Ticket Sales Music to the Ears of Producer in Stage Version of ‘Meet Me in St. Louis’

Never mind those reviews: Louis Burke, producer of the new stage version of “Meet Me in St. Louis,” said from New York that sales for the show never faltered, despite mixed notices from the New York critics.

Weiler/Miller/Carrella, the management firm handling the show--which features additional songs by Hugh Martin, 75, of Encinitas and his 75-year-old partner, Ralph Blane--reports that the show, which cost $6 million, has already grossed $1.3 million, with figures expected to rise. An advertising blitz begins Friday with TV spots and Sunday with a full-page ad in the New York Times.

Right now, the firm is selling tickets through January, but it has also accepted bookings for December, 1990, from groups who find it the perfect Christmas show.

Small wonder when one of its classic songs--by Martin and Blane--is the Songwriting Hall of Famer “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

FLATTERED, I’M SURE: Paul Downey, press secretary to Mayor Maureen O’Connor, gave a thumbs-up to actor Bill Barstad’s portrayal of him in “Emma Goldman Speaks,” a street theater performance that traveled from the downtown Amtrak station up Broadway to Horton Plaza on Nov. 2.

Downey got to see only 15 minutes of the show--not enough time to follow the script, which brought activist Emma Goldman back from the dead to chastise San Diego for passing the anti-free speech ordinance in 1912 and asking the mayor if anything has really changed. But Downey was there long enough to see Barstad as Downey get thrown off the stage a couple of times.

“I got a kick out of it,” Downey said. “I was tickled that they thought me worthy enough to portray, and I thought it was a boffo performance on the actor’s part.”

AN UNDERGROUND VIEW: The newest unofficial contribution to the Soviet arts festival is called “Looking for America” and is playing Underground at the Lyceum on Fridays and Saturdays through Nov. 18. The hourlong show, written by the ensemble that performs it, takes a look at a busy American street corner through the eyes of a Russian student. Directed by Underground co-producer Sarah Golden, the show features Don Victor, Judy Milstein, Damon Bryant, Kim Porter, Michael Hummel, David Baldwin, Tokeli LeClaire and Loren Hecht.

HOME-GROWN WORKS: The Progressive Stage Company begins its first Home Grown Theatre Festival tonight. The event, which ends Dec. 17, will premiere 20 original works by seven Southern California playwrights, three local directors and 14 local actors. The first three works, “Hopping Down the Chicken Trail,” “Demonstration of Love” and “All for Nothing,” all by Los Angeles playwright William Royce, will run Friday and Saturday nights at 10:30 for the first three weeks.

PARTY WATCH CONTINUES: The San Diego Actors Theatre, which presented a semi-staged reading of A. R. Gurney’s “The Perfect Party” last spring, will be back with a fully staged production opening Feb. 2 and running Wednesdays through Sundays at The Elizabeth North Theatre. Three of the original actors at the party--Amelia Emerson, Parker Tenney and Brian Salmon--will return, with San Diego Actors Theatre artistic director Patricia Elmore taking on the role of the critic.

SANTA THE HAM: The Del Mar Theatre Ensemble, a children’s theater company, will present “Peter and the Wolf,” “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” and “The Night Before Christmas” at the Del Mar Plaza, 1555 Camino del Mar, Nov. 25-Dec. 20. Santa Claus will lead a carol sing-along after each show and will greet children before and after the performance.

PIG SHOES TO FILL: And the playwright comes to the rescue: Steve Friedman, who is writing the world premiere of “Animal Nation,” scheduled to open Dec. 13 at the San Diego Repertory Theatre, had a quick fix when Michael Fields, co-artistic director of Dell’ Arte Players, had a conflict that caused him to drop the part of Watson, the pig who instigates a revolution. Friedman will play the pig.