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Then, just before Christmas, they produced After Dark, or Neither Maid, Wife, nor Widow, a play as old as their theatre by Dion Boucicault* Before they really knew what had happened they had a hit on their hands. People came over from sophisticated Broadway to hiss the villain. Telephone calls for reservations were so numerous that six telephones were in stalled. Mail orders reached 2,500 a day. Broadway managers offered $50,000 for the privilege of moving the production across the river. The four remained firm. They stayed in Hoboken and did not even raise the prices ($1.50 top, Saturday night $2). The play shows every indication of running forever.
Many things have happened since. The Hoboken Chamber of Commerce has feted the four miracle men and been gustily God-bless-you-Sir-ed by Miraculist Morley. Jersey City businessmen have sought to lure them to their city to revive its ancient glories. The four have bought the Rialto Theatre and have leased the Lyric, down the street, where they have now installed The Black Crook. And, it is rumored, they are soon to build an apartment house for artists and writers on the banks of the Hudson in the city they have reclaimed.
*Pronounced Boo-see-ko. Playwright Boucicault's real first name was Dionysius, which he could not bear. Two present bearers of the name Boucicault are the short, stocky Ives Boucicaults, father & son, French golf professionals. Ives Jr. won the open championship of France at the age of 14, in 1923. Ives Sr., one-armed, goes around La Boulie in 70 to 74.