The times., 1899-07-30
.FROHMAN SECURESDAEY'
Upon Returning From London the
Magnate Closes the Big Deal.
English Holdings Also Added to the
Syndicater's 0ne-Man Monopoly
DeWOif Hopper,s Success Abroad
still Observation-Disclosures Announce
nents of the Week Discussed.

Without desiring to paraphrase or other
wise maltreat Shakespeare one feels, Upon
noting the new plans with which Charles
Frohman returned last week from Europe,
like remarking sincerely that another Bar
mum has come to management Even this
seemingly traitorous statement does not
quite express the magnitude of the in
terests swayed and to be swayed by the
man who. less than twenty years ago
was acting as treasurer with Jack Haverly
for, if talf of the schemes which are an
nounced as having matured in the direc
tors brain ever get any further, next sea-
son Mr.. Frohman will be employing more
people and making more money than the
proprietor of ''the greatest show on earth
ever did during the course of his entire
life. Briefly put, the syndicater has estab-
lished such enterprises in the past month
as must set aside all doubt that has ever
existed regarding the fact that, the plant
of the palmy-day fiends Notwithstanding
this country has in him the most fearless
amusement operator to whom it has ever
owned.
Chief of all these ventures is the most
recent-the capture of Daly's Theater-
which was announced last Tuesday in every
morning paper in the United States. Mr..
Frohman arrived from England seven days
/ ago on the Cunard Line steamer Cam
| pania, and had not been in New York sew
! enty hours before the long -talked-of fu-
ture of the handsome red-and- gold house
/ on Broadway was settled. Just how long
! the purchaser had been deciding the advis-
ability of this move it is impossible to say.
| The so-called trust has been frequently
| mentioned in connection with Augustin
/ Daly's place during the past fortnight,
/ but then various out t-of-town million
aires" local combinations" and stock
companies have also served in the specu-
/ lation, and consequently no more faith was
put in one guess than in another. Indeed.
! had Mr.. Frohman's assumption of the lease
! been looked upon seriously the klaw &
Erlanger denial generally printed about
week back would have silenced the report.
Be all this as it may. Mr.. Frohman finally
secured what he considered advantageous
terms and Daly's Theatre has gone into
his keeping for good or evil.
This transaction fairly makes the man
ager master of all he surveys on Man
haitian Island. By its virtue. he is now the
owner of seven New York playhouses and
has literal monopoly of the time in three
others. He must make all the productions
seen at the Empire. Madison Square. Gar
rick, Garden, and Criterion. Besides these
| his temporary and permanent London hold
ings include the Duke of York's, the Cri-
terion, the Vaudeville, and the Garrick.
! The list of stars under his direction en-
braces William Gillette, John Drew, Maude
Adams, Annie Russell. Nat C. Goodwin,
Henry Miller, Julia Marlowe, Sir Henry
| Irving, and others, while several organi-
cations which tour the country yearly in
new histrionic vehicles report to him.
When one adds to all this the fact that Mr..
Frohman is the chief fgure-perhaps the
only prominent figure-in the so-designat-
ed Theatrical Trust, which has charge of
nearly every important place of amusement
on the western side OF ':the pond" it may
readily be seen that the magnate is a mag
nate indeed; easily the most remarkable
man who has ever had to do with the busi-
ness of catering to the public desire for
entertainment.
Of course, much of the matter which Mr..
Frohman gave to the New York papers
upon his return was merely Barnum's baby
elephant talk. but from the mass Of it
reader CLEANS the knowledge that the
provinces will hear as much of the
speaker next season as ever before. Be-
sides the stars named above he will have
en- tour no less than twenty companies
exploiting such pieces as His Excelle1cy,
the Governor Lord and Lady Algy,
"The Girl from Maxim's,' My Mother-in-
Law" Wheels Within Wheels" The
Brixton Burglar" 'Phroso.' "Colinette,
THE Liars" Secret Service" Gather
inc" ..On and on" and Because She
Loved Him So.' Upon the metropolitan
success of three or four other productions
depends the likelihood of their being taken
outside of Gotham during the period OF
1899 1900. But, whatever occurs, MIR.
Frohman will not be unrepresented in the
big Eastern cities nor without influence.
A. NJ. Palmer and Augustin DAILY. pow
ers that they once were, never controlled
such a number of ventures as that named.
Since these Two men have stood for all
that is magnitudinous in management it
is unnecessary to say that Mr.. Frohman
never had another rival. Nor does it seem
requisite to remark that the man who can
successfully WELD so many issues is a
marvel This article is not intended as a
press agents notice. There may be more
than one opinion regaT ing the benefit the
American drama has enjoyed from the syn
dicaters rule An attempt to prove that
any of his operations have been carried on
for sentimental or unselfsh motives would
probably be futile. But all men, whether
financially big or small, have a habit OF
looking out for themselves and excepting
for his connection with what seems to be
a pernicious and evil combination OF spec
ulators, Mr.. Frohman is no more blanca
Bile than the rest. He is certainly greater.
| SLeaking OF Charles Frohman and his
methods. OF the Importation Of pieces for
next season. and OF other things calls TO
mind a timely article in Harrison Grey
Fiske's column of The Dramatic Mirror"
Mr. Fiske gives considerable space to the
1 ffA
coming year. taking up the cause of pu-
rity in the drama as follows:
Among the new plays that will be brought
over to US from abroad included several
pririent efforts. that likely to transcend the
worst of the denominations that disgraced the
New York stage last winter.
| Those managers whose business fairly be
called theatrical importing have noses curiousy
adapted to scenting out filth. and their past sue
cessps in this delectable line have spurred them
| to prodgies Of industry in picking over the for
eign dramatic muck heap.
OF course. this traffic viii go on, and the stage
will continue to be degraded as long as the
mob vulgarity and indecency on the
boards Unquestionaby in course Of time this
base appetite will be sated by the manstrosities
on which it feeds, in which case good taste
and intelligence will again control in all de-
partments Of the theatre.
Meanwhile the men who, in the guise of the
atrical managers, befoul the stage and seek profit
by thus catering to the vile instincts OF a sec
ton OF the public can md what satisfaction
they like in the reflection that they occupy a
position in the community neither higher nor
lower than the brothel-keepers and sellers OF
pornographic books
Mr.. Fiske is one of the very few managers
and writer's now creating any stir in amuse-
ment circles by evincing real regard for the
American theatre and the American thea
tregoer So far as the remarks quoted &C
he is perfectly correct in his stand. If there
is one phase of stage production that should