Lily, the Virtuous Seamstress; or, She Was So Good She Never Dropped a Stitch. Lily White, a motherless child, and her incapacitated father run a boarding house for actors. One of their boarders is Merlin Skirmahorn, a Shakespearean actor who speaks with rich language but carries a poor (spell that empty) purse. He has his evil eye on Lily. So imagine his chagrin when rich, handsome, noble Frank Merriwellborn enters the scene. It's love at first sight for Frank and Lily. But Mrs. Merriwellborn is aghast—alas!—at the thought of her son making goo-goo eyes at a (shudder) seamstress. Enter yet another villain, J. Sedgewick Sludge, a scurrilous theatrical producer. He and Skirmahorn put their filthy heads together for some double double-dealery and decide to bilk the dowager of her fortune by convincing her that she is another Sarah Bernhardt, and that if she invests in their show, they will make her a star. After some melodramatic romping and tromping, the situation is saved in the nick of time and the villains receive their just deserts.

Two acts; set, front room of White's Theatrical Boarding House in New York City; time, 1880's. A popular piece among melodrama theatres, frequently produced at the Iron Springs Chateau, Manitou Springs, Colorado; Sutter Gaslighters, Folsom, California and elsewhere, as well as by church and school groups.

Another by McDonald and Zadnik: Virtue Is Its Own Reward

See also: Melodramas