The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-03-20

alt GCls D0N as dIllltU 10 pay
n title is almost half the battle
Many n good play has been a failure
before il has even been produced. as
the result OF being given a pool title
Next to writing a good play. the most
difficult task for The playwright is "a
select a good title. There are few men
who are capable not only Of writing
good plays. but Of naming them prop
erly. No man in the United States
possesses this happy faculty to the
same marked degree as Charles Hoyt.
In the long list of his many successes
every title selected by him has been
az once striking and suggestive of some
definite idea. As in reading q news
paper n selects the articles having
the most attractive headlines. so the
theater-goer buys a ticket for the play
whose title strikes his fancy. More
over. the more plays Mr.. Hoyt writes
the more adept he seems to become in
giving them appropriate names. Take.
for instance, his latest and what may
prove his most successful comedy.
which will open at the Mcguire to-
night. 1t is called "A Stranger in New
York" Where is there an Individual
who has not at one time or another
been a stranger in New York or who
cannot imagine what would happen TO
him IL he were q stranger i'm the great
metropolis? The title suggests SO
many humorous and enjoyable situa-
tions. that the reader of the advertise
ment in papers or on the bill boards
is on the way To the theater before he
has investigated furthel. He does not
care To waste time reading a lengthy
dvanc notice. The title alone has
convinced him that the entertainment
is just what he wants IL makes little
difference TO this amusement-seeker
where this particular strange halls
from. The central figure lis the strang-
err i'm New York. and the reader knows
this stranger is sure of "A lively time,
and so are those who witness what
happens. Titles were being discussed
as the people poured into Hoyt's the
alter In New York. when Mr.. Hoyt re-
marked:
There is one other point about titles
that is all important. The play must
be thoroughly in keeping with the title.
When the people come to see what hap
pens TO a Stranger i'm New York IL I
gave them a side trip To Philadelphia.
il would not be what they expected.
and I hould lose the interest of my au-
dienc at once After all. though. a
good title will not guarantee a on
tinuation of big business A cardinal
principle for people i'm any line of bust
ness is to give the public it's moneys
worth. The title of "a play under the
management of a firm having the repu-
tation of giving enjoyable entertain
ments will bring the people to the the
alter once. Having brought them there,
you must then give them "A dollars
worth of entertainment for every dol
lar invested. They must see "A good
play. adequately staged and presented
by capable people. Otherwise they will
not advise their friends to come. nor
will they come again themselves. The
cost of engaging good people or of
hnnAGnnaAlN nantrntKnv thn uta.. 49,.
not be considered other than to always
keep expenses within "A limit that shall
not quite reach what IL Is possible To
play To. In "A few years you may thus
gain the public confidence. The trust
thus placed i'm you must. however.
never In "A single instance be abused by
giving an Inferior entertainment ON the
strength Of the reputation you have
fairly earned. Never break faith with
your patrons is my rule Of how to sue |
ceed. and ! have always found il a good
one"
"A Stranger in New York will be
given in Butte by the same |
and with the same scenery and other
a%djuncts employed in its production in |
New York at Hoyt's heater. where il |
has been running the past two years.
The most notable dramatic events OF
the season i'm this city will be- the APP
80 VI AAf ldillbuN dIilSlt NftIAt 4
Jansen and her coterie of farceurs at
the Mcguire. in the latest and greatest
farce comedy success, THE Nancy
Hanks Miss Jansen is the celebrated
actress who had New York at her feet
during the Casino days. and whose
sweet voice and winsome manners on
tributed largely TO Francis Wilson's
earliest successes. The Nancy Hanks"
is a ~farcical comedy now i'm it's second
season. and is said to be a thoroughly
enjoyable and funny entertainment.
The story OF the play involves the
for one day of the Marquis de
la Rochelle. who la sunk his fortune
in The Nancy Hanks gold mine. and
Candos. an im%pecunious actor.
who Is forced To teach acting for a
This occupation surrounds
him with a number Of stage-struck
persons and introduces him To Pearl
Dodo. a vaudeville attraction 10 a
giddy old stock broker and to a baby
on a doorstep. and adopted by
his equally ~impecunious friend. the
Marquis de la Rochelle. When these
have been farce-conlically
e~ntangled. the hero's wealthy Aunt
Retty and his pretty country cousin.
iona. arrives. They find the marquis
m~asquerading in one of Pearl Dodo's
scene being her apart
ments-and take him for a woman.
me MARQUIS nnds II necessary To say
he is the hero's wife. which causes
great CONSERVATION, as the hero's for
tune depends on his marrying the coun-
cousin. The scene OF the last act is
he aunt's house. whittier she has ron
the Marquis. still under the
impression that he is a woman and the
wife of her nephew. Here the captive
'emale finds his beard growing without
he means of removing the same. The
hero arrives and has a ludicrous scene
With the determined aunt. who has
iecided 10 cut him off with a shilling.
he hnally~ softens the old lady's heart
BY pretending TO drown himself-and
Ill Is we'll The Nancy Hanks" will
three nights and Saturday matt
lee. beginning Thursday. March 2sth.
As actors and audiences know. the
makeup Is an important thing.
'ays the Chicago News. A mere stroke
~ the pencil changes the expression Of