The San Francisco call., 1899-01-15

q MANAGER AND q CRITIC.
g Charles FrOhrna1a's EnnfoerorsIaiTo, and Ole
rnert SCOTS Retirement.
BY AshopS


Small audiences within, but large
:. 5-Iia;nagerfal 81; smiles without, have been
" The: order of the rainy week at the
tbeaters- No man loves the immediate
sight =of: the shining dollar more than
the ranager. but even he would not
spoil the. whole summers harvest for
a. Iltuie midwinter sunshine; so he has
received the storm with something Of
the agriculturists enthusiasm, and
smiled kindly at the few customers who
have come TO his shop. Theatrical
managers are not such bad fellows
after ALL Reauy. they are not Their
business is. a perpetual gamble in which
they take: it that they can play any
old game. so long as it will win. But at
best they can't fool the public more
than half the time-the rest of the time
the public is fooling them. The theat-
rical trust merely applies to the the
ater business principles that long have
been in vogue in other commercial en-
;terprises Sensationalism, vulgar and
otherwise, on the stage is not a whit
worse. than it is in the newspapers
in fact they generally play into one
:another's hand. Have you never
noticed that a risky show prospers only
afteTift has been spicily abused by the
..pfess2 You remember when we all
wrote. notices about Anna Held? She
:said's 's.afterward that she had had no
idea the San Francisco press was so
p ~:1iaughty:. Poor Anna positively
" :bIUshed. The theater has become a
II tj,&nieiidous business institution, and
s:0nlE.'a fragment of it claims associa-
<rjcal. ..yvit3i the drama; the rest is a
.sn6tIey. gamble and its managers are
I fast settling into a type as pronounced
as: the old one which is to-day repre-
..sefted in this country only by Angus
tin Daily and Richard Mansfield (and
even: these dignihed survivors have
bean known to do strange things). Give
tAe'Tnanager his due, especially Charles
FEohinan, who is going to send us lots
OF good things this year Mr.. Froh-
mari: is the one powerful manager in
=: :Afnefica. He brings to bear on his
work: not only the swiftest spirit of
mGdern speculative cOmmercialism, but
a. practical knowledge of audiences and
the, stage Mr.. Frohman has said of
.]finself that he is as good a dramatic
Critic as any in the land; and from
lEis :standpoint-which reckons pecuni-
rqry success above everything-he is
easily the superior of every man in the
=. pifay- judging business. Charles Froh-
: Inari's power is so great that he prac-
tjcally controls the entire American
.:theater.
=. The other managers throughout the
country are, you might say, only his
station agents; or else buyers of the
3 plays that he has finished with. Ask
=. the authors of America, England, or
. even France, to what American man
.;ager they would prefer to give their
work and they will ans ,5er "Frohman." "
And this is not entirely a matter of
: price. Mr.. Frohman pays well. but
% lie also insures the author as good a
.*production as can be given in America.
. For Mr.. Frohman has the same fas-
cina&on for actors that he has for play
:.WritFs. Most of the popular stars
: would rather play under the direction
. Of Charles Frohman than risk it alone
and many of them have become stars
through him. The ambition of young
PLAYERS is to become members of Froh-
aman companies. Frohmanward lie
their surest chances for distinction, op-
2 uence and advertisement. This is a
/: big power to be in the hands of one
man; and we who sometimes take the
:. theater seriously are lucky that it is
3 used as well as it is. Mr. Frohman
.. may not believe in art for arts sake,
nor care rap about the development
'<of drama that is fine, literate and
= Sincere; but even in his most Philistine
d moments he knows that it is oftenest
the first rate playwriter who turns out
the most attractive play and the first
" rate actor who makes himself a favorite
with the crowd-and so we get our
share Of the permanent and the best,
as well as of the transient and trivial.
Here in San Francisco this season we
have the prospect Of Maude Adams in
The Little Minister" and the certainty
of Leslie Carter in 'ZaZa Olga Meth
g. crsoIe in a big repertory, and last but
not least a long stock company season
Gin place Of the usual Frawley engage
menO, which will introduce US to THE