Variety (March 1959)

LEGITIMATE Legit Bits “Tahiti,” a musical based on the Nordhoff & Hall novel, “No More Gas.” is planned for Broadway production by Nelson Barclift, who wrote the book and lyrics, with Stephen Sandes supplying the score. George Bauer, who was musical director of the 1948 Broadway pro¬ duction of “Lend an Ear," will re¬ peat the stint on the forthcoming off-Broadway revival of the revue. Gene Dingenary, producer of the current off-Broadway presentation of James Forsyth’s “Heloise,” has acquired another Forsyth play, “Trog,” for a New York outing next falL The longrun London revue, "At the Drop of A Hat.” which will launch Alexander H. Cohen’s “Nine O’clock Theatre,” will open Oct. 8 at the John Golden Theatre, N.Y. An off-Broadway production of James ..Comorthoon’s “And I De¬ test My Sins” is planned for early spring by Rose Goldstein, with Peter Kass directing. The play is also slated for a television work- over next Monday (16). The stock and amateur rights to “The Disenchanted” will be agen- ted by Samuel French. “Marcus in the High Grass,” by actor Bill Gunn, has been acquired by the Theatre Guild for a straw- hat tryout next summer. Jean Howard, former film-legit actress, will be partnered with Roger L. Stevens in next season’s contemplated Broadway produc¬ tion of the current London entry, “Five Finger Exercise.” Joseph Hayes is revising the London hit, “Any Other Business.” by ^George Ross and Campbell Singer, for Broadway production next season by Irene Selznick. It will be retitled “Calculated Risk.” “Carefree Heart,” a 1957 pre- Broadway flop, is scheduled for London production next -summer under the title “The Love Doctor.” The musical’s original producers, Lynn Loesscr and Shamus Locke, will co-sponsor the West End oui- ing in conjunction with the British firm of Robert Morley and Robin Fox. The Irish Repertoire Theatre of Dublin is slated to make its Amer¬ ican debut next fall, with a cross¬ country bus-and-truck tour start¬ ing Sept. 15 in New York. The program for the U.S. hike, which will be sponsored by Edward B. Shanley, will include Yeats’ one- act comedy, “The Pot of Broth.” traditional folk songs, comedy skits, dances, and J. M. Synge’s “Riders to the Sea.” The company is currently touring Australia and New Zealand. Jim Miller has gone to the Coast to be company manager of the touring edition of “The Pleasure of His Company.” Clifford Williams will direct Sylvia Leigh’s “Dark Halo,” which Toby Rowland and Mark Justin have slated for an early opening at Experienced MUSICAL DIRECTOR Available for STOCK Tent or Proscenium 25 years on Broadway Bex V-4. VARIETY ! . 154 W. 44th St„ N. Y. 34, N. Y. the Arts Theatre, London, with Mary Ellis as star. Actor Barry Nelson and his’ wife, singer Teresa Celli,, have pur¬ chased a home near Westport, Conn. The actors’ strike of 1919 is the subject of a projected musical, to be produced by Hermit Bloomgar- den. The book is being written by Frances Goodrich and her husband, Albert Hackett, who were both actors, during the period of the strike. A lyricist and composer haven’t been selected yet. Leslie Stevens is working on the book for a legituner adaptation of Robert Carson’s film script, “Yankee Doodle Girl.” The musi¬ cal is planned for Broadway pro¬ duction next year by Arwin Pro¬ ductions, headed by Martin Mel- cher, and Vega Productions, headed by Stevens and Stanley Colbert. Roger L. Stevens is no longer partnered with Gilbert Miller and Henry Sherek in the projected Broadway production of “Not in the Book,” which Sherek is pre¬ senting in London. The play was tested recently in Florida and Miller and Sherek have now sched¬ uled a booking next Monday (16) at the Sombrero Playhouse, Phoenix. The production, co-star¬ ring Edward Everett Horton and Reginald Owen, is due to open April 6 at the Alcazar Theatre, San Francisco. | “Breath of Spring,” by Robert ! A. Knowleton and Otto Jannsen, is • planned for Broadway production ! next fall by Richard Karp, cur- ! rently represented off-Broadway as | co-producer of “An Enemy of the j People.” | Betty Jane Watson will star in ; an outdoor production of “Annie , Get Your Gun” the week of July ; 13 at Cheesman Park, Denver, i Edward Everett Horton and Haila Stoddard will return to the : Bucks County Playhouse, New Hope, Pa., the week of June 29 for ; revivaL of “Springtime for Henry,” . celebrating the 20th anniversary [ for the strawhat. They’ll Tepeat the roles' they played in the open- [ ing show. Jack Karr, tjrama and film critic of the Toronto Star, has resigned to become publicity director of the ! Stratford (Ont.l Shakespeare Fes- ; tival, succeeding Mary Joliffe, who ; is leaving to be press head for the 1 O’Keefe Center, a legit house being constructed in Toronto. Karr joins the Stratford operation May 1 and takes over as press chief Sept. 1, when Miss Jo Jiff e departs. Nathan Cohen becomes the Toronto Star’s legit reviewer and Ron Johnson will cover films. A return Broadway presentation of Emlyn Williams’ one-man show, “A Boy Growing Up,” is planned by S. Hilrok for the week.of April 27 at an undesignated theatre. “My Mother’s House,” Bertram : Greene’s adaptation of Colette’s i book, is planned for Broadway pro- j duction next season by Cheryl 1 Crawford and Joel Schenker. ‘ ; Jerry Whyte and Morris Jacobs, ■ production supervisor and general ; manager, respectively, for Richard ; Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein ! 2d, are planning a Broadway pro¬ duction next season of Ted Willis* “Hot Summer Night.” which ended a brief London run recently. ; Japanese actor Sessne Hayakawa . arrived in New York last Friday <6) from Tokyo to begin rehearsals ; in the two-character production, i“Kataki.” ! “Extra Man,” co-authored by 1 N. Y. Journal-American drama ; critic John McClain and Thomas : W. Phipps, is planned for London ; production by Al Delynn and Peter . Marriott, in association with an- ; other management. The play stems j from McClain’s Saturday Evening I Post story, “No Visible Means,” 1 which was also the subject of a television play. * Edward Hochman and Martin Schuster plan a mid-March open¬ ing of “Ping-Pong” at the Seven : Arts Theatre, N.Y., formerly the ; Tara Theatre. Early Stages, a new off-Broad¬ way production firm, formed by Virginia Downing, Louis Beachner and John Leighton, will present a d o u b 1 e-bill, John Millington Synge’s “The Well of the Saints," and Lady Gregory’s “The Work- house Ward,” Monday nights and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons only at the Gate Thea¬ tre, N.Y., beginning April 9, for [ four weeKS. WRIETY Bonus for Bachelors? Bachelor Party Tours, a New . York travel bureau specializing in trips for groups of unwed men and women, will send a party to Europe, leaving April 27. As extra bait, the agency is including tickets to the London production of “My Fair Lady.” Protest Elizabeth Name For Vancouver Theatre Vancouver, March 10. It may be less majeste. but there’s considerable local agitation against the naming of the new civic auditorium The Royal Elizabeth Theatre The Queen has no direct association with the stage, it’s ar¬ gued, while such native-born show biz figures as David Belasco, Marie Dressier, Walter Huston, Mary Pickford and Beatrice Lillie would be appropriate as names for the house. Her Majesty is slated to snip the official ribbon opening the theatre in July, during her scheduled Canadian visit, and plans are in the works for an ambitious celebra¬ tion of the event. Meanwhile, how¬ ever, local papers and nationalist- minded show bizzers are grumbling over the name. ‘MFL’ and ‘Music Man’ Continued from page 1 for single weeks, but have recently been doing around $70,000, a week apiece, with the profit averaging j about the same as on Broadway. ! “Lady” has thus far earned a profit of nearly $4,000,000. That rep¬ resents revenue from the two U.S. companies and the London produc¬ tion, plus income from other sub¬ sidiary sources such as its cut on | the sale of the Columbia Records; original cast album. The “Music” • profit is about $1,000,000. That! includes income from the Broad-1 way and road presentations, plus ! such subsidiary revenue as its cut j on the sale of the Capitol Records; original cast album. Neither musi- j cal has yet been sold to films. } “Lady.” adapted by Alan Jay, Lerner and Frederick Loewe from; Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion,” is a; Herman Levin production, while; “Music,” written by Meredith Will- ’ son, with Franklyn Lacey collab¬ orating on the story, was produced by Kermit Bloomgarden, in part¬ nership with Herbert Greene (in association with Frank Prod-uc- j tions, Inc.). I The Columbia Broadcasting Sys- ! tern is the sole backer of “Lady” and as such gets a 40% cut of the profits, with the remaining 60% split from the management end. The profit on "Music” is split 50-50 ; between the backers and the man- ; agement. I ‘Flower’ Loot —— Continued from page 1 —— $13,000 Weekly operating profil The advance sale as of the open- ; ing was about $1,250,000, including parties. It subsequently declined to slightly over $1,100,000, but al¬ though most of the party bookings have been played, mail orders and window trade have recently boost¬ ed the advance to over $1,200,000. R & H are now preparing a tour¬ ing production and then plan a London edition. However, even more than for the original com¬ pany, casting is proving a difficult problem, as the limited supply of Oriental-looking performers has been just about exhausted by the unprecedented number of Broad¬ way shows requiring Chinese and Japanese types (“Rashomon,” “The World of Suzie Wong,” “A Majority of One" and the upcoming I “Kataki”). Although the original-cast al¬ bums were major items with such previous R & H smashes as “Okla¬ homa,” “Carousel,” "South Paci¬ fic” and “The King and I,” tne sales for “Flower Drum Song” are comparable. As with the stage production, the word-of-mouth re¬ action to the “Flower Drum” rec¬ ord is excellent. Wednesday, March II, 1959 3 Yank Imports Among 7 Top Paris Hits in ’58; Gov’t Subsidizes Legit Paris, March 10. The top grossing Paris legit hit in 1958 was Marcel Ayme’s adap¬ tation of Arthur Miller’s “View From The Bridge,” featuring Raf Vallone and directed by Peter Brook. It racked up a take of $380,- i 000, of which 12% was split 5"0-50 1 between Ayme and Miller. Other hits included Marcel Achard’s longrun “Patate,” the Georges Neveux version of “The Diary of Anna Frank,” by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, as well as Andre Roussin’s “La Mam¬ ma,” Jose-Andre Lacour’s adapta¬ tion of Herman Wouk’s “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial,” Jacques Deval's “La Pretentaine” (“The Golddigger”) and Felecian Mar? ceau’s “L’Oeuf” (“The Egg”). Thus, three of the seven top ; draws were U.S. imports. The i French government’s effort to keep J Paris a theatrical center involved special handouts to the authors’ first plays, but there were few such productions during the year. For¬ eign plays get no government sub¬ sidy unless world preemed here. Major government payments'went to the state subsidized Comedie- Francaise, Theatre National Pop¬ ulate, Opera and Opera-Comique. Paris gets productions of over 150 plays a year, including revivals, in its 45 theatres. But the small amount of hits makes government j aid necessary to keep up the prolif- • ic output. Fred Stone ■ Continued from page 79 i acrobat, but he could cut a slick ; figure eight on the ice, do fancy i rope tricks and even ride bare- j back, among other feats. The I vaude team of Montgomery & ! Stone was long a headliner until ; Montgomery’s death in 1917. I Stone’s string of musical comedy r hits as a single, after Mont- j gomery’s death, started with “Jack : o’ Lantern” in 1917. Practically all • of his Broadway stints were under ' the banner of the late Charles B. Dillingham whose productions-- were invariably presented at the old Broadway-fronting Globe The¬ atre (now the modernized 46th : St reet-f renting Lunt-Fontanne\ I Among Stone’s musical clicks ! were “The Red Mill,” “Chin-Chin,” “The Girl from Up There.” “Tip- Top,” “Stepping Stones” and “Criss-Cross.” Following his 1928 airplane crash in which he broke . both legs while learning to fly, he ; turned from less strenuous roles in ' favor of dramatic parts. He portrayed a senator from Kansas in the 1934 production of the Sinclair Lewis-Lloyd Lewis play, “The . Jayhawker,” and was seen four years later in a revival of “Lightnin.’ ” His last Broadway appearance was in 1945 as Grandpa i Vanderhof in a revival of “You Can’t Take It With You” at the New York City Center. Aside from his stage appear¬ ances, Stone was an active screen performer. He had acted before the cameras as early as 1917 but his first major Hollywood role did not come until 1935. This was a film version of Booth Tarkington’s i “Alice Adams,” which starred Katharine Hepburn. Among his other Hollywood credits were “My American Wife,” “The Westerner” and “Life Begins in College.” Stone’s three daughters, all of whom pursued stage careers, made it a family of troupers. * Paula debuted with her father in a 1930 production of “Ripples.” Dorothy was seen with him in “Stepping Stones” (1923) and Carol made her first Broadway appearance in 1933 at the Henry Miller Theatre in “Spring in Autumn.” Both Stone and partner Mont¬ gomery were active in the forma¬ tion of the White Rats, predeces¬ sor to all American actor unions, actually concerned with vaudeville against which medium the Rats called two strikes. Casting News ^ Continued, from page 78 —^ E. 48th St.; casting director, Mar¬ shal Migatz. Auditioning by ap¬ pointment; applicants mail after March 10, photo and resume. “I,” filmed on location — CBS* producer, Gilbert Ralston; casting through Marc Merson; address by mail only, Barbara Tuck, CBS, 524 W. 57th St. Available parts: un¬ usual types,'ihteresting faces, good physical conditions, will consider applicants having had odd occupa¬ tions. Submit photo and resume. J. Walter Thompson ad agency, 420 Lexington Ave.; casting direc¬ tor, Evelyn Peirce. Commercials only; cast from file; application for appointment, photo and resume by mail. Kastor, Hilton, Chesley, Clifford & Atherton ad agency, 420 Lexing¬ ton Ave. Casting, Richard King. Mail photo and resume. “Lamp Unto My Feet," religious drama, CBS; producer. Don Keller, man; director, James Mac Allen. Submit photo and resume for con¬ sideration. Nat Greenblatt (524 W, 57th St.). Lawrence We!k show (Plymouth Motors), ABC-TV — Seeking teen¬ age vocal and instrumental per- pormers for guest appearances or as permanent band members. Sub¬ mit disk or tape nome-recorded acceptable) of wellknown pop or standard numbers, plus recent photo, short biographical summary. Address Plymouth Show, ABC Studio, Hollywood, or 2623 Santa Monica blvd., Santa Monica. “Look Up & Live,” religious- dramatic, CBS. Producer, Jack Kuney; casting, Marc Merson, 524 W. 57th St. Casting from files. Mail photo and resume, N. W. Ayer & Sons, Inc., ad agency, PL 7-5700; casting direc¬ tor, Guy Wallase. Casting for Breck Shampoo, available parts for pretty natural blondes or femmes j with light red or light brown hair, ( about shoulder length or there¬ abouts. Phone for appointment. National Screen Service, 1600 Broadway. Casting, Carl Carbone. Submit photo and composite for consideration. North Advertising, 6 E. 45th St. i Casting Frank Higgins. Cast from ; files for the^Toni commercials. Pre- j fer models with good hair. Mail : photo and resume for considera- : tion. . . i Reach, McClintion & Co., 505 i Park Ave.; casting, Esther Latterell. j Photo and resume accepted via j mail only for commercials; boys, ; girls; middleaged and elderly men ; and .women; also young and mature women for shampoo commercials. Schwartz & Luskin agency, 15 ■ E. 48th St.. N.Y. Photo and resume of 8-year-old boys and girls ac¬ cepted. by mail for future com¬ mercials. “The Verdict Is Yours," unre- i hearsed - courtroom dramas. CBS; i producer, Eugene Burr; director, : Byron Paul; casting contact, Liam Dunn, CBS, 524 W. 57th St. (do not . phone). No open casting; all done from files. Submit photo and res- ; ume for consideration. FOR SALE ::! " ' ‘J SHUBERT THEATRE | IN CINCINNATI. OHIO 'f | BLACKSTOME THEATRE | w and teas* of s.& | GREAT NORTHERN ^ THEATRE £ i x IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS | ! <fto purchasers intending to use thes| j ^ property as Legitimate Theatres.^ Reply to Box V112-59, VARIETY, ^ m 154 West 44th St., New York 34 -I WANTED 800 TO lOOO THEATRE SEATS BOX V-3, VARIETY, 154 W, 46th St., New York 34 BARN THEATER Location Plattsburgh, N. Y. Resort aroa ad|. thruway oxit, 2 million po¬ tential draw from Montreal, Burling¬ ton. Renovate 2 ioinad barns, 30x60, 23x60. Modern living quarters avail¬ able. GROUCHO MARX will appear for 4 weeks of Summer Theatre in “No Time For Bizabeth” Address all information and Inquiries tax GUMMO MARX, 1150 S. Beverly Drive, Los Angeles 35, California