Resurrection

Two Saturdays ago Broadway lost ten shows in a night, a 33% mortality. Last week two more attractions ended their runs--hilarious 20th Century and that oblique problem play Design for Living. The former will tour the West Coast. The latter, which has grossed $450,000 in a 17-week Broadway run, was to close because Noel Coward and the Lunts do not like to work very long at a stretch. To compensate for this seasonal loss of plays, a whopping revival day was staged last week. In one night four theatrical favorites, some old and some not so old, reappeared in Manhattan. A fifth and sixth followed few nights later.

Casket and occasionally bassinet of most Manhattan theatrical productions is Cain's Transfer Co.'s red brick warehouse on West 41st Street. Patrick Joseph ("Patsy") Cain, an affable, gold-toothed Irishman who inherited the business from his policeman father, does most of Broadway's hauling and storing. Until last May all five stories of Cain's warehouse were stuffed full. In the basement were the backdrops of some 200 forgotten shows. The second floor was devoted to Sam H. Harris relics, the third to the defunct productions of George White, the fourth to those of Ed Wynn and Aarons & Freedley. In May, Patsy Cain moved into the first floor and basement, burning properties on which he could no longer collect storage charges.

Last week's best and most expensive ($2.50 top) revival was the George S. Kaufman-Morrie Ryskind-George & Ira Gershwin extravaganza, Of Thee I Sing. Lois Moran, for whom "posterity is just around the corner," William Gaxton of the Jimmy Walker smile, and insignificant Victor Moore as Vice President Throttlebottom are still going as strong as they were in December, 1931 when the Pulitzer Prize-winning run was begun.

Another Pulitzer Prize piece, Both Your Houses by Maxwell Anderson, bobbed back into town after a trip under Theatre Guild auspices to Philadelphia. It was scheduled for its Philadelphia run before this month's award packed its final Manhattan performances.

Two members of the cast which acted It's a Wise Child for the late Producer David Belasco in 1929 were present in its revival. The tale of the smalltown girl who pretends she is about to have an illegitimate baby to scare off a middle-aged and unwanted suitor is still passable summer dramatic fare.

June Moon, another play in which Mr. Kaufman had a hand, was revived with Harry Rosenthal in the droll pianist part which he created four years ago. The Tin Pan Alley kidding of Ring Lardner is packed with deathless laughs.

Paul Muni in a grey mustache is back again as the ruthless lawyer of Elmer Rice's Counsellor-at-Law, produced two seasons ago.

John Golden revived Rachel Crothers' When Ladies Meet, with prices from 25-c--to-$1. Trouble with his stagehands threatened to put the Golden bargain back on the shelf.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.