A department-store magnate who wanted to try his hand at producing a
Broadway show sank a lot of his money into a musical that previewed in
Philadelphia prior to opening on Broadway. The show was turning out to
be a huge flop and was losing large sums of money. In an effort to
revamp it, the producer hired Howard to rewrite it, and asked him to
come to Philadelphia to see it and then give his opinion. After the end
of the last act, the producer went to Howard and asked him what he
should do in order to stop losing so much money. Howard said, "Close
the show and keep the store open nights."