Variety (January 1958)

LEGITIMATE Fifty-Second Anniversary January $, 1958 Off-Broadway Prophet Without Honor Past Decade of Growth Points Up Lawrence Langner9s 1946 Advice to Young Actors i ( Start Your Own Company Like Province towners Did 9 By GEORGE AIAN SMITH Lawrence Langner. speaking to a group of exG.I.’s in the fall of 1946, who had been theatre pros before the war, advised the eager beavers fresh out of khaki or biue that the Way to get back into show business was to go out arid form .. their own theatres. This was definitely not what the men and women fresh out of service wanted to hear. To their protests Langner replied, “That’s what we did back in the Provincetown days.” It would be difficult, if not impossible, to prove that Langner’s remarks; to a symposium of .students at the American Theatre Wing, the trade’s school for ex-service men and women* in any Way stim¬ ulated the post-war growth of off-Broadway; It is • at least an interesting coincidence, . however,, that the then director and assistant director Of the Wing’s Professional Training Program, Winston.. O’Keefe and Mary Hunter, became producer .and director respectively of the first vital off-Broadway group to be created after the war; New Stages, arid that a number of people who heard the Langner lecture also were involved ini this venture that ultimately brought “The Respectful Prostitute” to Bleecker St., then to Broadway, before the . group met an untimely demise. Two groups might legitimately object, "to credit¬ ing New Stages with pioneering, namely Equity Library Theatre and the Blackfriar’s Guild, both of which are well into their second decade of activr tty. Each* however, has been affected by the mush¬ rooming of off-Broadway, ELT having the harder pull as quality has come to the basement-and-lof t circuit. Originals Only, too, was an early-bird, though it defied the proverb by missing the worm, probably, due to an insistence on scripts of effete, or at least limited,, appeal; I. _ Atkinson, Sahib! | When, then, did off-Broadway become something other than a smattering of theatre? It has been said, and probably with, considerable validity, that Brooks Atkinson’s N. Y. Times review of Circle-. In-tbe-Square’s “Summer and Smoke” had more to do with the establishment of off-Broadway than any other single effort. It certainly made the Sheri¬ dan Square arena theatre a “must” mecca. for dis¬ criminate theatregoers* arid it made the . reputations of actress Geraldine Page and director Jose Quin¬ tero. But it also had the more far-reaching effect of heartening other fledgling off-Broadway produc¬ ers into a flurrry of activity. Busy-ness for its own sake is seldom a boon, and off-Broadway groups at first were more note¬ worthy for their ambition than for their judgment of what constitutes good theatre... With the N. Y. Post’s critic Vernon Rice then busily probing into, the outlying theatres, however unpromising, and with the excellent possibility that Atkinson would be moved by I his sympathetic curiosity about the new playwright or the fresh talent to cover the production, young producers, directors and actors quickly saw .that they had a showcase, so come hell or. high water, “let’s put on a play.” Surely its very activity Was the only . thing , that kept early offBroadway from being strangled by its own medi¬ ocrity. | , Unions Helped , ; _ _1 But budgets were low, unions were tolerant, and each season somebody Was bound to be discovered. That, even to date the. one undiscovered commodity Off-Broadway has. beep the. riew playwright is still the movement’s great tragedy. As is well known, however, the classic revival became the thing, largely because it meant no royalty. Oddly, at that stage of the game, American actors demonstrated a woeful lack of training and style In period theatre. That the. problem has been hand¬ somely solved by its own diligence is . one of .offBroadway ’s most remarkable credits. It is less than four years since a production of “The Way of the World” at the Cherry Lane Theatre, first indicated that style and the young American actor could get ' together, and not long thereafter Jack Landau’s productions Of “The Clandestine Marriage” and the riproaring “The White Devil” demonstrated that it can happen here. By :the rash of articles on off-Broadway this fall, it would seem that writers had just, discovered the activity. The records show, however, that the N. Y. Times, the N. Y. Post and Vabiety have played a vital critical part in the burgeoning by-way activ¬ ity for 10 years. The late Vernbn Rice, in fact, has been remembered for his efforts by the Drama Desk* which presents in his name an annual award for distinctive achievement off-Broadway. Within the past two years all Of the leading critics have taken up coverage of off-Broadway openings, although as late as last season the N. Y. JournalAmerican’s John McLain devoted an arti¬ cle to. explaining Why he couldn’t be expected to give much time going off the. beaten track. OffBroadway, however, has momentarily carried the day by . becoming . the beaten track, and with the N. Y. Daily News’ John Chapmari now occasionally prowling the by-ways also* tho last critical bastion has fallen. ' . Rig money, however, has moved into off-Broad¬ way, and what the upshot will be is anybody’s guess. Why Doesn’t Somebody Ask Me To Talk About 'Show Boat’? 11========== By BERNARD SOBEL r Though I worked for months When the evening performance and months on the advance pub Was over, I rushed back to Helen licity for the New York opening of Morgan’s dressing room. Before “Show Boat,” I never saw a single that day I had never spoken or rehearsal o f even seen her, but as soon as I the new pro entered the room, she held out her duction. For, arms and: kissed me as though we while the re bad known each other always. hearSals were Lovely Helen! Imperishable tn progress, * HMdb memory is her artistry. I always Ziegfeld had recall incidents in our later friend several other ship: dancing with her at the May show Sv o n '' fair Club; hearing her read her Broadway that HjiH & ' wisps of poetry; dining with her required m.y ' on cruisers Which had just arrived a 1 1 e ntion — ' in P°ri; watching her worry over Eddie Cantor, — -1 her; collection of tropical fish; so i n 44 K i d journing with her to Guthrie Mc Bbots ” Billie ernle Clintic’s to talk about her heart’s Burke in “Annie Dear” and the desire— playing “Camille.” “Follies.” From Helen’s dressing room, I I was so busy, as a result, rush went to see Howard Marsh. It was ing from one theatre to another our first reunion since we were that I wasn’t able to satisfy, my both students at Purdue, • he, one great curiosity as to how Oscar year ahead of me, neither of us Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern dreaming then that he would be a had changed Edna Ferber’s novel famous musical comedy star. ; into a musical. p Other Memories [ One day I happened to run — , ■ rpmemhrancp nf stedaS OTdStthere°fItsaw aWlarge Charlie Winninger, the perfect sterdam and there 1 saw ? Capt. Andy, Is revealed here for group of colored men and women tl£ aftef all these years. ? arTVngiM something When 1 walked int® »is that sounds like* ^church music," ^^f^Sn^Ves^one"1' riehtd ‘«myvel weredchJnt?n? tol at the dismissal' ft his melodious background musfe for th'fthe'ih^must eo on' Sad iv » i' > j fLn tilde the show must go on, he hdu * d the rushed out the stage door arid ^r su .nw.a nan down Sixth Avenue, in full make Yes, I saw all those colored peo • • ,/tJ uim . pie sitting there in that brief mo Jn.it. nnH gsnmwfh t was him to return, unplonng him, and ment; and, oddly enough, I was the only one Who ever saw them. ' And' The audience never did. Why? Be ■■!*,? hb?hP J t o .. . I ,. -..—I,,... -iV all through these tempestuous mocause that choral number was al ments, the audience was sitting drop showfngb^eStchgue;chbeBh:tdth: Of the fact that it might miss half scene was so beautiful and so sad .. The first revival of "Show BMC ***8“ y«rs later, caused me r^eri^WM sensations. My status was formance fdrSd years unusual. For a long time: I had sat rnomL Xr athat glimpse between Ziegfeld _r it. t . jyf 1 &nd CcEtX Qd i £ dll j ^voTxciug at times tte strert ■ ’ ” on fer both of them and also, doing METROPOLITAN OPERA ECONOMICS “How’s the show going on the road?” I asked. “All We have to do,” he. an¬ swered, smiling, “is put up a terit and a sign, ‘Show Boat.’ Then the crowds flock in. However, I think that it’s about time that you see it. Here are two tickets. Qne for the publicity for both their new theatres. Yet here Was a Ziegfeld show house— tragic contretempsunder the roof of the Carroll The¬ atre. The cast was almost the. same, but the part of Ravenal was now assumed by Dennis King, an artist you and ope for Edna Berber. Rush down to the station, meet her at; the theatre, and take the train for assigned him from Shakespeare through Sidney Kingsley and Ber Year ended May 31, PhUadelphia, in time fur the mat n^)r®ha^an S5 years aftcr that That matinee I'll always remem. rcviyal, I feund a mern ber: the excitement of the misce **,.*.*» % OPERATING INCOME: Boxoffice receipts: New York season (24-week season with 175 performances in 1957; 22week season withl59 performancesinl956> . . ... . Tour (7V£-week tour* 58 performances in 1957; 7-week tour, 55 perform¬ ances in 1956) _ _ _ _ . . . ... ...... : . . . . . . . ... ... .......... Other operating incomer-radio, television and recording fees, building. genation scene; the play-within-aplay on the old showboat; the World’s Fair celebration with Capt Andy shouting “Happy New Year”; sitting in on a third revival — Guy Lombardo’s fabulous benefit per¬ formance at Jones Beach. . While I talked over the matters miuj siiuuuug nappy inc w i. ear r,nv the midway crowds and the daring ■£SuS5??"llSalJ£S*. ll Jrt Mer? rentals; etc. 566,246 612,463 CONTRIBUTIONS: Subscribers’ voluntary additions to subscription prices. $4,914, 774 $144,920 $4,546,609 Metropolitan Opera Guild, Inc. , . . . : . . . . . ; . . . 110,000 $100,127 Annual giving (less campaign expenses of $19,968 in 1957 and $12,373 in 1956)* . . . 193,410 50,118 The National Council 78,346 41,923 Other 87,972 133,441 EXPENSES:— $5,429,422 $4,872,218 Salaries and wages: Singing artists, conductors, stage directors and chorus master . . $1,164,111 $1,106,434 Orchestra 924,519 818,806 Chorus 414,435 398,482 Ballet ........ 133, 653 112*358 885,705 905,293 Wardrobe and scenic departmerits. . . . ; . 138,331 151,797 Building operations 329,886 311,268 Executive, boxoffice and clerical 349,461 314,061 Less — Reimbursement of. portion of above representing additional wages paid for broadcasting, etc., under uriion agreements. ; . $4,340,101 458*737 $4,118,499 382,741 Salaries and wages expense for the year, . ; . . ; . . . . . . . . $3,881,364 $3,735,758 60,000 61,000 Social security taxes ,.... . 111,607 10.1,107' Railroad, transfer and travel expense...,..*. . 578,087 539,964 Materials, building services and repairs 475*784 467,434 Royalties, advertising and other expenses. . ... . . _ _ ; . . . . . : 207,424 160,377 Insurance and taxes... 99,915 90,912 Interest 51,213 42,143 Depreciation 59,405 59,405 EXCESS OF EXPENSES OVER OPERATING INCOME $5,5^4,799 $5,258,100 AND CONTRIBUTIONS $95,377 $385,882 hootchie cootchie ^ « in, handsome, expert ale^ Suddenly during Act II Miss We shook hands and Qur talk waS Ferber turned to me ^nd Said: ^11t of F^Wisce^ce, for j was. his “This is one scene that I don’t like ^Fst hrhiimb^ to see.” To hear an author make ^ Fadl° ^olumbl whbcha h\br0slilfS0in^,hrln(f Somehlw. i^lcems to me that surprised me A Sent S* I & EV* « pr?mier?8 Somehow, it seems to nie that knew why; It was the return of for ‘ show Boat.’ Magnolia to the shabby roorning disaster. poignant relapse (M ^GOODMAN^ THEATRE t Helen Morgan, Forever! J CJTTC 1 CT CTDIMfCDC But the closing scenes dispelled UblMOl OllUrlUlill J the sadness and after the matinee, Chicago. ^.T^.f.tACWn.I,0. di^",'r• 1 Wa?^ * Reentry of the Goodman Me Theatre Into the general ? ™u’,d scarcely eat. I kept think public Held brought the first re uSf™ » t tTu v T*v “ the daily press the drama Gotta Swim. I kept thinking of Chooi has received for a producNorma Terris, her beautiful voice, tinn in ovpr 2ft vear<? Three of the Ra^nal ^ her^wonderfuf Wh k>k foUt Jocal critics caught the Ameranrt cWno h k ^ ican P^em of the Salzburg Festi “Don^t nl^vh ,?nd thp rtanr tnn val version of Hugo von HoffmansDont play up the dance too fKol. 0Q,,0 it much,” Ziegfeld advised her ; and "When you finish the number, a™ra*>,1* ces. don’t look at the audience; Just Donald Buka had. been brought be the young girl in her teens- in to stnt with a cast that largely unconscious of onlookers.” comprised drama students. Dr. What a compact suggestion! John Reich, who this year assumed And how perfectly Norma realized directorship of the school did the it, exiting casually, quite obliVous English translation of the play. :0f everything except -the dance. ’■ Reich was also co-adaptor ol Opening night, at the first inter “Mary Stuart,” Eva LeGalliennemission, I met Otto Kahn. Irene Worth starter which had a “How did you like it?” I asked, .-brief run earlier this season at the “It’s wonderful, but it’s not Phoenix Theatre, N. Y. Ziegfeld. Nothing like the Follies.” Michael Hall, British actor who My astonishment at his com is . staying in .Chicago while his merit, I couldn’t conceal. Though . a wife, Anne Rogers, stars in “My discriminating sponsor of opera Fair Lady,” has agreed to guestar and the arts, he entirely failed to Goodman’s next production; realize that he was seeing a his “Tiger at the Gates,” opening tory-making musical. Jan. i0. CHI GOODMAN THEATRE GETS 1ST STRINGERS Chicago. Reentry of the Goodman Me