South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-12-15
PLAYHOUSE ANNOUNCEMENTS

while Sir John Capel was found in /
the person Of Mr.. George Fitzgerald. |
Jane Cowl, concerning whose ap- /
pearance IN The Crowded Hour" va
rious stories have been circulated,
and who has hitherto refrained from
any public expression Of her own
side OF the case, yesterday gave out
the following statement:
II have hitherto refrained from
discussing the matter in question be-
cause, in the first place, my own
conscience was absolutely clear. and
in the second I feared that anything
I might say in advance OF the actual
production OF the play in New York
might be construed as an effort on
my part TO influence criticism. Now
I that the play has been produced, l
/ feel free to speak
The actual facts, as far as I am
concerned, are these: The Crowded
| Hour" was offered TO me before the
manuscript was completed and both
/ the Messrs. Selwyn and Charming
Pollock were most anxious TO have
me appear in It, I believed then
that Il was a great play, and was
quite willing 70 do 50, put It was
apparent that It could not be com
| pleted in time for the date set for
! the opening Of the new Zelwyn thea
/ ter. Moreover. most OF the members
/ of my "Lilac-Time' company had
| been reengaged for Information,
! Please" and had refused other en-
! gagements in order TO wait for its
] production, and as there were parts
/ but for few OF them IN The Crowd
/ ed Hour" l decided not TO abandon
| the production Of the comedy.
did not want to throw all OF these
people out Of work, as they had
waited all summer for my produc-
/ ton, and I felt that The Crowded
| Hour" could wait Then when il
became apparent that Information,
! Please" could not weather condi-
tions-it opened during the Liberty
Loan drive and when the influenza
epidemic was reaching its height
the firm naturally felt that the
| sooner the theater housed a great
! success the better 1t would be for all
| concerned. II was urged that on &C
count of it's umeliness THE Crowd
ed Hour" ought to be offered in
| New York at the earliest possible
moment. and obviously, the princi-
pals who had opened with II in Chi
! cago could not play in two places
at the same time. 1 felt that IL was
only right and proper that I should
try to safeguard the firms interests
as far as possible. and If they be-
/ Ba r7R
benefit the play II was up to me to
meet their wishes.
'In the meantime however. we had
definitely decided to abandon In
formation, Please" I was informed
that the management had been ne
gotiating with another well-known
a ctress to appear in the play in New
| York, so that even If I had not
| agreed 10 act the role It would not
have affected the situation as far
as the Chicago cast was concerned.
my failure to open here on Fri
/ day night was not due to 'tempera-
I ment,' although I freely admit that
was terribly upset by the anony-
nous letters received from Chicago
and the subsequent publicity given
I TO an anonymous press sheet, but
my throat was in such bad condition
\ that at the dress rehearsal on Thurs
day night I found that I could not
make a sound above a whisper.
Against the advice OF my physician
and everyone else I went TO the
theater Friday evening, however,
hoping 10 struggle through, but at
the last moment it was decided by
Mr.. Edgar Selwyn that the risk
would be too great. Mr. Seiwyn,
both as producer and co-author. had
most at stake, so I agreed 10 abide
I by his wishes.
with regard to my appearance In
+ Within the law the circumstances
we're much the same. The mana
gers. for reasons of their own OF
which I knew nothing, decided to
/ change the cast for New York II
was not the only actress with whom
/ negotiations were conducted, but /
/ happened to be the one selected.
I'm my business dealings and In
nv relation with my fellow players,
( 7 have always tried my level best TO
be fair and considerate. have moth
ing with which to reproach myself,
: and my deepest regret is that anony-
nous statements, obviously designed
to injure me, were so rapidly accept
ed and spread broadcast.
! JANE COWL."