Evening star., 1954-10-22
Ed Sullivan
Little Old New York

| Christmas cards. jewelry ane
ceramics and another little shor
that creates perspective tram.
ing" -
There are other differences be-
tween the uptown programs and
the downtown programs. The
Broadway theaters. under who's
who in the cast" for instance
recite that Percy Waram, play
ing the part Of Lucas Edgarton
J in Reclining Figure" played op-
i posite Rex Harrison in Anne OF
a Thousand Days." partnered
such redoubtable stars as Flor
ence Reed. Jane Cowl, Grace
Moore. Maurice Evans and Tai
lulah Bankhead. The uptown
programs point out that Robert
Preston, in "The Tender Trap"
| played opposite Barbara STAN
wyck in DeMille's Union Pa
cif1c" and replaced Jose Ferrer
in "The Male Animal" In the
same who's who in the cast"
Kim Hunter was recalled as
Stella in "A Streetcar Named
Desire" and played opposite
Raymond Massey and David
Niven in Stairway to Heaven. !"
u X X
The program for the Theatre
De Lys. downtown, also has its
who's who in the cast" but the
claims are much more modest.
The youngsters In Jerry Her
mans "I Feel Wonderful" have
no such impressive backgrounds.
You read that Phyllis Newman,
one Of the leads. "at the age of
4 sang on the stage Of Loew's
State Theater with Belle Baker" !"
Rita Tanno, it Is recorded, was
an understudy in the revival of
pal Joey" and Dance at the
Copacabana." Com e die n n e
Albie Gaye made her pro debut
with a USO unit. John Bartis
signed with the ensemble in I'm
side U. S. A." Tom Nixon danced
in the st. Louis MUM opera
chorus, Nina Dova had her own
TV show in Canada, and Jerry
Herman, who did the music and
lyrics, is a 23-year-old grad of
u. of Miami.
II \ 4 4
But the talented kids appear
ing on the little stage of the
Theatre De Lys, on Greenwich
Villages Christopher Street, have
no inferiority complex. They
know that the uptown stars
started in the theater in much
the same manner. There are no
short cuts for the apprentice. He
can only learn his trade by
working at it, in front of audi
ences. Writer'S for the theater
can learn how to write only by
trying out their lines and OBJ
serving audience reactions. The
test of music and lyrics is in the
singing.
Less than two miles of city
blocks separate the Broadway
theater and these Greenwich
Village training schools. To
young performers, this is the
longest two miles in the world.
But if these kids were to talk
to Percy Waram, they'd learn
from this veteran that for three
solid years, in England, he had
toured the British provinces with
Ben Greet's repertory company
before he made his first New
York appearance in 1902. He
might tell them that he had the
same dreams, the same heart
aches, but that the dreams were
so vivid and his dedication to
the theater so complete, that 50
years later. he is still indulging
in nightly make-believe on the
stage of the Lyceum Theater.
Many Of these youngsters in
this downtown theater undoubt-
edly are much more talented,
at their age, then Waram was
in the corresponding point of
his fiedgling career.
Whether or not their devo-
ton to the theater and the in
tensity of their ambition will
match his, is something else
again.
Some of them will get mar
ried and drift away from the
stage. A few of them, a very
few. will stick with it. It is a
rugged life. Sometimes per-
formers won't even eat regu-
larly or live normally. The soles
OF their shoes will become thin
and worn as they go from one
casting Office to another. They'll
often have to take jobs in stores
or in restaurants to tide them
selves over the lean periods. But
II they have greatness within
them. some day they'll have their
own dressing rooms in an up
town theater and who's who in
the cast" will recall that in 1854
they made their dehlIts Mt the