Variety (November 1955)

Wednesday, November 16, 1955 LEGITIMATE 71 Tempest in a Teahouse’ This will, presumably, clear up the situation about Mariko Niki, famine lead in the original company of “Teahouse of the August Moon ” at the Martin Beck, N. Y. Several months ago, Variety 1 -orted that the Japanese-born actress was puzzled at dispatches about a bi-lingual production of the John Patrick-Vern Sneider Dlay in Tokyo, in which Yuriko Niki, described as Mariko’s sister, niaved same role of Lotus Blossom, the Geisha. P Miss Niki of Broadway, whose real name is Kazue Ouchi and who is the wife of Bernard Dekle, of Washington staff of Voice of America, was quoted as saying that although she has two brothers, she has no sister. It has since-been learned that the Miss Niki of Tokyo was incensed at Variety’s report, and visited the Tokyo office of the U. S. Army newspaper, Stars & Stripes, with her family and documentary proof of being Mariko Niki’s SiS ]>S\v it appears to have been all a misunderstanding. • Sol Jacob¬ son pressagent for the Broadway “Teahouse,” advises that his show’s Miss Niki explains that she does indeed have a sister, four years older an<jj named Yoshie Ouchi; now Mrs. Yoshie Seki. Mariko didn’t know Yoshie had become an actress, as Yuiko Niki or any other name, but she never meant to disown her own sister. Most definitely not. Miss Niki is sad, says Jacobson, tor sister Yoshie is apparently angry and no longer writes to her. But she is an Oriental phi¬ losopher, the pressagent confides, and believes that time will heal all breaches. ______ Shows Out of Town Somebody Dallas, Nov. 7. Hiimscy Burch production of comedy in (luce nets, by Ferenc Molnar, adapted by p G. Wodehouse. Features Louise Lat- Edward Cullen. Staged by Dutch; technical direction, James Pringle; cos¬ tumes, Sarah Cabell Massey. At Margo Jones Theatre '55, Dallas, Nov. 7, ’55; Edil.h P Brooks .Louise Latham Robert Geoffrey.. Ray MacDonell Fred Cortin . Edtyard Cullen Waiter . A1 Hughes Julie . Marian Leeds Bellboy .. ■ . LeRoy Ellis Hotel Manager . Taylor Flamken Florist . Bruce Barton Bishop . Tom Noel Butler . Geoffrey Kilburn Riba u d . Gilbert Milton Lawyer.Robert van Hooten Woman . Joan Delehaunty Bob . Freddie Packer The late Ferenc Molnar’s “Some¬ body,” as adapted by P. G. Wode- house, is a coup for Ramsey Burch, now managing director of Margo Jones Theatre ’55. Farce has had three European productions under, various titles, but Burch is cur¬ rently staging a three-week preem to open the 12th season of local arena legit fare. Frothy piece concerns a sexy young blonde divorcee who schemes with her father to invent a "somebody” husband to keep away lecherous suitors. Compli¬ cations ensue when the fictional spouse is charged with skipping out on a tavern bill and having an illegitimate child. Louise Latham and Edward Cul-. len, both returnees to the Theatre ’55 company, are standouts as (laughter and father—despite per¬ formance. rough edges- opening night. Tom Noel, as a bishop, has an inspiring bit and Robert van Hooten’s * lawyer role registers heavily. Burch’s direction is again ex¬ pert, resulting in a smooth per¬ formance. James Pringle’s three sets and lighting are effective for the 1946 motif and Sarah Cabell Masseys costumes are eye-arrest- ln S- . Barfc. Hi is Thing Galled Love „ „ Buffalo, Nov. 11. v, 1 P5 ona Stevens production of comedy ^' n Burke, adapted by Gloria Cook. <§ da 9 a £ or: features Charles O. » r ,& taged ,? y °onald Cook; setting rnih» 1, Tv ting ; ®aUou; costumes. Roxy, tin n * Ballou. At Erlanger Thea- 'J 11 ' 13 0 - Nov. 10. '55; *3.30 top. Dhnf c.V ' i.. Walter Appier CmZ Saunders . Lydia Bruce l ' 0llnt ... William Tregoe thing may be called love by ? 1 A < ‘ en t admirers of les soeurs Ga- aef-’ ^ ^ 3 a Pt to be less enthusi- astically regarded by tougher- theatregoers. It has been if ? p ted by Gioia Cook from the J!J,, Edwin Burke comedy. It of ou t by producer Rowena ?nn« ens r» last summ er at her Po- p°„ no Playhouse, Mountainhome, with Magda Gabor as star. on S ina l version had a 136- ! Q C i™ ance Broadway run in 928-29 with Violet Hemlng and ofi’ n n r W, atson as leads, and had an mi-Broadway revival in 1945-46. uas filmed by Pathe in 1929, 1 Constance Bennett and Ed- 1 L .^ e > and hy Columbia in i\ioi Bosalind Russell and dofl| Vyr l D ? 1 u glas. That’s a good lim.c ?L mi eage tor an unpreten- u 1 e cor uedy, and appears to ‘^m^ut exhausted its potential. ff»»7 . • Thm S” is a trivial-storied, iriin octlon * n the unsophisticated ot post-World War I, and ni S » Captation” seems to be mostly a<ldlt ion of topical quips.w'hich ■ . ob yious in advance. The uihimcal motivation of the plot accentuated by a pedestrian di- Mion. Everybody walks about, crossing each other’s paths end¬ lessly, and with every ensemble fully and conscientiously in bal¬ ance. Thus the characters, already reduced, to caricature in the writ-' ing, become automatons in per¬ formance The story-line never gets more than superficial treatment. It has a deceptive surface glitter but no depth. It all revolves around the decrepit idea of a young oil ty- coon who enters into a marriage $2,000-a-month contract with a di¬ vorcee, who is to be his wife in name only. The stellar, role allows Miss Ga¬ bor to fill several gowns that draw gasps from the ladies out front. The actress disports regally and rather creditably, but with some¬ what limited emotional range. She has a striking deadpan in appear¬ ance, uses her thick Hungarian ac¬ cent to advantage and at times sug- guests real stage dignity. Charles G. Martin is as convinc¬ ing as the script permits, which is not very, and William Tregos is a vision as the lady’s titled, misun¬ derstood “lover.” The single set is brightly furnished and lighted by Ballou. Burt. Barn Tryouts ; Continued from page 67 — production of “Once Upon a Tailor”) and Elaine Carrington’s “The Empress” (Stevens). Also, James Lee Herlihy and William Noble’s “Blue Denim” (Austin & Noyes and Stevens), Johnson’s “I Hear You Singing” (Huntington, who preemed the play at his Spa Summer Theatre, Sara¬ toga, N. Y.), Meade Roberts’ “Palm Tree in a Rose Garden” (Selden & Gottlieb) and John Hess’ “Better Mousetrap” (Selden & Gottlieb) and Arthur I&>ber and George Op- penheimer’s “A Mighty Man Is He” (Fried). Chances are that one or two of these plays may eventually hit Broadway, but nothing definite has been set for any of the properties yet. Other tryouts still being con- dired for Broadway include John Vari’s “Farewell, Farewell,” John Duff Stx*adley’s “And the Leaves Cried” and Mary Drayton’s “Debut,” just announced for pro¬ duction by Richard. Horner & Jus¬ tin Sturm. “Farewell,” tested at Margo Jones’ Theatre ’55, is under option to Burgess Meredith, while Bud Gammon recently renewed his op¬ tion on “Leaves,” which was tried out at the Red Barn Theatre, West- boro, Mass, “Debut,” originally tested sev¬ eral years ago at the Pocono Play¬ house, Mountainhome, Pa., was re¬ vised. and given another tryout last summer at Don Wolin’s Theatre-by- the-Sea, Matunuck, R. I., and was scheduled for Broadway by Wolin, Mike Wallace and Andrew McCul¬ lough. The trio, however, dropped the property and Horner & Sturm acquired it. Ed Kook to Europe Edward Kook, president of Cen¬ tury Lighting, planed to Europe last Thursday (10) to look over theatrical lighting techniques artd equipment in Germany and the British Isles. lie’ll be gone about a month. He is accompanied by his wife, Hilda, a prolific investor in Broad¬ way shows. ‘Lunatics’ Profit $87,351 On $100,000 Investment “Lunatics and Lovers” had earned $87,351 net; profit on its $100,000 investment when it end¬ ed its 336-performance Broadway run Oct. 1. The distributed profit oh the Sidney Kingsley comedy was $80,000, evenly split between the management and backers. Prior to the closing, the income on the May Kirshner production included $5,000 advance royalty for an upcoming tour under the management of George Brandt, plus $1,151 royalty from the recent Coast presentation. Film rights to the play have not been sold. Ask Ease of SEC Rules For Legit Investment; Most Angels Insiders Washington, Nov. 15. Financing of legit theatre, pro¬ ductions is a unique form of busi¬ ness which should be exempt from many regulations of the Securities & Exchange Commission, a Broad¬ way spokesman argued today (Tues.). In addition, he ex¬ pressed opposition to several pro¬ posed changes in the SEC regula¬ tions. Milton R. Weir, counsel for the National Assn, of the Legitimate Theatre Inc. and of the League of N. Y. Theatres, took the position in written testimony delivered to the SEC by Ralph H. Becker, Washington counsel for the legit association. SEC is conducting public hearings here on proposed revision and consolidation of its Regulations A and D. “It is the studied and calculated opinion of the theatre industry,” explained the Weir statement, “that consideration should be given to the possibility of treating the financing of theatrical produc¬ tions as a separate class of invest¬ ment within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933.” Pointing out that at least 95% of theatrical production financing is done in the New York area, the statement said this is done via limited part¬ nerships under New York State law, and that the limited partner¬ ship agreements contain full infor¬ mation for the benefit of the in¬ vestors, covering the basic disclo¬ sure purpose of the SEC law. “Theatrical investors,” continued the attorney, “know the history of losses in the great majority of the¬ atrical productions, and are there¬ fore well aware of the highly spec¬ ulative nature of their investment. For the most part, they have other professional theatrical interests, or are personally acquainted with the playright or producer or director or members of the cast, or other persons connected with the par¬ ticular production. The legit spokesman also ex¬ pressed “unalterable opposition” to some proposed changes in the regulations. He criticized the pro¬ posal that no exemption under Regulation A could be made for assessable securities. Weir ex¬ plained that the “overcall” is cus¬ tomary in legit financing because of “special hazards” which cannot be fully anticipated or accurately budgetod in advance.” Twi-Night Shows Continued from page 67 regular policy at prevailing salary scales, provided it proved effective at the boxoffice. In general, actors reportedly favor the concentrated playing schedule Fridays and Sat¬ urdays rather than having mati¬ nees. The stagehand union has not in¬ terfered with tvvi-nlghts on the road, merely enforcing its mid¬ night deadline for regular-scale work. However, the union’s New York local has an 11:30 deadline, which means that the late twi- night performance would involve overtime on Broadway. There is.no stagehand rule for feeding the crow between the twi-night perform¬ ances, but Equity requires the man¬ agement to provide dinner for the cast. Under .existing conditions, twi- night schedules couldn’t be Used for subscription engagements, since some advance ticket sales cover matinee performances. Also, some theatre managers are reluctant, if not actually unwilling, to Schedule twi-nights, or anything else experi¬ mental or involving extra effort. Shows Abroad Summertime London, Nov; 10. Toby Rowland production of comedy in three acts, by Ugo Betti, translated by Henry Reed. Stars Dirk Bogarde, Geral¬ dine MeEwan, Staged by Peter Hall; decor, James Bailey. At Apollo Theatre, London, Nov. », '55; $2.30 top. Francesca . Geraldine MeEwan Aunt Cleofe.Gwen Ffrangcon Davies Maria . Barbara New Aunt Ol'olia ..Esina Cannon Adelaide ... Maureen Qulnncy Alberto .. Dirk Bogarde Postman .. Tony Church Nocmi . Vivienne Drummond Doctor .;. Michael Gwynn Consalvo ...... Mark Dignam Farmer ....... Ronald Barker A remarkable, talent for feather¬ weight comedy is revealed by Ugo Betti in “Summertime,” which is in sharp contrast to the solid drama of his other plays. This is nothing more than a well concocted souf¬ fle, but first rate performances, superb staging and magnificent decor lift it out of the common¬ place as a prospect for a profitable run. Set in the north Italian moun¬ tains about 50 years ago, the play has the slenderest of story threads, but is sustained by its charm, which is inherent in the principal characterizations as well as in the basic theme. The trio of open-air settings are magnificently con¬ ceived and contribute in creating atmosphere. There’s no plot to analyze in the conventional sense. Young Fran¬ cesca (played by Geraldine Mc- Ewan) is in love with the boy next door (Dick Bogarde), but as they’ve been brought up together, he just takes her for granted. To aggra¬ vate the situation, he has just got a job with a bank and was found in a compromising situation with the banker’s sister—-atid the banker is demanding that honor be satis¬ fied. On the sidelines are the local doctor (Michael Gwynn), who is shamelessly exploited by the girl to get her man, and two aunts (Gwen Ffrangcon Davies and Esma Cannon) who make a big con¬ tribution to the general success. All the key performers are ex¬ cellent. Miss MeEwan has never been better and Bogarde, making a rare stage appearance, is on top form. Esma Cannon and Michael Gwynn contribute perfect cameos; and the rest of the cast are com¬ pletely in step. • Myro. Moot Me on llw (’orner London, Nov. 5. Val Parnell production of revue in two act-s (14 scenes). Stars Max Bygraves. Staged by Charles Henry; decor, R. St. John Roper; choreography, George Car¬ den: music and lyrics, Kenneth Leslie Smith. Alan Melville, Jerry Livingston. Sammy Gallop. Phil Park, Paddy Roberts. At Hippodrome, London, Nov. 2, '55; $2.20 top. Cast: Louise Ramsay, Channing Pollock. Sid Millward A- Wally Stewart with the Nitwits, Katharine Feather, Latona, Graham & Chadcl, Joan Winters & Guy Fielding, Fred MeNaughton. Noello Austen, Sonnie Clair, George Mitchell Singers, George Carden Dancers, Jimmy Miller’s Orch. With a wealth of experience to guide him, Val Parnell has devised a reasonably safe formula for pop revues, relying on a mixture of comedy and spectacle, with star talent to provide the main b.o. lure. This latest production plays the formula a little too safe, but should settle down for a profitable un on the strength of its marquee appeal. Max Bygraves, who headlines, is a performer with charm and per¬ sonalia, and. has made the grade on either side of the Atlantic. He has an impressive voice and an easy way of. making contact with an audience, but uses time-worn gags. Otherwise, he does fine with his vocalizing, both in intro¬ ducing some new songs as well as reprising others. In this type of show, specialty acts play a major part, although they are adroitly dovetailed to be¬ come an integral element. Chan¬ ning Pollock, the American ma¬ gician recently at the Savoy, Pal¬ ladium and through the country, has a. facile way of producing doves from nowhere, and ditto with decks of cards. The Nitwits, a comedy combo led by Sid Millward and Wally Stewart, get peak reaction. Latona, Graham & Chadcl offer an ener¬ getically tumbling routine, while Gillian & June display nice step¬ ping in a routine with the star. Among the talent lineup, inter¬ est centres on the impact of Louise Ramsay, a comparative newcomer who collared the notices when she appeared in the recent short-lived presentation of “Twenty Minutes South.” Katharine Feather does better, especially in a ballet sequence as the Nightingale in Berkely Square. She’s also full of verve as the maid in “What the Butler Saw,” an amusing takeoff of the pierside slot machines. Joan Winters and Guy Fielding team neatly in an opening sequence and later join the lineup of impressionists in telling the story of the .London Palladium. . Charles Henry’s staging keeps the action on the move, even though some of the cues went awry on opening night. Decor is admirable, with lush costuming to match. George Carden, as usual, has done a nifty job with the dance arrangements. Myro. Taliitlia Glasgow, Nov. 2. John Wildberg & Harold French pro¬ duction o( comedy in three acts, by Ar¬ nold nidlcy and Mary Cathcart Borer. Stars Fay Compton. Staged by Harold French; decor, Stanley Moore. At King’s Theatre, Glasgow, Oct. 31, '55; $1.20 top. Martin Breptwood.Richard Gale Jariet Bowcring .. Janet Barrow Mary Trcllington .. Mary Parker Helen Sandlord ... Mary Sivern Ruth Prendcrgast ... Fay Compton Eleanor Trcllington . Gillian Lind -Lavina Goldsworthy.Christine Silver Mr. Fawcett . Bartlett Mullins George Bruton . Philip Stainton Dr. Brownlie . Franklyn Scott John Wildberg, U.S. attorney- producer, is partnered with Harold French iii the presentation of this amusingpomedy by Arnold Ridley and Mary Cathcart Borer. Piece, set in an English cathedral city, is both funny and obsorbing. The play’s whimsical quality is slightly reminiscent of “Arsenic and Old Lace.” It also involves sweet elderly ladies (there are three in this play), a well-loved pet cat that’s poisoned, and a bossy landlady who’s found dead. The three impecunious old wom¬ en, paying guests in a boarding house, discover that their cat has died mysteriously. They suspect the landlady and decide to retali¬ ate with engrossing and diverting results. Fay Compton, London character actress, is starred as the "horsey” woman who leads the old gals, and gives a notable performance. Janet Barrow is standout as the slightly fussy, meticulous former, ladies’- maid and Christine Silver is con¬ vincing as a gentle and conspiring spinster. Mary Parker, young Australian actress, is a slight, neat and pretty step-daughter. Philip Stainton plays the portly police inspector Gillian Lind portrays the middle- aged landlady, and Richard Gale is the good-looking young medico, Gord. The Last Move Dublin, Oct. 24. Abbey Theatre Co. production of com¬ edy In three ads, by Pauline Maguire. Features Geoffrey Golden, Brid Lynch, Michael O’Hennessey, Joan O’Hara, Harry Brogan. Staged by Ilia Mooney; setting, Michael OTIcilih.v. At Queen's Theatre, Dublin, Oct. 24, ’55. „ John Thomas Egan. Geoffrey Golden Mary Egan . Brid Lynch Nora Egan . Angela Newman Mike Egan . Michael O’Hennessey Vincent Egan.Vincent Dowling Aunt Catherine Mary- Joan O’Hara Tess Dempsey . MaJrc O’Donnell Nailer Murphy . Hairy Brogan The country kitchen setting has been a staple with Abbey play¬ wrights for 50 years, , and it is sel¬ dom that a new playwright makes an Abbey debut with a fresh treat¬ ment of it. Pauline Maguire achieves .some success by updating the reaction to the perennial prob¬ lem of a money-grasping farmer reluctant to part with the land, or any child that can help to work it. With this theme, she airs the dif¬ ficulty of getting girls to marry farmers and remain oil the land, but suggests better prospects for the future as current rural upgrad¬ ing schemes of modern machinery, electrification and piped water sup¬ plies improve home conditions. “The Last Move” takes the fa¬ miliar situation of a farmer who has long schemed to get a woman for his son to marry, a woman who can bring money into the farm. He wants his remaining daughter to marry his own elderly crony. His other two children have chosen city life, aqd will get patrimony through old man’s marriage proj¬ ect for the stay-at-home son. An aunt wants what’s best for every¬ body, a familiar Irish rural type, like most of the other characters. The two children who have re^- mained tied to the farm are in their mid-30’s, feeling it’s too late for romance. The happy ending comedy is a cheerful little piece, neatly de¬ vised and providing an amusing performance by Joan O’Hara as the aunt who has reared everybody, Brid Lynch as the daughter who makes a brilliant switch from near¬ spinster to wooed-and-won, and the richly comic carpenter who knows more about greyhounds than romance, but can rise to the occasion after a little rehearsing. The other characters are credible and the dialogue true to pattern. Ireland, lately, has been short on comedy writers, and Pauline Maguire looks like a new winner. Ria Mooney's direction is smooth and Michael O’Herlihy’s setting is realistic. ^Iac.