The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-11-12
NOT LIKE THE REST.
Midnight BeIIv q Hoyt Play That is
q play


Years ago Charles H Hoyt wrote his
first farce "a Bunch of Keys" and soon
after that was produced. and was sue
cesSfuI he wrote "A Midnight BelI' and
was afraid to produce it II was so much
different from the SkIt about the Keys
family that he doubted whether the
public would accept it. So he kept on
writing and turned out "A Rag Baby
and q few more Of that kind. Three
years after 1t was written the manu-
script Of "a Midnight BeITs was taken
from the shelf. busted off and the play
was produced in san Francisco by a Pa
cessfuI on the coast and then Hoyt de-
cided to risk the production Of 1t IN New
York. Thomas O. SeabroOk was cast as
Deacon Tidd" and Maud Adams as
Dot The production was 4 success
and played to wonderful business in
New England and the south
H0yt smoked a different pipe when he
wrote a Midnight BeII' than that he
smoked for "A Trip to Chinatown =
Day and & Night and his other farces-
Those who saw a Midnight BeIT'' at the
Crawford Saturday night really doubted
whether it was from the pen Of Hoyt-
There is a real neIodramatic plot and
the piece is a play. not a bunch Of speci-
a1ties tied together with the thread of a
plot It is the story Of a bank robbery,
Squire OlcOtt, the president OF the bank
is accused Of the theft by Stephen La
barae- Ned OIcott, nephew Of the bank
president, confeSSeS to the robbery to
save his uncle Olcett is not guilty of
the theft but takes that way Of shielding
his uncle whom he believes fnrocent- Oh
co I escapes and fsaSSisted by the village
school teacher, Nora FarfOrd The old
gossips of the town demand that the
school mistress be dismissed because she
assisted the prisoner IN his escape In
the last act Deacon Tidd Is accidentally
locked in the belfry Of the church Al
night while he was oiing the bell
Stepnau I.abaree comes to the church to
he has al
bank and secreted in the cushion of his
pew. AS he is taking the bonds from the
cushion Deacon TIdd commences ring
ing Of the bell to summon the people to
the church and release him from the
tower. Labaree has heart disease The
sudden Changing Of the bell startles him
so he falls in a swoon, the bonds drop to
the floor beside him, the neIghborS rush
in and the guilty man is caught.
T. would be better If Hoyt had writ
ten more clean plays like "A Midnight
Bell" The second act Of the piece rep
resented the school house and slide.
During the act Lille Lawson. the u year
old school girl introduced her specialties
in the school room scene Harry S. Rob-
inson as Deacon T1dd'' was perfect in
the Iart Harry Mainhau as Napier
keeues and Alice RoseIand as Dot with
Deacon Tidd' and Gus Tate as Mar
tin Tripp' the country boy furnished
more real, good wholesome comedy than
can be found in all Of HOyt's other pro-
auctions com biued. In the four acts
there was not d vulgar nor an objection
able line. While the laughter brought by
the jokes and funny sayings was not as
spontaneous as in some other Hoyt
pieces 1t was nevertheless more hearty.
HCyt wrote more real bright and witty
lines in a Midnight Bell than in any
of his other pieces There is not a pair
of tights nor q short skirt in the piece
and for that reason it is hard for some
to believe that Hoyt wrote It But he
did
Eass---...,, +t,, s.,4- 49,. ---r4s---- +,,,7- -
easion to start free fight There were
yelIS and swearing and a rough house
generally, much TO the disgust Of those
or the first floor and balcony but Moth
ing was done to stop It. The gallery has
a nabiE Of running the entire Crawford
Opera House during 4 performance No
effort IS ever made to keep order in the
peanut heaven" The gallery has no
more right to start 4 free fight than
have the people in the parquet but If
fight did start in the parquet the man
ageme1t would very quickly eject the
unruly patron Why can not the same
thing be done in the gallery