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''Fine Feathers'' is a 1912 drama in four acts by Eugene Walter. ==Origin== The play's origin is complicated. It started as a scenario by Walter Hackett called "C.O.D.". Hackett, behind by $3,000 on his board bill at the Hotel Algonquin, negotiated with Frank M. Case, then owner of the Algonquin, to settle his account in exchange for twenty-five percent of all royalties on "C.O.D.". Hackett had learn his lesson, when 4 years earlier he landed in jail after trying to pay his hotel bill at the Castleton in Staten Island with forged checks. Eugene Walter was then called to whip the play into shape for production.〔$3,000 board bill figures in suit over play. The ''Evening Telegram''. 1913-06-30〕 First produced for the stage as ''Fads and Frills'' by Charles Dillingham in 1910, it was abandoned as a failure after a three weeks run. Sam Shubert and Lee Shubert thereafter produced the play as ''Homeward Bound''. It premiered in New York on January 28, 1911 at the Daly's Theatre and subsequently went on tour but was losing money and further performances were suspended. On March 27, 1911 the ''New York Daily Tribune'' announces that the Shuberts are preparing to make another production of ''Homeward Bound'', this time starring Margaret Illington. ''The New York Clipper'' writes that Walter has changed the title of his play "again" to "Who's to Blame?". Whether it was true or a subtle April Fool's (it was published April 1), the new title for the third rewrite of the play was ''Mrs. Maxwell's Mistake''. It was anticipated to premiere April 17, 1911 at the Maxine Elliott Theatre but was rescheduled at the last minute for the following week until out of nowhere, it premieres at the Park Theatre in Bridgeport CT for one show on April 20. It finally makes its Broadway debut on April 24 at the Maxine Elliott Theatre but is again a commercial failure. After three unsuccessful attempts as a comedy, Eugene Walter decides sometime after May 1911 to rewrite the play as a drama. Enters Harry Frazee. Frazee meets Walter on a train ride from Chicago to New York City and convinces him that his latest rewrite of the play now titled ''Fine Feathers'' is the best thing he has ever written. He offers the playwright a contract and a royalty check in exchange for significant creative control. His confidence boosted by Frazee's enthusiasm and money, Walter feels he might finally have a box office hit on his hands and decides to approach Frank M. Case, who is still entitled to twenty-five percent of all royalties, and on June 4, 1912 an agreement is signed by which Case sells all his rights in the play to Walter for $200. The play opens at the Cort Theatre in Chicago August 12, 1912 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fine Feathers (play)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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