Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-03-05

part of five hundred dollars. At the end of
the eight months, in the nick of time, 3The
Intruder" was given single special pro-
duction" in Boston. The play didn't seem
real and, on the managers wish, changed
parts of it. Subsequently @The Intruder"
was announced to open in New York.
saw a million dollars ahead for me. The
opening night came-then the morning
after! And the ,,lay was quickly taken off.
In spite of its failure, however, still con-
sidered it to be the best play have ever
written.
Success at Last
DREVIOUS to the production of "The In
truder" had received an invitation to a
dancing party at the home of a girl friend
| wanted to 60 to the dance; but didn't have
cent. So hooked my dress suit with my
landlady for ten dollars and then borrowed
the suit from her just for the night. 1 spent
most of the ten dollars for flowers, went to
| the dance, and, in a conversation with
young woman at the supper table, got the
| inspiration for the plot of new play. That
night, when l got home, l began to work
suited in "A Woman's Way" l had dis
cussed the idea of the play in the meantime
with Daniel Frohman, and he told me he
wanted the play for Miss Margaret Hing
| ton. After he had read it later in its COM
pleted form, however, he said he did not
care for it and would not take it. @No
audience" he said, @would stand for play
| in which a respectable, good woman invites
bad woman into her home"
l made bee line for Mr.. Brady's office.
3Good! Fine!" he exclaimed when he had
finished reading it. 3I'll produce it"
While on the road with the play, before COM
| ing into New York, was made to write one
hundred and fifty pages of additional dia-
logue; but all this work went for naught;
for when the play opened in New York it
was in nearly the exact form that it had
been at the outset A playwright should
| never tinker with his product, once it is
completed.
The week before "a Woman's WAY" came
into New York, Miss Grace George, who
was starring in it, decided it was not ego"
| and declared her intention of shelving it
that very Saturday night in Philadelphia,
where she was playing. On Saturday night,
however, the night when the production was
| to 60 into the storehouse, the receipts sud-
denly jumped to fourteen hundred dollars
Mr.. Brady, delighted, determined to bring
| the play into New York at once, and, to do
Theater for the whole season. In no other
way could he at that time get hold of thea
ter in which to present the play.
The morning after the premier realized
that fame-long looked for, hoped for, and
prayed for fame recognition, if you had
rather call it that)-had come to me at last
And the funniest part of it was that did
not think "A Woman's Way" was nearly so
good as the critics did. Not until read in
| the reviews that was a proficient writer of
comedy, did 1 ever realize that 1 could
write comedy. My intention had been to
write serious drama. But the best laid plans
of mice and playwrights @gang aft a-gley"
| although sometimes, as in my case, It's bet
ter SO.
Then the Deluge
A FTER the success of "A Womans Way"
orders came in on me by the ton; also
the letters inquiring as to what the young
American dramatist was @up against" l
set to work and adapted @Lulu's Hus-
bands" which also proved successful. 1 do
not believe in adaptations, however, from
| the "young American dramatist" point of
view. Adaptations are usually unfair both
| to the original author and to the adapter.
Then l set to work writing play for
Douglas Fairbanks, on Mr.. Brady's order
| For my central idea harked back to my old
/ r. -.