Variety (January 26, 1955)

Wednesday, January 26, 1953 LEGITIMATE 57 Off-B’way Okay as Actor Spotlight, But N.S.G. as Breakin for Plays off Off Broadway showcasing pays* for actors, if not for plays. A flock of performers who were ac- tive off-the-Stem last season have c ice moved to Broadway. To a leaser degree, directors, production staffers and playwrights have also benefited from off-Broadway en- deavors during the boom ’53-'54 semester. Same isn’t true of shows, how- ever. Although some of last sea- son's regular off-Broadway produc- tions made coin there, rone that were transferred to Broadway paid off. Latter category includes “End as a Man,” which preemed at the Theatre de Lvs,” and "Girl on the Via Flaminia,” a Circle in the Square production. Both failed as Broadway entries. At least three actors who ap- peared in “Man” Irave had Broad- way engagements this season. They are Albert Salmi, Pat Hingle and Anthony Franciosa. Salmi and Hin- gle are currently appearing, re- spectively. in “Rainmaker” and “Festival.” Franciosa recently exited “Wedding Breakfast” and is slated for Jay Julien's scheduled Broadway production of “Hat,Full of Rain,” as is Ben Gazzara, who was featured in “Man.” Arthur Storch. another alumnus of the (.’aider Willingham play, was in the (Continued on page 58) Renorate and Enlarge Moore Theatre, Seattle Seattle, Jan. 25. Seating capacity of the Moore Theatre will be increased from the former 1,671 to around 2.000 by- Hugh Becket, who has taken over the house for legit booking. Spot is also being renovated to accom- modate not only road shows, re- citals. musicals and other live pro- ductions, but also the Seattle Sym- phony for next season, i Seattle has been without a legit- ery since December, when the old Metropolitan closed to permit provement and expansion of Olympic Hotel. Yen Palance for Hecht Play About Bodenheim Hollywood, Jan. 25. Jack Palance being sought by Broadway producer Frank Saten- stein for the lead in the Ben Hecht play, “Up. Down and Across.” based on the life of the late Max- well Bodenheim, slated in late spring. Hecht to direct. Actor is now in N.Y. for confabs, but returns Feb. 15 to star in War- ners "Jagged Edge.” Don’t Shoot, Pard; That Critic Might Be Somebody’s Father lm- the i New Music Tent For Upstate N.Y. Roch. Arena Reopening On Subscription Basis; Sets 10-Week Season Rochester, N. Y., Jan. 25. Arena Theatre, local stock com- pany which suspended operation last fall, will reopen Feb. 1 on a -olid subscription basis for a 10- week spring season. Producers Dorothy Chernuck and Omar K. Herman have just completed a suc- cessful drive for 2,000 subscrip- tions at $12 each for the five two- week shews. There was considerable local agi- tation over the theatre’s shuttering Nov. 20. on the eve of the fourth anniversary show, because of sub- stantial debt and continuing bad buxoffice. Sympathetic “obits” ap- peared in news and editorial col- umns of the dailies, plus lamenting letters to the editors. Industrial, c i\ ic. and cultural groups also ex- pressed disappointment and volun- teered assistance if a last-ditch i and were to be attempted. Miss Chernuck and Lerman (pened a subscription drive with a r.ailing to 3,000 names on the Arena’s list and 5.000 more on the local Chamber of Commerce list, l.ocal radio and tv stations con-, tributed 15-second spots and local shows plugged the campaign. Besides selling almost 2.100 sea- son subscriptions, the producers have arranged for local firms to guarantee four performances. Back bills are being paid, and rehearsals are under way for the reopening show, Samuel Taylor's comedy, “Sa- brina Fair,” to play Feb. 1-13. and Miss Chernuck was in New York last week to cast the second pro- duction, Alfred Hayes’ drama. “Girl on the Via Flaminia,” sked- ded for Feb. 15-27. Albany, Jan. 25. A new musical tent theatre-in- the round is in the offing for the AJbany-Schenectady-Trov area this summer. It will be situated in the town of Colonie. midway between the three cities, just off Route 9. To be called the Melody Fair, the new operation has been incor- porated by Myron K. Weinberg, former general manager at Cleve- i land’s Musicarnival; Edward i Greenberg, vet music tent and summer theatre director; Seymour Krawiitz, pressagent for several music tents and strawhats; Ben Levy, upstate real estate man. and legit attorney Howard Squadron. Operation will open the last week week of June for a 10-week season, probably starting off with the perennial “Show Boat.” Ground breaking lor the 1.500- seater will take place in late May and local support in terms of in- vestment and theatre parties is un- der wav. The venture, budgeted at $80.- 000. has some unusual financing angles. Debentures bearing 6^ yearly interest are being sold in S100 units, with the option to pur- chase a share of common stock thrown in at $1 each. Usual proce- dure is either straight stock or partnership. Several other summer musical operations have been announced for the tri-city area in recent sea- sons, but only two materialized— , at Lake George and in Delmar (Al- bany suburb'—and both flopped. The Lake George project last sea- son, by the lessees of the Dobby Ferry <N. Y.) Playhouse, was the most ambitious. Another tent proj- ect, but with straight shows, failed in Averill Park, near Troy, four years ago. BAN OTTAWA REVIVAL OF MAUGHAM’S ‘CIRCLE’ Ottawa, Jan. 2p. Church censorship rides again liore. Now it's Somerset Maugham s 3 ( t-year-old comedy, “The Circle.” t tat has drawn the thumbs-down ' local Roman Catholic authori- ties. play was to have been re- ' ved by the Canadian Repertory '1 heatre. local stock company y liich ran into previous nixes on “Private Lives” and. until it was bowdlerized, “The Fourposter.” Taboo against “The Circle” was 0:1 the same grounds as for the 'oel Coward and Jan de Iiartog 1 ays. That is, reflecting unfavor- «* l.v on family life. Since the CRT Presents its shows in a church hall. j 1 roust submit scripts to the arch- bishop’s representative for ap- p: oval. Current bill for the CRT. open- I! - tonight <Tues.) and playing b rough next Saturday night <29>, >: “The Confidential Clerk” T. S. , *°t comedy with a multiple- ■‘•cgitimacy plot. Ian Fellows has staged the production. EQUITY DROPS SALARY CLAIM ON ‘JOAN’ FADE Having established that Jean Arthur was genuinely ill last No- vember when the “Saint Joan” re- vival in which she was starred had to close in Chicago, Actors Equity has dropped its salary claim against the management. The union had demanded the added pay on the ground that the ac- tress’ illness had not been proven. Careful investigation by an Equity official brought out that for three weeks prior to the show’s scheduled Chicago opening, Miss Arthur had a virus infection, but continued performances in the Shaw’ revival without medical treatment. She became worse on arrival in Chicago and. when a doctor was finally consulted, was removed to a hospital. After a week's treatment, the Equity rep learned. Miss Arthur left the hospital without the physician's approval, and attended a rehearsal of the play, but subsequently col- lapsed and was ordered to take an extended rest. “Joan” was thereupon closed by Producers Theatre 'Roger L. Stevens and Robert Whitehead*. The management paid cast mem- bers full contractual salaries for the unplayed week in which Miss Arthur had been hospitalized, but on the ground that provisional clos- ing notices had been posted, paid only the union minimum for post- | closing week. Princeton ‘Bus Stop’ L< Princeton. Jan. 25. McCarter Theatre gets another pre-Broadway tryout, with a Feb. 10-12 break-in of William Inge’s "Bus Stop.” Booking here is in lieu of an originally skedded preem at Wilmington. The Robert Whitehead-Roger L. Stevens production is due March 2 on Broadway Waltz’ Pays Off; Has m Profit “Anniversary Waltz” has repaid its $75 000 investment. Final re- turn of $7,500 on the original financing was made to backers last month. As of a Jan. 1 accounting, the Joseph M. Hyman-Bernard Hart production had chalked up a S41.593 net profit, with $31,917 available for distribution. The Jerome Chodorov-Joseph Fields comedy is currently :n its 42d Week ai the Booth Theatre. N. Y.. where it moved from the Broadhurst Theatre. Gross for the four weeks ending Jan. 1, was $65,730, and the profit for the period was $3,747. Show broke even the weeks ending Dec. 18 and 25. with authors and director Moss Hart taking voluntary royalty re- ductions. Total’operating profit as of Jan. 1 was $70,109, plus $400 royalty re- ceived from a La Jolla (Cal.) Playhouse production last summer. The Macdonald Carey-Kitty Car- lisle starrer cost $28,916 to pro- duce. David Brooks-Ed Mann Ready Dual-Bill Tour Legit actor-singer David Brooks and Ed Mann, a cofounder of Cirele-in-the-Square. N. Y., have formed a producing outfit. Brooks-Mann Productions. First venture is a twin-bill package of Leonard Bernstein’s "Trouble In Tahiti” and Gian-Carlo Menotti’s ‘The Telephone,” booked for a three-week tour of midwest col- leges. starting March 10. Brooks is directing. Troupe, to travel by bus. con- sists of seven artists, including a pianist. Firm is experimenting with a slide projection technique in place of scenery. Marni Nixon, who has appeared on Broadway, and Jay Meyer, a Coast singer, are the leads. ‘Shoestring Revue’ Is Well Named; Has Record List of Small Backers A new revue, scheduled for off- Broadway production late next month, is aptly titled. “Shoestring Revue," is just that as far as back ing is concerned, probably setting a new record for the number of investors invoiced in a low-budget enterprise. Capitalized at $15,000, with pro- vision for 10 r c overcall, the revue has approximately 75 backers, with a large number of contributions ranging from $25-8100. Making his managerial debut with the show is Ben Bagiev, a 21-year-old obit writer for McGraw-Hill’s Engineer- ing News-Record. Revue will have lyrics and sketches by Ronny Graham, June Carroll. Arthur Siegel and Sheldon Harnick, all contributors to Leon- ard Sillman's “New Faces of 1952.” Also supplying material for the production are Bud McCreery. Mil- ton Lyons, Ken Welch and Mike Stewart. A qast of 12 will include Doro- thy Greener. Peter Conlow and Maxwell Grant. Show is scheduled to open the week of Feb. 21 at the President Theatre. N. Y.. following the current run of “Trouble makers.” Bagiev has a four-week lease on the President, with a four-week option. Rental is $600 weekly. Union concessions given the pro- duction include a S60 weekly mini- mum for the all-Equity cast. Joseph Burstyn will pressagent the show, while Benjamin Rothman will dou- ble as house and company mana- ger. Weekly operating cost is fig- ured at around $4,000, while ca- pacity take at the 299-seat house is estimated at $7.500-$8.000. Ticket scale hasn't been set, but will have a top of about $4. . Bagley's agreement with the in- vestors stipulates that the backers receive one-quarter of l c o of the producer’s share of the profits if a Broadway production material- izes. Threaten Razing 2 London Legits London. Jan. 25. Prospective demolition of two leading West End theatres, to b<* replaced by office buildings, is causing agitation in show biz and newspaper circles. Editorials in the theatrical press and letters to the dailies are protesting. Reports of plans for the immi- nent destruction of the St. James’ and Stoll brought a significant let- ter to the Times last week from E. Martin Browne, director of the British Drama League. The St. James’ in particular, he notes, lias had a distinguished part in thea- tricr’ history and its “present out- standingly successful production of “Separate Tables” proves it is by no means finished. The League council, he reports, deplores any constriction in the number of London’s theatres, al- ready too few for the number of prospective plays. It views the matter as being quite as serious for the provinces as for the W£st End. since the theatrical fare available to provincial houses depends largely upon the number of London productions. To say that more modern build- ings will, in due course, rise to re- place these two theatres, is to de- pend upon a form of speculation w hich becomes steadily more haz- ardous. he points out. Brow’ne discloses that his coun- cil has protested against the pro- posed destruction of these two the- atres and has urged the London County Council to reconsider its policy towards theatre buildings in the metropolis. (One of the owners of the St. James' Theatre, London, is Broad- uxiy producer Gilbert Miller, uho also is sole owner of the Henry Miller Theatre, N. Y.— Ed.) By IIQBE MORRISON Legit is becoming too sedate. Gone and all but forgotten are the rambunctious days when the outraged author of a floppola could be relied on to let fly with a volley of shrill epithets at the critics. Broadway was more fun then. When “Festival” took a critical drubbing on Broadway last week, co-author Bella Spewack was in- dignant enough to take the stage at the second-night curtain to urge playgoers to persuade their friends to patronize the show. But she avoided any direct denunciation of the offending reviewers. In contrast, it was way hack in 1946. nine years ago no less, that Maxwell Anderson, smarting from the notices on his “Truckline Cafe,” seasoned the language by castigating the drama assayers as "the Jukes boys of journalism.” Many a theatre enthusiast doubt- less agreed that the playwright had something there, and a few imregenerate aislesitters them- selves have relished the immortal phrase ever since. So Who’s Excited? Time was on Broadway when no season was considered complete without at least one righteous’out- burst from the creative fraternity against the ignorance, obtusencss, self-importance and general ne- < Continued on page 58) British Legit Opens. Own Drive to Reduce Theatre Admission Tax London, Jan. 25. Acting independently of the film industry, legit interests are launch- ing their own campaign for admis- sion tax relief. They are readying a memorandum for submission to the Cfrancellor of the Exchequer. A committee has been formed to gather statistical information il- lustrating the effect of the duty on theatre business. Dingle Foot has been named chairman of the committee, with Joseph Dean as his deputy, and the panel includes reps from all the main organizations operating in legit. These include the Society of West End Theatre Managers, the Theatrical Managers Assn . the Assn, of Touring & Producing Managers and nominees of all the interested unions. The legit interests are campaign- ing for total exemption from ad- mission duty although the scale for the living theatre is consider- ably below the rate imposed on pictures. The film industry has already drafted its claim for a fur- ther $17,000,000 concession. It was awarded relief valued at $9,800,- 000 in last year’s budget. - Talky Spanish ‘Maitre’ At du Mondo, Montreal Montreal. Jan. 25. Montreal's top-rated French com- pany, Le Theatre du Nouveau Monde, again turns to Spain of the 16th century with the production of "Le Maitre de Santiago” '“The Master of Santiago”) by Henry de Montherlant, as its third offering of the season. The group's preoc- cupation with period Spanish has been strong throughout the season, such shows to date having included "Don Juan” in French, “Monserat” 'the Lillian Hellmann adaptation) in English and now “Santiago ’ in French. Versatility of the company is sel- dom in doubt, but the choice of plays, particularly this year, has been questionable and has appar- ently hurt the boxoffice. “Santiago” primarily a lengthy discussion on religion, main, as the lead. Don Alvardo Dabo. plays with conviction and knowledge as he turns his only daughter from the love of man to the church. Francoise Faucher, the daughter, overcomes an unsympa- thetic role to establish herself as a standout performer in this wordy tirade about commonplace U.S. Tax Now 10'$ U. S. admissions tax on all amusements was reduced from 20 r r to 10 r o by the Treasury Dept, last year after a two-year campaign led by film companies, with legit participating the second year. On a local level, however, the newly-elccted administration of Mayor Rbbert F. Wagner immedi- ately took advantage of the situa- tion to impose a 5 r i municipal ad- mish tax. Federal tax of 10't was first levied as a "temporary” measure during World War I. It was not subsequently repealed, but was boosted to 20 r o during World War II, again as an “emergency” step. ONE-NITER ‘TEA’ TOUR BY BUS NEXT SEASON “Tea and Sympathy.” Robert Anderson's hit drama, will be sent on a tour again next season, play- ing mostly one-nighters at colleges and before concert and civic groups, all on guarantees. It may also play a few split-weeks in larger towns. Playwrights Co. will send out a Jean Dal- somewhat simplified physical pro- duction. probably by bus and truck, but with name leads if possible. It plans a tour of at least 30 weeks. Original production of the play, with Joan Fontaine as star, is due to close Feb. 5 at the Barrymore, N. Y., and a touring edition star- ring Deborah Kerr will continue through the balance of the current nplacc things, j through the balance of the curreni Newt, [season, winding up on the Coast.