Peter Pan's profits
Some strange rumours are afloat in theatrical circles concerning Peter Pan, the play be- queathed by its author, the late Sir lames Barrie, to the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children. The hospital has done very nicely from it. So have others. For de- spite the hefty slice of the box office receipts taken by the hospital, the producing manage- ment is said to turn a profit in. the neighbour- hood of £30,000 annually. Which brings Peter Pan out of the Never-Never Land of artists and do-gooders and into the realm of biggish business, arid this hot prOperty is on the market.
The position is that the' Daniel Mayer Company, producers of the piece for many Years past, have lost the contract. They were taken to court by the hospital prior to the Production at Christmas 1969, because the
i hospital felt that their intention to present the play at the New Victoria cinema contra- vened the terms of the contract and the spirit ,., of Barrie's bequest. The judge agreed with the hospital but allowed that production to go ahead. Last Christmas, for the first time since 1904, apart from a couple of wartime years, Peter Pan was not seen in London.
The scramble for the contract, from all I hear, must have Barrie spinning in his grave. There are percentage operators around the town purporting to be able to 'steer' the con- tract this way or that for kickback con- siderations—which I suspect will be disturb- ing news for Mrs Jim Callaghan, who is Chairman of the hospital's board of gover- nors.
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