Loverly:The Life and Times of My Fair Lady (Broadway Legacies) by McHugh, Dominic (best ereader for pc .TXT) 📗

a firm date for Harrison’s departure. The terms of Harrison’s contract allowed him to quit when the gross dropped below £1,750 ($4,902), but Levin proposed that Evans agree with Beaumont to allow Harrison to leave on November 1; in return, Harrison would stay on until that date even if the gross had previously dropped below that amount.

Levin also acceded to the proposed terms of Harrison’s record contract, while commenting grumpily that “this is the rate usually paid stars who are record personalities.” He added, with an air of condescension: “Perhaps I will be given credit for what in my view is generosity.”63 Five days later, Evans replied that the proposed deal with Beaumont was poorly conceived, because even if Harrison continued in the play when the gross dropped to £1,750, the show would have to close because the operating cost was the same amount. The letter also dealt with the issue of Holloway’s proposed co-star billing. Harrison was “completely unwilling” to allow this, wrote Evans: “Rex feels that Holloway’s name does not mean anything to Broadway audiences and, additionally, that the part of Doolittle should automatically get feature billing.” Throughout their association, there was no love lost between the two actors, and Holloway made his opinion of Harrison well known in the press, even when they were still working together.64

For a few weeks, the news from London was brighter. In a letter of May 2, Evans told Levin that the box office takings for the play were down to £2,700 ($7,563). Levin replied on May 6 and promised Harrison’s contract the following week.65 Evans wrote yet again on May 9 and mentioned that the gross had dropped to £2,600 ($7,282);66 Levin found this letter “encouraging” but mentioned that “this whole thing makes me feel a little like a fellow who is waiting around for someone to die. It’s the first time I’ve ever had any reason to want a show to close rather than run forever.”67 At this point, he also admitted, “It may be that we should resign ourselves to going into rehearsal about December 5th.” Again on May 18, Evans mentioned that “business at the Phoenix is slowly going down” and that “Lilli has been ill and was unable to play for five nights,” the latter a reference to Harrison’s wife, who was co-starring with him in Bell but with whom relations had broken down.68

But five days later, Levin’s worst fears were realized. Evans wrote to the producer again to inform him that “Business has gone right up again at the Phoenix and last week they played to over £3,000 [$8,403]!” He reported a conversation between Harrison, Beaumont, and himself in which Beaumont predicted that the play would run until the end of October and advised Levin to “forego any idea of rehearsing before the end of November or even early December.”69 The producer was depressed at the news and offered to pay Beaumont $2,500 in return for Harrison’s release on October 1.70

BEATON SIGNS UP; ANDREWS AND EQUITY

April–June 1955

In the meantime, negotiations with Cecil Beaton had gone through—one of the few jobs Levin managed to complete with total success during this frustrating time. Beaton had written to Levin on April 6 to inform him that he was represented by Arnold Weissberger.71 Some time during the ensuing weeks, Levin made a deal with Weissberger, who wrote to him on May 13 to clarify Levin’s offer to Beaton. The costume designer was to receive his round-trip fare from England and a fee of $5,000; $150 a week for the run of the original company in New York and on the road; for each touring company, he was to receive a fee of $2,500 and $100 a week, provided that he supervised the execution of the costumes himself (if he did not, he had to pay the fee of someone else and receive only $75 a week); and for the London company, he was to receive a fee of $2,500 and $75 a week.72 These terms were agreed, and a week later Weissberger sent Levin three copies by hand, promising to take them with him to England for Beaton to sign.73 By June 13, Weissberger had returned to New York with the contract, and Beaton became the second member (after Oliver Smith) of the production team to officially join the show; Levin received the contracts on June 16.74

Although Julie Andrews had signed an agreement to play the role of Eliza as early as March 31, Levin faced a problem regarding her employment in The Boy Friend. According to the terms of the American Actors’ Equity Association, foreign actors had to wait six months between engagements. Since at the time of drawing up Andrews’s initial agreement Levin still hoped to begin rehearsals between October 1 and November 1, and Andrews was contracted to be in The Boy Friend until the end of September, Levin required a waiver from Equity. Therefore, on April 21 he wrote a persuasive letter to them, submitting six points in favor of their granting the waiver: that the “importance of the role of Eliza is self-evident” hence they had “selected Miss Andrews only because no other actress has, in our opinion, the ideal combination of acting talent, voice, skill, appearance, background and prior acceptance by the critics and public, possessed by Miss Andrews”; that Andrews was to be co-starred as additional evidence of the importance of the role; that the employment of American Equity members would not be increased even if someone else were hired for the role because they would still be using an English actress; that when Andrews left The Boy Friend, an American Equity member would replace her, therefore creating an employment opportunity; and that the production’s importance was proven by its budget of $360,000 and its cast and crew of “fifty to sixty actors, about thirty musicians and about thirty stagehands.”75 The council met on April 26 and the following day agreed to Levin’s request, provided that at the conclusion of the Pygmalion