The Pittsburgh Press from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 89

Show Shops Girl Band Maestro Retires At Lindy's Phil And Evelyn Recapture Old Days When 'Hour Of Charm9 Began cam, nmti By KASI'AR MONAHAN Phil's dream. Mama Spitalny tried to dissuade him. And it all started, he told me at Lindy's, when he was walking by the Town Hall in New York and About 20 years ago I wrote it, tongue in check under the Show Shops tap, with a waggish subhead which said: "In Which Maestro Spitalny Subscribes to 'Thanatopsis' With a Few Improvements of his Own." Then more in the same frivolous vein, quoting Phil Spitalny to the effect that some day maybe very 4 2 if. i 1 -Vk -J a rineh, Phil will tell you. He sunk all his money in the venture, what with traipsing all over the country in the search for girls who could play Instruments.

"I talked to 1100 of them." lie said. "And you know Monny practically all of my girls I found in small towns, almost never in big cities." ytj i 'ii A 4 am" soon he'd col- I lapse in front of a packed audi- Six ence while directing his famous all girl orchestra, wA Finding the girls was only half the story. Then rame 'the arduous business of constant rehearsals and don't forget he had to pay their railroad fares and their room and board in New York. And when he had his group ready why the hig hoys in show business sneered at him. "All girls band you're nuts." So the one night stands until finally rame the hig break with General Electric.

The audition was held in Indianapolis, but Phil and his girls ran into halky train schedules and were late. It was arranged to pipe it into New York where ihp concern's directors were sitting in judgment. They had heard some of the nation's best orchestras playing classics now belatedly rame Phil and his girls. "It was awful, it was rotten," said Phil, "but we won, anyway." How? Well, by then he had his girls' chorus, and they sang all the collegp songs. The G.

E. directors on hearing their respective campus hymnals beamed voted for Phil. That was the break. The rest is history. Now the girls are scattered all over the country, many happily classical novel "The Brothers Karamaiov," at the STARRINC IN CLASSIC AT PENN Yul Brynner and Maria Schell, famous European actress, play the leading roles in the screen version of Dostojeyevsky's Penn.

The imposing cast includes Claire Bloom, Lee J. Cobb and Richard Basehart. Lists Attributes for years a fixture on radio as "The Hour of Charm." The other day a considerably older pair of music maestro and amusement reporter faced each other over a booth table at Lindy's in New York. And we both reminded the other of that long-ago prophecy. Por the prophecy came true about two years ago in a New Orleans theater.

There I'hil Spitalny, seemingly the Indestructible music man of America, collapsed. And it was the Inst time lie ever waved a baton over Ills 35 young, talented At Inst the prophecy delivered backstage at the Stanley had mine true. But Phil as in no I told you so nmod. Neither was Kvelyn who sat beside me yep the charmer once billed as "Evelyn and Her Violin" the nation over. Married some 0 years or mote they are now quite happy or serene is the belter word.

As the saying goes, "they've had it" and are now. serene in mutual retirement. I'lul has no TPgrrts. Long ago in the face of ridicule from all sides in show business and despite sour comments from his musician brothers that he was "crazy" he went ahead with his fantastic scheme: the forming from scratch of the first all-girl band of any consequence ever organized. Here in Pittsburgh while he for two years conducted his orchestra at the Stanley in the good old days of unit (live i shows plus a feature pics, ture Phil was dreaming of "something different" in bands.

In short an orchestra composed entirely of feminine musicians. "Crazy" said Brother' Leopold of Cleveland. Maurice, still active here, was pessimistic, too, over rillL SPITALNY The maestro in his prime. heard the sweet, haunting strains of a violin. He went in.

The player was a girl of 13." I tinned to Evelyn at my right, saying, "You?" "Me," she replied -and then Phil, his eyes aglow with that old fanatical fervor of his youth, chimed in, "Yes, Monny, her!" Her name was Evelyn Kaye and she was vciy suspicious when the man from Pittsburgh broached his wild scheme. She wanted to know what hand, where was it7Phl! toW her, "You you are the st ait of it." She was not at all howled over. Neither was her mother or her grandmother when Phil knocked on their door in Yorkville, part of New York City. Hungarians, they thought Phil was a hum of some sort with dishonorable intentions. But Phil was a persuasive talker.

And he had an ace card the fart that lie was leading the Wg orchestral in the scrumptious Capitol -He invited grandma, mania and Evelyn to a show. That did it! Suspicion left all three. So Kvelyn and Her Violin became the nucleus op Phil Spitalny's All-Girl Orchestra. "married; others profitably engaged as music teachers or players, thanks to Phil's training. Evelyn? "I keep playing my violin every day," she said.

And Phil said, "So long, Monny my best to your boss, Wally Forster. Your paper and me- we always got along." We shook hands, parted. There was a tiny tear in Phil's left eye. Inside This "Section Theaters Books-Music Building-Real Estate Travel-Resorts It wasn't easy, for the needle in The guy looking the haystack had 4 LAN A TIKNER Admires man with tact, humor. Lana's Specific About Her Men: Special to Tlit Press of Lauren appears in UNUSUAL TRIANGLE in the persons Bacall, Evelyn Rudie and Robert Stack ROMANTIC INTEREST for Brigitte Bardot in "Please! Mr.

Balzac" is provided by Daniel Celin, who portrays a Paris newspaperman in the Guild Theater attraction. FICHTINC QUAKER is the role played by Alan Ladd in "The Deep Six," Stanley film drama. William Ben-dix and Dianne Foster are featured in the production concerned with war in the Aleutian Islands. "The Gift of Love," a mixture of romance and tragedy now showing ot the Harris. How Long Will It Last? 'Fair Lady' Still Tops As Second Year Ends By JACK GAVKR, I'nited Tress Start Writer HOLLYWOOD, March 15 -Ten attributes woman looks for in a man have been itemized by sultry Iana Turner.

The combustible blonde tarried during her star-, ring role in Universal-International's "The Lady Takes A Klser" to enumerate: 1 Tact. Heaven protect the working girl, she says, from the gent who's forever saying or doing the wrong thing, to everyone's embarrassment, -including himself. 2 Humor. There's no one so dull as the man who takes himself so seriously he just doesn't have time to indulge in a laugh, either at himself or others. 3 Inventiveness.

L'vcn when a man is a model specimen in almost every other respect, he caiv tend to become a bit dull unless he has the tion to occasionally veer off on an entirely new tangent, lifting himself out. of the old rut. 4 -Affection. Unfortunately there are some men who can boast all the other essential attnhutes but, -when it comes to bestowing love, have enough only for themselves. 5 -Taste.

Nothing flatlets a woman mote than to have a man, whose pood taste is recognized by all, choose her for attention. This puts a gal right up on a pedestal. NEW YORK, March IS How long will the original production of "My Fair Lady" run on Broadway? Will it become the long-run record-holder for musicals? The only sensible answers at this point, second anniversary date of the show, are: (1) nobody knows; (2) it has a long way to go. But the show will go into the record books in several ways even if it doesn't hook the long-run brass ring eventually. At its second anniversary today's two performances bring the total to 836 the show stilt sells out and has the limit of standees at every performance.

That means a little better than a week gross. So far the New York run lias raked in something like It is quite probahle that "My Pair Lady" will set a new mark for gross Income well before it nears the record performance mark. This will be due to the fact that the price of orchestra seats is considerably higher than it was for the performance record-holder with 2213 showings, and "South Pacific," which is second with 1925. "My Pair Lady" has charged for orchestra chairs since September, The price was $7.50 for the first six months. "South Pacific" went through its career at a top.

which opened before inflation hit the box office, had a now almost un-belioveable top of $4.80 throughout its run of two days less than five calendar years. "Oklahoma!" had a production cost nf less than $90,000. Both "South raciflc," and "My lair ljidy" were in the $00,000 or over bracket. "Oklahoma!" thus had an "due on both in the matter of paying olT the original cost. "Oklahoma!" also had a weekly running cost edge.

Costs began to rise during its tenure, but when it opened on March 31, 1913, they were much less than today, or even when "South Pacific" opened in 1U49. iff J) 4 6 Gratitude. A generous portion of this quality can make up for many other shortcomings. 7 Boldness. No woman likes a man to be a moral or physical coward.

He should have the strength of his convictions, the daring to take a chance. 8 Consideration. Even though aggressiveness should be part of a man's make-up. this doesn't imply that it should ever be at the expense of someone else's feelings. 9 Curiosity.

Everything from aardvark to xyrho should interest him. Ami he should even be intrigued up to a point, of course- by other women. 10 L'lan. This Is a French word, but no other language expresses It so well, and it means the sheer Joy of being alive and aware, without which quality a man tends to become insipid. TOMMY SANDS AND FRIEND And who is the best friend of the boys who make with the voice these days' He's the disc jockey now known as the deejay of course.

The platter spinner is seen with Tommy in "Sing Boy Sing" at the Fulton..