The New York herald., 1921-01-23
From $500 to $4,000 and Over Per Week Is
Share of the Writers Who Have Helped
to Enliven the Cty---Winners as
Profitable as Texas Gushers

quaint customs and outstanding figures
the first Vanderbilts, Astors and so on-of
century ago. and also by its romance,
which can burst through crinolines as well
as hobble skirts. From the standpoint of
the play itself, welcome Stranger" has
shown such munificent gratitude to Hoffman
during its nineteen weeks at the Cohan &
Harris because he has invested 1t with un-
usually amusing lines. because it makes a
plea for racial tolerance and because for a
novelty it shows a Hebrew as a central
character without the overdone dialect and
whiskers that have hitherto been his the
atrical stock in trade.
THE Champion" at the Longacre Theatre
has already begun to pay Thomas Louden
and A. E. Thomas something like $500 apiece
for writing clean and diverting comedy,
especially agreeable to men because 1t shows
that gentleman born and bred can mix
with pugilists and maintain his sportsman
ship and avoid caulifiower ears.
THE Bad Man." at the Comedy Theatre,
has meant that Porter Emerson Browne has
had between $500 and $1,000 per week for
pocket money during its nineteen weeks.
He made himself the rightful heir to this
amount by learning how to invest it with
straightforward story drawn taut with sus-
pense and laid in a picturesque Mexican
setting, where drama and comedy seem
naturally to spice the hot tamales. The
entertainment values are enjoyed by the
average theatregoer, while the satire never
fails to rebound off the forehead Of the high
brow Browne had an arduous path to climb
to this pinnacle, for following "a Fool There
Was" it seemed necessary for him to manu-
facture failure after failure in order to turn
out first rate success Until it was whipped
into shape on tour the present piece, in fact.
seemed doomed to miss fire. but William
Harris, Jr., in the face of contrary opinions
by his friends, kept his faith in it and is
now able to say $4,000 worth of II told you
SOS" weekly.
At First a Failure
Selwyn Piece Now Pays Royalty
A similar instance of victory being
snatched from defeat is "The Mirage" at the
Times Square Theatre, and Edgar Selwyn
has been receiving $1,000 for the last twelve
weeks for doing the snatching. AS he orig
inally wrote it, Selwyn-whose authorship
royalties are to be considered separately
from his profits as the producer-included
an almost tragic epilogue but the audiences
out Of town nearly rose in their wrath and
rescued the abjectly miserable heroine from
such heartless producer. So, instead of
having her serve as the maid to her sue
cessor in the affections of her faithless lover,
Selwyn now has rather cynical epilogue,
in which the possibility Of happiness is fore
cast Consequently constant discussion is
going on--which accounts for much Of the
interest aroused by the piece.
For THE Prince and the Pauper," Amelie
Rives. who adapted the Mark Twain ro-
nance now at the Apollo Theatre, is receiv-
Ing something like $500 weekly for being
canny enough to retain the picturesque and
thrilling elements of the humorist's Eliza
bethan epic and COMPRISING it so the on
locker wouldn't feel he was sitting through
a Wagnerian opera or listening to travel
ogue of Merrie Olde England.
Glda varesi, who wrote ENTER Madame"
with Mrs. Dolly Byrne. has been about $500
better off for the past twenty-five weeks be-
cause she knew how to employ in the sue
cess at the Fulton Theatre her knowledge
of good comedy scenes and the realization
that the vast horde of playgoers were eager
to take a dip in a novel side of smart,
operatic life with which they were not on
speaking terms.
Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel have
probably made as much for their share in the
book of MARY" at the Knickerbocker Thea
tire, while of course, the portion of George
M. Cohan, who touched this up just as ne
did "The Meanest Man in the World" THE
Tavern" and his other productions this sea-
son. is so inextricably tangled up with his
returns producer, stage director and gen.
eral handy man that all that can be said is
that 1t is adding substantial sum to the
Cohan millions.
For terminating the musical spectacle
Mecca" with which Comstock and Gesr
are gorging the Century Theatre, Oscar
Asche Is probably looking forward every
week to authors royalties of $1,000, his due
after giving the world a striking Cooks
tour of that Orient which most men have
wanted to see while retaining their
spectability. Among serious playwrights
probably the largest royalties of recent years
have been received by John Drinkwater.
whose Abraham Lincoln" still potent on
tour. is bringing him as much $4,000
week But as he loses about SO per cent. of
this through income taxes both here and in
England. It's not quite 50 large financial
return as II seems.