The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-05-30
ONLY TWO HOYT PLAYS
TO DE SENT OUT BY THE FIRM OF
HOYT & M'EXEE NEXT SEASON.
BeautifuI Wife of the Playwright Re-
tires PermancntIy-Cause of
Success of Hoyt Comedies.
sreclal to the INDIANAPOLIS Journal.

old established theatrical concerns have
been going to the wall on Broadway. say
ing nothing of the scores of well-backed
road companies that have stranded during
the past two disastrous seasons, the great
success of the firm of Hoyt & Mckee is
one of the wonders of American theatrical
management. This is no paid advertise
ment either, but is Justly due to one of the
most enterprising and fertile combinations
Of managers that ever struck the Rialto.
While Messrs. Hoyt and Mckee are among
the latest to acquire theaters in the me-
tropolis. their ledger shows profits which
some have not been able to exhibit with
ten years of management Both on the
road and in this city the fair goddess Tina
LA has smiled on the ventures of this firm.
as she has on all good and worthy comedy
effort. True enough, Mr.. Hoyts genius has
never offended the presiding muse His
produ @tions have caught the popular fancy
with such force that Hoyt plays may truly
be said to have established new school,
both as to genre and their careful and law
ish production. Such faithful following
Of Hoyt pieces has been created that the
amusement public throughout the country
has come to look forward to a new Hoyt
play with a sure anticipation of a dramatic
treat w ME IillS most ingenious as We'll
as ingenious playwright has always brought
out surprise. he has never failed to
please, and in this is partly concealed the
secret of his success
But there is a stiH greater reason for the
success of the Hoyt plays. fact which
has been overlooked. and which some of
the other great producers would do well
to adopt. The firm of Hoyt & Mckee was
n a or,
the road, and such transforming aggrega-
tions known in the profession as mo. o.
companies never wear the Hoyt &, Mckee
trade mark so far as known. When a Hoyt
play makes a hit in New York and after
ward goes on the road, country managers
never have any fear of being buncoed with
a second-class organization. Wherever a
Hoyt company appears both managers and
public know they are getting the original
production, even more, for Hoyt is con-
stantly OVerha uling his productions, and
hardly a month passes that some new and
more attractive feature is not introduced.
No matter how many hundred nights
China Town." or "A Black Sheep" or "A
Stranger in New York may run at the
New York theater, the firm of Hoyt & Nc
kee has ever adhered to their original pol
icy TO maintain only the one company in
any particular piece. Hoyt does not believe
in flooding the country with inferior
''uoupes' to swindle the public out of its
dollars on the strength of a New York
success which is often largely manufac-
tured. In fact, the charge has never been
made that one of his pieces was forced into
q losing New York run" for the sake of
taking it on the road and working the
country. AS a matter of fact, Hoyts plays
are first made successes on the road and
then taken into New York, sometimes not
reaching the metropolis until a year after
they are produced.
You may wonder what this letter is lead
ing up TO. Well, just this: Hoyt's Theater
closes a successful season June with the
ffty-frst performance of THE Man from
Mexico a successful comedy of the Hoyt
school, by that new young playwright who
gave us The Man from India" With this
fact comes the announcement that next
season the firm will have only two Hoyt
productions on the road. All their talented
and numerous forces will be combined in
"a Black Sheep and the latest Hoyt play,
"A Stranger in New York"
Hoyt and Mckee have now been associ-
ated with each other for about fifteen
years although Mr.. Mckee has not, dur
ing all that period, been Mr. Hoyt's partner.
Still, their relations, so far as work is con-
Cerned, have always been practically the
same; that is, MIR. Hoyt has written the
plays, while Mr.. Mckee has looked after
exploiting them before the public. Never
in a single season has a play under their
management gone through the year with
out showing a balance on the right side of
the ledger. Mr.. Hoyt seems to understand
inst rDar, ha
from him, and both Mr.. Hoyt and Mr.. Nc
Kee evidently thoroughly understand when
one should be retired. They realize that the
same thing cannot go on forever. AS a con-
sequence at the beginning of next season,
there will be but two Hoyt q Mckee com
pauies on the road. "A Stranger in New
York goes out for only two months and in
November comes to Hoyt's Theater for a
run. Many have predicted that it bids fair
to exceed the wonderful record made by
"A Trip TO Chinatown" This would seem
a rather extravagant hope were it not for
the fact that in its preliminary season this
spring the business far exceeded that of
Chinatown" for the same period.
The stage is now filled with people who
are distinctively known as Hoyt comedians,
Hoyt singers Hoyt dancers and so forth.
They form a large proportion of the theat-
rical world. With so much talent to select
from the strength of the two companies
will therefore, be remarkable, even for a
Hoyt comedy.
But it must not be thought that Mr.. Hoyt
Is idle. on the contrary he has mapped out
for himself a summer of steady work. 1t
has been frequently remarked by his friends
that in Mr.. Hoyt's brain are ideas for
enough plays to supply every stage in New
\ ork with an attraction. However true this
may be, this playwright is a man who
makes haste slowly, and he has no inten-
ton of undertaking to show his ability to
fulfill such a suppostitious contract. He
does intend writing two new comedies dur
ing the holidays. one of these will probably
be put on the road about the first of next
year and the other may be given a pre-
lminary hearing in the latter part of next
season.
1t has always been the policy of Hoyt
& Mckee to attend strictly to their own
affairs; therefore, when others become in
VOWED in controversies, these gentlemen
merely pursue the even tenor of their way,
finding no occasion to take part in disputes
Of any description. From this it is not to
be inferred that they are in the habit of
overlooking anything good. Hoyts Theater
was purchased by them with view to hav-
ing a New York home for an annual pro-