Variety (June 1955)

/ 66 LEGITIMATE Wednesday, June 22, 1955 Moby Diek London, June 17. Oicar Lewenstein Sc Woif Mankawitz (in association with Martin Gabel Sc Henry Margolis) production of drama in two acts by Orsoii Welle#; adapted from Herman Melville's story. Stars Welles.. Staged' by Welles; scenery, Mary Owen. At Duke of York's, London; June 16, '55; 92.20 top. _ „ Young Actor (Ishmael .. Gordon Jackson Young Actress (Pip) .... Joan Plowright Stage Manager (Flask) Peter Sail)# Assistant Stage Manager (Bo'aun) John Gray . Assistant Stage Manager (Tashtego) and Capt. of the Bachel)..Johh Boyd-Brertt ' Stagehand with a Harmonica • ' (Portugese Sailor and Dagoo) Joseph Chelton Other Stagehands ..... Phillipe Gerrotet Harry CordwelL David Saire Middleaged Actor (Stubb)..Wensley Plthey Experienced Actor (Peleg and Old Cornish Sailor) . .. Jefferson Clifford Serious Actor (Elijah, Ship's Car* v •penter. Old Bedford sailor, others » Kenneth. Williams Actor Manager (Father Mapple and Ahah) Orson Welles ‘ Who would have thought that “Moby Dick” was suitable for stage dramatization? Its film pos- sibilities are obvious, but there’s no scope to use the sea or a whale on a small stage—and these basic ingredients of Herman Melville’s classic are inevitably, missing. Orson Welles triumphs over these handicaps, however, substi- tuting imaginative staging for ac- tual visual effects, arid achieving , the required illusion by the force • of his direction. As an example Of stimulating and provocative thea- tre, It will attract the connoisseurs for. its limited four-week run. . Although Welles has reportedly labored for years over this drama- tization, the play, per se, is disap- pointing. Blank verse is always a „ difficult medium of. theatrical ex- pression and doesn’t quite come off as applied to Melville’s prosey Style. There are too many long verbal passages, which tend to dull the senses. Presumably to enable him to ex- orcise his staging ingenuity, Welles has made this a play within a play. ' The setting is the stage of a provin- cial. American theatre, towards the . end of the last century. The stock company, currently playing “King Lear,” is rehearsing for the follow- - ing week’s production of “Moby Dick.” - With the barest Of props, with dangling ropes and a few boxes, r realistic atmosphere is created. Cunning use of lighting heightens ■ the effect particularly in the scene in which the men of the Pequod take to'the boats to wreak ven- geance on the white whale. In every sense, the presentation is a personal achievement for Welles, who not only wrote the adaptation, hut also staged and is playing threo parts. His dominat- ing performance, notably in the Capt. Ahab. role, approaches a tour-de-force. Other members of the cast are not overshadowed, par- ticularly Patrick McGoohan as Starbuck, the sailor who clashes with the skipper, an£ Gordon Jack- son,' in the role of Ishmael, Joan Plowright, Only female in the cast, fills the negro cabin boy part with distinct confidence. Mary Owen has created excellent stage decora- tions. Myro. cynically-smiling »• performer and impersonator. Ellen Martin, a newcomer here, is a promising looker; Michael Mason, a pleasant singer; Myra de Groot; and dancers April Olrich and Richard Tone also display tal- *ent. John 'Heawood has staged the dances and musical numbers with imagination. Production is devised and directed by Laurier Lister. ’ Gord. From Here and There Glasgow, June 16. Laurier Lister, In association with Michael Abbott, production of revue, with lyrics and sketches by Jack Gray and Jerry de Bono; music, Dolores Claman; additional material. Bichard Ad* dlnsbll, Paul Dehn, Madeleine Drlng. Stars Betty Malrsden, Miss Whitfield, MacColl, Richard Tone, Charlotte Mitchell,, others. Scenery, Stanley Moore; musical conductor, Charles Zwar; dances and mu- sical numbers staged by John HeawOod; musical accompaniment, Charles ZWar, Geoffrey Wright, Stanley Barrett. At King's Theatre, Glasgow, June 13, '55; $1.20 top. New intimate revue has ample talent, both British and American, but is a disappointing mixture of the clever and the flat. Show* presented by Laurier Lister in conjunction with Mfchael Abbott, requires speeding, up, more topi- cality and an injection . of better material. At present, it is merely divert- ing and engaging, but is in very rough shape. Although the com- pany numbers only slightly over a dozen, the groupings and entrances are skilfully contrived to suggest many more. Also, the wardrobe and decor by Stanley Moore and Alan Pikford are tastefully color- ful. Major part' of revue is joint work of Jack Gray, original cast member of the London revue hit, “Airs on a Shoestring,” arid Jerry de Bono, U.' S, writer. Team of English* writers includes Paul Dehn (a London film critic by profes- sion) and Charlotte Mitchell, the latter a member of the cast and heard in most of her own numbers. The 33 different items vary enormously in quality. In the average class is Miss Mitchell’s “Motherhood” rind a London bus scene “Room for Another Inside.” Stronger fodder is “Swanislavsky,” amusing if-ballet - dancers - could- only-talk number, acted by Peter Tuddenham, Denny Bettis, April Olrich and Peter Mander. June Whitfield, English radio actress, scores as a Hollywoodite who gets an Oscar and owes it all to men. Comedy lead of the revue, Betty Marsden, English actress who •clicked in “Airs on a Shoestring,” has most of the plum items. James MacColl, a TLS. actor responsible for some of the writing, is a suave TTi© Fairly Fortune New Hope, Pa., June 14. Michael Ellis production of drama in three acts (five scenes), by Theodore St. John. Stars Victor Jory; features Michael Wager, Lois Smith, Frank Merlin. Staged by the author; scenery and lighting, W. Broderick Hackett. At Bucks County Playhouse, New Hope, Pa.» June 13-18, 55. Calvin Coffey Frank Merlin Ad Kilgore Billy M. Greene Deborah Coffey Lois Smith MrS. Boherts Nancy Marchand Emmett Bowden Byron Sanders Wilson Boland Edwards Bent Fairly Michael Wager Isaac Miller Victor Jory Lawyer Plowright ............ P-J. Kelly Constable Dunn :.... Lee Bardsley Potty Constable Adams ... Bichard Man? Gamaliel. Fairly ......... Johnny James A rifle shot is fired a few seconds after the curtain is up on this drama of violence and retribution, galvanizing audience attention. That’s about the sum of author 1 director Theodore St. John’s ideas liowever, and relieves the custom- ers of any compunction to "stay at- tentive. “The Fairly Fortune” is an al- most indescribably, bad play. It is a foot-stomping, finger-pointing melodrama containing, among other things, a seduction, betrayal and murder, the hanging of an in- nocent man, the" "freeing of the slaves, a fall from greatness and a terrible confusion. Unaccountably, the flood is missing. As the author also directed the New Hope production, ."he must take the rap on this count, too— and it’s a severe one. Some of the actors fare a little better. Victor J6ry, as a less-able-bodied John Brown, is swamped by a wordy, repetitious script and the fumbling of certain Of his fellow players. Frank Meran, plays the first act murder victim and thus escapes further humiliation. Michael seems unsure and Lois Smith, though pretty, seems tentative.- Perhaps because they have lesser parts, Nancy Marchand, Byron Sanders and P. J. Kelly'do bettor. . Even with a vastly superior pro- duction, “The Fairly Fortune” would he a bad play for summer stock. It is heavy, contrived and at times ridiculous. Alfred de Liagre Jr., owns the production rights, but barring a complete reconstruc- tion, it seems a poor prospect for Broadway. Heny, THE NEW GRACE KELLY LOIS O’BRIEN “PHOENIX ’SS” Phoenix Theatre, New York SINGING, DRAMATIC INGENUE Nr*. Mgr.—JIMMY McHUGH, Warwick Hotel, N. Y. Teresa Wright rind James Whit- more set for star roles in “The Rainmaker,” opening La Jolla Playhouse season June 28 . . . Henry Wadsworth, once a Metro contractee, signed for 10 weekis of summer stock at the Whalom Play- house, Fitchburg, Mass. Ira Cirker will stage S “A Mighty Man Is He,” Walter Fried’s straw- hat tryout of the new Arthur Kober-George Oppenheimer com- edy, to star Claudette Colbert . . . Eva Le Gallienne is staying at her home in Westport, Conn., this summer to edit the texts and write an introduction for a volume of six Ibsen plays for Modern Li- brary, and teach courses in Shake- speare, Ibsen and Chekov at the White Barn Theatre. Charlotte and Lewis Harmon’s staff at the Clinton (Conn.) Play- house this summer will include Jerry Solars, general manager; Herbert Senn and Helen Pond, designers; Robert Livingston and Zev Putterman, stage managers, with Mrs. •„ Harmon as resident stager again , . . Tommy Brent is the producer of the Ocean City (Md.) Playhouse, which opens June 28 for its Initial season. Eleanor D, Wilson will play leading roles this summer at the Berkshire Playhouse, Stockbridge, Mass., in “Remarkable Mr* Penny-] packer,” with Paul Hartman; “Old Maid,” with Francesca Bruning, and “Edward, My Son,” with an unselected guest male lead ... Gall Hillson’s staff at the Triple Cities Playhouse, Binghamton, N. Y„ will include Zeke Berlin, executive stage manager; Carl Burger, de- signer, and James Gilder sleeve, juvenile and assistant stage man- ager. Michael Higgins left N.Y. last Sunday (19) for Wellesley, Mass., where he’ll spend the summer per- forming with the Group 20 Play- ers, which begins its season at the Theatre-on-the-Green next Mon- day (27) . . . Harold. J. Kennedy will present a 10-week season- at the Montclair (N.J.) Summer Thea-. tre beginning July 16'. . . Gerald- ine Brooks opens the Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Playhouse next Tuesday (28) in “Voice of the Turtle” . . . The new outdoor Daytona Beach (Fla.) Summer Theatre begins operating next Tuesday (28), The Forestburgh (N.Y.) Summer Theatre begins its ninth season of classic repertory July 7 ... The Newport (R.I.) Casino Theatre be- gins its 29th season July 4, with Jane Pickens in “Tonight at 8:30” as the initial bill lined up by pro- ducer Sara Stamm . . . Lee Falk’s Marblehead (Mass.) Summer Thea- tre begins its second season July 4 with Billie Burke in “Mother Was a Bachelor”. . TJie Penn Playhouse, Meadville, Pa., began its sixth season last Monday (20), with John Hulburt as managing director ... The Malden Bridge (N.Y.) Playhouse began its 19th season last night (Tues.) . . . Michael- Kuttner is musical direc- tor, Janet Picard, choreographer, and Don LaMon, assistant director at the Flint (Mich.) Musical Tent. The Bucks County Playhouse, New Hope, Pa., began a three-play salute to playwright Paul Osborn last Monday (20), with “Oliver, Oliver,” starring Jessie Royce Landis to be followed by “Morn- ings At Seven,” with Philip Bour- neuf, next Monday (27) and then “Point of No Return,” with Donald Woods for two weeks beginning July 4. Valley Players, Mountain Park Casino, Holyoke, Mass., began their 14th season Monday (20), run- ning through Sept. 10 „ . . John Huntington’s Spa Summer Theatre, Saratoga, N. Y., goes Into its ninth season June 27 . . . Malden Bridge (N. Y.) playhouse started its 10th season yesterday (Tues.), marking Paul Brcssoud’s fourth summer as managing director and producer... Gloria Vanderbilt in “Picnic” will be the opening hill June 27 at Eddie Rich’s Sacandaga Summer Theatre,* Sacandaga Park, N. Y. Carleton Carpenter will appear in “The Raimriaker,” Aug. 16-20 at the Hampton (N. H.) Playhouse. . . Lakewood Theatre, Skowhegan, Me., opened its 55th season Satur- day (18) . . . Will Scholz will be a member of the resident company at the South Shore Music Circus, Cohassett. Mass. , . . Theatre-Go- RoUnd, Virginia Beach, Va„ begins its seventh season June 28, with a tryout of Romeo fuller’s “The Great ' Git-Away” skedded for July 5, Edward Greenberg will be stage director, Jerry Ross choreogra- pher and Dean Elliott musical di- rector of the Warwick (R. I.) Mu- sical Tent, opening Friday night (24). , .Rogers Brackett is staging the Sarah Churchill edition of “No Time for Comedy,” which will tour the stock circuit, with Robert Car- roll and Alexander Clark featured . . .Jack Manning’s package of “Tender Trap” will feature Sloan. Simpson in the Kim Hunter part, with Betty Ellen in the Janet Riley role .and Bob McQueeny as the en- vious visiting friend. Current Road Shows (.June 20— July 3) Can-Can —National. Wash. (£t-2). King and I (Patricia Morlaon)—Shubert, Det. (26-2). Klsmat (William Johnson, Elaine Mai* bin)—Curran. S, F. (27*2).' Palama Gama (Fran Warreh, Larry Douglas, Buster West) — Philharmonic Aud., L. A. (20-2). Solid Gold Cadillac— Geary, S. F- (20-2). Tea and Sympathy (Deborah Kerr)— BUtmore, L. A. (20-2). - Taahousa of tha August Moon (Burges* Meredith, Scott McKay)—Moore, Seattle (20-25); Community, Berkeley (28-20); AUd,, Sacramento (30-3), Tender Trap (Kent Smith, K. T. SteVens, Russell Nype)—Harris, Chi. (20-2). FRANKLYN FOX Sum National Company "THE PAJAMA GAME” Philharmonic Auditorium, L. A. "Franklyn Fox shows what an ac- complished actor can do/* Green: LA. Examiner. LOUIS SHURR AGENCY Bovorly Hills New York JERRY MANN as "NATHAN DETROIT" in “GUYS AND DOLLS NOW: Paper Mill Playhouse, Millburn, N. J., until July 10 NEW YORK POST by Frances Herrldge “Jerry Mann as Nathan De- troit does most in the inter- ests of comedy, timing his laughs well and showing com- mand of his role.” NEWARK STAR-LEDGER “Jerry Marin,, as Nathan Detroit . . . excellent , . . ex- cells throughout.” NEWARK EVENING NEWS by Alan Branigan “MANN’S NATHAN DE- TROIT IS AS GOOD AS SAM LEVENE'S, - AND HIGH PRAISE.’ 1 THAT’S