Bill Bingham should have booked "The Curious Savage" for the stadium this weekend when he canceled the Stanford game. He could have guaranteed more laughs and sent his customers home in a much happier frabie of mind than that debacle promised.

John Patrick has written a successful comedy about a widow who has hidden her $10,000,000 fortune from her avaricious heirs. They do not discover that the money is gone until after they have committed her to a mental institution. She is only too sane and manager to make them look even there ridiculous than her fellow inmates in the search for the money. Mr. Patrick has happily peopled his rest home with fresh and likable people and has avoided the pitfalls of sentiment. There is no suggestion that these search people are better off than their stronger brethren outside the walls.

The best part of the evening is Mr. Patrick's own wit, and this will surprise no one who remembers his "Hasty Heart." The following samples appear on the back of my program.

"I am looking for a product that can be made for a dime, sold for a dollar, and is habit forming."

"Man is by nature optimistic. If he weren't he'd eat his young."

The first night audience was initially disappointed to hear that Patricia Collinge ("The Little Foxes") was indisposed, but applauded with enthusiasm the fine performance by Marie Carroll. Miss Carroll read through her lines for the first time but 24 hours before the opening, and rolicarsed only twice with the cast. At one point, an astute observer caught her reading from her script onstage behind a cover of Time, Altogether, it was an amazing job. Miss Collinge will not return for at least a week, but Miss Carroll will see the play nicely through the interim.