The sun., 1919-07-20
ss&9RR13he Show Shop the SuMNeptime1aaaRA

get a good etart--may get In hrst,
ahead Of all others OF it's class and
hind, and yet shortly see one or more
or all Of the late starters pass IL in
the seasons race to please the public.
The best play always wins. That has
been proved time and time again.
This season there has been consld-
cradle talk and more or less specula-
ton regarding the number Of new
mystery melodramas playing or an
nounced for presentation here in the
near future. 1t has been said that by
bringing owen Davis's melodrama.
AT 9:45,' into the Playhouse on June
20, q time hitherto taboo and not even
discussed as favorable for the presen-
tation Of a new play In New York, got
away with the benefit of several
weeks start over other plays similar
In subject. As q matter OF fact, AT
s.4b 10 not the first of the new melo-
dramatic mystery plays. Who Did
IT.? produced at the Belmont Theatre,
vas tho first; rushed into New York
TO beat all Corners Of like general
character. and what was tho result /?
That play had the advantage OF the
start and clear field, but due possibly
TO inferior direction, to acting that
was not so good as IL might have
been and to an injudicious handling
OF the elements which go to make the
successful mystery play, did not make
good and quickly dropped out of the
race.
1T 10 q prime truth OF the theatre
that regardless Of the start II is the
best play that wins in every case.
Practically every season there is the
race 10 get into New York FIRST with
what may be common property In the
way OF an idea Last season, for ex-
ample. there was the case of ALLIE
glance and Friendly Enemies Both
plays were rushed in. but Allegiance
lacked the elements which made
Friendly Enemies a notable success.
Every one OF course remembers the
Fiske and Savage productions of The
Devil and in that instance In the two
productions Of the same play nat
urally the best won. II happened they
both opened in New York the same
night The F1ske production was
more to the taste of the public and en-
joyed a correspondingly greater de-
| gree of success.
"A more recent case was that of
Twin Bsds' and Apartment 1?-K.
The latter was rushed into the Maxine
Elliott Theatre in an endeavor to beat
Twin Beds lin, but Twin Beds hap
pened to be sood and Apartment lax
didn't, with the result that Twin Beds
enjoyed highly successful run and
Apartment 12-K' quickly persisted.
! Given a reasonable degree OF merit
however, there Is no question that a
play having the benefit of a good star,
will run much longer on the impetus
| given by that early start than II It had
arrived later. An example of that
was the production of Henry Arthur
Jones's The Hypocrites.'
Going back a bit. there were the
famous races between DOyley Carte
and John B. Stetson to see who woulC
be in first with the produc tions Of the
Gilbert and Sullivan operas. Anothe,
famous case which aroused much in.
terest at the time was the Sotheri
production of The Three Guardsmen.
Immediately Mr.. Sothern announced
his intention to present the play IL
New York there was a wild rush or
the part of those back Of another pSo
duction OF the came play to get int
New York first. This other produc
ton Of The Three Guardsmen'-Jame
o'Neill was one Of those who played II
ibid get into New York first. but
the Sothern production deservedly wor
lasting success.
The same thing has happened tim,
and again in England. Beerbohn
Tree once announced a production o
'Trilby' for London. 'Trilby' was con
sidered anybody's property, and NJ
sooner was the Tree announcement
made than another production was un
der way. This was done in the prov
inces before Tree could open in Lon
don, where 1t later arrived. But thu
Tree production was so immeasurabl!
superior in every respect 1t quickly let
the other at the post"
In two of the most interesting in
stances where the producer who got Il
first prohted through that plus the al
important fact that he had production
which made good on a flying start, Mr.
Brady himself was a prominent figure
The first was the legal battle owe
Rider Haggards She staged year