Variety (February 1957)

UIGITIMATB 94 Shows on Broadway s Contlnned from page 90 Le Misanthorpe conspiring Arsinoe. As Philinte, Barrault’s friend, Jean Desailly is an excellent listener, and JeanPierre Granval and Gabriel Cattand cut an extremely funny pair as they bow and swirl in and out, each gesture extravagantly and skillfully overplayed. “Le Misanthrope” has its slow spots, when there seems to be talk just for talk’s sake. Barrault’s art creates highspots, in one of the best coordinated performances to be 'seen on Broadway in many a (French), moon. Hift. French Double-Bill , LES NUITS DE LA COLERE (Nights of Fury) . S. Hurok presentation of Madeleine Renaud & Jean-Loula Barrault Co. in drama in two acts by Afmand Salacrou. Also, farce In one act by Georges Fey¬ deau. Features Barrault. Natalie Nerval, Miss Renaud, Jean DesaiUy, Jean Juillard, Georges Cusln, Regis Outin, Gabrifel <?attand. Directed by Barrault; scenery, Felix Labisse. At Winter Garden. N.Y., Feb. 11, *57; $5.75 top. Jean Cordeau . Jean-Louls Barrault Louise Cordeau ...... Natalie Nerval Pierrette Bazire . Madeleine Renaud Bernard Bazire . Jean Desailly Rivoire . Jean Juillard Dede . . . Georges Cusin Lecocq . Regis Outin Plzancon . Gabriel Cattand FEU LA MERE DE MADAME (Dear Departed Mother-in-Law) Luclen . . Pierre Bertln Joseph . Beauchamp Yvonne . Madeleine Renaud Annette . Francoise LedoUx Armand Salacrou’s “Nights of Fury,” which the Renaud-Barrault troupe presented Monday (11) as the first modern work in its cur¬ rent repertory stand at the Whiter Garden, is a typically French drama, mostly^ because it is a vivid expression of the agonizing ap¬ praisal that the French have gone through since the war. What is. courage? What is cowardice? What prize honor? These questions are debated in a dramatic framework in the play, which has the living and the dead search for their conscience and which, via a series of cleverly staged flashbacks,, seeks to estab¬ lish who was to blame for the death of Barrault, a resistance fighter, delivered by a friend to a Nazi collaborationist. “Nights” proves the versatility of the Barrault company, which only the day before had put on the mannerisms of Moliere, In “Nights of Fury,” all performances are taut and tense and to the point. There are moments of grim humor, over¬ accented, perhaps, by Miss Renaud as the chattering wife of Jean Desailly, the Frenchman who sought only the status quo, with¬ out involvement and* threats to his family. She seems funnier at times than the lines actually warrant. Desailly is pathetic and wholly believable as the “neutral” forced to act; Barrault as the resistance fighter speaks movingly; Nathalie Nerval has dignity as his wife, and Gabriel Cattand brings power to the role of the collaborator. Felix Labisse’s set, which read¬ ily disassembles into three or four different sets, is., highly imagina¬ tive and helps to keep in proper perspective the rapid time changes which otherwise might become confusing, Barrault’s direction underscores the play’s inherent drama and the substance of its arguments. “Dear Departed Mother-in-Law,” the companion-piece by ’Georges Feydeau, offers a weird contrast to the grim “Nights of Fury.” It pro¬ vides Broadway with some of the broadest comedy in many a sea¬ son. Directed by Barrault with verve and abandon, the closing item is a slam-bang slapstick with the French touch. Pierre Bertin arrives home at 4 a.m., still in costume from a ball. He quarrels with his wife, but they are interrupted by her mother’s butler, who reports that the lady has died. Since an Inheritance is expected, this brings a mixture of joy and sorrow, until it turns out the butler had rung the wrong bell. Bertin, pompous and pathetic, again displays his great comic tal¬ ent. Ditto Madeleine Renaud, who here proves herself a superior comedienne., Beauchamp as the butler also came through with just the right touch. The author is preoccupied with shapes of bosoms, and there is a hilarious bit where Miss Renaud invites open comparison from hus¬ band Bertin, who proceeds t6 ogle her open nightgown. Vive la France! _ _ Hift. * • Tunniest, freshest frolic since AUntiB MBKHB/ ~ mike CONNOLLY, HoHywood Reporter As co^producer (with husband Lewis) at Guilford’s Chapel Playhouse and later at Clinton Playhquse, Charlotte Har¬ mon knows all the high jinks, the rewards and exasperations of summer stock, and reveals them in this engaging book. It’s filled with breezy (and sometimes acid) anecdotes of the great and near-great of Hollywood and Broadway— ^both the charming and co-operative and the natural-born heels— as they bring temperament, talent, excitement and laughter to an astonished New England town./^ b|f Cborloffe Harmon and Rosemary Taylor Illustrated by SAM NORKIN $3.50 THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY Vedniesday, February 1957 OLD VIC wow $49, MO F0ltBIG2DWEEK,D.C. •Washington, Feb, 12. The touring Old Vic scored an¬ other cleanup last week in its holdover at the 1,600-seat National Theatre here. The British com¬ pany grossed almost $49,900 for the second stanza of it§ Shakes¬ peare repertory stand. That was about $1,900. above the previous week. Potential capacity gross at the $5.50 top was $50,600, including tax, which the non-profit outfit re¬ tains. “Romeo and Juliet” didn’t quite go clean, but “Troilus and Cressida” had standees at every performance. The Old Vic is tentatively plan¬ ning to open a 1958-59 North American tour with a three -week Washington engagement. Instead of offering four productions in two weeks, as in this appearance here, the present intention is to present three different revivals, each for a full week, . The new “Ziegfeld Follies,” con¬ tinuing its pre-Broadway tiyout tour, opens tonight (Tues.) for a fortnight engagement at the Na¬ tional, with a reported advance sale of $95,000. The local pre¬ miere, a benefit for the Women’s National Democratic Club, is a pre-sellout. Stock Review Journey to a Lonely Star Beverly Hills, Feb. 8. Beverly Hills ‘ Playhouse production of drama in three acts (10 scenes), by Douglas F. Bank. Staged and designed by Lawrence Stewart; lighting, Robin Riley. At Beverly Hills (Cal.) Playhouse, Feb. 7, '57; $2.40 top. Cast: Mark Lowell, Mel Welles, Wally Richard, Ken Mayer, David Kramer, Hal Torry, Lynne Page, Jan Englund* Stacy Graham. Playwright Douglas F. Bank has two basic plot Ideas in “Journey to a Lonely Star,” and the result is a diffuse offering. However, there’s the foundation of solid drama here, particularly if the more important is better exploited. It’s a backstage story about the son • of a former star who had clawed his. way to success, and eventually out of the business. The script carries the youngster through his first legit rehearsals and Broadway debut, in which he evidences all of the evil qualities he inherited from his father. At the curtain, he’s a success, but alone. The subordinate theme is that of a former matinee Idol, mak¬ ing a comeback as a character ac¬ tor, who can’t stand the younger man’s viciousness and eventually commits suicide. Despite its 10 scenes, the script is slightly under normal length and considerable rewriting is indicated. But Bank has some good dialog, his characters are full dimensioned and there’s theatrical flavor about the play. Laurence Stewart has assembled a good cast for “Star” and directed with skill and understanding. Re¬ hearsal sequences are particularly well stage(i. David Kramer is fine as the grasping young talent and Ken Mayer does a topnotch job as the director. There is good sup¬ port from Jan Englund as the lead¬ ing lady, Hal Torry as the former matinee idol, Wally Richard as the author and Mel Welles as the pro¬ ducer. Stacy Graham, Mark Lowell and Lynne Page all register in the lesser roles. Basic elements of the play indi¬ cate potential for films. Kap. Ticket Allotments Continued from page 91 ^ plan prefers to remain anonymous for the present, “I already have enough problems trying to find suitable scripts and get the people I want to direct^ design and act in them,” he explains. “When I’m ready to try the direct-allotment scheme I’ll do so. Until then, I have no desire to incite the ticket brokers, boxoffice men and man¬ agerial personnel to line up against me.” The producer thinks there’s probably merit in a previous pro¬ posal, outlined in a recent Variety story, that Broadway ticket prices should be determined by the law of supply and demand. “That may be a long range solution,” he com¬ ments, “but it’s a question whether enough producers and theatre own¬ ers will ever adopt it. In the mean¬ while, direct allotments to the ma¬ jor commercial firms would be slhipler and might have the practical effect" desired.” OfF^B’way Shows There Its No End Anthony Palma production of drama jin three acts. Written and staged by T^lma; settings, John Raymond Friemann; light¬ ing, Stephan Palestrant; costumes and sound. Herb Nielsen. At Covenant Thea¬ tre, N.Y., Feb. 8, '57; $3.60 top. Cast: Clyde Bassett, Stanley Beck, Hart Sprager, Tom Holland, Bill Weston, A1 Sperduto, Henry Calvert, Michael Locascio, George Lash, Gerald Lukeman, Ed Setrakian, Tom Carney, Richard Bruce, Harry Peckham, Bill Williams, James Agnos. The most evident scripting talent in “There Is No End” is Anthony Palma’s ability to infuse his play with conviction and sincerity. A searing World War II tragedy, setin a (jerman camp for American POW’s, it is an uncompromising examination of the minds and mo¬ tives of men when incarcerated un¬ der inhuman circumstances. The unfortunate part of Palma’s thesis that there must be an end of .man’s inhumanity to man is that both as writer and his own di¬ rector, Palma clobbers his audi¬ ence with such ranting tension that the audience Isn’t so much convintied as exhausted. If only he could have been satisfied to make each point once, Palma. w»uld have better fulfilled the demands of the¬ atrical expression, As cases in point, there are a number of long, philosophically in¬ teresting speeches, speeches that reflect the author’s probing intel¬ lect; During most of these highC tirades, however, dramatic action stands still. In. fact, these windy speculations might make quite ab¬ sorbing reading, but when the play’s afoot, there’s no time to pause for reflection or to .recon¬ sider. This aopears to be one of those cases illustrating the riski¬ ness of a playwright producing and directing his own script. A good setting has been pro¬ vided by John Raymond Friemann, and if It doesn’t collapse from bombing at the final curtain, it isn’t because the author hasn’t im¬ plied that it might. , A ray of hope, however, is vouchsafed by the prisoner’s escape, and the dingy barracks stands. In the sizeable all-male ca.st, Tom Holland is good as a . quondam parson, Gerald Luke¬ man and Hart Sprager rise to the author-director’s demands for dec¬ lamation, while Henry Calvert has common humanity as a man whose consistent motivation is love for his wife and kids. Gear. S. Beryl Lush production of drama b three acts, by Louis A. Lippa, Staged b; Llppa; settings and lighting, Charle Brandon, At Actors* Playhouse, N.Y. Feb. 6, *57; $2.40 top. Miriam PhilUps, Glfenn Cannon Mtchell Jason, Byrne Plven, Donah Suplnskl, Ruth Kaner, Ken Chapin, Mor Slegal. Anybody tired of a happy home could drop in at the Actors’ Play¬ house f()r an evening of turgid domesticity. . Louis A. . Lippa’s new play concerns an Italian-American family in which brother is pitted against brother and son hates father • (or father’s memory, at least. Pop having died a drunkard). After the sons’ squabbles have killed Mom, the lads come to the amiable conclusion that perhaps it would be better to try and get along. Pretty obviously, Lippa’s treatise is a slice-of-life-ish effort that would delight the torn-T-shirters among the acting fraternity. For¬ tunately, as director,* Lippa has re¬ sisted any tendencies toward his¬ trionic excess, schooling his cast in a quiet, almost hyper-naturalism. Actors’ Playhouse being tiny, this approach lends an air of truth to many scenes that would otherwise be overwrought. Coping best with the turmoil in the embattled household is Miriam Phillips as the mother, her serenity having conviction despite the aut h o r ’ s smile-thro«gh-the-tears cliche. Another of Lippa’s bromides is the charming widow on the next block so wrongly suspected of be¬ ing a prostie. Assigned this task, actress Ruth Kaner smiles tran¬ quilly, knowing full well that vin¬ dication will come. As big brother, on his way to be¬ coming a successful politician, yet guilNridden by the blow he struck that killed his father, Byrne Piven shouts, weeps and begs his way to forgiveness. Glenn Cannon has sporadic candor as little brother, while as middle-sized brother, who threatens to become a juvenile delinquent, Donald Supinski sports the standard long hair and sullen attitude. Lippa has observed and set down what he has seen. In any writer, that’s good. This play, however, is not ready for theatre and doesn’t promise ever to be. But when Lippa has the tortured eldest son cry out to his mother, “How do I tell my brother I love him?” he’s trembling on the verge of dramatic truth. It’s a beginning. Geor* mm BIFF McGlIlRE SETFORFLAIEDAIS' Taking a cue from tv, two Floi> Ida stock theatres have lined up Grade Fields and Biff McGuire for a combined tnreeTweek run in James M. Barrie’s play, “The Old Lady Shows. Her Medals.” Both performers appeared in a tele ver¬ sion of the piece last Decomber on the “U. S. Steel Hour,” on CBS. For Miss Fields it was a repeat of a prior 1955 video showing in the play. The stock -production opened Monday night (11) for a week’s stand at the Palm Beach (Fla.) Playhouse, then plays a fortnight at the Cocoanut Grove Playhouse, Miami Beach. Renaud-Barrault Troupe To Play Harvard Campus Cambridge, Mass., Feb. 12. The Madeleine Renaud & JeanLouis Barrault Theatre Co. from Paris will give three performances Feb. 7-28 at Sanders Theatre on. the Harvard campus. The plays to be presented haven’t, been set. The company comes to Cam¬ bridge froni New York, under tlm sponsorship of the French Consm General in Boston, Baron Charles de Pampelonne. Arrangements are being made by local manager Aaron Richmond. Columbus Group Elects Columbus, Feb. 12. Newly elected directors of the Columbus Theatre Co., which operates the. local Playhouse-onthe-Green, include Joseph K. Weaver, general manager of the Playhouse, and W, C. Harrison, Mrs. W. C. Harrison, William C, Cook, Herbert E. Evans, Paul T. Key, Mrs. Sallie Sexton, Jack Chester Jr., and Russel Tarvin. They were chosen at the organ¬ ization’s recent annual meeting. Off'B’way Trend — Continued from page 91 ^ Brazilian plays, “A God Slept Here,’** by Guilherme Figueiredo, and “Enemies Don’t Send Flow¬ ers,” by Pedro Bloch. Fostini, who's doubling as producer, will get three-way billing by also appearing in “Enemies,” the curtain-raiser. Norman Shelly is director. Going into the Tempo is “An Evening of G.B.S.,” to include two comedies, “O’Flaherty, V. C.” and “Press Cuttings.” . The Shaw plays are being presented by 'Stage So¬ ciety, a newly-formed legit produ¬ cing company. Hollis Alpert, au¬ thor and. Saturday Review film critic, is producing, with William Murray directing. The Theatre East triple-bill will comprise one-acters by Irish play¬ wright John Millington Synge. The entries, “Riders to the Sea,” “In the Shadow of the Glenn” -and “Tinker’s Wedding,” will be per¬ formed by the Irish Players under the production auspices of Dermot McNamara and Helena Carroll, daughter of playwright Paul Vin¬ cent Carroll. The tandem Valency-Giradoux bill, comprising “The Apollo of Bellac” and “The Virtuous Island,” is being produced by Leo Shull, Mary Learson and Ann Eisen. Davud Brooks will be stager, with Tally "Beatty handling the choreog¬ raphy.