Hello, Saigon!

The big U.S. Air Force KC-135 transport circled Saigon's Tan Son Nhut Airport for 30 minutes to enable a flight of F-100 Supersabres to roar off for a sortie. By the time the KC-135 was down and hatch open, the sudden October monsoon was whipping a veritable wall of water in its face. There on the strip stood a U.S. brigadier general and dozens of pretty Vietnamese girls in sodden turquoise and white ao dais. "If they care enough about us to stand out there in the rain," said the first passenger, "the least we can do is stand there with them." So out came Broadway Producer David Merrick, and right behind him Star Mary Martin and the 70 members of the international company of Hello, Dolly! They were there to mount the first big U.S. musical comedy ever played in a combat zone.

Critic's Mission. The Defense Department billeted the troupe downtown in the second-class but comparatively safe Hotel Meyerkord. A sentry watch was set around the area and even in the sewer mains beneath it. Quipped Merrick at his first press conference: "It's no more dangerous here than it is in New York on any opening night."

Maybe less so. Merrick, in order to join the U.S.O. tour, had just missed the first first night of his 40 since entering show business in 1954. The show was Pickwick, and it was a critical bust (see THEATER). Smarting from the reviews, which had been phoned to him in Tokyo,* the splenetic producer tore into Herald Tribune Critic Walter Kerr with an intemperance to match Radio Hanoi. Kerr (who is a Roman Catholic), said Merrick, "panned Pickwick because the Pope was saying Mass at Yankee Stadium that night, and Walter was simply sore that he had to be at the opening instead. Someone ought to send Kerr to Viet Nam. I have a mission for him--up around Danang."

Stage Secrets. A more gracious entrance was made by Mary Martin. Just off the plane, she said: "I'm thrilled to be here, proud to be here and glad to be here." At the press conference, where she wore a yellow and white ao dai, she was asked, "Are you afraid to be here?" Mary hesitated, then answered, "No, not really." Then she turned the question around. Were the correspondents afraid? Back came a thunderous "Yes!" So was the Pentagon. The company would put on six performances in the next ten days in the war area, but the exact locales and curtain times were kept secret. From Viet Nam, the troupe will play a fortnight for troops in Korea and Okinawa. "After that," said Merrick last week, "we go to London--for money."

* Another sore point for Merrick last week: he had just closed in Boston his second production of the season, Hot September. Down the drain: an estimated $425,000.

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