Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-11-23
PUTTING UP A PLAY.
Hoyt Explains Some of The Difficult
ties to be Overcome.
THE SUCCESSFUL PIECE GROWS.
Stage Managers and Good People Often
Save Poor Writers.
THE POPULARITY OF AUDIENCE
CORRESPONDENCE OF THE DISPATCH,

CORRESPONDENCE OF THE DISPATCH
NEW YORK, November PA play in
its inception is little more than mere out
line on which are hung incidents of dramatic
action commonly called plot"
The speaker was well-known play
writer. Measured by his success, he is
unquestionably the most noted and dis
tinguished American playwriter of the day.
While all of his earlier efforts were directed
to the production of what is known as farce
comedy, he has recently betrayed an ambition
to do something in a more serious vein, of a
more distinctly comedy nature. He is yet
young man and man as yet unspoiIed by
the fatterY and financial fortune which at
tend success in dramatic work of any kind.
He is close student. naturally excellent
stage manager, and can give on occasion
practical illustration of any role of his
own creation. With such a combination
of talents, there is practically nothing in
his line impossible to such man.
A PEN PICTURE OF HoYr.
Sitting in his little den of an Office on the
second floor of an ancient dwelling house on
upper Broadway he would strike even the
casual visitor as a remarkable man. His
face, smooth save the close reddish mus
tache, is a lengthy oval, clean cut with
rather long and pointed chin, while his clear
white forehead is just high enough and
broad enough to pleasantly outline a SYM
metrical head. The eyes give rather serious
expression to the whole. They are the sad
and serious eyes of the traditional man who
grinds out humor that the rest of the world
may laugh.
In point of personal appearance this indi-
vidual would strike you as being trife
over-dressed. There is sort of speaking
tone in his elegant jewelry, diamonds, etc.,
akin to ''loudness.
This gentleman's name is Hoyt.
1t is his little private den set aside by o
crude partition from the general offices of
Messrs. Hoyt & Thomas, theatrical agents
and managers. A big three-sheet lady is
pinned against the wall by the side Of roll
top desk. Cartoons and rough sketches of
other billboard stuff are here and there.
On this desk is single sheet of paper con-
tanning certain marginal memoranda-the
growing outlines of a new play from this
prolific writer.
A PLAY IS A GROWTH.
"The real play is a growth" continued
Mr.. Hoyt "1t is not written at once. Even
after it has been laid out, filled in as to de-
tails of plot and dialogue, polished down,
adjusted and readjusted with reference to
the business of particular characters and
staged and played, it is still Eot yet play
at least not the play as it will finally reach
the public"
II should say not" remarked another
farce-comedy writer, who has couple
OF plays on the road. when T
write another play it will be but
a rough outline. I didn't know nv
own creation when last saw it. A series
OF stage managers have had whack at it
every actor and actress wants his or her part
changed or modified to suit his or her sup
poied talents. When they get through with
1t, by the close of the season there will be
very little of the original play left"
Exactly" says Mr.. Hoyt. "Sometimes
this tearing down and toning up improves a
piece, and sometimes it doesn't. With nv
own plays, 1 personally oversee every part
hands to the time it starts out on the road.
LIKES TO HAVE A HAND IN IT.
II stage my own pieces and always try at
least to compel those who are to perfofm the
various parts to follow the impersonations
marked out for them. say try, because it
is very difficult job to compel them to do
it. I had the hardest kind of work to con-
vince those who first took out "A Bunch of
Keys that it was not customary in every-
day life for one man to wrap his legs around
another fellows neck on an informal greet
ing. Of course if you and 1 did that on
Broadway we should probably raise laugh,
but 1t Is not the way people commonly do,
and while am in favor of leaving tine larg-
est latitude to play writer's and actors, there
ought to be some Limitation placed upon the
performers.
1T actually made me sick when I first
saw how they had despoiled my original
text and the business laid down by me. 1t
wasn't until I eliminated all those eccen-
tricities OF the various members of the COM
pany that "A Bunch of Keys really began
to pay: have made close study of audi
ences in various parts of the country, and
have learned that it is mistake to suppose
that because people laugh and shout at any
particular act of performer that it should
be lett in the piece and reperformed nightly
for the benefit of other people.
RIGHTS OF THE MANAGERS.
''In your case it is different. You write
plays and sell them to some manager. and
this manager, who probably embarks his
money in the enterprise, thinks he has
perfect right to cut and mangle to suit him.
self. As long as you get your royalties he
goes on the assumption that you have
nothing to say about it.
'That is just exactly a point in which
differ with those managers" said the other
play writer. "If write play I certainly
have some interest at stake in its successful
production. If the play is failure as
sent it out then the responsibility falls upon
me; there is where it should fall. If they
take play of mine, however, and cut it all
to pieces and virtually make a new play of
it, I am compelled TO suffer the consequences
of its failure. As I said before, the next
one try will be mere outline upon which
the purchaser can hang any sort of business
he desires and take the responsibility for
changing my ideas"
THE MAKING OF SOME PLAYS.
'There can be no castiron rules in sueh
cases." remarked Mr.. Hoyt. SIT is true it
seems little hard in such a case as yours.
but it is true on the other hand that a good
many plays that were practically worthless
as turned out by their writers have been
made successful by good stage managers and
good people. should prefer, however. to
have the management of the piece and the
people in my own hands during this prog
ress of the growth. I am more than ever
convinced, as I become familiar with the
public taste. that a man is not good Judge
OF his own production. I do not refer to
this in literary sense, but in a sense of
striking the public pulse. independently
of everything else, this is what we work for.
st have seen some of my pieces, in which
I take a pardonable pride, and from which
I have made money, fall dead fat in certain
places and in other places they have drawn
crowded houses. This question of locality
is thing that man must needs study assid-
iously if he desires to make money instead
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