Variety (January 1954)

•0 LEGITIMATE Wednesday, January 27, 1954 Balias de Paris S. Horok. it Mesirs. Shubert presentation of Roland Petit production* of four ballets, choreographed by Petit, Features Colette Marchand, Leslie. Caron. Vlolette Verdy. Petit, Orchestra directed by Jacques Baztre, With: Petit, Miles. Marchand, Caron, Verdy, Serge Perrault, George Reich, Claire Sombert. Jose Ferran. Francesco Varcasiat Lilane • Montevacchi* Edmcc Redoin, Andre Parizy, Nadine Metge, Monica Schellino. Claudlne larblni. Jamie Baber. Monique Vence, Bertl Ekkart. Ivan Dragadze,. Mosha Lazare. Fritz Hess; At Broadway Theatre, N.Y.,' Jan. 19, 54; t9 top ($7.20 opening night). Roland Petit’s Ballets de Paris, which the Shuberts and Sol Hurok presented at the Broadway, N.Y., last Tuesday (19) for a sixweek run, will apparently survive as disastrous an opening night as any legit attraction has witnessed. Despite the notices which pointed up the shambles made by the backstage mishaps, troupe had a. good second-day b.o, . sale and house, Lure of the Paris name and sex angles, and appeal of Colette (“Moulin Rouge'r) Marchand and Leslie (“Lili”) Caron, should help the troupe to a fair run. Firstnight horrors which caused long delays, an 11:40 final curtain after ah 8 o’clock start, shaky scenery that threatened jittery dancers, and stagehands visible all during the night, were caused by two complications. Although the scenery had been treated, just before the troupe left Monte Carlo for its Broadway bow, the N.Y. Fire Dept, insisted the sets be fireproofed again, the spraying taking some time. Then a switchboard conked out, taking 12 hours to repair, thus delaying or killing that much needed lighting and stagehand rehearsal time. . The second night not only revealed a smooth-running performance, but one improved by elimination of a number, “Cine Bijou.” Petit’s troupe is not as strong !i» personnel or in its productions as on his two previous visits, but the b.o. draw is there and presentation adds up to a good Parisian music hall-ballet evening of entertainment. Back in ,N.Y. for the first time since 1950, Petit has brought almost a new troupe (the last* one foundered during a long stay jn Hollywood three years ago). Renee Jeanmarie, former star, has now turned legit, dancing in the forthcoming Broadway musical, “Girl in Pink Tights.” But Petit and Miss Marchand, two of the original trio Of stars, still shine out; Miss Caron is a fetching addition; and there are fine dancers in Violette Verdy and Jose Ferran. “Cine Bijou,” ballet opener which was dropped, is a flimsy French takeoff on Hollywood and westerns, and does little but show off Mile. Maryland's lovely form and legs. She does little but strut, and her singing of a nitery ditty is a mistake. “Le ' Loup,” which now starts proceedings, is a strong opener, a neatly er'rotic opus about a young bride who falls in love with a wolf (the animal, not the human kind), runs off with it and dies with it when it Is killed by an infuriated populace. Petit (who choreographed all of the productions) does a firstrate miming as well as dancing job as the wolf, and Mile. Verdy is superb as the bride. Claire Sombert is also a standout dancer as an animal trrainer. >> “Beautiful Widow,” introducing Miss Caron as a ballerina and stage artist to America, is a mild, Overlong hut : amusing confection about a lighthearted flirtatious dame who can’t shed her widow’s weeds fast enough for the giddy pleasures of cafe society. Miss Caron (on leave from Metro) groves a* delightfully pert gamin ere, with a neat sense of humor accompanying gifted limbs and toes. She’s a little slow in her turns and low on leaps, but otherwise dances charmingly and makes a fetching appearance . onstage. Serge Perrault is excellent support, with Miss Verdy and George Reich also good. These works are new to N.Y. Mainstay of the evening is still “Carmen,” Petit’s dance study of 15 AND GREATEST SEASON TH OF AMERICA’S OWN BALLET TH EATRE TURN-AWAY or CAPACITY BUSINESS EVERYWHERE v ....... NOTE • Detroit grossed $20,000 on a week-end. Hundreds were turned away from the huge Murat Theatre, Indianapolis—In Cincinnati, Ballet Theatre played to capacity business against such unprecedented opposition as “South Pacific" and Marian Anderson. JAH I3 gbt months.;^, { .t«ttm.Mes.tro'*?' including Gotti*® J*11'' aiso included guarantee dates.rtalo (two). JS.OOjh rie? *3.10°; Hy?ilW *4000. »nd , 00* Saginaw. and tetrolt (t*®',*luaranUcs. ^ginaw weragi ^RIEXX JAN 20 Bullet Theatre $40,800 It SpHt-SUnd Week Ballet Theatre, out on its best tour yet boxofficewlte, racked up a healthy $40,800 lut week in a series of splits.. Sunday matinee (10) In Detroit garnered $7,300. Next came four guarantee dates: Grand Rapid*, $3,900; and Kalamazoo, Highland Park, 111., apd Springfield, $3,700 each. .Indianapolis Friday <15). was a capacity , $7,100 and v two in Cincy Sunday, also capacity, hit $11,400. Troupe this week is continuing its split stands. Variety dec 3^ «»rd hlgfc for , fc? ) s“ndSnyra5u*htUP(2b7) ft1'" troupe's sdle Gotham?0?8*' ,n the •on. £veift, a joeeia?^6 tills seaPrecede the booking to tour, which^startftfSf annual had a (2«> in boxes and tor Via the Jown front, with i7 5nrS ri? ieat* of downstairs. UnnJ!? /or. balance , to aid in ia,,„^?ped tariffs were public drive f0P 5 Ss fthe troupers and to heln if i $200>000 in fund/ *""lv*rsi^ Mal"?ugu‘'*‘« It, lsltf . Troupe,?, “g°w "Jx >'«•'. ber, 1952, soent ci* Y‘ Septem-i jope from las? wii »flnths in £uber, and is now off ^rou8h Octo 7® cities that wmffL n * trek of through next May. *eep it busy COMPANY OF 85 prtienf *d by I BALLET THEATRE FOUNDATION I BLEVINS DAVIS, Prewrf.nf, THE WORLD FAMOUS AMERICAN COMPANY WITH BALLET’S TOP STARS BALLET THEATRE LUCIA CHASE and OLIVER SMITH Director, w»a IGOR Y0USKEYITCH • ALICIA ALONSO • JOHN KRIZA • MARY ELLEN MOYLAN NOW BOOKING THIS FINEST OF ALL BALLET COMPANIES IS AVAILABLE NOW FOR 1954-55 SEASON AT TERMS YOU CAN AFFORD — BUT ONLY IF YOU — TO LOCAL MANAOER9 — As of now, present guarantee and percentage terms are the same as have existed for the past two years. This situation Is subject to fee increase on June 1st. You con protect price and dates by wiring or writing now to: WILLIAM FIELDS BOOKING REPRESENTATIVE BALLET THEATRE NEW YORK 36, N, Y. 1545 BROADWAY the W.k. Story to the Bizet score Mile. Marchand doesn’t have Mile Jeanmarie’s Sexy intensity in the femme lead, and is otherwise 1 little detached and stiff. But it s an interesting interpretation, and satisfactory. Petit is vividly active and' byoodingly effective as Jose and the work still is much the oldtime tour de force. Broil. N. Y. City Ballot (CITY CENTER, N. Y.) George Balanchine’s “Nutcracker,” whibh the N.'Y. City Ballet will premiere on Feb. 2, has excited a great deal of interest. The N, Y. City Center scheduled eight performances, unusual in itself, and the first four, on Feb. 2, 13 (two) and 14; were sellouts a week ago, with first-night tickets sold out a month back. The SRO sign is up despite the fact that there’s no line on merits of the new opus, whether, good or bad. The “Nutcracker,” to Tchaikovsky’s music, is one of the most popular works in ballet history all over the world, however, and Balanchine is believed hewing to the traditional line, with his own variations in cboreograiphic style. The 214-hour, three-act work Will also mark the first full-evening ballet by a ipajor company in the U. S , which adds to the appeal.(Certain minor-league local troupes, like the late Catherine Littlefield’s Philadelphia Ballet! arid the San Francisco Ballet,/ have put on fulllength works.) , Meantime, the N; Y. City Ballet, now having • a 10-week winter run at City Center, gave its first new work of the season there last Tuesday (19) in Balanchine’s “Opus 34.” A weird, ungainly abstraction set to Arnold Schoenberg's sparse 1930 score, ‘‘Movie Music/ the work is a modern, astringent piece, devoid of dancing, confusing to grasp, rather repellent in spots, but on the whole intriguing for its theatrical non-ballet quality and the motives that can be^ read into it. Too reminiscent “6f 'Jerome Robbins’ “Cage,” the work suggests growth of man from amoeba, rise of the spiritual from the dross, overwhelming of the world by communism—anything you Want. We no like. Bron. TELEPHONE PLAZA 7-6938 Sadler’s : 555 Continued from page 63 = larger audiences. Troupe was first . here in ’49-’50 for nine weeks, and came back the next season for 20. Its younger adjunct, Sadler’s Wells Theatre Ballet, was heire in ’51-’52 for 27 weeks.. Tax-Exempt Status For the first, time in its three U.S. visits, Sadler’s was tax-exempt as a non-profit, semi-state organization (Canada, however, added tax). Troupe had -a top of $6 everywhere, with N.Y. opening night set at $10.80, and occasional boxes on tour going at $7.20. Sadler’s is estimated to have made about 10% — from $150,000 to ^OO.OOO-^-on this tour, balance going for expenses. Rurok’s share is 10%, although his own promotion and handling expenses were heavy. Due to heavy touring costs, and inadequate or too-small theatres, Sadler’s in many places had to play in arenas and oversize concert halls, bringing some complaints from customers as to visibility and high tariff. .Troupe on this visit was without the services of Moira Shearer, Beryl Grey and Robert Helpmann, while No. 2 ballerina Violetta Elvin was injured on tour and had to drop out. But it still had Margot Fonteyn as star, and some other, fine dancers, and .its repertoire was an improvement on past seasons, so that artistically the presentations stayed at top grade generally. . «A few tour dates were, on guarantee, with gross therefore estimated. Tour receipts breakdown: New York (33 performances), $458.000; Philadelphia (six), $60,000; Boston (eight), $88,000; Toronto (three shows in a 10,000-seater arena), $125,000; Montreal (three), $58,000; East Lansing (two). $30,000; Lafayette (two), $30,000; Detroit (two), $33,000; Minneapolis* (three), $46,000; Winnipeg (four), $41,000; Vancouver (eight), $85,000; Seattle (three)* $62,000; Portland (four), $44)000; San Francisco (eight), $132,000; Los Angeles (10>, $260,000; Denver (three), $31,000; Chicago (14), $200,000; Atlanta (two), $30,000; Birmingham (one', $15,000; New Orleans (three), $35.000; Washington (four), $62,000; Cleveland (three), $34,000; burgh (three), $31,000, and Baltimore (three), $33,000.