The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-05-28
THEATRE TRUST
is ABSOLUTE
Continued from Page ~

Continued from Page H.
that might be named People are not
obliged to go to theatres. There is
absolutely nothing the public can do
TO change conditions regarding this, if
you win permit me, so-called trust
The public can take what the trust
gives it in the theatrical line or the
public can let it alone"
In other words. the motto of the
syndicate is. The public be damned
Mr. Frohman was not quite willing
to admit this in terms. but he looked
it. Asked for his opinion on the Be
! lssco-trust controversy, Mr.. Frohman
said:
''AI I know is what the newspap ers
say. Mr. Belasco claims that as KIaw
& ErlangeT were partners with him in
David WaTfield they should give him
part OF the profits they received from
the theatres in which they booked Mr.
! Warfield. That will be decided later
by the courts. But. really. all I know
about the controversy is what the
newspap ers say"
Praise for BeIasco.
Has David Belasco any merit as
| theatrical manager"
Why, David Belasco is our great
dramatic genius. There is no other
| stage manager in the world who has
such born. keen instinct for what
VIII draw the public. I have known
Mr.. Belasco and his work for years and
have not the slightest hesitation in
! making this statement. He is the
| greatest of them all"
But eventually your syndicate will
ruin him. viii it not?'
Wen, BelascO has the public with
nm That's all I can say" was the
adrOit reply.
Do you know anything about the
BeldSCO StarS2"
of course I do. In David WarfieId
MI Belasco has d star who will make
| MIN an immense fortune I think If
/ you can use the word genius I'm cOnnec-
| tlon with an actor you can use il about
| MT Warheid- I have seen his power
| over audiences and it is beyond The
1 power OF any star we have on the sta ge
| today. But some credit is due to Mr.
! Beiasco. He has a peculiarly symD1-
| thetic personality through which, in his
| stage direction, he does seem to be able
| to get the best out Of every actor.
| About Mrs. Carter2 Well. Mrs. Car
| ter really represents all of BeIasco's
/ training and she holds her audiences
| because of it. She is a Belasco-made
| actress"
Must Build a Theatre.
Mr.. FTOhman was asked how salt
| Lake could get such attractions as Mrs.
| Fiske, Warf1eld. Mrs. Carter. Blanche
Bates and other Independents.
/ BY building theatre for them" he
! replied. briefly. Then. after considering
/ for a moment, he went on:
| There is absolutely no reason. in
| my opinion, why all the factions cannot
| get together BY factions I mean Mrs
| t1ske. BeiasCO and others who are not
| part of the so-Called syndicate Mr.
| trohman did not say so. but there was
/ an implication in his words and his ex-
| preston that the outsiders would have
| TO come in on the syndicate's terms.
/ When the suggestion that Charles
/ Frohman. who has few theatrical enc
| mics: might be a harmonizing agent,
/ Mr.. FrOhman said:
! Charles Frohman has made his sue
/ cess by minding his own business All
| his time is occupied entirely i'm the pro-
/ duCtiOn Of plays. It doesn't cut any
| figure with him what occurs in any
/ theatrical movement as long as it does
] not clash with his interests. Every
moment of his time is absorbed in plays
/ and he has nothing beyond that"
/ Asked if he had heard that the syn
I dictate might fall Of its own weight.
/ that its members were quarreliug
4 among themselves, Mr.. Frohman re
4 piled.
/ mere lSn I cloud on the Sy0Hi-
| cate horizon. There is absolutely no
/ chance for a permanent disagreement.
sSObOdy need hone for anything from
/ this direction. As the head of the
/ syndicate. Abraham Lincoln Erlanger.
/ the man whose word IS law in the the
( atriCaI world viii hold il together for
! an indefinite period. In him the absO-
I lutte, final say is vested He is the one
man who could have made the trust
/ succeed"
! Then the public is to be held in the
/ grasp Of the trust for an indefinite pc
/ riod2"
! Of you care to put it that way. that's
/ the way il looks to me-
! And we are to have trust dictation.