, 1876-07-24
THE DRAMA.
THEATRICAL N1ANAQEliS' ASaO-
CITATION.

THEATRICAL MANAGERS ASaO-
CITATION.
Tho principal proylnrial managers Of this
country have combined In All aseocintior, tho
objects Of which arc said to bc mutual protcc-
tloh against tho rpaclty Of "stars" md COOP
cration In the purchase Of new plays from for
etgn authors. Tho name Of Alr. McVickcr, Of
Chicago, is noticeable By It's absence from the
published lists, but ho will doubtless Join the
Association iii cass its practical results shall
prove to be beneficial to tho managers. In a
crcnlnr 1atc!y Issued by the members Of the
Association their purposes nrc thus Aatcd:
tho nnbllc they dcstro tu snale dramatic art worthy
Of h'sher r. rnrptccatoll. " Increased General Ok
Tor general use. the nucccAtfnl works Uf fUso!gn
dramatic authors. and to kec,re their proper pre-
~ IN es. " tyo
moro theatres aro in nctIye maungeMant nnt to
,ubstltnte friendly competition ii il plaeo 10
their atsraciEsencss, and The facilities, capacity,
and tho ezpensc OF tho house, and u make tho
weekly inconls Of tho theatre, ~ I'll sar engage
hontd. At least equal 10 thu weekly outlay.
Tho circular proceeds to give detals Of tho
reform measures contemplated In tho engage-
ment OF stars, arrangement Of routes, putchaso
Of plays, quictlng Of competition, etc. The
following members aro reported as having
Joined the Association: X. Il. j. Miles, Of Cli-
cinnntt; II. GrEcnwald, Of Galveston; ]. u.
Dickson, Of indianapolis and Toronto; II. w.
SS;annig # a,t rtt:bfgi JSl'n !, A Eil;'os Of
ph!s, and Nashville; Den De Bar, OF Ut. Louis;
j. ". Albaush, Of Albany; Churles E. farblsi,,
Of of'FurbisA's Fifth Ayonuu Combination; j. N.
oetthola, Of P!ttsburg; Abbey d ,sshof[el,
leans; aud John +. For.l, o} baltimore and
Washington. At d meeting held In Nrw York
City on Tuesday Inst, tho Association was duly
organized under the nanie Of tic Theatrical
tlon 81 the following ot'lee1B and directors: John
I. Ford, President; Davhl Dltiwcli, Vlec-plcsi-
dent; Thonas W. Davey, becretaryi John Els
Directors, John I. Ford, Il, L. J. Miles, j. New
The New York tribune clcrjshes a hope Tint
The Association will bo instrumental III cxrlu,t-
Ing from the stage to come extent pesllEcous
works. The ,nanagcrs hold forth 6otno induce.
monts to this belief and also odd word for tho
benefit Of tile stock actors, itttnlntfng tflat tho
design Of the AAsuttnte0u IL to nror4t olluour-
agcnent ~ rising tatcnt. but theru Is In tho
proclamation something too much ot proniislng.
y "a, tn our opnton, sin'ply Il proposition fur
monopoly, which sltals crush out competition,
md put ut least une theatre III Gyrry lnrgu pro-
yincal city on IL paying basis Tho fdea ii g6.,il,
80 {ar "a II goes, Int It docs not Eail! anything
ny uoln5 DISGUISED as q grand pnllnnthr0p1c
movement. It IL surprising, also, thut tie
Tribune should not have observed the nsost int
purtunt effect Of the combination, which will
1uluw upun tho biddingut The Provincial 1ss.,-
cIattou assainst tls aGw York managers Tor
now plays In Europe anl Anscrica. Thc 1ew
Association will probably command as n&ucl,
money III tny lin &c New York n,a1ager, and
the consequence will be that so,no Of The most
important foreign works Will ho tccn lIrst II.
America In tLv provinces. 1t Is Il question
whether the result will In iii i'm
proyc.ncnt Of i1ralnatIc art il, Ancfsca. It GER
tninly will not be unt tho workings Of tile AS
sociation III other respects laye nilcrc the Qla!-
ity Of tho provincial stock companies, un1 fitted
them to Greats new characters md mold ne,y
playS into Shapc.