What's New on the Rialto

Several shows on and off-Broadway have earlier curtains this spring -- for varying reasons. 3 productions have 7:30 P.M. evening performances in the Times Square area, which is becoming healthily congested with theatre-goers these nights.

Arthur Miller's A View From The Bride resumes performances this Saturday at the Neil Simon Theatre, following a completely sold-out run at the Roundabout Theatre, where Anthony LaPaglia and Al1ison Janney received the reviews of the season for their performances under Michael Mayer's direction. Producer Elizabeth I. McCann wanted a 7:30P.M. curtain, not because the show is long -- it's just over 2 hours including intermission -- but to enable audiences to get home in time for the 10 o'clock News, get an earlier dinner reservation and have a better chance of finding a cab post-show in Times Square!

The Roundabout's hit production of Cabaret which is SRO at the Kit Kat Klub on West 43rd Street (formerly Henry Miller's Theatre) has a 7:30 P.M. start because each night following the performance the theatre is turned into a real nightclub which opens its doors at 11:30 P.M.

At the Criterion Center in Times Square, Bill Irwin's staging of A Flea In Her Ear at the Laura Pels begins evening performances at 7:30 P.M. Apart from being popular with Roundabout's subscription audience, the earlier curtain reduces congestion in the Roundabout lobby where patrons are also entering the building for an 8 P.M. curtain for The Deep Blue Sea starring Blythe Danner and Ed Herrmann.

Dodger Endemol Theatrical Productions, Inc., one of the most prolific and successful Broadway producers of the past decade, has committed to a new venture, acquiring Eaves-Brooks Costume Company, Inc., one of the largest costume shops serving the entertainment industry. The new enterprises will be called Dodger Costumes, Ltd. and Broadway Costume Rental, Inc.

The Dodgers will maintain the operation as a working costume shop and rental facility. In addition to the inventory and equipment, the producing organization will also take over the 110,000 sq. ft., six-story Long Island City facility located at 21-07 41st Avenue, next to the Silvercup Studios.

The most famous North American theatrical costume company, Eaves-Brooks has a history that goes back over a century. Eaves Costume Company was founded in 1863 and operated on East 12th Street, the first of several homes in Manhattan. In 1981 Eaves acquired a major competitor, Brooks-Van Horn Costume Company and moved to the current site in Long Island City. The merger created a collection of over a million costumes servicing opera companies, regional theatre, motion pictures and television, as well as manufacturing departments servicing legitimate theatre, Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circuses and Ice Shows.

On the announcement of the Dodgers involvement, Managing Director Michael David commented, "This is an extraordinary opportunity. It is particularly exciting for us to be able to preserve and be a part of such a rich theatrical heritage. With this acquisition, we hope to build on the Eaves-Brooks tradition, creating a most viable and vital company able to provide important services to the entertainment industry as a whole. We will of course begin to provide for some of the costuming needs of our own shows; but will continue to purvey the best of a completely renovated Eaves-Brooks stock, which will now incorporate all of our own costumes, from both Broadway and national tours. We will actively support relationships Eaves-Brooks has developed over the last one hundred and twenty five years, as well as encouraging new associations for years to come."

Dodger Endemol Theatricals, Inc. is a joint venture between Dodger Productions and Endemol Theatre Productions.

Dodger Productions is a theatrical producing partnership comprising Michael David, Doug Johnson, Des McAnuff, Rocco Landesman, Edward Strong and Sherman Warner that originated at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1978 before migrating first to the New York Shakespeare Festival and then to Off and on Broadway, where they have shared in a host of Tony and Obie awards. Current Broadway: 1776 (Gerswhin Theatre), High SocietyTitanic (Lunt Fontanne Theatre). Other Broadway: The King and I, A Funny Thing Happened.. Forum, Once Upon a Mattress, How to Succeed in Business..., Hamlet, The Who's Tommy, Jelly's Last Jam, Guys and Dolls, The Secret Garden, A Christmas Carol, Prelude to a Kiss, The Gospel at Colonus, Mandy Patinkin, Into the Woods, Big River, Pump Boys and Dinettes. London: Chicago (Associate Producer), ongoing relationships with the Royal Court, Turnstyle and Almeida Theater companies.

Endemol Theatre Productions is a division of Endemol Entertainment, Europe's largest independent television and theatre production company. Over the past decade, Joop van den Ende and Robin de Levita (Producers) have produced more than seventy European theatrical productions. Current: Miss Saigon (Endemol-owned Circustheater, Scheveningen), West Side Story on tour. Other: West End -- Tommy, Chicago, West Side Story; Dutch premieres -- Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera, Barnum, Sweet Charity, Funny Girl, Cabaret, Sweeney Todd, My Fair Lady, Evita, West Side Story, Cats (Antwerp), Cyrano -- The Musical, Fiddler on the Roof. Broadway: Cyrano, Hamlet, and Victor/Victoria.

Michael David, Robin de Levita, Edward Strong and Sherman Warner are the Managing Directors of Dodger Endemol Theatricals.

(Note: The preceding column was taken from Press Releases. V.J. is on the road and will be back on Sunday with his regular column which will focus on a retropective of Broadway in the 1970's.)

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