Read Alan Jay Lerner: A Lyricist's Letters for Free Online Page B

attempting.” 150 Others were less kind: Robert Garland (
Journal-American
) called it “monotonous” and “quite repetitious,” William Hawkins (
World-Telegram and Sun
) said it had “gigantic faults,” Walter Kerr (
Herald Tribune
) commented that “Mr. Lerner seems more interested in the authenticity of his background than in the joy of his audience,” and Richard Watts Jr. (
New York Post
) simply said “there is something just a little flat about it.” 151 Nonetheless, the score included a series of Lerner and Loewe’s finest songs, such as “I Talk to the Trees” and “They Call the Wind Maria.”
         Early the following May, James Barton announced his intention to leave the show, citing the need to take a rest as his reason for his departure after only about half a year. This left the production in trouble, because Barton’s name was a huge commercial draw and artistic linchpin, as Lerner explained to him in the following letter:
        
To James Barton
         May 4, 1952
         Dear Jim,
         I was heartbroken to hear this week that you are leaving the show. It goes without saying that, to me, the show will never be the same without you.
             As you know, neither Cheryl [Crawford], Fritz [Loewe] nor I expected you to leave so soon, and although I certainly do not blame you for feeling the need of a rest, it does put us in a kind of difficult position. We are trying very, very hard to find a replacement, but so far we have been unsuccessful. Both Joe E. Brown 152 and Jack Oakie 153 are unavailable. We have two or three other ideas, as of yesterday, that we will get into immediately. If you have any notions on it, please tell Dick LaMarr. 154
             In the meantime, June 1st is just a few weeks away and we may not be able to find a replacement, rehearse him and put him in, in that short a period. At the same time, it would not be possible to play the show without a star of your caliber, in other words, with the understudy, and expect either business or the show to hold up. Therefore, Jim, if there is a one- or two-week delay, would you help us out? You can rest assured we will do our damnedest to find somebody so that you can leave June 1st, but if it isn’t possible in that short a period, we would all appreciate it more than we can say if you would stay a little longer, certainly not more than two weeks, and undoubtedly not more than a week.
             California is the same - and you know what that means. I can’t wait to get finished and get back to my natural habitat. I’ll be looking forward to seeing you and Katherine then.
    Best love to you both,
    Alan
         It is interesting to see how keenly and personally Lerner engaged in the running of his musicals, even when he was not the producer. Barton obliged, and in mid-June actor Eddie Dowling 155 took over the role of Rumson.
         Dowling’s characteristics as an actor were clearly very different to Barton’s, and when helping to rehearse Dowling with the existing Broadway company, Lerner evidently made a comment about the differences between the two personalities. He felt his remarks had been misrepresented to Barton, who had heard about it, and Lerner wrote to confirm his respect for the actor:
        
To
James Barton
         [Undated; early June 1952]
         Dear Jimmy:
         I just heard from the theater that my remarks introducing Eddie Dowling to the company were repeated to you in the usual out of shape condition of most second hand things. Actually, all I said was that because Eddie was a different artist than you and had a different interpretation of the part, the play would at first seem different to the company. How this innocent and accurate statement could be twisted is something beyond me. But it seems to have been. I beg you to rest assured that nothing detrimental to you was intended or implied. As you well know, this show was written for you from the very