The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-04-22

tesy, his play is held forvFceks, and then in
MAIN nseN returned rflres:d oi with only "A
few ;eS glancctL7nvcr. He Will 90 the
roun from m41iager to lnnnayer, from
sti,l STAR, i~p.fi finally, batlied aud beaten,
he throws IT. lucS!es, manuscripts aside
Almost every dramatic a,i,loi has tc pass
throu gf.-tins ordeal. l.uc,.y Is he II he at
last Secures an opening lor his play Even.
then his troubles ARE not over. His play
may fall into the hands Of manager who
will not be willing to give it the proper
cast, and the poor author sees his work
ruined by the inelliciency OF the actors.
Even If the play succeeds there will lie a
puZzllng diversity OF opinion a. To its nier-
its. One critic will praise the dialogue:
another VIII condemn 1T uncQuivocally
One will speak of the plot interesting
and originals; another will pronounce itdull
aid threadbare. Even if the critics agree
the public may refuse To come TO see it,
and an artistic success is small consolation
for financial failure. The inpossibilty
OF ganginB the merits of Il play by IA mere
reading Is shown by the frequency with
which managers accept plays which turn
out to be failures and reject others which
eventually win great success NV expert.
ence with In Ola Kentucky ma, be of
value as case III point That play was
originally written for Katie Putnam. a
charming soubrette actress very popular i'm
the west aud south for whom had already
written two plays, each Of which had beeI,
fairly successful. III giving me commits
sion for a third play she ask ed me to write
her play strong enough to command sue.
cess In new dramatic territory which She
proposed entering This ] corscientiously
tried to do But wien the MANUSCRIPT of
IN Old Kentucky" was offered her the
heavy expenses Of mounting tl.c play and
OF giving il proper production caused her
70 propose 10 take i'll place OF ii another
play of mine. The Little Maverick -" il,
which Maggie Mitchell had successful,
starred during her last season Oh the stage
In Old Kentucky was then sent to sew
eral managers, all Of whom are supposed To
possess eXcellen, judgment. but who for
various reasons Gould see little CHANGE for
success with the play 1t was not until II
fell into the hands of Mr. Jacob Lift. one
OF the most enterprising and shiewd Of
American managers, that any proposition
4 Tor production was made and even he
States frankly that lac had no idea of The
success which the play was afteiwaId TO at
tain But there is this consolation 10 the
dramatic author. No matter low hard
may be his struggles TO place his plays,
when once he has achieved great success
all doors fly open. To place Rival Cand
dates"-a play written by Mr. } n Morris
aid myself-in one Of the best New York
theaters on my own terms was an easy
task, as IL was also TO secure commissions
for other plays from prominent managers
To sum up the matter. IL may be said that
success is not To be won as rule without
suffering pangs and rebutfs which NAV he
endured, bnt cannot be forgotten Still the
prize. if gained is worth the struggle, and
the chance as affording the entertainment
of the masses and as teaching necessarily
lessons of either good or evil needs the best
brains and the most conscientious work
shat can be enlisted in It's service.