Paul M. Potter · aftercurtain

Shows & credits

The City Directory

Writer · Play · 1889

A modern description of the New York production describes the plot as focusing on the confusion caused when Chicago detective John Smith (played by Charles Reed) travels to New York to arrest a crook, also named John Smith. A bunch of other "John Smiths" get into the act as they travel around Manhattan. Not atypical of farces of the period, the content of the show and musical numbers were subject to updating over time. On its 100th performance in New York, the show was advertised as being "rejuvenated" with new parts and music.

The Girl from Rector's

Writer · Play · 1909

New York rake Richard O'Shaugnessy is having an illicit affair with a woman he knows by the name "Loute Sedaine". When O'Shaugnessy's cousin asks for help with charming Marcia Singleton, a high-class young woman visiting from Battle Creek, Michigan, O'Shaugnessy decides she will be a more favorable partner for himself instead of for his cousin. He informs his mentor, known to him as "Colonel Tandy", that he will marry Singleton and break off his relations with Sedaine. He also severs ties with Tandy, whose assistance he no longer needs. When he arrives in Battle Creek, O'Shaugnessy discovers his rude dealings with Sedaine and Tandy were a mistake, because "Tandy" turns out to be a false name used in New York by his new fiancée's father. Similarly, "Sedaine" is also from Battle Creek, where she is married to a local judge. In a complication borrowed from the French original without regard to its implausibility in American law, O'Shaugnessy and Singleton have already wed in a civil ceremony, but need to go through a religious ceremony to complete their marriage. The joint arrival of O'Shaugnessy's lover and his mentor threatens to disrupt this plan. The main characters all end up at a roadhouse, where they go in and out of one another's rooms, revealing their embarrassing affairs. Eventually they work out their differences; O'Shaugnessy consummates his new marriage, and his former lover reconciles with her husband.

Trilby

Playwright · Play · 1895

In 1850s Paris, artist’s model Trilby becomes engaged to Little Billee, but the hypnotist Svengali breaks up the match and turns her into a celebrated singer under his control. Years later, Billee’s friends confront Svengali; his death briefly frees Trilby before Svengali’s portrait returns her to a trance, and she dies.

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