Variety (January 1958)

266 LEGITIMATE Fifty-second t^VRIETY Anniversary January 8, 1958 Peronist Featherbed Smothers Legit; 27 B. A. Theatres Shrink To 19 By NID EMBER Buenos Aires. Though visitors find it hard to believe, Argentine legit has been in the throes of a severe crisis for some years. Visitors see massed crowds moving along Corrierites, the local Broadway, at all hours of night every day of the : week, and ask whether a crisis is possible where there’s this vast, noctambulous, potential audience. Yrit day by day the press reports more the¬ atres knocked down for replace¬ ment by business skyscrapers. In 1957 alone, the number of theatres in B. Aires dropped from 28 to 19, The Casino, Buenos Aires, Ver¬ sailles and Grand Splendid became film theatres; the Politeama* Apolo, Comedia and Porteno were razed, and rumor has it that several more theatres are on the block, so there will be even less than 19 to cater to an audience of 11 millions (5 for the cityv another 6 for suburbs and. province). A vast audience undoubtedly there is, as yet unaffected by tele¬ vision.. Avid for entertainment and willing to dig hard in its “bombachas” for what is really good. Also with such keen enthusiasm foi the theatre, that throughout the country hundreds of “Little Theatre" groups (vocacionales) are spreading and drawing audiences away from the slapdash, profes¬ sional theatres, which are less en¬ terprising in choice of plays, less selective in choosing casts, and refuse to move with the times as the citizens’ intellectual stature grows. There are heated and repeated debates around the theme of this legit crisis. Some prescribe State subsidies as a remedy, others want legislation declaring any legit the¬ atre a public utility and immune from demolition. Others, throw blame on authors for not writing well enough to lure audiences; the authors truthfully counter that native plays have been discarded foi? so long, they are scarcely to blame. (Producers say the native writers misguidedly submit plays demanding such large casts they can’t afford to produce them.) “Plain and Fancy,” translated to the local stage with a local cast, was one of the 1956 flops, mainly, because the humor was incom¬ prehensible to the locals: On the other hand, “Cacho” (Francisco) Carcavallo’s production of “Tangolandia” at his family’s Presidente Alvear theatre this Winter, on a book by Ivo Pelay and with music by Francisco Canaro, has been one of the biggest grossefs' and pointed the way to this new form of legit entertainment. This would be a revival of the genre (qostumbrista) type legit, successful in the heyday of Argen¬ tine legit (1880’s to 1920’s), and typified by Alberta Vacarezza’s “Conventillo. de la Paloiha/ • The “conventillo" was the down-at-heel rooming house in which Spanish and Italian immigrants cohabited, a melting pot of customs, humor, aeng and sorrow, which made ex¬ cellent stage material. Now this type show is still produced, but low in quality because no longer taken from life; its authors try tp amuse through vulgarity, or draw tears with corny pathos and the illiterate alone continue to like it.; ( Whose Benefits? | But the main cause of the “crisis" •terns from Peron’s yauhted “conquistas sociales" (social benefits): Labor contracts were forced through by labor leaders to serve the tyrant’s political ambitions. Excessive featherbedding was created as a means, of snaring votes, and this is squeezing pro¬ ducers out of business. Show busi¬ ness is too elastic and eclectic for submission to. the hide-bound rules imposed under those contracts. Today a legit impresario has seven unions to cope with: the T'.cket-sellers,’ Ushers,’ Actors’, Cleaners/ Technician/ Electrician/ and Prop-men apart from the Authors’ Rights Society (Argentores) and. Producers Association (APTA). Each stipulates employ¬ ment’ of a . minimum number of salaried workers, even if such services are unnecessary, so regular wages must be paid to large groups who mostly don’t work at all. Then there are Wig-makers, tailors, deci orators, shoemakers, heating, light, f telephones, air-conditioning,, ad¬ ministrative staff, neon lights, painters, advertising, printing, dis¬ play material, stubs, maintenance, electrical repairs/ powers and pos¬ ter-sticking, disinfection, sanitary inspection, taxes, etc. etc. 1 . .. Nothing. But ’Help* \ The Alvear, for example, has a permanent year-round staff of 40, even if the theatre is shuttered. Mounting a musical comedy in¬ volves engaging another. 20. The number, swells to 100 people who never appear on-stage, but must ; all be paid for upkeep of premises which are shuttered 20 hours of each day. Most impresarios try and cover some of the overhead by leasing their theatres on Monday (rest-day) for concerts, benefits, lectures, etc., but for such occa¬ sions, under union rules, the main staff must get extra pay. There is agitation to . resume matinees, eliminated in Peron’s time, ostensibly so players could accept film, radio arid other book¬ ings, in reality because Eva Perrin’s late brother, Juan Duarte — the playboy of showbusiness urider the dictatorship— found it irksome not to find his actress friends at home , in the afternoon. Actors are resist¬ ing matinees, on the plea that, it’s too fatiguing to work two shows a day. Actors’ Wages and working hours are disproportionate. The mini¬ mum wage, just to walk on, is 1,600 pesos monthly, whereas a bank clerk starts at a minimum cf 1,350 a month for 716 hours a ’ day, increasing to 1,650 after 4 ; years. An apprentice actor earns ! more than the clerk, but works an average of only 75 hours a month. Then union, rules insist that a ] company include a minimum cast of 12. When Spanish actor Enrique Guitart appeared in Ernesto Bloch’s jrionologue, . “The Hands of Euridlce,” the prpducer had to pay 11 other actors for two years, who never went on stage. Union rules also establish a five-month mini¬ mum for contracts, so if a show flops: in the 1st, week, the cast goes on drawing Wages for 5 months. In 1956 one producer ventured to produce a play involv¬ ing a cast of 20 actresses. Had it flopped, he would have had to pay the entire 20 for five months, and it : was a cast unadaptable to an¬ other play. The result is that producers quail and sell out. The only alter¬ native is production on a cooper¬ ative, or profit-sharing basis. Is the Theatre Anti-Semantic ? By JEROME LAWRENCE and ROBERT E. LEE When you dial Murray Hill 74400, the odds are fairly good .that you will be connected with the Algonquin Hotel. But the Broad¬ way argot is cluttered with wrong numbers which don’t make the right connection with a great many, people. We don’t mean that when yon dial Roz, you get Tallulah. It is even more disconcerting — if pos¬ sible! We are referring to. those words in the legitimate vocabu¬ lary which frankly don’t mean what they seem to mean — mis¬ nomers which result in embarrass¬ ment, frustration, confusion and waste. Here are a few: : HOUSE SEAT ORDER": Per¬ haps it springs from a century’s usage of the phrase “on the house” for gratis admissions. But the nor: tion is: prevalent (especially frrim Hasbrouek Heights west, but even in the lobby of the Waldorf) that a “House Seat Order" means a "pass/* And how riiany unsophisti-: cated Diends of dear Cousin Frieda hive been outraged, upon pre¬ senting the magic white slip to the treasurer of the National, to find out they must also cough up folding money? It takes too long to explain that: the. Shuberts . are not . a charitable institution. It is high time that the magic slip is retitled: • "PRIVILEGE TO BUY”: And let the simultaneously accursed and blessed' “House Seats" be rechristened “Privilege Seats.” * “TRY-OUT”: A new play on tour out-of-town before its Broadway, opening is not a “fry-out”: it is a life or death struggle for survivaL The stakes are down, the commit¬ ments are made and the alterna¬ tive to success is disaster, spelled exactly the way it happened to the Titanic. The easy flippancy of “Try-Out" makes the whole ven¬ ture; sound like Squibb testing; a few hundred new toothpaste pack¬ ages in Duluth. The Forrest Thea¬ tre is a delivery room: and the; baby cannot change its mind in the birth canal. Call it a “Pre-Broad¬ way Tour" or a “Break-In”— but spurn the usage Which implies a toy in i wind-tunnel. * * * “ADAPTATION”: If a play of Corneille is re-shaped and refurb¬ ished for modern auidences, it is properly called an “Adaptation." But when a play is. created out of source material of another genre i novel or a collection of short stories-^it is a “Dramatization.” The word “adaptation” implies a ‘boiling-down” so that the result bears roughly the relationship of bouillon cube to a. beef steak. Any dramatist worth his soup should intensify the flavor of the broth. Mr, Patrick did not “adapt" Mr. Sneider; he “Dramatized” him. ’PRODUCER”: This is a vague and inaccurate Word,, warped by motion picture usage, : and lacking the concise vitality of the task it represents. Every limited partner thinks he is a producer. Actually, the author has produced the play; and it is usually the director who determines its physical form: Why not discard the sloppy and pre¬ tentious word “ Producer" in favdr of the older and .more accurate British expression of “Mariager”? How much more appropriate it isl Vfor he. “manages” the money* he ■’manages" the people, he “man¬ ages", the play, and— God arid the audiences willing— he “manages” to get hit; “LITTLE THEATRES: Some of the “littlest” theatre we have ever seen has been offered in football stadiums; public auditoriums, cir¬ cus tents arid exposition halls. And some of ; the “largest” theatre of our experience has been shared with a. delighted handful of spec¬ tators in boites sans scenery, sans proscenium, sans .Equity, sans ev¬ erything. No good theatre can prop¬ erty be called “little." The esthe craft of speech? Qr is the thea¬ tre anti-semantic? to improve a nuance or two within senee of theatricality is iriagnification— which may be telescopic or microscopic. Avaunt such insult¬ ing discriminations! Theatre theatre — on West 44th Street or on the tailgate of a truck. Expres .sioris.. which/make fences among the people of the theatre are as harmful as a fence between the play and the audience. London Libraries— A pleasure! Continued from page 265 ity may begin at home in London* but it begins in the theatre in New I York. You British must experience the positive delight of visiting a theatre and witnessing a play being given before a theatre-party char-, ity audience which has paid anywhere from $10 to $25 extra for tick¬ ets in order to help the charity, and incidentally to help the theatre. The members of these audiences exhibit an attitude toward the; play and actors which is extreriiely helpful With drarna where an effort is i made to stir up hatred of the audience against the villain of the play. The trouble is that the theatre party audience usually hate all the ac¬ tors, whether they are playing villains or not; They think of that extra $25 they paid for their seats and of the aggressive young woman or man who sold them the tickets, and somehow it seems to affect their en¬ joyment of the theatre,”^ “I shall try my very bestrto avoid introducing the black market in any form into the English theatre,” said Peter Cadbury, his jaw set in that stubborn manner Which, reminded line that all the battles in Europe were won on the playing fields of Eton. “I’m all in favor of charity/’ he said, “but not at the expense of the theatre. I care not what you say about the American system. I am going to continue to sell tickets in the old-fashioned way, without the aid of gyps, scalpers, and distributors of ‘ice’.” “How can you prevent it/’ I asked. “Already, I hear that people are waiting six months to buy tickets for *My Fair Lady’.” Ari expression of solemn dedication passed over Peter Cadbury’s handsome features. “Let me tell you,” he said. “I have evolved a plan of doing away with that black market in ‘My Fair Lady’” tickets, that has sent them spinning to $35 apiece in New York. I will hold back 200 seats for each performance and sell them the same day, to cut down blaekmarketing,” I looked at him in amazement. Could it be possible that this man* single-handed and alone, was going to see to it that visitors to Lon¬ don could attend the play on the day of their arrival without paying an enormous premium? Was this scion of a Quaker family going to mattle like a crusader of old against the law of supply and demand? Imagine what would happen in the New York theatre if 200 seats for every successful play were sold only on the day of the performance! Gone would be all the extraneous excitement of theatregoing at spec¬ ulative ; prices! •. .. | No Scarcities Elsewhere | We Would find ourselves reverting to the traits of our British ances¬ tors and start going soberly to the theatre again with good seats at rea¬ sonable prices. Perish the thought! Defeated in my argument by Cadbury, I ventured to remark weakly on some of the other results of the economics of scarcity in the New York theatre; the scarcity of theatres which makes it. harder to book them than anywhere else in the World; the scarcity of competitive sce¬ nery builders, which causes about half of the shows to be bulit on over¬ time; the scarcity of competitive costume shops whichresults in cos¬ tumes being twice as expensive for similiar reasons; the scarcity of plays and actors whose popularity is so great as to be able to earn the enormous amounts needed to pay for all those inflated costs and run. ning expenses; and finally, the scarcity of audiences to attend any but the so-called “smash hits" because of scarcity of money in their pock¬ ets. But lest my British friend might think I was carrying the economics of scarcity to the breaking point, I explained that we have a plentitiide of . other commodities in the theatre; such as drunks who arrive late; traffic regulations which make it almost impossible for vehicles to move at theatre . time; combinations of truckers and teamsters who insure that the same exorbitant prices for rnoving scenery are charged throughout the entire country; and finally, aa influx of agents from Hollywood who can no longer make a living there, and are now busily engaged in raising the standards arid everything else in the New York theatre. ‘Come, come, are you not being bitter?,” asked my British friend, “No," I replied, muttering the worn-out cliche about the Fabulous invalid.” "The American theatre is rugged and full of raw energy. It can survive anything, even itself!” Anzac Legit-Unafraid of TV By HARALD A. BOWDEN l Exec Director J; C. Williamson Theatres Ltd .). Sydney. There have been moans and groans from Australia’s picture magnates abont business being af¬ fected by the ever-increasing sale of television sets. But so far, hap¬ pily, there has been no bellyach¬ ing from legitimate managements. We are approaching the end of a great year when long runs have, been the rule, which naturally de¬ lights all managements. Williamson-Tait, the leading the¬ atrical management, has scored big \ successes with “Pajama Game," the Borovansky Ballet (highlighted, by brief appearances of Dame Mar¬ got Fonteyn) and the evergreen Gilbert & Sullivan Savoy Operas. . Drama and comedy presented . in¬ cluded ‘‘Diary of Ann Frank,” ‘‘Double Image” (a thriller) and "The Multi-Coloured .Umbrella,” ari Australian play by. an Australian author. Of special interest also was the return of Dairie Sybil Thorndike and Sir Lewis Casson to Australia after their Broadway appearance in “The Chalk Gar¬ den.” The Elizabethan Trust* a govern¬ ment-sponsored organization, pre¬ sented . a season of grand opera, brought out Paul Rogers in "Ham¬ let” arid a bawdy farce, “The Re¬ lapse." It also gave an Australian author a Chance in presenting a local effort, “The Shifting Heart,” based on the assimilation of Euro¬ peans into Australian conditions; David Martin has maintained a revue policy on the -Tivoli circuit. Harry Wren, a “lone wolf” mana¬ ger, got together a group of oldtimers in a revue entitled “The Good Old Days” and cleaned up a fortune; The coming 12 months look like a very full year; for the legitimate theatre, especially as far as the Williamson-Tait Group is con¬ cerned. For a number of top at¬ tractions will he presented under the W-T banner. The Luisillo Span¬ ish Troupe will tour Australia and New Zealand while in conjunction with Harry Wren, the Williamson Theatres will present the cele¬ brated Japanese revue, “Takarazuka." What’s expected to be the big¬ gest event of the 1958 season will be the visit of the New York City Ballet, which Will plane to Aus^ tralia after a season iri Japan. This ; is the culmination of Sir Frank Tail’s visit to New York in 1956, combined with the personal efforts of Paul Szillard. Musical attrac¬ tions on the W-T slate will be the Australian premiere of “Damn Yankees” leading up to thei presen¬ tation of “My Fair Lady”— a busy year for the Williamson-Tait Organ¬ ization. Still another possibility is a mu¬ sical version of “The Sentimental Bloke" on which W-T has taken an option. The work is based upon a book of poems of the same name by Australian writer C; J. Dennis. Popular during World War I, the volume was later filmed as a silent, as a talkie and was also done as a stage comedy. Interest in “Bloke” was revived recently when ‘ the publishers brought out a new edition of the poems, which had reached the 160,000 mark m point of sales. Its mu¬ sical , version is the result of the efforts of Australian playwrightcomposer Albert Arlen, who holds the stage arid screen rightslto Den¬ nis’ works. Book was started by novelist : George Johnston While Australian diplomat Lloyd Thomp¬ son, also toiled on It.