The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-06-03

production oost me only ttoo. could
haye dons H. much lcss than this, however,
" had not been PARTICULAR,
by this time ! began n feel some ~ The
b,ialneAs responsibilities accommodating, Tor
ail kinds ~ people bothered inc by trying
To sell M something. white actors IN reafch
~ engagsmente followed me everywhere
No ] determined 20 engage u manager, one
who could look after foutits business
matters.
The manager II the theatre suggested
that ! engage one who could alao look after
the press work. that II, writo advance no.
tlces, send out photographs. and incite
public interest 10 my play. ! found Ftich y
man. IN fact, broadway eeeped fun ~
thcm the Homept let u he know thss
lteme began 20 appeal Ia the papers. ebOtit
the new play, about Mlss HertniOne Hanel-
ton. tho leading lady, 40, and her wonder
ful adventures In Central Park while dry
inE, Sg: pald my manaEsr sn q secs
'The furniture and properties for the
new play we're borrowed by the properly
man, passea being given In exchange, Tor
the courtesy. AZ the. play was q, modern
comedy, the players had 10 furnish their
that nature whatever. In fact, ! had cars
fully oontriyed my play 80 that II oould DC
easlly and oheaply ~produced.
MY total expenses before the curtain
went up were: Scenery, $500; extra adj
yertising, sizes; one weeks salary Of my
manager In advance, s7b; printing. fot
three sheet billboards only, St2; typewrit-
ing, s22; electric light bills at rehearsal,
sii, and pay Of stage hands at dress re-
hearsal, tss. Total S721.
In addition to this actual outlay OF cash,
! had to furnish a bond to guarantee the
theatre its 81 900 u week for three weeks,
but was able to do that without putting
up. the actual cash,
The receipts the first night were S3o7.
The critics had lots Of fun with the play,
many OF them roasting it, but a few Of them
praising the actors. b second night
broken.
'But the third night was cool and we had
S3tl, with a midweek matinee OF Sl90, 30
that on half the week we had 81, los, with the
certainty that the Saturday nights receipts
would be bigger than any other night. This
indicated a profit for all concerned and we
were jubilant.
1The weeks receipts were actually 81
S64.75, which gave me az my share, 81 1887.
There were some extra bills that week for
inoidentals, calcium lights, advertising,
90, so that my expenses footed up to over
s126, but even at that | had cleared a profit
Of S477 on the first week.
Il thought l was surely on the road TO
becoming a millionaire, and / instantly
figured up that a s per cent. royalty on the
weeks receipts woul amount to $l1S.22,
30 determined, as manager, to pay myself
the royalty and keep my managerial ac-
counts separate from my accounts as author.
This reduced my profit as manage to only
$3.50. %; but l wal happy.
The second week we encountered a spell
OF warm weather, and the weeks receipts
dropped to 81, 1853. This gave me only
1851 so as my share, but az my expenses
were less than the first week / cleared a
profit Of s2lS.
ITO Offset this, however, / had to pay
the theatre a deficit Of Sis. 80 due on &C
count Of my guarantee, so that I had only
an apparent profit of 500. so. II I had paid
myself my royalty as author / would rave
wiped out this profit, almost, 80 I d determined
to pool my fortunes as manager and as
author, and restored TO- my managerial
account the royalty ! had received
the previous week.
my venture then showed a profit on the
two weeks Of $57e.s7, whereas my original
Investment before the rise of the curtain
had amounted to s72i, which I would have
TO equal In order to break even.
But, alasl TIE third weeks receipts
were only 81 ,2se, and ! received as my share
only sel9.50, and Of this ! had to pay out
on my guarantee to the theatre the deficit
OF S3s0.5 0 cutting my net receipts down
to $3.50. With this / had to pay running
expenses and salaries fortha week amount
ing to s843.
"This showed an operating loss of $4O3
on the week, and deducting that from my
profit for the preceding two weeks it ap-
| peared that in three weeks time my net
profit had peer sl72.s7. In other words,
1t had cost me S721 to raise the curtain on
my play, l had received back sl72,s7, and
my loss on the venture was $54S.13, in re-
turn for which / owned two sets OF scenery
and a lot Of press notices saying the play
was bad but the actors were pretty good.
fortunately the money loss did not
seriously affect me, and my friends told me
/ ought to consider that / escaped cheaply,
in view Of the tales Of angels losing hundreds
Of thousands Of dollars in unfortunate
theatrical speculation. l think my venture
was one of the luckiest in that respect ever
made, for few managers can show such a
small loss on a new play presented on Broad
way for the first time.
Il can sell the scenery for nearly as much
as it cost me, even if / don't sell the play,
though / have hopes hat / can dispose Of
the scenery and play before next season.
Meanwhile the scenery only costs me s.
O month in the storage warehouse.
But even il / never realize a cent from
the production, I will consider that l have
as ! took great care that all my friends
were presented with free passes my rePu-
tation as a playwright has spread i'm
measurably.
ALSO, having once had a play produced
at @ real theatre, l can no longer be referred
TO as an Enacted dramatist, and, greatest
Joy of all, l am now eligible for membership
In the Dramatists' Club Of America
SOME CURIOUS EPITAPHS.