Turtle's Troubles

For lo! the winter is past,

the rain is over and gone . . .

Unhappy Producer Alfred de Liagre Jr. could find scant comfort last week in these lines from the Song of Solomon, source of the title of his standing-room-only hit, The Voice of the Turtle. In Manhattan and Chicago, the Voice's two companies were putting up a losing fight against winter, rain, snow and sniffles. First, Star Betty Field (who replaced Margaret Sullavan in the Manhattan cast last month) came down with flu. Hollywood's Florence Rice took her place. Then Actress Rice began to sniffle. Producer de Liagre raided his Chicago company, had Understudy Nancy Holland rushed by plane to Manhattan. Soon after she arrived, honey-blond, willowy K. T. Stevens, the Chicago lead, was reported sick abed. Sleet and freezing rain grounded Margaret Sullavan, who was trying to fly back from California to help out. Producer de Liagre still had competent actors to read them, but most of his actresses were too stuffed up to reply to the play's punch lines:

The weather has changed . . . and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.

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