Variety (March 1959)

Wednesday, March 25, 1959 LEGITIMATE 71 Bill for Further Adrnish Tax Cut Washington, March 24. A new version of the pending ' hill to provide a further reduction of the tax on tickets for live, per¬ formances has been introduced by Sens. Harrison Williams (D-N.J.) and Jacob K. JavitsTR-N. Y ). Rep. Prank Thompson Jr. (D* . N. J.) has reintroduced the new version in the House to replace original bill he offered in January. The Council of the Living Theatre called a special meeting in New York today (Tues.) to consider the hew bill, James F. Reilly, executive director of the League of N. Y. Theatres, CLT affiliate, informed Thompson. The recommended change is con¬ tained in an additional section to the original bill. It provides that all resultant tax relief benefits should be placed in a special fund, held in escrow, to be used to in¬ crease ‘ theatrical and musical job opportunities throughout the na¬ tion. Presumably, the fund would be used to pass out loans, subsidies and/or grants to aid construction or operation of theatres or audito¬ riums suitable for performing arts in cities not now having them, or able to support more. Show Biz, Public Board The fund would be administered by a board of trustees appointed by the President and including representatives of show biz man¬ agement and labor, as well as mem¬ bers representing the public. Ac¬ tually, measure would be voluntary as far as theatre operators, etc., are concerned. It is legally unenforce¬ able (i.e., no one could be made to turn back tax benefits), but amounts merely to an expression of “Congressional intent.” Otherwise, the Williams-Javits Bill (S. 1475) is identical with origi¬ nal Thompson Bill of the House. It provides that the first $2 of an admission ticket be tax exempt if “principal part” of performance is live. Further, it slashes 20% caba¬ ret tax in half. Behind the scenes, legit and mu¬ sic groups have been attempting to get motion picture organizations to join in a united front on - the Thompson Bill {which benefits (Continued on page 72) la flume’ Pressagents, Hearts Wounded Deeely, Offer May, June Seats New York. Editor, Variety: The recent letter-to-the-editor about press agents, house seats and the farm version of “service” wounded our public service hearts deeply. “La Plume De Ma Tante,” the show for which the letter writer, Allen Will Harris, had trouble getting tickets, is as we all know, a smash hit. Everybody, but everybody, has trouble getting seats for “La Plume.” We are happy in rendering this report (ore of our public services). We should make it clear to Harris in behalf of all pressagents (& noble public service breed) that house seats in their possession are intended for the use of only one part of the public —namely, the press. House seats in the posses¬ sion of the pressagent are used for out-of-town critics and for news¬ papermen who - want or need to see “La Plume,” either because they liked it so much the first time or because they are doing special articles about it. Only whert there Is no demand by the working press for these seats may we give our house seats to allied journeymen who might do the show some good, some way, some time. Unfortunately for Harris, there were several cnm- pPeations beyond our control. Our astute general manager sold a few theatre parties to slake the pub- tic’s insatiable demand for “La Plume” (should he be blamed?). Unfortunately we were not able to inform Harris in time. We should like to assure. Harris that we would still like to accom¬ modate him if he wants to see “La Plume” again. We have a few seats scattered throughout May and June. This does not constitute an offer to anyone else, let us quickly add. Frank Goodman , Seymour Krawitz, Pressagents for “La Plume de Ma Tante” 4 --:--- : -:- : - To Use Ford Grant For Goodman Theatre Stars Chicago, March 24. Dr. John Reich, head of, the Goodman Theatre here and recip¬ ient of a $10,000 Ford Foundation grant (one of 10 awarded to thea¬ tre directors) will use the money to bring Broadway stars for the drama school’s productions. . For the past two semesters, Reich has strained the school’s budget to bring in one or. two pros for every show, but they’ve neces¬ sarily been non-names. He figures that stars will have an inspirational effect on the Goodman’s student players. The Ford grant was made per¬ sonally to Reich, and he could have spent it for. his own travel or re¬ search, but prefers to use it in the Goodman Theatre’s behalf. Rekindle Plans ToDo ‘Fleecing’ Courtney Burr and Elliott Nu¬ gent are planning to resume pro¬ duction of “Golden Fleecing”, w'hich was halted in rehearsal last Jan. 24. Backers of the Lorenzo Semple Jr. comedy, capitalized at $100,000, are being notified of the producers’ intention to put the show back into rehearsal next August for an -out-of-town opening around Labor Day. and a Broadway bow in October. Under the terms of. a pre-pro¬ duction deal with Metro for the film rights to the play, the man¬ agement has to open the show out-of-town next September and in New York by Nov. 15, to get its full share of the payoff from the picture company. The sale in¬ volves $50,000 down and a sliding arrangement up to $275,000, plus profit participation. The production has to adhere to the dates stipulated in the con¬ tract to get its 40% slice of the basic $50,000 which has already been paid by*Metro. Under those conditions, Semple’s share will be 60% rather than the full 100%. The remaining $20,000 is being held in escrow on the basis of the contractual requirements. It's understood that the deficit on the production thus fafis about $20,000-$30,000. That's on the basis of a resumption of produc¬ tion, since scenery and other phys¬ ical properties have been stored. However, if the production is ultimately dropped those assets would be valueless and thus in¬ crease the loss substantially. EQUITY TO MAKE NEW DEMANDS ON WELFARE Actors Equity is seeking to in¬ crease welfare benefits for its members. Executive secretary An¬ gus Duncan has notified the League of N.Y. Theatres of de¬ mands the union will make when the tiyo organizations begin nego¬ tiations for a new agreement to re- I place the five-year production pact expiring May 31. The demands cover expanded hospitalization and medical bene¬ fits and the inception of an in¬ surance and pension plan. Equity wants the employers to kick in with 2.68% of the performers’ pay¬ roll for the hospitalization and medical benefits, .86% for the in¬ surance arid 7% for the pension fund. The demands total 10.54% of the performers’ payroll. The League is lining up a spe¬ cial negotiator to handle the dis- .cussions with Equity. Representa¬ tives of the two organizations will hold initial confabs on the subject April 13. If an agreement isn’t reached by May 31, the American Arbitration Assn.- will convene a three-man board to settle remain¬ ing issues. It’s understood the League wants 1 Burton A. Zorn, of the law firm of Preskauer, Rose, Goetz & Mendelsohn, to handle the negotiations with Equity, James Morris has been set for the title role in Paul Green’s “The Stephen Foster Story,” slated to preem next June 15 in Bardstown, Ky. till to Peninsula, 0. t March- 24, Thomas Hill, of the Cleveland Playhouse staff, has been set to produce arid direct six shows for the Peninsula Players this sum¬ mer. The strawhat group Is skedded .to open its season in June and plans on stretching the sched¬ ule to 10 weeks. Max Ratner is the outfit’s new president, and other officers in¬ clude Mrs. Charles Conger, vice president; Robert Bishop, treas¬ urer; Mrs. Edith Minns, secretary, and Charles M. Rice, publicity di¬ rector. Off-B way Score: 8 Recent Flops Had IMG Loss A flock of recent off-Broadway closings is figured to represent a combined loss of at least $100,000. That takes in six folds March 15, a bowout the previous March 8 and the forced closing of another entry March 3. Although all the shows are be¬ lieved to have been financially un¬ successful, several received favor¬ able reviews. The longest-running entry of the eight that closed was “Ivanoff,” which folded March 15 after more than five months at the Renata. Wrapping up the same day were "Buffalo Skinner,” “Man Who Never Died,” “On the Town,” “Quare Fellow” and “She Shall Have Music.” The previous Sunday’s closing was “Trip to Bountiful,” while “Fashion” had to terminate its run March 3 at the Royal Theatre because of a building violation. Of the eight folds, “Man Who Never Died” is figured to have dropped the most coiri, since it had already lost about $25,000 when taken over by a new man¬ agement last January. The pro¬ duction had a run of nearly four months at the Jan Hus Auditor¬ ium. It’s understood that “Ivanoff,” (Continued on page 73) League, Equity Oppose fill to Lift Broker Fee Limit, But O.K. Hove For Travel Bureaus; Jesse Moss Bitter — - - Y The proposed one-year suspen- i . 9 . 7 .i } sion of the limit on brokerage fees .Barbarians at Zurich; Jfor New York theatre tickets ap- Richards Doing Musical ; P ears b ® d ° 0m o ed - T T he ?? 1 . be - „ . , ® _ . „. ; fore the N. Y. State Legislature t t a t>- , Zu £ lch ’ Mart * 24 - ! was figured to have a chance of Lexford Richards, currently re- : passage> despite a protest by Actors siding in Europe, was here for the; E I , but opp ^ sition by the rehearsals and recent opening of. L ^ gue of N y Theatres has ap- the initial German-language pro- parently tipped the scales against duction of his comedy, “Dear Bar- ft h 3 ™" 5 " a H ■ t i 1 a n c M U r^nL aU n» i The N. Y. Ticket Brokers, Inc., an Barde 1 ?s a^chanreof-nace from associa,ion of 32 agencies, is push- tte usual \e"sh*Js us£SS ■ )£ - J : argument that suspension of the offered at the Schauspielhaus. Mink Inks Hope, Eyes Other Names to Raise Coin Flag on Specs Cleveland, March 24. Bob Hope is first of name attrac¬ tions set by Max Mink, newly ap¬ pointed producer of Cain Park outdoor summer theatre, to reopen it June 15. Deal for the Cleveland- reared comedian was closed by Mink, also managing director of Cinerama-Palace here, during his recent trip to the west coast. Municipal amphitheatre of 3,000 seats, owned by City of Cleveland Heights, has played everything from local stock tuneshows to symphony concerts and disk-tap¬ ing personalities during its long career. This time it will, try import¬ ing tv-Broadway-Hollywood stars to top spectaculars for runs up to two weeks, according to Donald R. Tuttle, prez of Cain Park Civic Assn., which is promoting the new policy. Hope’s opening show is for two weeks. Mink and his backers are now negotiating with Jerry Lewis, Dean Margin, Danny Kaye -and Jack Benny* appear in similar specs hereon a guarantee and percentage,A^sis. Stock Mgr. Group Wants Members-# ‘Enforcement’ The Council of Stock Theatres is making a drive for members. The organization, representing about 25 of the strawhats employ¬ ing stars, decided at a. recent meeting to try to enlist some of the better unaffiliated stock operations so. as to strengthen the council’s position in the establish¬ ment of regulations and the nego¬ tiation of contracts. It was also decided to hold more meetings to discuss packages, which have become a mainstay of many of the silos using names. The question of enforcement of the $2,000 weekly maximum salary guarantee for stars was also on the agenda and is slated to come up again at the next COST meet April 6. The wage maximum fat the stars dobs not include per¬ centage deals, which can be freely negotiated by the barn operators. publishing firm, Chappell, Inc. To Open Cutrate Agency on B’ way maximum $1.25 ticket broker’s ' reviews public response LT«n toSM Ckin e R on h fnew pitv^The'GoM ; Premium commensurate with the working on a new play. The Gold- if..,, , _ j i en Goose,” and the book for a mu- - ! cket de ” a “ d \,, 1 " ot , her " ord l- laical, commissioned by U.S. music they '™ uld be able to charge much — - , more than the present $1.25 pre- j mium for a hot ticket and pocket the amount above the b.o. price. Equity’s stand is that the re- ! moval of the broker fee limit would amount to legalization of scalping rather than elimination of it. There’s also a feeling among authors, directors, actors who get a percentage of the gros^. and ’ among certain producers and back- A new outlet for cutrate Broad- ers, that if higher prices are aetu- way. legit tickets will open in mid- ally paid for tickets to hit shows, April. The bargain operation, a the increase should go to those who throwback to the days when Le-. create and operate the production, blang’s and Gray’s peddled dis- • rather than be taken by the agen- count tickets, will be a feature of ! cies. the Ticket Corner, which Charles j Favor Travel Bureaus Bloomfield is opening on the north-l .... . T , _ west corner of Broadway and 46th ! Although the League and Equity St, the site formerly occupied by a ; f e rc “°'’ al ° f tbe br0 , ker Childs’ restaurant. tee 1 ' mlt - both hav ,<: f ndor ?S da ■„ companion measure that would lift The Bloomfield operation will existing restrictions on the sale of ha y« * wo ^?. or j The upper level ; theatre tickets by travei bureaus, will be utmzed for the cutrates, out . of . town packagers, etc. How- whale Bloomfield s National The- = ever the brokers opnose enactment atre Ticket Service will oecupy the ; of the latter measure by itself, on downstairs site selling tickets on the ground that such action would the regitiar broker basis. Bloom- , he discriminatory, so its passage is fidd says that the discount opera- : a]c > 0 figured doubtful. James F Reilly, executive direc¬ tion will be launched with one show, for which he has obtained tickets for a foiir-week period. Production for which cutrate tickets are available will not be advertised. Those interested in buying discount ducats will have to visit the Ticket Corner to find out what is available. Numerous shows have been utilizing cutrate tickets in recent seasons through a dis¬ tribution outlet called the Sports & Play Club Plan, a subsidiary of Arcus-Simplex-Brown, Inc., a tick¬ et printing firm. (Continued on page 76) Equity Sets ‘Off-B’way’ Code for H’wood Arena Small-Ssater Theatres Hollywood, March 24. Off-Broadway is having a far- reaching affect on the rules gov- erning little theatre employment hLdlVrbrthe Sports & Play Club "7,^ a r a ‘* «w YoT^pi'oducOonsoS^e ( twofers ) and are distributed to ,, Timp<? ^nuarp arpa ha«: hppn ms U ^rrh a nt g s an whn 0 Mss a them a on eStabIished ty Actors Equity for ous merchants, who pass them on the mushr00ming sma if. sea ter to customers. presentations in the Hollywood Bloomfield, besides selling dis- J rea , count ducats, will utilize the The- ; Tbe new t efFective March , atre Corner for theatre party and , is aIong tbe lines of tbe offiBroa d- theatre package activities, a ticket i W ay contract i’i ai 1 major respects club and a travel agency. The spot (eX cept the sliding scale. The mini* wiH also serve as a Times Square mum performance salary, under boxoffice for out-of-Manhattan of- the new regulations, is $40 a week ferings, such as the Jones Beacg and the minimum rehearsal pay is summer productions. $25 a week. Those figures apply - to theatres with a potential gross EQUITY’S NOMINATING ... for performance and rehearsal m GROUP ALL MODERATE ; ^r r s an £ th of a 5 3^ y 4, 5 p o°o tc Ti,e The election of nominating com- same minimums apply to spots mittee representatives at the Ac-. where the potential gross exceeds tors Equity membership meeting in $4,500. In . these larger houses, New York last Friday (20) is re- however. Equity employees on garded as representing a clean minimum contracts also are to sweep for the moderate element in share equally in 20% of the gross the union. A group of 10. of whom over $4,500 up to the minimum seven rep principals and three salary under a standard Equity from the chorus body, were elect- contract. When that point is ed to the committee, which also reached, the pacts will be' con- includes five representatives of the verted to standard contracts, union’s council. The new contract also stipulates The five council members, se- that a specific ratio of the casts lected- prior to the membership must be Equity members. Hospi- meet, are also regarded as moder- talization and accident insurance ates. The committee of 15 will se- are other benefits, while another lect candidates for council vacan- clause requires at least an hour cies in the upcoming June election, between performances. Under the Membership reps in the principal present arrangement, there’s been category are Dana Andrews, Ralph . no basic minimum salary, with the Dunn, Art Carney, Jack Davis, Cyn- ; professional performers equally thia Latham. Fay Sappington and ^ dividing 18% of a theatre’s poten- Frank Thomas Jr. The three chor- tial gross. us reps, chosen by the membership, i There have recently been eight are.Harry Goz, Tom Plank and Bar- little theatres o^srating with pro- bara Williams. ’fessional performers in the Holly- The council reps are Dorothy ; wood area. They include the three Sands, John Effrat, Jean Staple-v., Players Ring Theatres, Ring, Gal- ton, Ralph Lowe and Charles • lery and Civic; and the Ivar, Las Blackwell, chairman of the com-' Palmas. Circle, Theatre of Art! mittee. jarid Omnibus Center Theatre.