The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 75

SECTION MAICH II, 1954 MOVIES, p. 2 THE THEATER, pp. 1, 3 RADIO AND TV, pp. 1, 18, 19 TRAVEL, p. 8 CLASSIFIED ADS, pp.

9-17 MUSIC, pp. 1, 5, 6, 18 ART, p. 4 "I MUSIC IX KEXTUCKIAXA Glanville-Hicks Opera To Receive World Premiere Saturday Afternoon By WILLIAM MOOTZ, Courier-Journal Staff Writer AMUSEMENTS, CLASSIFIED ADS If 0 0 9 fS ftrpHE TRANSPOSED HEADS," an JL opera in three acts by Peggy Glanville-Hicks, will receive its premiere performance next Saturday afternoon at 3 at Columbia Auditorium. It is the first opera commissioned, by the Louisville Philharmonic Society under terms of a $400,000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, and will be repeated at Columbia Auditorium every Saturday afternoon throughout the month of April. First performances of orchestral works have become a matter of routine concert fare in Louisville, but not until it received its Rockefeller grant did the Philharmonic Society attempt anything so ambitious as the world premiere of a new opera.

For this reason alone, the event should attract more than ordinary interest when the opera is unveiled for the first time next Saturday. Bomhard To Stage Opera Moritz Bomhard, director of the Kentucky Opera Association, has been engaged to stage "The Transposed Heads." He will nave under his direction 24 members of the Louisville Orchestra, a chorus of 20, and singers from the Kentucky Opera Association, who will create the leading roles. The libretto for "The Transposed Heads" was extracted by the composer from the novel of that name by Thomas Mann, a process of "deletion being the method used. With the exception of a few connecting words here and there, every line of the text is original Mann writing. A Friend In Need The story of "The Transposed Heads" is, in the words of Miss Glanville-Hicks, "a miraculous blend of realistic drama and metaphysical discourse." For realists, the tale goes something like this: In India, the setting of the story, a young Brahmin, Shridaman, and his low-caste friend, Nanda, while resting in a forest glade, are inadvertently the witnesses of lie seen as one of the six Rroadway stage hits hf Kentuckiana iheutorgoers leaving here on May lv.

Edith Adams as Eilern rharins a group of New York's Finest in the musical comedy "Wonderful Town," to Pegy Glanville-Hicks Opera to be performed the ritual bathing ot a lovely young maiden who comes to the river bank. Shridaman, the ascetic, without realizing it, becomes an immediate victim of her charms. Meeting him some days later, Nanda finds his friend dying from love and despair. He laughs at him, and promises to woo and win the lovely maiden, Sita by name, on his friend's behalf, according to Hindu custom. Off With Another Head This he does, and the wedding scene is wholly joyful, but tragedy comes swiftly thereafter.

The three, journeying through a forest glade, come upon an immense ruined Temple of Kali, and Shridaman leaves Sita and Nanda together while he enters to say a prayer. It is immediately apparent that It's All Aboard The Theater Train May 17 for Six New York Stage Hits By BOYD MARTIN, Courier-Journal Drama Editor there is an unspoken love blossoming between the wife and the friend. Shridaman inside the Temple is overcome with religious fervor as he contemplates the gigantic Kali. Momentarily hypnotized by her power, he offers himself as a sacrifice and cuts off his own head with a sword. Nanda, entering the temple in search of his friend, sees the disaster, blames himself and his secret love for Sita as the cause, and proceeds to behead himself beside his friend.

Now Sita enters the temple. Discovering the double tragedy, and also blaming herself for her unfaithfulness of mind to her husband, she prepares to hang herself in a trailing vine when Kali's voice is heard. The Goddess, after chiding Sita for her stupidity, instructs her to place the heads back on, promising that all will be again as it was. Sita, in fear and trembling, performs the bloody task, but in her flurry she makes the Freudian slip of all time and places the husband's head upon the lover's body and vice versa. They rise up, irrevocably transposed, and who is now to say which is the legal husband, which the friend? The remainder of the opera is concerned with solving this fantastic situation in which the leading characters are involved.

Source of Music Intricate, erratic rhythms, many of them of Hindu origin, are used in the opera, and some of its tunes are taken freely, or in some cases quite directly, from Hindu folk sources. Moritz Bomhard praises the score for its frequent passages of melodic beauty, and for the fact that the composer has written music that is always sympathetic to the human voice. Although the setting of the opera is India, he feels that the music is largely Western in tone. A large group of percussion instruments (Chinese gongs and the like) added to the regular orchestra gives the score a strange, exotic dignity. Peggy Glanville-Hicks was born in Australia and received her first formal music education at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music.

She entered the Royal College of Music in London in 1932, where she won several scholarships and awards. While studying with Nadia Boulanger in Paris, she wrote her Choral Suite for women's voices, oboe, and string orchestra, a work that established her as a composer of repute. A Citizen Now She came to this country for the first time in 1941, and is now an American citizen. From the fall of 1947 until the present time, she has worked as a music critic for The New York Herald Tribune, and in addition has written many special articles about composers and events on the American musical scene, both for local publications and for journals abroad. Featured in the cast of "The Transposed Heads' will be Audrey Nossaman, soprano; Monas Harlan, tenor; William Pickett, baritone, and Virginia Guernsey, dancer.

Tickets for the opera will be on sale at the box office of Columbia Auditorium immediately before its performances. Popular prices will prevail. THE Louisville Theater Train to New York City to see Rix Broadway stae shows will actually be on its way at 1:50 p.m. May 17. The Idea proposed here two Sundays ago and developed into a positive plan last Sunday went over big with hungry theatergoers.

As reported last Tuesday morning reservations went like proverbial hot cakes. Fifty minutes after the B. O. ticket office opened last Monday morning the 26 tickets provided for six New York stage hits were gobbled up. There was nothing to do but accept reservations and promise that if additional tickets could be secured for the plays included on the list they would be allotted in the order in which reservations were made.

By Wednesday afternoon there were 186 reservations; 160 more than there were theater tickets. Original Plan Had Low Estimate You see, it was originally intended to provide theater tickets for just enough to get the lowest possible railroad rate. The first 26 who made reservations and were accepted are: Miss Ann R. Pitt, Dr. and Mrs.

Harold Meyer, Dr. and Mrs. Louis Baer, Mrs. Albert Hill, Mrs. Rowland Cary, Mrs.

Gill Richards, Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Gross, Miss Aline Vander Espt, Miss Marie Vander Espt, Miss Mildred Myrick, Miss Julia Daeuble, Mrs. Henry Ormsby, Mrs. Hugh Maguire, Mrs.

H. C. Fadden, Mrs. Bruce Hoblitzell, Mrs. George Weathers, Mrs.

A. Paper, Mrs. Harry Williams, Mrs. Lee Crumbaugh and Mrs. Dara Cross, all of Louisville; Dr.

and Mrs. Lynn Mayfield, Glasgow, and Miss Hazel Dieckman, New Albany. But what of the others? Are they to be disappointed because they were not at the ticket office quickly enough? They are not! The minute it was discovered that the idea went over the top, so to speak, New York theater ticket offices were contacted and 160 additional reservations were requested. Thanks to some prodigious leg work on the part of several frantic New York press agents, who were frankly flabbergasted that the idea of the Louisville Theater Train went over so well, additional seats were secured by Friday night. So, the present waiting list of 160, in addition to the first 28 who registered for the trip, will be accommodated.

Now the B. O. is talking about putting on a special train but certainly assuring three de luxe reclining-chair coaches, club, car and diner and assigning its crack crews to the project. Tilt train will be air-conditioned. It is singularly gratifying that the idea of having a special theater train from Louisville to Broadway had such a vast appeal in Louisville and the Kentuckiana area.

Applications for reservations came from Lexington, Frankfort, Owensboro, Brandenburg, Glasgow, Owingsville, Flemingsburg. Harrodsburg, Hodgenville, Dawson Springs, Mount Vernon arid1 Springfield in Kentucky; and in Indiana from Charlestown, New Albany and Sellersburg. The trip should be a gala one. Several Parties Are Being Planned If New York press agents are not talking through their hals several parties will be arranged for the guests from Louisville, The Courier-Journal will send a representative to report news of the trip and photographers will record special events in pictures. In the meantime those who have their applications on ill will be notified of the railroad's plan to fill them.

Think how fine it would be if Louisville could drawiU neighbors here to see shows rather than have to send its own people out of town to see good theaterl I Moritz Bomhard Audrey Nossaman He uill stage opera and she trill create a leading role THE WEEK ON BROADWAY 5 i I 4The Mikado' Offering Indicates Pleasant Season For Lovers of Gilbert and Sullivan Productions management said. A few hours later the closing order was issued. There are a number of differences in the fire laws governing cabarets and theaters. The immediate problem, of course, is to get "The Girl on The Via Flaminia" into an uptown house so the run can be resumed with the loss of as few days as possible. Then the management will take up the business of finding a regular home where it can continue its activities.

This won't be easy, for the organization needs a house, preferably a regular theater this time, that is outside the high-rent Broadway district so it can continue its policy of inexpensive productions of an experimental nature. Such places are rare. However, the Circle has won a lot of influential friends in and out of the theater in its three-year career and is certain to get more than mere expressions of good will. Joan Browers' Pitti-Sing are excellent also. In his acting as Ppoh-Bah, apart from his singing, Mr.

Barnard is not clipped and dry enough. He misses the sharp precision of Gilbert's caricature. And no doubt it is inevitable that Mr. Knapp should love to ape Martyn Green. Mr.

Green has set his mark as a dancer and clown on all his parts; no one can act them now without acknowledging his genius. Mr. Knapp's imitations are good ones. His performance is light and amusing, and his singing is bland and fanciful. This column would like to offer particular thanks to Miss Knapp for her affecting singing of "The Moon and to Mr.

Bush for the mock-ferocity of his entrance song when he declares the imperial program, and to the quartette who sang "Brightly Dawns Our Wedding Day." This year's writers of uptown lyrics are also requested to study the simple elegance of Gilbert's style. But no doubt it is discouraging to study the work of a master. Copyright, 154 Hudson Milner. ChosenToHeaa LouisvilleFutitl ANNOUNCEMENT was made last nighl of the election of B. Hudson Milner as president of the Louisville Fund.

"He succeeds John Welburn Brown. lv The Louisville Fund is the co-ordinating organization of 13 community groups in the arts. Members include the Louisville Orchestra, the Kentucky Opera Associate, the Junior Art Gallery, the Art Center Association, the Little Theater, the Theater, choral groups and other agencies in related fields. Hubert T. Willis was elected secretary of the Fund and A.

C. Dearing, treasurer. At, the same time, 16 new members were elected to the board of directors. They are: Mrs. Frank Abbott (Mary Snow Ethridge)! Arthur Allen, J.

W. Barr, III, Archibald Cochran, Dr. Philip Davidson, the Rev, Alfred P. Horrlgan, Norman E. Isaacs, Pat Kirwan, J.

R. Poteat, Dillman Rash, David Reynolds, Richard Sellers, William Joe C. Stone, Wilton Terstegge and James Wolfe. The retiring president, Brown, remain! on the board with 15 other held-over members. They are: Bernard H.

Barnett, Alexander G. Booth, Dann C. Byck, Basil P. Caummisar, Foree, Dennis, J. J.

Egan, Charles P. Farnsle'yj Mrs. James R. Hendon, Alex P. Humphrey, Edward J.

Miller, Harrison M. Robert son, Alan Schneider, Judge Macauley LV Smith, Charles G. Tachau and Thomas Wood. Mayor Andrew Broaddus will serve II an ex-officio member of the board. Milner, an attorney, has been active ia community affairs for several years.

Ht formerly was president of the Children's Agency and served for a time as vice- president of the Louisville Philharmonic He was in the Navy during the war. He said last night that the Fund is already at work preparing for its coming campaign this spring. Richard Rodgers, left, and Oscar Hammerstein, II, will mark the 11th year of their association with an hour-ajid-a-half TV show tonight. Fjre Laws Put Halt To Hit In The Village By JACK GAVER United Press Writer Gigantic Rodgers and Hammerstein TV Show To Be Seen on Four Major Networks Tonight By ANGELA PREIS, Courier-Journal Staff Writer By BROOKS ATKINSON For The New York Times And The Courier-Journal NEW YORK, March 27. To judge by "The Mikado," which was sung at the President Theater Tuesday evening, the spring season of Gilbert and Sullivan is going to be a pleasant one.

Dorothy Raed-ler, the Lady Pooh-Bah of the occasion, demonstrated her talent for staging the operas when she conducted the rites of Savoy at the Jan Hus House a few years ago. The company is now officially professionalized. But don't let that alarm you. Although it has lost its amateur standing, it has not lost its sense of humor. This "Mikado" is beautifully sung.

It is staged with taste and authority. If the acting is slightly inferior td the best work of the best principals in the D'Oyly Carte Company, it is knowledgeable and high-spirited. The old Gilbert and Sullivan believers are in good hands. Limited Cast Call it a vest-pocket edition. Suiting the budget to the occasion, Miss Raedler has limited the chorus of schoolgirls arid nobles to 10, with a principal or two doubling in brass now and then.

The orchestra consists of a staccato piano and a mellifluous organ. There Is no scenery; the stage is masked in sky-blue drapes. Considering the tastelessness of most Gilbert and Sullivan scenery, the blue-masked stage is an improvement. It throws the emphasis upon the costumes, which are beautifully designed, and the performers, who are generally worth real chips on any stage. The improvised orchestra is no improvement on Isidore Godfrey conducting a real orchestra of fiddles and woodwinds, particularly during the overture.

The piano and the organ have to approach it gingerly, as though it were a piece of old Chinese porcelain, Captures The Essence But Miss Raedler is not a superficial director. She knows that the essence of Gilbert and Sullivan is dainty singing and stylized deportment. In both these respects, the current troupe is admirable. Norman Paige's tender Nanki-Poo, Sally Knapp's idyllic Yum-Yum, Francis Barnard's ponderously patronizing Poo-Bah, Rue Knapp's impish Ko-Ko, Ronald Bush's macabre Nikodo and Mary-Ellen Thompson's Katisha are excellent singing portraits of fantastic characters. John Bridson'i Pish-Tush and NEW YORK, March 27.

So you work and sweat and you finally come up with a hit show. Your troubles are over. Until you wake up one morning and find you ho longer have a theater. That's just one of the peculiar vagaries of show business that cropped up this week in the case of the Circle In The Square organization in Greenwich Village. Three years and a month after the off-Broadway group began operations in its arena-style playhouse, formerly a night club, the Fire Department closed the premises on the grounds of inadequate safety provisions.

Exit facilities were deemed insufficient in case 260 (capacity) customers should be panicked into, trying to leave at the same time. The Circle's attraction, Alfred Hayes' own adaptation of his best-selling novel, "The Girl on The Via Flaminia," is expected, to find a home within a few days at a regular theater in the Broadway sector. The management was at a loss to explain just why it had been permitted to stay in business so long before the city's action, although the actual mechanics were clear enough. The Circle had operated under a cabaret license and not a theater license. The cabaret license was picked up suddenly during the week end.

First inspectors went down Monday and indicated they would be satisfied if a few chairs were removed it strategic spots, the familiar from records, radio and television. For all their familiarity, this will be the first time that actual scenes have been presented on television. Rodgers and Hammerstein have wisely withheld the rights. Even when Ed Sullivan did his "Richard Rodgers Story" on "Toast of The Town" last season, the music was staged in production numbers and not taken in context from the books of the musicals themselves. First TV Production Both Rodgers and Hammerstein have appeared on television before, but this is their first venture into television production.

Assisting them in staging will be director Ralph Levy, Jack Benny's producer; Richard Jackson of C.B.S., set designer. Samuel Taylor, author of the current Broadway hit, "Sabrina Fair," did the script, and Harry Sosnick will conduct the orchestra from the Robert Russell Bennett orchestrations. With this array of talent, especially in the person of Mary Martin, this show should rival the famous anniversary chow that a motor car maker put on last year. This one is sponsored by a foods company to celebrate its 25th anniversary. Billboard, the theatrical trade bible, mentions $300,000 as the talent cost, which does not include the time costs on four major TV networks, C.B.S., N.B.C., A.B.C.

and DuMont. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, II, began their collaboration with "Oklahoma!" which opened March 31, 1843, on Broadway. There is still a road company touring this country. It ran in New York. "Carousel" opened in New York April 9, 1945, and played 881 performances there.

"Allegro" opening October 10, 1947, and closing July 10, 1948, after 315 performances was their only "flop." Some flop! Some More Statistics "South Pacific" opened April 7, 1949, and ran until January 16 of this year, or 1,925 performances. A road company is just winding up a four-year road tour. Mary Martin also played the role for two years in London. The late Gertrude Lawrence opened in "The King and March 29, 1951, which just closed its New York run March 20 after 1,246 performances. Patricia Morrison is now in the role for the nation-wide tour and will appear on tonight's show.

"Me and Juliet" opened May 28, 1953, and will close in New York next April 3 after 358 performances. It will reopen in Chicago on April 7 for an indefinite run. RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN in quest of new worlds to conquer tonight vade television with an hour-and-a-half-long show on all networks. The show, officially titled "The Rodgers and Hammerstein Cavalcade," will be seen here tonight on all three television stations from 7 until 8:30. Mary Martin will act as master of ceremonies introducing scenes from six Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, "Carousel," "South Pacific," "Allegro," "The King and and "Me and Juliet." In many cases the original stars will recreate their roles, Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza in "South Pacific," Yul Brynner, the original King of "The King and and John Raitt and Jan Clayton, the original stars of "Carousel." Miss Clooney In Cast Kentucky's own Rosemary Clooney and Tony Martin are cast in scenes from "Me and Juliet," and Gordon MacRae and Florence Henderson will do the "Oklahoma!" parts.

"South Pacific" and "Carousel" have played Louisville, and "The King and will be in Cincinnati for two weeks beginning April 12. "Carousel" also was produced by the Amphitheatre here. The music from these scores is certainly 4 i 7 1 Hudson Milner Succeeds John Welburn Brown.