The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-07-13

for the use of which he pays, and makes
it point of inspecting his paper thor
oughly whenever he has occasion to do so.
If there is nothing special on hand in his
own houses the manager visits those of his
brother managers either to see a new play
acted or to witness the progress of an
actor or actress in whose talent he is in
terested.
In this outline of the work of a represent
alive producing manager 1 have not in
Guided the labor of rehearsing new plays.
L did not speak of the necessary confer
ences with authors, or authors representa-
tives, of the engagement Of talent" etc,
yet you will grant his day is pretty well
taken up; in fact, every hour is spoken for
in advance. a great part of the time being
occupied by literary labors.
The literary element. by the way,
introduced into American theatricals only
in the last twenty-five years or so. OF
course, there have always been writers and
playwrights TO try their hand at monop-
olizing the attention of the public in two
capacities, irrespective of their being suited
for one only, but these were exceptions.
Nowadays, however, most of our produc-
ing managers are well versed in art and
letters. and even the cheap companies make
il point to engage as director or advance
agent a man capable of writing a good
criticism or having had newspaper train
ing.
NEWSPAPER TRAINING USEFUL.
The advance agent or small manager with
a package of posters under his arm and d
pail and brush in his hand is becoming a
myth; the agent with newspaper training
L
capacity as a writer of notices only; it is
his keen sense for what the public wants,
his alertness in all matters relating to the
work among people of influence and posi-
ton. In short. his wide-awakeness that
makes his "a general utility"
Dan Frohman, once connected with the
New York Tribune was, 1 believe, the first
prominent New York manager to break
with the habit of engaging "hustlers'' for
advance duties. He sent Frank Farrell
then reporter the New Orleans Plea
yune, to see every dramatic editor in the
land TO tell him of the beauties of ''Es-
meralda," the winsomeness of Mrs. Win
throp," the quaintness of Hazel Kirk"
The late John Mccullough followed his ex-
ample by engaging Captain Connor, sport
ing editor of another New Orleans paper
and a very clever writer. indeed, who made
his star exceedingly popular with news
paper men. The captain later went into
the horse racing business and became the
most famous starter on the American turf
Barney, who used TO manage "L'Enfant
Prologue" left the Cleveland Plain Dealer
TO become a paragrapher in Dan Froh-
mans office. William Stuart, who brought
7 out Booth, was we'll able to write an
| epoch-making editorial as to strike bar
| gain with ianitor-manager The same
may be said of Thomas W. Davey, already
mentioned in this paper. Davey, in some
respects. was ahead of his age and origi-
| mated many OF the methods now in vogue
| with frst-class managers. While his star
the late Lawrence Barrett, never achieved
| popularity, Davey had personal friends in
every city and town of the United States
by the score. 1 happened TO be in Detroit
at the time of his funeral and noticed a
more sincere exhibition of regret and sor-
row concerning him than was shown even
! with regard TO Senator Chandler, who was
, buried about the same time
SUCCESSFUL MANAGERS.
do not want TO be understood to say
that literary ability is an essential attri-
butte of the successful producing manager.
John Stetson, with all his bluntness and
seeming contempt for art and letters. had a