Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-01-10
A CHAT WITH HARRIGAN.
The Author-Actor Discourses on the
Ethics of Play Writing and Things
in General.

Ethics of Play Writing and Things
in General.
Edward Harrigan, he whose songs
and dramas of New York life have been
the delight of. millions of his fellow
countrymen. is in the city, preparatory
to producing his play, "Old Lavender" !"
at Lothrop's, this week With a Spy
reporter, who sought him out at the
Bay State House, Sunday evening, Mr.
/ Harrigan talked interestingly of his
views and experiences
"a dramatic author ought to be fully
conversant by personal experience with
the society he attempts to depict said
Mr. Harrigan, in the course of his "e-
marks. That is why good plays of
fashionable Gif9 are so few. Society
keeps well within itself and the author
has to depend largely on hearsay for
his material. Bronson Howard and one
or two Others have done good work il
that line, biut most society dramas are
weak and colorless. What vogue my
own works have had comes because I
know my New York thoroughly, and
paint as truthfully as 1 can such char
acter types as other New Workers readi-
| ly recognize"
''Why doesn't some Bostonian write a
play Of New England that isn't all
farmers and bucolicism? ?" continued Mr..
Harrgan. "a great chance for an in
telligent young author would be to-
dramatize Howells' Rise of Silas Lap
| ham. That is great work. Such a
character as Lapham, the shrewd, self
made New England merchant, would be
unique in dramatic literature, and even
! if the play were hit in New England
only, the dramatist would be well paid
for his work. Take for the first act the
scene where the reporter Interviews
Lapham ON his early struggles and his
tory-the little private Office, with the
| store stretching in the background,
with the packages Of paint done UP in
different brands, the porters and clerks
coming and going-a chance for abun
dance of good comedy and strong dram
attic intcrest-why, the play would al
most write ITSELF
But about your own work" queried
the reporter. s'Then everything you
draw in your work has its original pro-
totype?"
Everything. New York is as much
foreign city as if it were in the old
world. The different races give a mass
Of local color that is a mint to the
dramatist. The Irishman comes first.
He is always a born politician, and am
bilious. When 40 years ago he used
the pick, today he governs the man who
| uSeS IL. Next TO Ule TlSTlIldl WOulQ
| place the Italian. He, too, is getting to
be a politician There is an organiza-
| ton of 10000 Of them in New York, and
they stick to that organization blindly.
Last election they secured q coroner
and many minor offices. ] like the
Italian; he has the making of a good
citizen. He earns his money honestly
and spends it here-buys good clothes,
good food and comforts for his family.
| nd In ie fioII FTyl,,
sight of his wife and baby watching for
| him as he returns from hard days
work brightens up his weary features,
| and he wouldn't change places with
king! My study of italian character
which l found in Thompson street and
introduced into 'Waddy Grogan,' was
the hit of that piece"
Which of your songs is your favor
lite, Mr.. Harrigan?"
WELL 1 hardly know I introduce
song into my pieces whenever the dia-
logue seems to lead up to it, or the en-
| semble to require it. Often song will
explain more to the audience than is
minutes of dialogue or action. So in that
| light like them all. But the public seem
! to call for Slavery days or 'Poverty's
1 tears ebb and flow which l sing in old
Lavender When I am feeling in good
trim and in the right mood for singing
that song 1 often have watched my
audience sitting spellbound-old men
even, leaning forward with their chins
in their hands, oblivious to all but the
memories that song calls up. l find as
a whole the plaintive melodies live long
er than the sprightly ones.
"Poor Tony Hart! That man was the
| finest impersonator of the negro wench
or Irish woman that ever lived. / first
met him in Chicago where was playing
in a variety theatre, and liked his work
so well took him with me- Our act was
a tremendous success from the first.
! Tony'S impersonation of the German
girl, Little Fraud was so perfect that
the Chicago public could not believe it
was not a genuine woman. Several well
known critics came behind the scenes to
see him and even then could not pene-
trate the disguise. We finally reached
New York, where we leased our first
theatre. 1t had been run almost into the
ground by Matt Morgan, who with an
enterprise 80 years ahead of the times
had been giving living pictures-nagnif-
icent specimens of art, but the public
called them immoral and wouldn't have
them. They little thought that three de-
cades later they would go wild over a
Similar idea, though far less artistic and
beautiful than Morgan'S Well, we took
the house and ran it as variety thea
tre with a one-act sketch from my pen
to close the program. We made money.
Then I got the idea of expanding my
work with a 3-act play and commenced
The Major Every one prophesied dis
aster, and the only words of encourage
ment received were from my old friend
of Tammany Hall, John Kelly, who told
me if [ felt was right to go ahead |
went ahead, with the result that The
Major ran six months to packed houses
Broadway has never seen a success like
"A VI, T fr,I1 rod unit n
Squatter sovereignty which did al
most as well.
"There is too much of the commercial
spirit in the drama of this country. The
theatre must have a profit, of course,
but that shouldn't be everything. In
England, Irving, Beerbohm Tree, Chas.
Wyndham, Toole and several other
leaders, are actors as well as managers,
and the drama thereby receives high
state of development In this country
the actor manager has. no chance. Sup
pose / write a play, stage and cast it
to the best of my limited means. Then,
if one of my company does extra good
work and makes hit, up comes this
combine of business spectators who
form the theatrical trust, offer him $50
a week more salary, take him. and
am left broke. These people, too. keep
a man in the same line in which he has
made one hit, and give him no chance
to grow in versatility. / saw John
Hare's beautiful presentation Of "A Pair
of Spectacles.' There is a little curtain
raiser old Cronies,' where John Hare's
son and another young actor play two
aged men perfectly. l could not bring
myself to believe it was art and not
nature was watching. But when the
play came on, there were the young men
again, this time in juvenile roles, and
they acquitted themselves finely. 1t