THURSDAY, 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)
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MEDFORD
SAFEWAY STORES
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VALLEY FUEL CO.
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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
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