The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-02-18
CHATS WITH THE PLAYERS.


save me.
with Gods help. / wilt
The HIT timed applause, which almost had
ruined the effect of Mrs. lie Moyne's
speech. broke oth afresh. and the curtain,
which had fallen. was raised twice in re-
Spouse. The star bowed and smiled. Rob
ert Edesou bowed and smiled, finally. half
the company that had been Interpreting
The Greatest Thing in the Wcrld' bowed
and smiled. Then quiet was restored.
Meanwhile. a newspaper man had been
making his way TO the box in which were
Beatrice de Mile and Harriet Ford. the
AT thors of the play. En- route he had met
Willard fiolcomb, advance agent of the
organization, and had pressed him into ser
vice as an introducer. The Formally took
but moment The critic seated himself
and, in reply to a question, gave II sum
mary of his opinion. He thought the piece
excellent and intended to say so. He found
its cieaness refreshing. He was glad to
learn that respectable people had emo
tions nus
Thank YOU exceedingly" returned Mrs.
De Mile. rather neryously. IN drrtng
the year that Miss Ford and I spent On
The Greatest Thing in the World we
worked TO that end. and hoUcI .hlt eG-
motives would be appreciated. Should you
like to know how the drama came to be
written? The story is rather unusual. To
begin with. Miss Ford and Mrs. &c Moyn2
are fast friends. My collaboration is re-
spousibie for number ~ uouu!oSueS
which Mrs lie Moyne used : hile she was
4 reader, and which she adr 'ro1 50 much
that she was drawn TO their compJseT.
Miss Ford and / also are fond OF OhC an
other She shares my horl,. at PonpyoL,
y. j.. and my two boys are devoted To
her When she saw the actress in The
Moth and the Flame she conceived an am
bitiou to construct vehicle for her. She
sought my aid. and this is the result.
When We had finished. | sent letter TO
Mrs. lie Moyne. and told her | hd I lloked
over play which l thought would suit
her Naturally, she asked to have it for
warded | took The Greatest Thing
In the World TO New York, and together
we perused the manuscript. 1t was hot
until she had professed her delight. ECT-
ever. that | gave my partners name. Mrs.
lie Meyne was affected wonderfully at lie
information that the woman she loved so
well had had hand in the labor. The
Greatest Thing already had been accepted
and-here it is.
The orchestra began rendering a series
of selections from "Amorita."
THE drama betrays remarkable
knowledge of stagecraft,' commented :sc
critic.
Miss Ford laughed We believed that
We understood some OF the tricks OF the
trade" she explained. Il was behind the
footlights for several years. you know. /
supported Clara Morris and Sol Smith
Russell and other stars Mrs De Mile
assisted her husband, Henry c. De Mile.
in many of the works for which he was re-
sponsIble after he and David Belasco had
ceased collaborating
Then you are acquainted with the au-
thor of Zaza.' Mrs. De Mille?''
81 have been since 1880. He was stage
manager at the Madison Square then. and
Mr.. De Mile the reader for the house.
which was under the direction of the NAL
lory Brothers. The two experts got TO
talking play casually and finally commene-
ed on The Wife That Was their initial
effort and IL narrowly escaped failure in
New York. When originally done, il con-
tanned five acts and much of the matter
was tedious. The dramatists were taught
by experience, for The Charity Ball was
an instantaneous hit. Mr.. Belasco Used
to come to my home at Pompten a great
deal while he was collaborating with my
husband He was the same quiet unas-
sumirg gentleman that he is now. Miss
Ford and both have every respect for
him. We had hoped to have him here to-
night"
There goes the curtain" quoth Miss
Ford.
And the visitor departed.