New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-02-09
NJCCESS IN PLAY PRODUCTION
Box Office Returns and the Applause Of the Public
Are Secondary to Pleasing Ones Self in the
Work, Says George c. Tyler

"The keynote to successful theatrical
.oduction to-day lies in such production
,,e 70 please ones self, with the public
secondary consideration. ~
4, this time. when there is great hue
,d cry that the theatrical producers oil
LIS country have become 'commerciai-
I'd" until they look upon production
Iloly as something done TO catch the
l,buc fancy and fill the box office. TINS
l,,erance of one OF them. George I.
Eler offers subject matter for reconsld-
Lion. Mr.. Tyler's position as produc-
l. . director for the Llebler company and
l. q producer on his own account gives
L. views a foundation of authority.
THE sole thing which makes theatrical
l,oductlon worth while is love for IL
|, us own account, not for the money
Eat can be made out of it, Mr.. Tyler
tac,sres in voicing his sentiments. "Of
[ourse. it is necessary for a manager TO
Like money to go on with his produc-
t,ons but the only real success that
[ounts for him is the success that comes
[ro,n the creation of a production IN
Ib,ch ne is interested. | pity the man
Lbo is in the business only to make
l,onov out Of It by catering entirely TO
no money paying public. The strain OF
he game i3r him cannot be worth the
handle.
The field Of theatrical production TO-
Isy is a large and growing one. IL Is
l,tracting the attention OF great many
ieople There is an interest being shown
H. the stage i'm our colleges and IN
treat many other different ways.
I THE trouble with it as field nova
ldavs. though. is that it is being entered
(,v large bodies OF men, who 90 into 1t
Inot because they have any liking 10Y IL
lon its own account, but because they
have heard stories of some man who has
made fortune in it, Some producer
|sav makes small fortune out of a
certain sort of play over which he may
have thought and worked for months
and years one Of these would-be pro-
juoers' hears of IT, decides he wants
some of the public's money. too, scrapes
together "A few hundreds, orders another
play as near like the first as he can get
and then becomes a theatrical manager.
THE result of all this Is that nine times
but Of ten the venture is a failure. n lew
more failures of the same sort and there
X a disastrous season, with gloomy
prophecies of the future of the drama.
1t IS conditions of this sort which have
brought about the present status OF al
fairs in the producing field. There has
been the overproduction of theatres IN
the same fashion. theatres shot up 10
capture the money that is being spent ny
the public. We have playhouses going up
every twelve feet \ readjustment oil
conditions is inevitable. 1t will be case
Of the survival of the fittest and out
Of the readjustment will come conditions
that will make for the best for the
lheatre
Theatrical production in its best sense
is instructive. IL is an instinct for crea-
ton. The success that makes il worth
while is a personal satisfaction that
comes from considering only the best re-
suits in a play. A play is like child
II comes TO the producer with one good
point, sometimes and the interest OF the
is in developing and rounding IT
out into a creditable result.