Preston Jones' much talked-about "The Last Meeting of the Knights of
the White Magnolia," currently at the Arena Stage in Washington B.C. and
scheduled for a Broadway opening this fall, has also been playing locally
at the tiny Company of Angels Theater. It's been doing such good business
that it Ml move to the 300-seat Coronet Theater on Friday.
Harris Yulin, who directed the play here, will coproduce with Joe
Stern. "Yulin and I have been friends for 10 years," said Stern. "He wants
to go big time with this production, so I told him I'd help set it up. I
got him the theater—which incidentally has been renovated and looks in
sparkling shape. 'Magnolia' has been doing great word-of-mouth business
and even though it'll be a limited engagement at the Coronet, we'll be
laying out $15,000 for a new set, among other things.
"It's not only my friendship with Yulin that's gotten me involved. The
idea of moving from a small house to a competitive commercial undertaking
conforms to our 'Actors for Themselves' concept of actors developing their
own environment as producers and managers, of being able to feel that they
have some control over their own destiny. I think all the exciting theater
lately has been
created by actor-producers who've tried to avoid going the old dog
professional route where they get ripped off by theater managers and
owners.
"This is the first play to make a move like this since "Are You Now Or
Have You Ever Been," which started at the Cast Theater, a 99-seat
Equity waiver house,
and moved to the Hollywood Center Theater. People will see now whether
that kind of a success was a freak. Don't get me wrong, we won't make a
nickel, but this move legitimizes this enterprise. It says 'We can
compete."
