The San Francisco call., 1897-10-17

things, of which he deems he has an un-
ssemly monopoly, to the Pacific Coast
1t was very wrong of Charles to say
these things and he will probably be duly
repentant and apologize like gentleman
by impeachirg the veracity of the scribe
who gave the people the outpourings of
the Frohman wrath.
Once there was an actor, or was it an
actress, who said San Francisco had the
bad luck to be Jay? And Jay is a griev-
Gus condition for any self-respecting city
to awake from q dream OF self-content-
ment and find itself laboring against.
Now when that particular Thespian is
about to come to this city, sugar-coated
denials always precede the show in Bry-
anic proportion to the regular advance
notices. But the gorge won't down, San
Francisco objects to being classed as a Jay
town, and it denies vigorously that it is
"has been" And Charles will be sorry
that he said ii.
Away down low, so that no barbaric
Eastern ear can hear, are we a Jay town2
Is San Francisco a has been" in matters
theatrical, and do Yiands which ticklec
the artistic palates of the cultured East
elicit the scornfuI spurnings of our play
goers? That is what Frohman SAYS, and
he has been catering to botn ends and the
to entitle his disparaging remarks to the
dignity of vigorous denial.
The theatrical magnate d ates our artis-
tic decline three years back, ana during
the intervening period he says we have re-
iected thoss things which were of good
repute in Father 'Knickerbo bockers big viii
lage and have showered our adulation
upon cheap houses and stock com panies.
Which shows that Charles memory is
not as clear as 1t might be and he has
confounded our situation with that of
Podunk or some other place nearer the
sobbing breakers of the Atlantic.
For three years this prince OF the num-
mers has been sending US the best he had
just to show he was a good fellow. but we
have refused to be good, and now we can't
have any more of his plays, so there.
That Frohman has sent us some good
plays there is none to dispute. But there
were Others, and 1t is 10 the Ill success of
these that those knowing in matters
dramatic say is due Frohman's present
bad temper.
The published remarks of the theatrical
man give rise to the suspicion that he has
imbibed from the pages Of comic weeklies
and the columns Of salIow journals
Bloody Gulch impression of San Fran
cisco which has led him astray. Discern
ing play ygoers assert that when an Eastern
manager acts upon the idea that a
weakly supported star and a generous
acreage of bright-hued paper announcing
100 nights run IN New York; Will in
duce a San francisco audience to paw its
good money at the door and advise its
friends to come the next night he is
building his house upon sand. And even
such are the accusations that are beng
heaped upon the man who says OF us
those things that please US not.
Louis MOrgensteTn, acting manager of
the Baldwin Theater and thus necessarily
a supporter of Frohman, is kinder in his
terms but his arguments are much of
the Frohman hue. "The people of this
city seem to have had an apathy for the
last two years." he said. An apathy" is
a bad enough thing TO have, but it is
better than being has-been like John L.
Sullivan and Grover Cleyeland. "Good
attractions are sometimes patroniZed well
and sometimes they do very poor busi-
ness" OF the latter class he mention ed
John Drew and William Crane. 1t was
the poor success of Crane which he be-
lieves had aroused the Frohman disg ust,
though he dIsclaimed any knowledge OF
the matter other than that acquired
through the newspapers.
S. III. Friedlander of the Colum bia
Theater entertains ideas diane OPP
posed to those of the New York manager,
and he doeSnt hesitate to express them.
''When / returned from New York last
August, after five months visit" he
said, 81 said in an Interview that if there
was a Jay town in the United States,
which countenanced inferior shows that
town was New York"
That sounds better. Then he went on
to say that the average shows do better
business here than in any city in the
United States. When business at the Co
lum bia was not good, he said, 1t was be-
cause the show was bad and deserved it,
and as an instance of a bad show which
was given the marble heart he mentioned
ic "a taI "a rrG Gich M Era
leys produced disastrously.
1t was probably the Columb bias stock
company which was referred TO as the sue
cessful rival of Frohman's high priced
crackalacks. In regard to this Mr.. Fried
lander stated that be kept a stock COM
pany only during the summer months
when there were no travelling companies
on the road and most of the Eastern
houses are closed.
Digby Bell, who has the title role in
"The Hoosier Doctor" said some nice
things about San Franciscos audiences
81 consider San Francisco a very critical
Town, very hard to please. 1t is so consid-
cred throughout the profession, and when
any attraction does receive its indorse-
ment the manager and company are very
proud of the fact, and cite Its victory
throughout the country. My experience
has been that they have appreciated that
which Is meritorious." All OF which was
very nice of Mr.. Bell. He probably con-
templates future trips westward.
William Greer Harrison is a close stu
dent OF the drama, and is fully compete t
to speak of San Francisco's powers of ap-
probation. And Mr.. Harrison does not
thin weare Jay town.
at is question of supply and dem and :"
he said. ''If the manager sends an in
ferlor company he will lose money. If he
sends irst-class company he will make
money. People of San Francisco are
very critical but very just. What is good
enough for New York is not always GOOD
enough for San Francisco.
TINS fact arises from the enormous
transitory population OF New York. In
San Francisco. with its comparatiyelv
small floating population, all productions
are submitted to people accustomed and
competent to judge. Ii the thing is good
in itself we care nothing about its accept
ance or rejection elsewhere.
The Judgment of a San Francisco au-
dience, because it is al educated audience.
is of a higher grade than that given by
the floating population of New York. The
prestige of a production in New York is
not sufficient TO overcome defects in the
play or in the actors when presented else
where"