Cylinder Lists: Columbia Brown Wax, Columbia XP, Columbia 20th Century, and Indestructible (2000)

284 i ti n i n t. a 1 i\. v. Charles jfroijman 2Lost on t!jt Lusitania T HE destruction of the giant Cunarder, the Lusitania, on May 7th last, by a German tor- pedo, laid heavy toll on the theatrical profes- sion. Charles Frohman, America’s leading theatrical producer; Charles Klein, one of America’s best-known dramatists, and Justus Miles Forman, author of “The Hvphen,” were among those who fell innocent victims to the Kaiser's wrath. All three had been warned against sailing by anonymous telegrams received before starting, but they took no heed. Charles Klein’s last words on the dock were: "I'm too busy think- ing over my new ‘Potash and Perl- mutter' play to bother about torpe- does.” The despatches say that when the ship went down Mr. Frohman, Mr. Klein and Mr. Forman all stood on deck together facing the end. Mr. Ftollman's body was the first to be re- covered. The expression on his face was reported to lie the most placid among all in the Queenstown morgue. For over twenty years Charles Froh- nian ha> l>cen the leading figure among theatrical producers in this country. Un- der his direction and genius the Amer- ican stage has been given an impetus, and reached a height of prosperity it lias never known before. He was not inaptly called the Napoleon of the drama. Not only in personal appear- ance, but in his daring, impetuous methods he resembled the conqueror of Austerlitz. To his associates and intimates he was simply C. F. Kind and considerate to all, especially to those in his employ, never was a man more respected and loved by those having business dealings with him. Born in Sandusky, Ohio, in i860, Charles Frohman commenced life as a clerk on the New York Tribune. Later he was employed in the box office at llooley's Theatre. Brooklyn, and this was his first connection with the the- atrical profession. Later he joined Haverlv's Minstrels as business manager, and in 1879 was assistant manager of the Madi- son Square Theatre. He gave up this posi- tion to become a dra- matic agent and or- ganize companies of his own, but without suc- cess until 1889 when, with the financial back- ing of A 1 Hayman. he prod uced Bronson Howard's Civil War play “Shenandoah," the success of which brought a fortune both to producer and author. In his personality Charles Frohman was the antithesis of the popular idea of the theatrical manager. It would be impossible to suggest the name oi a man who is, who ever has been, before the public in a similar capacity who was more impersonal to his business than he. Instead of courting publicity for himself he actually shunned it. It pained him to see his portrait printed, and he gave orders at his office that it should never be given out for publication. His manners, habits and tastes were of the simplest kind. It was a great misfortune to the American stage that Charles Frohman never had the advantages of a first-class education. He started in life to make his own living before school days were over, so that his life was one of hard work, reverses and disappointments be- fore he achieved material success, and there was no time for intellectual pursuits. The success of “Shenandoah” relieved him of all his debts and gave him his first real start in life. So that, while Mr. Frohman fought shv of the work of American dramatists, preferring to import his plays, it was after all an American play that put him on his feet financially. '“Shenandoah” was the starting point of Charles Frohman’s career as a successful manager because it founded his stock company, the excellence of which became his first trade mark. John Drew was Mr. Frohman's first star. Since then many other distinguished players have placed themselves under his direction. They include Maude Adams, William Gillette, Annie Russell, Virginia Harned, Mrs. Patrick Campbell, William Crane, William Faversham, Billie Burke. Julia Sanderson, Blanche Bates, Marie Doro, Ethel Barrymore. Nat Goodwin. Otis Skinner, Ann Murdock and Florence Reed. Mr. Froh- man controlled in New York the fol- lowing theatres: the Empire, Lyceum, and Knickerbocker and the Garrick and Criterion until they closed. He also controlled several theatres in other large cities in the United States, and was also interested in many other playhouses owing to his association with Klaw and Erlanger, and Hayman & Co. In London, he controlled the Duke of York's Theatre and formerly the Globe Theatre. Certainly no theatrical manager in the world, living or dead, has had in- terests as numerous and widespread as these, and in America where suc- cess in any direction commands respect the personality and achievements of Charles Frohman justify the title given him of the “Napoleon of the drama." In dealing with his actors Mr. Froh- man was an autocrat. He was liberal to a fault in all money matters, but his word was law. It was also as good as his bond or better. If he liked you. then you could have anything you wanted. With a man of such tremen- dous interests decision was an all im portant quality. When he took a stand he did not recede from it and there were those who took this for obstinacy. It was simply inflexibility of purpose without which Mr. Froh- man, who was pulled at from morning to night, would have lived in a troubled sea. Mr. Frohman's temperament did not let him do business in a small way. It led him to branch out, to grasp all that came within his reach. He was imbued with the spirit of his time and that spirit is one of restless energy, re- morseless competition, expansion. Cardinally speaking, the most prominent trait in Mr. Frohman's character was that of boldness. Napoleon once said: "Boldness, always boldness." C. F. learn- ed his lesson well. Mr. Frohman made his headquarters at the Empire Theatre. There, on the third floor at the end of a long room, one would find him busy at his desk, the latter covered with a mass of letters and telegrams several inches deep. Of recent years, especially during his attack of articular rheumatism which rendered him lame, lie transacted his business in the little suite of rooms he occupied at the Hotel Knickerbocker. He was a hard man to reach, but once you had secured access to his presence he listened attentively to what you had to say. At the outset he was sym- pathetic, although he quickly rejected a scheme if it did not at once appeal to him. When he started in to read a play, if it did not interest him in the first five minutes and if he did not find a situation in the first few pages of the manuscript, he never bothered himself to finish the reading of it. Situations Mr. F'rohman dubbed as “tricks,” and unless there were numerous “tricks” in the piece, it stood no chance with him. The man- ager's hard common sense taught him that it is only situations which count with the public, and the public was his alter ego. He preferred to wait upon the discoveries of the London and Paris managers for his plays upon the theory that the American pays more attention to the imported Charles Klein and Justus Miles Forman also go to their deaths on the ill-fated steamship.