New-York tribune., 1908-12-13
FARCES OLD AND NEW
Harry Conor Recalls Days Of Hogt
-"ReUiUaL Here" He Says.

Harry Conor who provides much Of the nsrr-
unsnt in The Blue Mouse" at the Lyric Thsatr.
has been connected with farccal plays for quar-
ter Of a century. Re was the first actor TO 6s e.
rexed By Charles H. Hoyt. and he remained unds-
that authors n1anaesemen fo- eighteen years II,
and James 7. Powers shared the hOnOrs of IA
Hoyt farces II IS his opinion that there ~ r.
NivaI Of interest IN straS Sht farcss and coma
dies Tho long run OF "Ciirls' at Days and n.
popular interest in THE Blue Mouse the Ivric
he believes De certain signs OF a renewal os tia
'sIauzhnR days when HOyt's comical rsprsssnta
lions were amusing the public Between ths scf,
Yesterday Mr. COnor took a chapter from tbs oas.
ara added TO Il a few reflections OF his own con
eernng stage entertainment ot tbs present and ths
future
81 am not an old boy yet by any means he sa.d
-and I feel much younger than I havs
played farce FOR twenty-five years. for 7 bega,-
young and have never acted IN anything else
For eighteen consecutive years I appeared in ths
farces OF Charles n. Hoyt. and under his Inanazs-
unent was the first man he engaged when IA
began producing his pieces under his dlrsction
and 1 working for him when he died Up 10
tho time OF Hoyts death II might almost 5s said
that 1 knew other m 8nagsr- The HOyt farcss
were different from the farces os today. and osr
haps still more different from the farces os tbs
future Many OF them-in fact. the majority G,
them-were Of purely contemporary interest Br.
there others. ike A Trip 70 Chinatown.
which could even now be successfully acted and
which should be good for years TO come. A Tim
TO Chinatown by the way. for 755 consecutive
performances continuing through an entire sun
mer at the Madison Square Theatre. Besides tha
long run IN this city and the equally long roaa
tours. made two trips 70 Australia with this fare.
and acted n It continually for ter years
Mr. Hoyt usually wrote his Sarces with A "a
tirical idea For instance, a Rag Baby vhleh
was the first piece Hoyt produced himself vas a
satire the sporting r-an' and the drug stsrs
business. In that piece everybody wished 20 'shak,
the hand that shook the hand OF John L Ths
catch line was Grab It QuickT When there was
explosion in the OF the story the oulz
thing uninjured was the hand that shook -hs haad
Of John l. "A Tin Soldier IN which played m.
g few weeks before James T. Powers was engaged
a satire the imposition OF plumbers and a
Texas Steer on life IN washington "A Trip to
Chinatown, the greatest OF al. a saCrs an
those persons who think they dying when a. =
matter OF fact. they perfectly we'll 5Iy char
acter was that OF Mr. WeLandstrOng the dynx
man. was supposed 20 have only TWO years %
uve-becaUse the doctor had told The Iass
Hoyt piece IN which I appeared was a Stranger n
New York
Generally speaking. the modern farce has Isss
humping and falling. less high and lofty tuu1-
bling. 70 speak Also. many OF the HOyt pieces
especially the earlier ones. had a number OF souzs
introduced into them5 The songs were sung by
the characters, and always had bearing On tina
Incidents This Idea has been expanded into nusg-
cal comedy, and the farce OF to-day. except for
chance song in scene is entertainment without
music. A Texas Steer with the scene in which
the men from Texas all drew their guns and shot
them of they cried 'Hurah for literature" would
be too riotoUs for ideas to-day
Mr.. Conor loves believe that II Is again ths
hour for laughter, and, not unnaCuraIy, hs thinks
there are many laughs in The Blue Mouse
The public 1 think have come 20 grew
weary OF melodramatic pieces that expose social
and political evils Il IS laughing time again AZ
frst my comrades IN the profession wers doubtful
OF the effect Of the present farce IN which an
acting. They now ready 70 confess that 2
has made a hit, and Il IS popular because. be-
Heve the public wants to laugh And r is svtdsnt
that the pIaygoers do not demand large casts and
extravagant effects What they require go0d
acting and confcaI situations
Mr.. Fitch has set the pace in this revival of
farce He Is clever at arranging situations aad
twisting lines. 20 be funny and fresh 20
avoids all the old phrases. and he knows fBs
how every line should be read to get the creates:
effect. He has way OF making the subtle 2einz
Of character reach over the fOOtIshts- His versa
tilty makes II possible for him TO write the ssr0s
as well as the comic, and his reTnarkaos lnsighs
into feminine character is an immense adva1taga'