Variety (November 1957)

LEGITIMATE 71 Wednesday November 6, 1957 f'SHtiETf Chi Strawkaton7-Year flan ' Edgewater Beach Playhoute Hat $60,000 Bankroll- Undecided on Policy of Tryout* or Tour Pkget. The Edgewater Beach Play¬ house, Chicago, is operating on a seven-year: plan. The 1,000-seat strawhat, which last summer com¬ pleted its first season under ttie. production auspicies of Noel Behn, is capitalized at $60,000 with pro¬ vision for 20% overcall, .It’s been leased for seven years' by the Edgewater Beach Summer Theatre Corp,, witH , costs to be amortized over that period, , ,. On the amortization basis, ac¬ cording to Behn, the Playhouse broke about even on its pine weeks of operation last summer. A side¬ light to the reopening of the house, previously operated by Marshall Migatz and dark in 195f££ was that it was.set up for business by off- Broadway personnel from the Cherry lane Theatre, N.Y. . Behn Is general manager of the Cherry Lane and his staff for the Playhouse included James Pres¬ ton, managing director, and Don McGovern, stage manager and set¬ up man with Jim Nichols, who was sent fromk New York to .Chicago four weeks in advance, of the open¬ ing to make contacts for equip¬ ment purchases. During its nine weeks of oper¬ ation, the Playhouse offered three regular, touring packages and two independent productions, one a new adaptation of "Affairs of An- atol” and the other a tryout of ‘•The Circus of Dr. Lao. 1 ’ The plays ran a fortnight each, “Anatol” at a loss and "Lao" breaking about even.. Uta Hagen and Herbert Berghof costarred in “Anatol,” while Burgess Meredith starred In “.Lao,* which was also presented for a week at the Famous Artist? Playhouse; Fayetteville, N.Y. . The Playhouse management is mulling a future policy of concen¬ trating on tryouts, packages, or a mixture of the two. Pre-season ex¬ penses for last summer came to about $18,000, with'the amount next year expected to drop, to around $14,000. The weekly , oper¬ ating cost at the house levelled off to- about $14,000 during the sea¬ son, Expenses, however, were par¬ ticularly high the first season, with advertising - promotion getting a hefty outlay. According to. Behn* the house was also overstaffed most pf the season because of Its late and abrupt start . In the case of the two inde- (Continued on page 76) Anna Wiman, Wanamaker Open Liverpool Theatre As Membership Venture London f Nov. 5. Two American residents in Lon¬ don are operating Britain's first ma¬ jor provincial club theatre, the New Shakespeare, which opened in Liverpool last Thursday (31). They are Anna Deere Wiman and Sam Wapamaker, who are managing the project under the banner of W. W. Productions. Following the example of the ‘ New Watergate Club, which took over the Comedy Theatre in Lon¬ don last year, the new Liverpool venture opened with Arthur- Mill¬ er's "A View from the Bridge” and will follow that with “Tea and Sympathy.” The third presentation will be "Finian's Rainbow/’ which bad a brief run in the West End some eight to nine years back. The musi¬ cal will run from* Dec. 26 to Feb. 8 and is expected?to be followed by still another American production, “The Rainmaker,” which was a West End hit a year ago. The initial production, warmly received by the opening night audi¬ ence, starred U.S. film actor Marc Lawrence in his first British stage role with Vera Fustek as his wife, Tim Seely as the blonde illegal im¬ migrant, Ralph Npssek as the elder brother and Catherine Feller as the young girl, Sam Wanamaker* who staged the piece with ; considerable authority, played the role of the lawyer. “View from the Bridge” and the scheduled “Tea and Sympathy” are being presented at the Shakespeare under the'private chib setup, which permits- the performance of play not approved by the Lord Cham¬ berlain for public performance. - Habimah Near-Proem* Wm. Saroyan ‘Innocents’ Tel Aviv, Oct. 29. “Slaughter of the Innocents,” a drama by William Saroyan about a fear^fidden country ruled by super-patriot demagogues, has been produced by the -Habimah Theatre as “almost a world premiere/^The play, written at the peak of the late Sen, McCarthy’s career, was never produced in the U. S.,- but is said fo have been given a single presentation in Holland. The sombre piece, translated into Hebrew by Jacob Orland, was directed by Peter Frye. It had a mixed reception. • Shows in South . The Independent Booking Office Is experimenting with southern dates for touring shows. Ironically, the getaway entry in the test is Tennessee Williams* “Cat on a.Hot Tin Roof.” Williams? plays, in¬ cluding “Cat,” are notorious for their sordid depiction of southern life. . ; “Cat/* being sent out by George Brandt and costarring Victor Jory and his wife, | Jean Innes, began* its hike Oct. 241 at the WRVA Audi¬ torium, Richmond. Bookings last week took in the. Auditorium, Charlottesville; Carolina • Theatre, Durham; Oven* Auditorium, 'Char¬ lotte, and Tower Theatre, Atlanta. This'week the presentation plays |a full frame at the Civic Theatre, New Orleans, and'from there goes Into the Coconut Grove <Fla.) Play¬ house for .a fortnight The show I then moves into regular touring ; stands. . DIRECTOR-ACTOR’S OWN | PIANO SPOT IN 'DESK’ I Houston, Nov. 5. “The. Desk Set,” William Mar- chant comedy which opened re¬ cently at the Playhouse, equipped with .furniture the author never. envisioned, a Steinway Piano. On the* bench behind It is Playhouse producerdirector-star and play doc¬ tor, Herbert Kramer, in black tie and tux for the performance of “favorite selections from his orig. Inal N. Y, Town Hall v Programs” •(as noted in program). Musical stint, which runs 20 min¬ utes and two encores, is one of the liveliest momenta, in the.-Kramer version of the three-acter. Since the play involves the life and loves of a network’s minor employes who are about to be replaced by. an electronic brain at Christmas time, cue for piano bit is interpolated line, /Mr. Kramer is coming ‘be¬ fore his television show to enter- • tain at the Christmas party.”. A few minutes later, half-way through second act, lights go down, cast sits on arena floor, and Kra¬ mer enters behind piano. The audience reaction to non-Kramer segments Was not hearty though some laughter and applause re¬ warded the cast. Crix reacted as always to Playhouse productions. That is, the Post, tongue-in-cheek; Press, softened by liberal doses of editorial bine pencil; and Chron* Idle not at all, as Kramer has bung the “pongrata” sign on aisle-sitter because of past criticism. Allentown (Pa.) Civic Gets Permanent House Allentown, Pa., Nov. 5. Allentown’s Civic Little Theatre, In operation for 30 years, is getting its first permanent home, a film theatre purchased for -$95;00Q. Activity at the new house, which has been renovated, got underway last Saturday night (2) with State and local officials and legit cele¬ brities from nearby Bucks County slated to attend the opening:. The preem entry is “Janus,” which will continue through this week. ■= Equity Considering Own « Service for Casting Info Actors Equity is considering set¬ ting up a casting information serv¬ ice for its members. A motion that such action he taken was made at the union's recent membership meet and adopted unanimously. The-Equity council has followed through by authorizing a' sub¬ committee of the House Affairs Committee to survey the situation. Roger L. Stevens has lined up an ultra blue-chip backer list for this season’s Playwrights ‘Co. produc¬ tions. Rather than go through the usual routine of lining up financ¬ ing in varying units from a long list of prospects, the .producer- fealtor-theatre operator went to a handful of bigtime associates and friends,” getting $300,000 from 12 individuals. * _. Those investing include eight at $30,000 each and four at $15,000 each. The $30,000 group includes. Emil A. Bartz, a vice-president of Webb & Knapp, representing the realty firm’s president, William Zeckendorf; Robert W. Dowling, president of City Investing Co. and a partner with Stevens in the Producers^Theatre, and'Alfred R. Glancy Jr., and Ben Tobin, part¬ ners of Stevens in_ various large realty projects. Also, philanthropist Mary Wood¬ ward Lasker, widow of advertising agency owner Albert Lasker; Rob¬ ert R. Young, board chairman of the N. Y. Central and Chesapeake. & Ohio railroads and the Alle¬ gheny Co.; and Stevens himself, representing David Rockefeller, one of the sons of John D. Rocke¬ feller Jr., and a top executive of the Chase-Manhattan Bank. The $15,000 group Includes for¬ mer ad agency head Milton H. Biow; George Killion, president of the President steamship line on the Coast; San Francisco financier, Louis R. Lurie, and Judge Saipuel- | R. Rosenman, former law partner, political adviser:and Speech' writer for Franklin D. Roosevelt The syndicate,'. legally titled Playwrights-Six Play Co.; Is back¬ ing the following Broadway shows [ this season; “Miss Lonelyhearts” (already closed), “Time Remem¬ bered,” “Nude rath Viojlin,” “Country Wife,” “Rope Dancers” and “Slimmer of the 17th Doll.” Each of the productions Is being presented in partnership with! an¬ other management, SO the Play¬ wrights Co. is putting up only part of the capital in each ^ase. That explains the fact that $300,000 is sufficient to cover six shows. ATPAM STIFFENING ON HOUSE MANAGER RULE The Assn, pf Theatrical Press Agents tc* Managers is clamping, down on house managers who fail to abide by tenure of employment contracts. An action by the un¬ ion's hoard of governors to enforce such contracts was approved by the membership at a recent meet¬ ing of the association. The ATPAM stand on house managers is .-that outside employ¬ ment is permitted when a theatre is dark, but when it reopens the house manager must report for duty. Otherwise, upon the agree¬ ment of the theatre owner, the manager contract will he termin¬ ated and another member will be assigned to the job. V«f Staff Manager ROBERT DOWNING has a* affactioNate Y « I wHh KTtfce Cite listers (Whom he effectloMtety calls Gypsies) In a Irighf Piece tided Gypsy*Love Song , o*e ef the many Editorial Feateres in the Npcomiaq 52d Anniversary Number ef PfistiEfr Equity Building Case vs. Merrick; Harold Gary to Texas As ‘Rock’ Actor-Stager Harold Gary, who succeeded the late Harry Clark as the film pro¬ ducer in the Broadway production of “Will Success. Spoil Rock Hunter?” is going to put in an¬ other four weeks in the play be¬ ginning tomorrow night (Thurs.) at the Alley Theatre, Houston. He’ll be playing a different role, how¬ ever, and will also double as di¬ rector of the stock production. His part in the Alley presenta¬ tion will be that of the devil-agent, which Martin Gabel originated on Broadway. Griffith, Prince Producers Robert E- Griffith and Harold S. Prince distributed $140,- 000 over the weekend to backers of their four Broadway productions. The payment includes $30,000 return of capital on “West Side Story,” 3560,000. return of capital plus profit on “New Girl in Town,” and $25,000 dividends apiece on both “Paiama Game” and "Damn Yankees.” The rejfeyment on “West Side Story” brings the capital return on that musical to $60,000 thus far. The show, presented in partner¬ ship lyith Roger L.- Stevens, is cur¬ rently in its sixth caoacity-attend- ance week at the Winter Garden Theatre, N.Y. It represents a $300,- 000 investment;- The distribution on “New Girl in Town” includes * final $30,000 return of capital and an initial $30,000 profit dividend. The musi¬ cal, co-produced with Frederick Brlsson, is .currently, in its ,25th week at the 46th Street Theatre, N.Y. It has recently returned to standee business, after easing below the Capacity level during the traditional summer lull. It repre¬ sents a $300,000 investment. The dividend on “Pajama Game” brings the total profit to date to $1,400,000, divided equally be¬ tween management and backers. That gives the latter a 280% profit on their $250,000 investment. The “Damn Yankees" divw ra'ses the total profit on the musi¬ cal to $806,943 thus far. On ‘the basis of the standard 50-50 split between management and hackers, that gives the latter a 162% profit on their $250,000 investment. Both “Pajama" and “Yankees” were produced by Griffin & Prince in partnership with Frederick Brisson. 't Actors Equity is quietly gather¬ ing evidence against Broadway j producer David Merrick. The union’s move involves a number of complaints having to do with the producer’s dealings with ac¬ tors. Some of the charges could lead to placing Merrick on Equity’s list of “defaulting managers.” Latest incident to arouse Equity’s ire involves the cast of “Look Back in Anger,” John Osborne’s drama which Merrick brought to Broad¬ way with four of the five members of the London cast. All the im¬ ported players are getting what Equity officials regard as inade¬ quate salaries, and it’s claimed that Merrick has refused to grant adjustments, despite the fact that the low-budget production is play¬ ing to capacity business and is fig¬ ured to clean up a substantial profit. One of the players in the show, according to Equity sources, is get¬ ting only $175 basic weekly salary. That is subject to 20% deduction for Federal income tax. another 20% for New York State income tax (the law provides for the em¬ ployer to deduct the tax from the pay of out-of-State residents), as well as 5% that alien players must pay to Equity, and certain other small deductions bringing the ac¬ tor's take-home pay to about $85 a week. „ That’s figured to he’ just barely subsistence pay for anyone able to sublet a modest apartment, but not enough for anyone living at a hotel, as the four British cast mem¬ bers are now doing. A trade, re¬ port that Osborne has been giving financial assistance to some of the actors out of his author royalties could not be confirmed, and Equity has not been informed of it. Th* playwright, incidentally, is. mar¬ ried to Mary Ure, femme lead in the play. Singe the contracts were all signed for the “Anger” cast. Equity has been unable to take any direct action to remedy the situation. However, union officials have de¬ livered . verbal dressings-down to at least one actor’s agent involved and will probably write a letter to the League of N. Y. Theatres pro¬ testing the matter and other of Merrick's dealings with actors. - Caution Britons In addition, a union official has reportedly advised British Equity to caution its members about con¬ tractual terms offered for New York engagements in London shows. That Is apparently aimed primarily at ‘The Entertainer/* an- (Continned on page 76) BOOK ON THEATRE Boston Colonial Sale Closed for $1,250,000; To Continue as Legiter Boston, Nov. 5. Sale of the Colonial Theatre and Tthe adjoining office /building was jeonsumated here last Friday (1), : Princess Virginia Corp. of St. Paul, III envirr A J < Minn -. was purchaser of the builrt- Hi tJvMlIVi IVUiJuIfl jing, and the sale was made by a The Theatre in Soviet Russia” 1 corporation controlled by Jacob J. by Nikolai A. Gorchakov (Columbia ‘ Shubert. U. Press: $1), Is billed as “the first extensive and authoritative treat¬ ment of the Soviet theatre by a prominent participant, outside the Soviet Union.” Author graduated from Moscow Higher Theatrical School in 1926. studied theatre painting with Yelev .and Ekster, and was for several seasons directorial assistant of Meyerhold and Tairov. He taught dramatics and wrote for Russian stage and films. Since 1945 he has j The Minnesota firm paid a de¬ posit of $125,000, plus $187,500 in cash. The Shubert corporation took a first mortgage at 6% on the re-* mainder of the purchase price. Purchase price was $1,250,000. The mortgage of $937,500, was; given by the purchaser to the own¬ ers and sellers of the property, 138 West 48th St. Theatre Co., Inc., New York, Walter N. Trenerry was named as head of the Princess Vir¬ ginia Corp. Sale of the Colonial ends the S»fdo2 “ ClUdi " g a |Se Sh^Va^e^irtiS Author writes with awareness of j SELSh. the apparent vigor of the Soviet theatre in terms of actiyity and lack of unemployment; but also with the. realization that, the Communist regime has permitted a great art theatre to decline into a propagan¬ da machine. “Creative freedom has been largely lost... the Soviet the¬ atre sees Bolsheviks—and even their secret police—through rose- colored glasses.” • Rodo. Richard Weede has Succeeded RUssell Goodwin in “The Most Happy Fella,” in which his father, Robert Weede, plays the title role. house; the Plymouth, now* the Gary picture house;, the Wilbur, now booked .as an independent by Michel J, Kavanagh, former Shu¬ bert mgr. in Boston; the Copley, now the copley picture house, the Opera House, now being demol¬ ished; and the Colonial. At the Colonial, Louis Cline stays on as manager. Talk is that the new owners will refurbish the 1,500- seater and install an air cooling system. Sale of the Colonial at $1,250,000 was about $400,000 more than the Shuberts paid for the house in 1952.