By CHRIS JONES

Chicago   After five decades of trucking theatrical attractions through hinterland hailstorms, hurricanes, blizzards and mudslides, Clark Transfer is taking a minute this summer to celebrate its 50th anniversary year of dominating the asphalt portion of the Broadway road.

"If moving shows were an easy thing to do," says Clark's prexy and owner, Norma  (Molitch) Deull, "we'd have hundreds of competitors. But this is a uniquely specific and time-driven business, with the whole show depending on whether or not you arrive in time. Other companies stay away from guaranteeing that they will not be late."

With $15 million in annual revs flowing into the company's Harrisburg, Penn., HQ, Clark's dominant position in this market is mainly a consequence of being there right from the start and becoming steeped in legit lore. Prior to WWII, shows were transported by rail by order of government regulators.  That meant all legit tours tended to follow the tracks -- and they didn't play in, say Peoria or Madison, Wis., because those markets were not easily accessible by rail.

Truck tour pioneer

But in 1948, Jim Clark and Louis "Whitey" Molitch persuaded the Interstate Commerce Commission to license their Highland Express Lines as the sole company permitted to carry "theatrical goods" throughout North America. The following year, tours of "Mister Roberts" and "Death of a Salesman" pioneered the new concept of the "bus-and-truck tour," in which the physical production was transported entirely by truck, with the road-weary cast following behind in a bus.  By the mid-1960's, Highland Express had become Clark Transfer and adopted the trademark "Let's Get the Show on the Road."  With a client list that included the Metropolitan Opera, Clark was now transferring virtually every piece of touring legit.

Upholding legacy 

With Whitey's daughter, Norma, now in charge, that's still pretty much the case -- except that the concept of a show like "Miss Saigon" requiring 35 trucks to move around the country did not emerge until Cameron Mackintosh decreed that road productions deserved the same level of tech as Broadway and the West End.

With as many as 50 shows under contract every week, and 200 Clark-affiliated trucks on the road during the peak season (with as many as 113 in the service of Mackintosh attractions), Clark snags almost all of the $20,000 or so  per week that an eight-trailer bus-and-truck show like "Les Miserables" would spend on transportation. The company has also consulted on the construction of loading docks at many of the road's newer houses.

"We know an awful lot about how loading docks should be designed," Norma (Molitch) Deull observes dryly. Cindy Seigle, Clark's vice president of operations, has built up plenty of anecdotes over the years as well, including the time the set for "Cats" was stuck in a mudslide, or an Italian opera got stuck in a blizzard in North Carolina. Company policy allows for the snagging of planes when time offers no other choices.

"There was one occasion," says Seigle, "when I had to try and rent a 747 with my credit card.  We got the plane."

So is Clark Transfer the Microsoft of the road, dominating all others?

In trucking terms, the business of legit touring is actually the smallest of potatoes, making other companies generally uninterested in muscling in on Clark's specialist gig.  And it's hard to find anyone with anything negative to say about a veteran showbiz company that some bookers argue has been very instrumental in expanding the road to split-week and single-night markets well beyond the major urban areas.

"Clark are the only real players in theatrical hauling," says "Phantom of the Opera" general manager Alan Wasser, a satisfied Clark client for some 20 years. "Other people have offered cheaper prices from time to time, but they have come and gone from the business when there has been bigger profits elsewhere. The great thing about Clark is that this is all they ever do. And they always seem to get the set there on time."

Some road observers argue that the days of the massive 1980's tuner are fading fast, with the computer-generated imagery helping spark a return to two-dimensional scenic elements.  But even a minimalist endeavor like "Chicago" still needs a truck to drive around the rack of skimpy costumes.  And barring a major upheaval, Clark Transfer will be the one all suited up, still in charge.

Weekly Variety, June 28 - July 11, 1999

© 1999 Variety, reprinted with permission