Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989, September 26, 1963, Image 6

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Medford mail tribune., September 26, 1963, Image 6

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Newspaper Page TextTHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1863 MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MtDFORD, OHKGON One Package Theater Reaps Windfall in Off Broadway Settings By FRANCIS X. BRENNAN United Press International Back in 1600, when a gentle man wished to show his gentle lady a good time, he'd take her out for a drink, a meal and a play all in the same place. The same idea is catching on today, far off Broadway. On Broadway, a gentleman can get rid of $50 or much more squiring a gentle lady through the works of a first run stage production with all the fixings. This is pretty stiff going even for Broadway and the legitimate theater in New York is suffering as a consequence. But far off Broadway, where the Minneapolis, Chicago and Pittsburgh commuter roams producers are cashing in with the lure of a dry martini square meal, and a theatrical menu ranging from a n a k e- speare to Tennessee Williams all under one root. One of the new breed of out land impresarios, Mike Mc Aloney of the Dorchester Music hall of Dolton, III., summed up his recipe for theatrical suc cess: One Package One package. No separate restaurant. No parking prob lems. Seats spacious and com fortable, not like some of the Broadway torture boxes. "And, if the husband cares to, he can drink and smoke during the show." I The new far off Broadway theater ranges from "supper theaters" like McAloney's to tne prestigious Tyrone Guthrie Rep ertory theater in Minnesota's twin cities, from Chi c a g o's bouncv "Second City" to the plush dining rooms and lounger of the Pittsburgn piaynouse. The formula is the same: to make good theater convenient, comfortable, and by Broad way standards cheap. A typical supper theater and a successful one is the Del Prado hotel's in Chicago where a musical, "Hits of Broadway," will observe its second anni versary this year. The show. eniovinB one of the longest runs of any ever to hit the' windy Chicago provides a fresh edition every lour weeKs. In One Settinir "A person can enjoy himself with a dinner and see the show without changing seats," Del Prado publicist Mark Glatt said. Robert Simpson, producer has similar supper shows run ning in St. Louis, Mo., and Den ver. He swaps casts with each new edition. The show picks up songs, skits and dances of top Broadway shows of the past 30 years, IS numbers from about eight dif ferent Broadway productions in each edition. Orrin B. Stine, producer of the Stagelight theater in Wheeling, 111., agrees the package deal "represents a whole new kind of theater springing up in this country. Stine also credits convenience as a major factor behind the boom of legitimate theater in his part of the country. "Instead of a central urban Incatinn." he said, "it's in a central suburban location and reflects the move of people witn disposable income to spena on trm fhpnlpr. "We bring the theater to them. At I hp Staeelieht. $4.95 buys a ticket and a seven-course din ner during the week, with a one dollar higher tab on week ends. The Stafielight stays open all year around. "We trot some pretty cold weather and some pretty deep snow," Stine said, "and they come out in any kind of wea ther." Boom in West The supper theater also is booming in the west. San Francisco has several the La Strada, the Sheraton Palace hotel's Garden Court theater in the Round, and the Little Fox. In Los Angeles, the l o r.rnnri the Ivar. and the Civic theaters operate similar arrangements in conjunct i o n with restaurants or bars next door. FnHH nnrl Hrink aren't the only lures for the far off Broad way theater. H ) Yr - T-n DINNER AND SHOW Diners at Chicago's this photo. This hotel offers a dinner and the Del Prado hotel watch a musical number in ater package, "Hits of Broadway," for $5.95. (UPI) HEY KIDS! ENTER GOLD BOND TOERY RHYME COLORING CONTEST! a Jk Amazing new U f w-LAi -141-11 camera takes all Cd I Jjk' Iff a0,hite'color L Lots of prizes and so much fun . . . just color the cute Nursery Rhymes like those in the New GOLD BOND GIFT BOOK! ENTER NOW AND AS OFTEN AS YOU LIKE! Nothing to buy... It 's Fun... It 's Easy! GET YOUR GOLD BOND COLORING CONTEST ENTRY BLANK AT ANY OF THE FRIENDLY GOLD BOND MERCHANTS LISTED BELOW. MEDFORD SAFEWAY STORES 502 Main St., W. SAFEWAY STORE 699 E Jackson OIL CITY 1880 N. Riverside CARL'S SHELL 700 E. Main DICK'S CHEVRON I 101 S. Holly HARVEY'S WEST MAIN SHELL 618 W. Main JAMES TEXACO SERVICE 705 W. Stewart STANDARD SERVICE STATIONS 6th & Rivernitt 4th & Central 1901 Crater Lake Hwy. 417 Barnett Road RON THORNE CHEVRON Pacific Hwv. & Charlotte Ave. WHEELER SHELL SERVICE 348 N, Riverside AMERICAN OIL CO. 308 Barrett Rd FABER FUEL CO. 609 S Fir LARSON APPLIANCE CO. 40n. 408 E Main St. VALLEY FUEL CO. 26 W. Mam EAGLE POINT Town & Country Market Theaters doine fine with rlif ferent techniques include the Barter in Abingdon, Va.; the Pittsburgh Playhouse; the Ty rone Guthrie in Minneapolis; the Gaslighters at Folsom, Calif., and Chicago's Drury Lane. The Barter Theater, a stock ComDanv of 55 nrnfpKcinnal an. tors, is perhaps unique in that it operates in a small Appalachian town where "legit" theaters out number the movie houses 2 to 1. Managing Director Robert Porterfield started the company 31 years ago in depression days when the actors traded enter tainment for goods and services. "The first season wound up with a total cash balance of $4.30 lots of iams and ipllies nni m overall weight gain among mem- Ders oi sua pounds," he said. Lures Williams He Credits Sllfr'P.CC tn Ihn arna audience, described as rurally sopnisucated with honest reac tions. The Barter has Iiii-pH snrh writers as Tennessee Williams, wno nopes to revive his Broad way flop, "The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here." By opening at Barter with his j reworked play, Williams said, the bugs can be worked out with out fear of "cocktail conversa tions killing it before it reaches Broadway." The Pittsburgh Playhouse, in operation since 1934, caters to a large private membership. There are three theaters, two dining rooms and a cocktail lounge, all under one root. Minnesota's brand new Tyrone Guthrie theater is rated among tne aristocracy of far off Broad way theaters. Housed in modernistic glass, wood and concrete just off Min neapolis Loop, the theatre open ed last May with all fanfare and new critics in attendance. The opening production on the three-sided stage was Hamlet. Smack of Nazi George Gizzard delivered "to be or not to be" in a blue smok ing jacket and Elsinore was stocked with guards with flash lights and soldiers wearing uni forms which smacked of the Nazi. Some Minnesotans were dis turbed. But as the season devel oped the audiences clamored for more. Out in the old gold mine coun try of the California Sierras, The Gas Lighters at Folsom keep go ing all year round. Their show consists of a melo I drama written in the 1880's or 1 90's and an "olio," a sort of a I vaudeville staged by the actors after the play. The audience is encouraged to boo the villain cheer the hero, and buy drinks at the bar adjoining the theater Other California groups oper- ating in the same vein include The Clay Pipers at Drytown and The University of Pacific Sum mer Theater at Columbia. Another mother lode is being tapped by cafe theaters such as Chicago's Second City. Featuring permanent compa nies of five or six actors, the cafe theater has "virtually no production costs," Producer Ber nard fcahlins of becond City says. Through improvisation of material, "We're able to free ourselves of dependency on writers." Many in Revival Also cashing in on the revival are the Melody theater, adjacent t o Disneyland a t Anaheim, Calif.; Detroit's Vanguard play house; the Music Circus at Sac ramento, Calif.; Milwaukee's Melody Top theater, and "The Committee's" on San Francis co's Broadway, which features off-beat plays with extempor aneous acting. Manager Demetrios Vilan of Los Angeles' Huntington- Hart ford blamed Broadway for some of his troubles. "You would think a play run ning a year in New York would run at least six months here, but the longest play here so far was seven weeks," he said. "An other thing is that we're not get ting enough good road shows. Broadway has had some bad shows lately which have hurt us." But while Broadway has im paled itself on high costs, off Broadway groups have used imagination to cut costs and re vitalize the theater. Gimmicks have helped pull in audiences, but they won't hold them unless the theater fare continues to be good and spark ling. But for the time-being comfort, food, drink, and low prices are reaping a windfall for off Broad way. Delegates Study Fishing Provisions TOKYO (UPI) Japanese, Canadian and American nego tiators met today to "clarify" American - proposed modifica tions to a new treaty governing fishing rights in the northeast ern Pacific. A brief joint communique said there was "some discussion be tween the Japanese and U. S. delegations to clarify certain provisions contained" in a pro tocol proposed Wednesday by the United States, The communique said the ne gotiators agreed to hold their next session Friday afternoon "so that the Canadian and Jap anese delegations could have enough time for thorough exam ination of the U. S. proposal." Today's session, the eighth in the current fisheries negotia tions between the three coun tries in Tokyo, lasted for one hour and 20 minutes. DO GLASSES ON CREDIT! HM Green Stamps COLUMBIAN OPTICAL CO. MEDFORD SHOPPING CENTER YOUR HURRY! HURRY! HURRY! HURRY! 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