The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-10-23
Gambling With Plays
BY FRED NIBLo,

In the stock market you have some
chance for your money; In the theatrical
business you have less. y share OF stock
has a definite value 1t may rise or
may depreclate. but II stnl represents
something real and definite, 50 much
wheat or copper or whatever the thing
is with which you play. On the stage
you gamble with the plays. which have
no real or definite value until after they
are produced. You may pay Augustus
Thomas who is among the best contcm-
poraIy American ,playwrishts, a retain,
Ing fee OF $500 for his next play. and
no may give you q drama which reads
wonderfully well, and which you think
must undoubtedly be a great success, II
may not run a week. because, while tcch
nically II is absolutely correct. II may,
nevertheless. lack the human interest
necessary TO please the public. who are
the nnal arbters OF theatrical destiny
Daniel Frohman. a. man OF infinite eX-
perience. OF fine, trained mind. OF splcn-
did literary ability who has an interna-
tionsl acquaintance with the best stock
companies OF his time, declined The
given Charles Klein q commission 10
write. Klein refunded the retaining fee
and offered the play to n younger and
more inexperienced manager, Henry B.
Harris. who took long chance on II
and made a fortune. the foundation OF
his present success. After Harris had
produced it. George Tyler, perhaps. one
of the ablcst dramatic producers OF to-
day. saw the play and said: "FrohWan
was right I would have refused the
script II II had been offered 10 me" That
was the trained Judgment of two OF the
most experienced men In The show bust
ness. and yet The Lion and the Mouse
has been one Of the sensational successes
OF the last decade.
Witching Hour" wlHch aftcrward had
such wonderful vogue. Several man
ayers. among them Charles Frohman.
declined THE Fortune Hunter" which
tom nay Ni.G ria n h(I
in New York and Chicago for an entire
season. Yet Charles Frohman later pro-
duced THE Fires OF Fate by Conan
Doyle. which only ran two weeks, He
gamhled on the reputationu OF the au-
thor and lost. Cohan and Harris. who
produced The Fortune Hunter" gam
oled on their judgment OF the play. and
won.
Charles Frohman CANDLES almost al
together on reputation. An actor has
big naTue; q writer has world wide
reputation: Mr. Frohman hastens TO ob-
tain a lien on his services, Practically
every wel-known playwright IN Europe
has contract whereby Mr Frohman
has first claim for American productions
on everything he writes. j. NJ. Barrie
IS tho most notable example oc this Froh-
man policy and on everything Mr.. Barrie
has done, Frohman's gamble has been
successful.
Madame X" one OF the few Euro
pean successes which has escaped Troh-
man. captured by Henry w. Saw
age. lscH1lltAlS, lOefe are many BET
| ter plays. but. II has one big scene.
which reduced every woman. and many
men. In the audience to tears. and the
public seems 10 be willing to pay good
| money TO have what woman calls "a
real good cry" for Madame X" ran
twenty weeks in Chicago and repeated
it's triunphs In New York. Savage gam
| blcd on that one scene and the luck was
| with him.
| Among the stars. MauGe Adams Ethel
| Barrymore. John Drew. T. II. Sothern
| Julia Marowc, Adelaide Thurston and
| Maxine Elliott can almost certainly be
| relied upon TO carry even a bad play 10
| success. so that the manager who gam
bios with their services is usually play