Variety (January 1961)

Wednesday, January 25, 1961 LEGITIMATE . 61 Literati Milwaukee Journal Shifts Publisher Irwin Maier has been elected Milwaukee Journal Co. president. Lindsey Hoben, Journal veepee and editorial editor since 1955, was made editor of paper. Harry J. Grant is chairman of the board. J. Donald Ferguson has re¬ tired as president (and editor) after 46 years on the paper. • Peter King, treasurer of the Journal, after 34 ' years with the paper, also goes to pasture. [was not essentially a Canadian mag, although previous Time spokesmen had contended it was. He also urged the founding of a Canadian newsmagazine, and said he might purchase a minority in¬ terest. Asked if -Time was slanted, Luce said, “There should be a preface to everything contained therein, and it would read, 'This is the truth about things as we see it.” He said he found O’Leary's ques¬ tions “tough but proper.” Columbia, S.C., Shifts Sam Latimer Jr. has stepped down as editor of Columbia State after 54 years on that South Carolina newspaper published by the State-Record Publishing Co. Latimer, 70, retired as publisher a year ago. Henry F. Cauthen, editor of Columbia ^Record, afternoon sheet operated by State-Record outfit, steps up into Latimer’s editorial post. Harry R. E. Hampton moves up from associate editor to coeditor with Cauthen. John A. Montgomery, State’s managing editor, will become editor of Columbia Record. Hampton is a great-nephew of the Gonzales brothers who founded The State. He has been with the paper for 40 years. .Montgomery has been with same sheet for 31 years. 150-Volumes Called 'Complete* American, British and Italian publishing firms have teamed up to bring out a new series of art books consisting of more than 150 volumes and containing reproduc¬ tions of the “complete” works of the great masters. Dubbed the “The Complete Li¬ brary of World Art,” the series will be edited by Prof. Gian Al¬ berto Dell. Acqua, director of the Brera Gallery in Milan; Sir John . Rothenstein, director of the Tate Gallery in London; Prof. James Grote Van Derpool, associate dean of the Columbia U,’s School of Architecture, and Dr. Paolo Lecaldario, director of the art depart¬ ment of the Italian publishing firm of Rizzoli, where the project origi¬ nated. The American publisher will be Hawthorn Books Inc. of New York, and the British publisher will be Oldbourne Press of London. Ken Giniger, general manager of Haw¬ thorn, and H. A. Humphrey, man¬ aging director of Oldbourne, have been in Milan, Paris and London during the past three weeks meet¬ ing with the editors to work out the final details of the project. Work on more than 40 of the vol¬ umes has already been completed. “The Complete Library of World Art” will commence publication this fall and continue, one volume per month, until the spring of 1974. The project is Hawthorn’s second 150-volume project. “The Twentieth Century Encyclopedia of Catholicism,” currently being pub¬ lished at the rate of two volumes per month, will be continuing until August, 1964. Maine Assn. Elects Quentin A. Whittier, general manager of the Lewiston SunJournal, has been elected to suc¬ ceed Robert E. Kiah, general man¬ ager of the Bangor Daily News, as president of the Maine Daily News¬ paper Assn. Other officers named at the or¬ ganization’s annual meeting in Au¬ gusta included Paul Casavant, pub¬ lisher of the Biddeford-Saco Jour¬ nal, vice president, and Howard N. Gray, general manager of the Waterville Morning Sentinel, sec¬ retary-treasurer. Time’s Canadian Woes Time Life founder chairman Henry Luce told Ottawa newsmen last week that heads might roll as a result of errors in Time’s report¬ ing of recent Canadian news. He was in the capital to appear before the Royal Commission on Publica¬ tions, now considering the problem of U. S. “Canadian editions” grab¬ bing most Canadian advertising. "As for who fires me, that’s a secret,” Luce' added. <in Clare tones) Commission Chairman Grattan O’Leary, president of Ottawa Jour¬ nal, told Luce Time’s story on Ihe recent federal budget had seven errors, and that its piece on Cana¬ dian trade with Cuba completely ■omitted Prime Minister John Diefenbaker’s policy statement. Luce candidly admitted Time Re Vance Bourjaily “Confessions of a Spent Youth” by Vance Bourjaily is described as a novel by Dial (N.Y. $4.95) but the border line between auto¬ biography and fiction is constantly being trespassed in this one. U.S. D. Quincy, the youth known as Quince, is known elsewhere as Vance Bourjaily, and both of them were on more than friendly terms with Thomas De Quincey, Though the confession begins in West Virginia, it is really a war story covering adventures from Africa and Italy to Japan. It be¬ longs in the dreamy realistic school of “writing where sex is just one incident after another, beginning, with the poozle dreamers and end¬ ing in a roadhouse in upstate New York, with dames still very much on his mind. “But they’re all crazy,” he says and that includes Quince. It’s a superb piece of self-analy¬ sis and beautifully written. Scul. Vermont Favors Magazines For the second consecutive year, most of the Vermont Development Commission's advertising funds will be spent for magazine space, per Ted Bermingham, director. The commission will pay more than $27,000 to four nationally circulated slick magazines, a Canadian publi¬ cation and newspapers in New York. Boston and Montreal. “The commission has voted to continue our emphasis on magazine space,” Bermingham said, “because of our experience last year, and be¬ cause we believe it is in prestige media that the state of Vermont be¬ longs.” CHATTER Joseph W. Paeglow has been ap¬ pointed United Press Internation¬ al Division rep for New York State. Ridhard W. Hatch, former At¬ lanta Journal reporter, has been named Tennessee state manager for United Press International. California Controller Alan Cran¬ ston last week named Charles S. Hurley, city editor of the Fresno Bee, as his administrative assist¬ ant. Isabelle McCraid, former man¬ ager of the Toronto bureau of the British United Press, has been appointed manager of the Montpe¬ lier, Vt., bureau of United Press International. A new circulation mark for TV Guide was set by the Dec. 31 is¬ sue, with estimated sales of 7,671,704 copies. Publisher James T. Quirk stated that 29 of the mag’s 60 regional editions established records with that issue. It’s a big month for Rollie Hochstein, wife of NBC flack Mort Hochstein. Authoress has an as-told-to piece on Ed Sullivan in the Feb¬ ruary article, this time on her two children, in Redbook. Futare Productions BROADWAY “Kinderspeil,” drama by John Harding. Producer, Philip Rose. “Smallest Show on Earth,” com¬ edy by Ronald Alexander. Pro¬ ducer, Philip Rose. “Out of the Bine,” comedy by Allen Robin. ^Producer, Dan En¬ right. For fall. “Intrigue in Paris,” comedy by Victor Clement, with music by Syl¬ via Flory. Producer, William Urai, in association with Richard H. Roffman. “Far Country,” drama by Henry Denker. Producer, Roger L. Stev¬ ens. For Feb. 23. “Wonderful O,” musical comedy by Wolf Mankowitz, adapted from James Thurber’s story of the same name; music, Cy Coleman; lyrics, Carolyn Leigh. Producers, Kermit Bloomgarden and Herbert Green. “Family Affair,” musical with book and v Ivrics by William and James Goldman, score by John Kander. Producers. Jerome Rob¬ bins and Leland Hayward. I P&tiEff Broadway Today I’ll fell you a little secret , But. keep it under your lid; A lot of stuff in musicals now — I saw and heard as a kid. Legit Bits Tom Weatherly. Off-B’way ‘Hedda’ — — ^ Continued from page 57 — jg tlqn will recoup Its production cost and also bail out its investors on a previously abandoned project, which came under the same finan¬ cial setup as that covering “Hedda.” . RosS’ original intention was to present a cycle of three Henrik Ibsen plays at the 4th Street. “Hedda,” was to have been the sec¬ ond following “When We Dead Awaken,” in which Franchot Tone was to, have been top-starred. The production was dropped during re‘hearsal, when Tone withdrew be| cause of a disagreement with Ross over the translation. The expenses connected with “Awaken” included the cost of a trip to Canada, where the cast rehearsed for a week. A traveling expense was also in¬ volved in the production of “Hedda.” It related to transporting Miss Zetterling from Europe. Ross, who began producing-directing at the 4th Street Theatre in 1954, capitalized the planned series of three Ibsen plays at $35,000. Most of the investment went into the abortive “Awaken” venture and the production cost of “Hedda.” Ross intends putting on the un¬ specified third of toe planned Ibsen series after “Hedda” completes its indefinite run. “Hedda,” which marks the 13th play to be produced by Ross at the 4th Street spot, has a cast of seven. The minimum weekly salary required for them, as previously noted, is $111 weekly. Equity also requires minimum weekly wages of $196 for the stage manager and,$135. for the assistant stage manager. Presumably because of the sala¬ ries being paid, the production hasn’t had any cast changes. That’s considered unusual for off-Broadway, where the performer turnover is normally a major problem for producers. Ross, incidentally, is also allowing members of the cast to miss one performance a month to handle television assignments. Miss Meacham and five of the other cast members, Lois Holmes, Mark Lenard, Lori March, Lester Rawlins and Frederick Rolf, have Broadway credits. The other player, Elizabeth Colquhoun, has appeared on the London sta^e. The production of “Hedda” also marks the first time the translator of the play, Michael Meyer, has been represented in New York. Ross has an option on all of his Ibsen translations. ‘Sound of M«ic’ = Continued from page 57 based on the Maria Trapp book about the Trapp Family Singers, in London in May. Jerry Whyte, general production aid for the Rodgers-Hammerstein office, will stage the show. He will cast it in Eng¬ land, but has not set anyone for it so far. After it settles down .for a run, Whyte will start preparations for a West End revival of “Okla¬ homa,” with an opening slated for next fall. The currently-touring RodgersHammerstein musical, “Flower Drum Song.” contiuues at a profit¬ able pace in its extended run at the Shubert. Chicago, and will pre¬ sumably last there the balance of the season, but it must vacate the house in any case next November, when “Sound of Music is due. Mor¬ ris Jacobs, general manager, for the producers, recently ordered tickets for “Flower Drum” through the second of June. The London edition of the show is continuing indefinitely, but must vacate the Palace Theatre to make way for “Sound of Music.” Since it’s averaging about $20,000 weekly profit, there’s not expected to be too much trouble to obtain another house for it to occupy. Meanwhile, the original produc¬ tion of “Flower Drum Song” is still earning a substantial profit. An¬ other $100,000 distribution was made the first week in January, bringing the total profit return to $400,000 thus far on the $360,000 investment. Hugh Miller pf the Royal Acad¬ emy of Dramatic Art, London, will present his recital. “Bare Bo' r.'s and a Passion,” in the U.S. in the falL Peggy Cass, back from a twoweek appearance in “On the Town” at the Coconut Grove Playhouse, Miami, did another of her periodic guest stints on the Jack Paar tv show last Monday night (23) and left yesterday (Tues.) for a threeweek engagement in “Lullaby” at the Drury Lane Theatre, Chicago. Louis A. Lotito, who attended the inauguration last Friday (20) as the guest of the President’s father, Joseph P. Kennedy, left afterward for a vacation at Boca Raton, Fla. He’ll be back at work Feb. 8 as president of City Play¬ houses. J. C. Williamson Ltd. will pre¬ sent an Australian edition of “Bye B-e Birdie," at Her Majesty’s The¬ atre, Melbourne, opening March 4. Actors David Wayne and Dennis King and N. Y. Times columnists Brooks Atkinson and Arthur Gelb will participate in a tribute to play¬ wright Sean O’Casey, to be held Sunday (28) at The Players, N. Y., under the direction of Paul Shyre. Gustaf Grundgens’ will present his Schauspielhaus acting company, of Hamburg, Germany, in Goeth’s “Faust,” Feb. 7-19, at the N. Y. City Center. Grundgens will star in the offering to be performed in German with simultaneous trans¬ lation available through the Cen¬ ter’s transistor radio earphone sys¬ tem. " David Ross, producer of “Hedda Gabler” currently at the off-Broadway 4th Street Playhouse, N. Y., is conducting a scene and directing course at the Senior .Dramatic Workshop, N. Y. Producer Robert Feldstein has completed arrangements whereby tickets to his presentation of “Mousetrap,” at the Maidman The¬ atre, N. Y., can be charged to the Diners Club. Dancer choreographer Shirley Broughton is presenting a series of informal lectures at her N. Y. studio, at three week intervals, Sundays at 5 p.m. The series con¬ cerns itself with creativity and communication in artistic and re¬ lated fields. Ivan Obolensky will publish the script of Tad Mosel’s “All the Way Home,” the drama currently at the Belasco Theatre, N. Y., In March. Obolensky published James Agee’s “A Death in the Family” from which the play was adapted as well. Actor Andrew Ray, currently ap¬ pearing in “Taste of Honey” at the Lyceum Theatre, N. Y., and his wife, actress Susan Burnet, have completed a book about Southern Rhodesia, to be published in Feb¬ ruary by Safari Press. Arthur Hill and Aline MacMahon are currently filming “Young Doc¬ tors” for Lawrence Terman and Stuart Millar as well as appearing in top roles in “All the Way Home” at the Belasco Theatre, N. Y. Frank MacFie is an associate of pressagent Philip Bloom, handling the upcoming musical, “13 Daugh¬ ters.” Arthur Waxman has resigned as general manager of the American Shakespearean Festival, at Strat¬ ford, Conn. Legit pressagent Michel Mok is in Lenox Hill Hospital, N. Y., with a back ailment. Gaylord Marr, formerly coowner of the Gallery Theatre, Hollywood, and for six years pro¬ ducer-director of the Bakersfield <CaI.) Community Theatre, has succeeded Marvin Rosen as di¬ rector of the Resident Theatre, Kansas City. Robert Paine Grose, who man¬ ages and directs the Berkshire Playhouse, Stockbridge, Mass., with his actresswife, Joan White, has succeeded Richard Bolton as set designer at the Fred Miller Theatre, Milwaukee. Plans to reactivate “I’m With You” for a Broadway opening later this Season under the title, “Wan¬ dering Man,” have been scrapped by Nat King Cole, producer of the musical, in which he starred during an unsuccessful pre-Broad¬ way tryout last fall. The Masquers Workshop, young player arm of the Hollywood actors club, will present the Moss HartGeorge S. Kaufman comedy, “The Man Who Came to Dinner” open¬ ing Feb. 7. Homer Powell will stage. Rhett Cone, owner-producer of the off-Broadway Cricket Theatre, has assumed control of the upstairs spot in the same building, becom¬ ing executive producer of the Rep¬ ertory Co. of the Gate Theatre. The troupe is currently presenting Lillian Heilman’s “Montserrat.” Henry T. Murdock, for the last 12 years drama critic for the Phila¬ delphia Inquirer, will hereafter double as film critic upon the re¬ tirement of Mildred Martin from the latter post. St. John Terell has remodeled the Magyar Reform Church, N. Y. into a legit house at a cost of $25,000. “Night at the Grand-Guignol” will open there March 1. Roger L. Stevens will be part¬ nered with S. Hurok in the Broad¬ way presentation of “The Import¬ ance of Being Oscar,” the solo show based on the writing of Oscar Wilde, adapted by and starring Michael MacLiamrpoir. It’s slated . to open the week of March 12 at an unspecified theatre. Barbara Chilcott, who recently closed a fine-week stand iii “Mar¬ riage-Go-Round” at th^ Crest Theatre, Toronto, opens Feb. 6 at the Gate Theatre, Dublin, in Ib¬ sen’s “When We Dead Awaken.” Suzanne ^Pieshette will tako over Feb. 6 as Annie Sullivan in “Miracle Worker,” succeeding Anne Bancroft. The William Gib¬ son drama is currently in its 63d week at the Playhouse, N.Y. Charles Bowden and Ridgely Bullock are planning to present Tennessee Williams’ “Night of the Iguana” next December. Viola Rub¬ ber, who tested the script last sum¬ mer at the Coconut Grove Play¬ house, Miami Beach, will assist them In the venture. Heller Halliday, daughter of singer-actress Mary Martin and producer-manager Richard Halli¬ day, will be married in June to George Stephens, a student at Wes¬ leyan Univ. A student at Colby Junior College, the bride-to-be ap¬ peared on Broadway as Wendy in the musical version of “Peter Pan,” starring her mother. Tony Chardet, general stag* manager for H. M. Tennent Ltd., of London, is in New York to look over the productions of “Bye Bye Birdie,” “Gypsy” and “Camelot ” which his firm will do in the West End. Edward S. Kook, president of Century Lighting Co., planed to the • Coast last week for one of his periodic checkup visits to the firm’s Santa Monica plant. He’ll be away about two weeks. Miriam Mitchell, vice-president and secretary of the Institute for Advanced Study in the Theatre Arts, has returned to her New York home to recuperate from surgery. She’s the wife of John D. Mitchell, IASTA president and treasurer. The London company of Paddy Chayefsky’s “Tenth Man” goes into rehearsal Feb. 13 and will play tryout engagements in Leeds, New¬ castle, Birmingham 'and Brighton prior to the West End opening. Michael Codron is producing. John Fernald, head of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. London, is in New7 York to see the shows and to study U.S. methods of stage training.. Atheneum Books will publish Kenneth Tynan’s “Curtains” in March and Eric Bentley’s “The Springs of Pathos: An Essay in the Psveology of Dramatic Art” in 1962. Also scheduled for 1962 pub¬ lication are autobiographies by Jose Quintero, Martha Graham and Tynan. William Chambers, who will pro¬ duce William Branch’s “A Wreath for Udomo” on Broadway this spring, has granted Geoffrey Axworth, head of the drama depart¬ ment of the Univ. College, Ibadan, Nigeria, rights to present the play at the university and on tour in Africa. The vtwo editions are scheduled to open simultaneously. John Gielgud left New York for London recently to stage Ben¬ jamin Britten’s opera, “Romeo and Juliet.” He will return Feb. 4 to begin rehearsals of Hugh Wheeler’s “Big Fish, Little Fish.” which he will direct for producers Lewis Al¬ len and Ben Edwards. Oscar and George Marienthal, founder-proprieters of the Chicago cabaret-theatre. The Happy Me¬ dium. have joined A'bert C. Lather and Paul Lehman to produce Jay Thompson's “Double Entry” offBroadway. Jack Cole, who will choreograph and stage Fred Hebert’s forthcom¬ ing Broadway production of “Donnybrook,” is in Ireland studying the lccalera’nd possible performers for the Johnny Burke-Robert Mc¬ Enroe musical version of Maurice IValsh's “The Quiet Man.’ *