Newspaper Page Text
Griffin Daily News
High Costs Slow B'way Show Biz
By JOAN CROSBY
NEA Entertainment Editor
NEW YORK-(NEA)-
Where did Broadway go?
It won’t be until Oct. 2,
when “A Patriot Eor Me”
opens, that actors will take
the season’s maiden steps on
untrod boards.
Between then and the end
>of December, exactly 10
plays are scheduled to open.
(This doesjnot include a
revival of "The Front Page”
or two repertory companies,
Lincoln Center’s and San
Francisco’s ACT, each of
which will p r e s e nt four
plays.)
Who snatched the season?
The answer is as complex
as a play by Edward Albee,
but not nearly so incompre
hensible. Basically it is a
matter of economics.
So many people took so
many financial drubbings
last season that there’s a
“burny-burny” attitude.
“I think people are just
taking a wait-and-see atti
tude,” says one Broadway
observer. “I don’t think the
season has gone anywhere.
It’s just waiting in the
wings.”
Those who are coming in
with plays have seemingly
loaded dice. “A Patriot For
Me,” fore x a m p 1 e, is by
noted British playwright
John Osborne, stars
matinee idol Maximilian
Schell and deals with
homosexuality. Despite these
credits, Washington critics
were unkind to it.
Katharine Hepburn,
Geraldine Page, Keir Dullea,
Maureen O’Sullivan, Frank
Gorshin, nudity, properties
as famous as “La Strada”
and playwright Neil Simon
are “insurance policies" for
the first half of the season.
“When I turned to the
theatrical page of my paper
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6
the other day, said Garson
Kanin, noted director
(“Funny Girl”), author
(the recently published
“Cast of Characters”) and
Garson Kanin
Who can afford the theater?
moviemaker (“Some Kind
of Nut” with Dick Van Dyke),
“and saw that *A Patriot For
Me’ was opening in October
at the Imperial Theater, I
thought it must be a typo
graphical error. I never
imagined that at that time
of the year the best musical
theater in New York, if not
the United States, wouldn’t
have a show and would have
to book a straight play. That
stunned me.”
Alexander Cohen, who is a
Broadway producer not
planning to produce on
Broadway this year, feels
the writers, producers and
theater owners must rescale
their thinking on contractual
agreements to bring theatri
cal costs down
“The old-fashioned nature
of the agreements plus the
effective combination of suc
cessful, low-budget films and
television has hurt the box
office,” he says.
The Broadway theater has
become an expense account
medium over the past sev
eral years. This means a
loud, brassy show can often
run to fully packed theaters
with half-loaded audiences
for a long time, but a serious
play with a more limited
appeal can’t surivive the
production costs if the house
is half-packed and the audi
ence is carrying a full load
of intellectualism.
“Most people are loathe to
invest $150,000 for Broad
way,” Cohen says, “when
a show can be produced off-
Broadway for one-sixth the
cost and the producer can
still get all of the subsidiary
reaction. Look at ‘The Ofay
Watcher,’ which just got
good off-Broadway reviews
and cost $19,000. It couldn’t
have been put on Broadway
for less than $100,000.”
Producer David Black,
who brought “The Impossi
ble Years” and “George M”
to Broadway, plans two pro
ductions for the second half
of the season, ‘“Alice,” a
rock version of “Alice in
Wonderland,” and “W.C.,”
all about W.C. Fields. But
Black’s first theatrical
venture of the season is an
off-Broadway musical called
“Salvation.”
“I feel we’re going Wag
nerian in our direction,”
says the former opera
singer. “I mean that the
music dictates what goes on
on the stage and not the
David Black
The stage is going
Wagnerian.
other way around. There’s
also the long -haired new
music, you know."
Kanin, speaking of sky
high ticket prices, wonders
who can afford to go to the
theater.
“In Paris, 1 got into a taxi
and directed the driver to a
theater,” Kanin said. “He
began to tell me he thought
I would enjoy the play. It
lets down a bit in the second
act,’ he said, ‘but I always
enjoy Anouilh’s plays, even
though his last two have
been disappointing.* In New
York you won’t find a cab
driver who can discuss the
theater. They don’t go. It’s
too expensive.
“Once I recall trying to gel
a single ticket to see an un
heral <1 e d British play in
After "waiting in the wings," the
Broadway season is about to get
under way with plays like
"A Patriot For Me," directed by
Peter Glenville (left below) and
starring Maximilian Schell.
jr~ .gEiy
< mBM w I
it B jOwy'
fl
New York with a cast of
unknowns. I couldn’t buy a
ticket, even though the show
was only playing previews. I
asked someone what the at
traction was and he said,
‘The attraction is $4.50 a
ticket.’
“It was Robert Anderson,
the playwright, who best
summed up Broadway, I
think. He said, ‘lf only
Broadway were a place
where you could make a liv
ing instead of a killing.’ ”
Kanin feels there could be
a complete turn-about which
will be of benefit to the rest
of the country. “It used to
be that shows opened on
Broadway and toured. Now
some plays open elsewhere
and come to Broadway, like
‘The Great White Hope.’ It
may eventually be complete
ly a case of plays arriving at
Broadway after having been
proved in regional theaters.
This would be beneficial be
cause it would decentralize
the theater.”
Broadway’s fall from star
status can best be illustrated
by the following: Sir Laur
ence Olivier is bringing Brit
ain’s ill ustr io u s National
Theater to the United States
for the first time. It is only
going to on e city — Los
Angeles!
QUICK QUIZ
Q— What was the orginal
title of the “Star-Spangled
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them?
A—“ The Bombardment of
Fort McHenry.”
Q —What political office
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A—The famous physicist
was offered the presidency
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Q — What courts have ju
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A—Federal district courts
administer maritime law in
the United States. Admiralty
courts handle maritime law
cases in Great Britain.
Q —Which is the nation's
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A—Alaska. It is the only
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density of less than one per
son per square mile.
Q —What is the difference
in food value of white and
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A—They have the same
food value.