arntval" called it quits there last with^ wHnts^ ^mSipCr I night (27i, cjutcelling an story amt editorial ' about . the I jrt^ ? l J1 l,.Vrr l5 ({' l, () ; recent case of a hew York oil through, tonight tit ed.i. Musical executive \\ ho exposed a Com \ adaptation of live. I1 reiich him. La nuinist attempt to blackmail. Kermess Herolque,’ ciid brutal liiin Into spying for. Russia to biisiness in PhUly, piling? up a loss save his Avar-prisoner soils, .of arotuHV.$Cp,()()0-$70,0()(). thereby ■ • The . nceompanying letter . jtmpardiy.ing cont Intuit ion ; of the .claimed the play,, whose au ; production.' thor is. described as a well .: Lest er, who was in I’lii lly last known writer living behind week to look over the show, sought the Iron Curtain, as parallel to, cancel the Const bookings on Ing the case des-cribed, In the claim the musical is too salacious .. for ; presenlation:,Atu-dlie,-.;rh’illiar-' budgeted at $50,000. , moivie Auditorium. L. A., whit'lv is : ; “ . . • ....... ’ :v. '. . ow ned by t lie Bapt istCliu rch'.-i low : Ilf VjP':' eveiy .producers Paula Slone-, Mi^ IVIlC^IIlQtira I Alii* I Chael Sloane, JOhriny Biu'ke. and llll vfllllflll v V -I Ulll ; . .( J-inmiy Van Heusen den i(‘d tlie nui; . sica.l is not acceptable, and . insisted ; T 1 f HPil <tr > on going through with (he contract. I AHflAn With If C Meanwhile, it Avas reported oil. XiUCIlldl TtHKI 110 tRe ( 'past ’ that ■.the. “(.arivivar^ ^ dates: . , had. , been.: scratched . and : t liji.t Misalliance.’’ ' Ibe ;.N, Y: . City "Hazel” would be suhstiliited . for i Cetit'T revival which Closed Sat urv tiie L; A. and San Fran cisco Civic ' day. '27) at the Barry rtiorp, N. Y,, ; Light Opeiyi subscri hers. ”1 1 azo l'.’ will lie . sent on tour In . the fall, had ;« already announced a .lay (iff only if a star with potent boxoff ire starting next Saturday (.4) arid condraw can be obtained and if the. Ilnuing through. Aug. ' 24 -at the presentation ran. he on Theatre Mark llelllnger, N. V/; ’ Gtii Id -American Theatre Society Tentative arrangements, .were subscription, tl-s ^.figured the. Shaw made, to inovb up the “1 i.T/.el” sliutromedy would lie. a doubtful biz le ring to last niglit '.(TiuJ.;) and ; prospect otherwise?;:. | get; the show, on tlie rails lor t lie It's estimAh'd that the show ,. Coast., this a ft ernoon ( Wed , ). How--, would jirobahly break even on l()ur , ever, wdien Lester, who had me/in| at around $1,4.000-$1 5.000 .weekly time., roturrved to ./ the Coast,; Aas Book; Wife Scribbles Too Except for a month off, during which he will concentrate on the preparation of a book for wOuldbe playwrights, Walter F. Kerri drama critic of the N. Y. Herald Tribune, will turn , out regular weekly columns for the paper’s Sunday drama section. Unlike most of the New York . firststringers, he won’t get away for the summer, but will spend most of liis time at hishome in suburban. New Rochelle, N.Y, Kerr’s book, which -now has the working title, “Don’t Write That Play,” is to be published by Simon & Schuster. Manuscript is due early in the fall, but the author’s principal problem thus far has beOn a matter’ of organizatipn jnd format. Jean (Mrs.) JCerr is contributing several revue sketches for John Murray Anderson’s scheduled “Almanac.” : Her . .play, “King of Hearts,” has. been tentatively slated for production by several different managements, but has been held up each time by casting difficuit-ie's. . . ' Nanci C roittpton’s Kaycee, Vegas and Revue Dates London, June 30.: Nanci Crompton, who just finished four weeks at the London •Palladium, doubling at the Savoy Hotel, planed to America . yesterday (Mon.V She is due to play in “Bloomer Girl” for one week at Swope Park, Kansas City,. After that, she appears for two weeks at the Sahara, Juicy Bit in ‘Don Pedro/ Its ‘New’ Opus by Mozart The enterprising Lemonade Opera Co.; is back at its Greenwich Village, N, Y.;, stand for a fourth Season/ with a distinct and highly commendable novelty. This is a melodious, amusing “new” Mozart opera, “Don Pedro,” in a jazzy English libretto by Joseph Longstreth. Opus is a patchwork cleverly put together a few ycafs ago by a Swiss musician: named Hans Erisman Out of a couple uncompleted Mozart operas plus several independent song numbers. Libretto is straight 18th century, with the usual involvement of romantic plot, as the vexed paths of two young lovers, are eased. The music is tuneful, catchy and Cng a gi n g , and the accomplished young actor-singers whom Lemonade's managing director Max Leavitt has assembled present the opera with delightful flourish and style. Leavitt uses alternate casts, with, a two-piano orch, all under. Sheldon Soffer’s deft, direction. Lemonade has pitched its’ stand in . the basement of the Village Presbyterian Church on West, 13thn. SL A non-profit membership society, financed by voluntary contributions/ the outfit is tax-free. At a $3 top, with performances six nights a week, the 280-seater con gross $4,000. Weekly nut is $2,500. •and ; the company, by. end of the fourth week pf a scheduled 14week ; summer . season,' .has just about kept even with . its weekly nut. Singers are. all : pros, under AGM A salaries^ • T he FactFind in g Committee of the various N. Y. theatrical unions has allowed the outfit special : arrangements. But Lemonade . -could sure use ari angel, Leavitt .admits,. . Bron. . ‘Marriage’ to Preem Fall Yiddish Theatre Season I gross. That presumably wouldn’l be K’onlln.ued ori page .52) a prohibitive figure with a. slrong | ; marquee . name; as male lead aiul ; rQ/ f .■"“.J/i . • subs Or. j pj ion support, particularly, o/q LG^IL LOHlRUSSIOllS ] if local theatre managers in some „ u j il ' I a ' of l!.e key :s|aiids( w^;,. nssocUled tailed ABSUrtf, Agent : relatively liKle-known Bhaw work. Prafarc ^Aii rnnlnef .is rated a slim audience-getter, if. 1 I yl Cl o v»UilLI dVI sent out on its own, . New York. Play, just about broke even on Editor Vahif.ty* . . . . its 16J>i5-week Broadway run, the '.Mr. Ifarrrion is quite right when latter part of which was on . two lie blames the -;5% coin mission rule, for-ones. However, it grossed' $27, for “reni Ing a somewhat, resl rained 000 and $32,500, respectively, foiIts initial two weeks at the City. C’eritcr. Barry Jones was tlie original sf ar. of the revival ; with Ma rfyn Green taking Oyer the last few e n 1 1 m si a sm f or su m in e r < t oe Ic. wo r k in ail agents. It Is an oil I mod.ed ahsurdlly. to Imagine that V5''”. of any hut top star .salaries’ ran' pay.' f or the : ri inning, expe n ses o f .a New weeks, Other ^ leads in(‘lu(l(‘(l Ta: I \r(irk offire. thus enabling' agents liiara Geva, Roddy MeDowall, Wi.l j to do a proper; Job for those of . liam ’ Redficld, Richard Kiley, j their' clients who: need plugging, DoroUiy .Sands, Ja.fi 'F^rrobd «»nd j sol ling, ad vising most. The Jo'pner Jerome ’Kilty. ;. Prod uei ion was the members of Equity Insh f op ' staged by Cyril Ritchard. .. . paying a reasonable comrnis^ion to Entire .three-production drama { tbo^e who work for them, the s<,op. season at the'City Center is estl j er an Improvement In agent-clients mated to have involved a loss of • relations ..will lie <rcn. The -si -age about $8,000. Other two J revivals |“i II never he able fully to compete were “Love's Labour's Lost” and Villi the movies and TV in s,tL‘ “Merchant of Venlee.” Two-Person ‘Four,’ With Stockbridge. Mass., June 30. J “And Two Make Four,” adapta ’ j (ion by f'ourtney Abbott of “Under. | Orders.’’ a . 1918 Melodrama by j [ Berte Thomas, is being eonsidert'd j i for Broadway production, this fall j 'by William Miles, who staged a try , aries, but It ran and does pav livingwages to all who work for it, ■eveepi the agents. Bid the Ayor'd 1 rouble is not the. money, not the actual rrde of’com-' minion. We would not do anv Vork In tlie theatre If ice did not love the immortal, invalid, Tlie real inequity lies In 1 1re fact, that New York agents are not permitted to sign, clients in the field of theatre. Tile; SAG agenev eontra'ef j.s' a fair agreement , and has ‘■•a t v, f\f\d bqtlr; part lev a I a 1 1 t i'mr« out; of It last week, as the seasons invitations., to piracy, gladly opener at hir? Berkshire: I7 lay h (fuse. i ^'C^pt-ed by most.age neie.s, is; .an., here. Lodal audience reaction was \ msiilf to both the. -aefrir*-’ repreI promising, Project may depend on ' v*n<<ViVes _ and their rb’ents. It [.script’ revision.Si said to be mostly i belp anvbodv. but pre ; a matter of cutting and sharpeningM' ^ntg good; agents /from wo»-king !•■: Elsie : Ferguson , and . Anthony : T^r aelprs a’s need agent.; 'Kemble Cooper, who "cost arred: as :^.g-mo‘d. You don t invcvf in anv/ . iiie two dual-leads in tfie four-char. PGVeHy which you do not -own, or. ; Miles Indicates. . New San Antonio ' Opera to Bow wii San Antonio,' June 30. r — . ..... John Murray Anderson has tabbed her for a featured role irt his new “Almanac,” in which Her mi-, one Gingold is to be starred. Edmund Zayenda and Iryingl Jacobson will eostar in “Second j Marriage,” adaptation JM, /J^ouis^ J Freiman’s Jewish '. radio series of the same name, as opening produc Second Ave. Theatre, N. Y. : . “Second Marriage*.’ is scheduled i to premiere Oct, 5. Ull 1. Q I « 1 M v vv II*,., I M . ft I t t . ** . . •/. ■ : ■ ; i. on o f o .o ff er. ,v on ^ma.y. f.nd . ,-q';r. , ■: • '-.■••el’e.rit . has -;fu«d ■ '.'aee.epty<’d; :v.'o.rk :aT ’-. ! Vpw' tvan Anfmiio AfunV ‘ ranged for him. bv-. anot her a''“t. .. x>ew pan /vntoniu ^viun.y -}hP ro{,vfv^ ; for Opera to Bow with ‘Min th ■ rrrangement .in 1 1-K» prr.t; ih elr San Antonio. June 30. ' no-v -ram on.-n -o The .recently-organized San Anto j •:0 !'?■ . • nio Munici pal Opera Co. .will pre1 v" » j sent its first production late in July , Cole Porter S Mother S (at the .Sunken Garden Theatre I -• Vnlitprl i Frank G; Styrehio, recently named • LStaifi v aiuiu dl t)yi x i supervisor of music for St. Mary’s. Peru. Ind., June 30. will be director, “Red Mill’’ is the An estate valued at $r>5! 550. ar ■ • opener. cording to Inherltanee tax figures. opener. . c =Gh after ed4n=May7=the=opera=Gom==U! » • ■*%*■■■ k A: I T Kate Cb party Is a non-profit group, Inter1 Porter, mother of Cole Porter, ested in bringing year-long Operk The bulk of the properly w lere at popular prices. tleft to her son.