New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-05-21
TALES OF A MANAGER
Daniel Frohman'S Cheerful Sto.
rieS of the Old Lyceum.

and always interesting. or ne "our" iot
he Daniel Frohman He has not pretended
10 give "a literary presentment OF lueas
and criticisns Of the stage and its people,
hut q statement of facts. incidents anu
exnerj4nces Of stage life and some random
ohsorva,i,,s during twenty-five years of
management
There are bits of autobiography mere anu
there. as when he says OF his younger GAYS
,bat vyben he came in off the road after
booming show it was always his custom
- spend his evenings watching the splendid
performances at Wallack's and the Union
souare. Even in those days he dreamed
maj some time he might have a theatre
~ his own referring 10 the realization or
, this ambition. ne says:
in 1856 ! organized the Lyceum Theatre
stock company. at Fourth avenue and 8d
street ] came into the field to pro-
crce modern drama. When it was first un-
derstood that a pretentious stock company
was 10 md a home at the Lyceum NUM-
her of nv brother managers on Broadway
disnaraced the idea and said was 100
far over on the East Side for such
venture But during the run OF my
orst nlav (eThe Highest Bidder). when l.
CHANGED 10 prove a very great success ana
neoole were turned away from every per-
forp,once 7 had occasion 10 remind some
Of NV brother managers. who were tneil
nla,,ine 10 empty houses on the Great
White WAY. Of their criticism
Of the fact that the old Lyceum Theatre
Was an inspiration of the late steele
Nackave Nj Frohman reminds his frlenos'
the great public. The first play proouceo
here was Mackaye's Dakolar' whlch
onened on Monday April g. 1885. Among
those in the cast were Robert ManteH Jo''h
Mason and Viola Allen. The theatre CON.
tinuod under Mackaye's management until
tho following season. when the well re-
marobered Helen Dauvray undertook the
dircc-ion After Miss Dauvrays hrst sed-
son Nj Frohman became the manager
He tells the story Of the selection OF MS
Arst MAY and. incidentally. Of his early
connection with and admiration for EDWARD
II. Sothern. IN.
in watching Mr.. Sothern's work while
in the Dauvray company at the LVceulh !
soon discovered that he was not only eA-
cee6inelv popular with the audiences out
that he was constantly the chief actor on
interest So l arranged with him 10 appear
in a special play at the end or MISS Ddu'
ways season.
"On looking over some manuscripts he
owned which had Keen left by his father
sF 4 Sotherm I found one that appeared
attractive II was called Trade. II was
story about a rich young auctioneer ana
his love for titled young woman, ana. as
e. most ENGLISH plays up 10 the period
>aste was the dramatic theme. | changed
,he title Of the play 10 The Highest Bid
der and produced it at The end OF MISS
Dauvray's season, hoping TO keep the the
atre open few weeks longer before the
summer closing. The play ieaped
into instant favor as the show bills say
and ran far into the summer.
Mr.. Frohman reproduces the playful
The cast included J. W. Pigott Rowland
Puckstone. Herbert Archer, Walter Bel
lows. f II. Sothern. William Faversham.
h Percy SAGE. Alfred Young. Maurice Clyde,
NJ Frances Raynes. Belle Archer. Lizzie Du-
n roy. Kittie Wilson and Miss Kline
M. Frohman says Of David Belasco al
This time. u had engaged Mr.. Belasco al
an earlier period 10 become the stage man
sger Of the Madison Square Theatre where
had been the business director. and
brought him TO the Lyceum with me. Mr..
Pelasco up TO the time that l engaged
him had teen I'm san Francisco. where al
the Baldwin Theatre he was prompter.
actor, stage manager and author"
Referring again TO f. II. Sothern Mr..
Frohman writes: Il had known Mr.. Soth-
ern for some years He first called upon
me as a youth in the earlier days of the
Madison Square Theatre. The first
time he called he came with his sister. A
young girl They both desired engage
mcnts l had seen his father act and I
was interested in the son of so distin-
guished an actor 1 little thought then
that ] should at a later time be paying
MIN A salary Of $4,000 a year. and that he
would still later receive as he did from
Charles Frohman. a salary Of 100000
year for two years
OF some early associations Mr.. Frohman
saws: William Gillette was a young,
quiet thoughtful man. with a gentle man
ner. in which lurked a constant sense Of
quaint and furtive humor Robert Man
tell, a young Scotch actor, came to this
country in 1875. but made his first conspicu-
Gus success with Fanny Davenport as
Loris Ipanof in Fedora AT the Four
teenth street Theatre in 1853. I engaged
him az what was regarded as a very large
salary $1,000 for the season-to appear in
nv production Of called Back at the Fifth
Avenue Theatre"
or John Mason the reminiscent manager
says. "He had been for some years the
juvenile man of the Boston Museum and
with the exception Of the veteran actor
William Warren and the leading man
Charles Barron whom he succeeded no one
had been more popular than young Ma
son. His only appearance at the old
. Lyceum was in 'Dakolar. He appeared
"a the leading man of my stock company
when ! transferred the organization from
the Lyceum 10 DAYS (November q, 1880.
Viola Allen came TO me in the earlier
days at the Madison Square Theatre, fresh
from school. but her parents being actors.
she came well equipped by study. She
succeeded Annie Russell at the Madison
Square Theatre in Mrs. Burnetts Esmer-
aida Miss Russell herself had just
escaped from a juvenile opera company,
and wore long dresses for the first time
when she called on US. trying 70 look old
enough for the juvenile part. She was i'm
mediately engaged. and when she and the
company went on tour she was succeeded
in her role by Viola Allen.
Richard Mansfield appeared at the Ly-
oeum Theatre in 1855 with Mrs Fiske dhen
Minnie Maddern) in a play called In Spite
of AL for which he had been specially en-
gagged. Mansfield was an eccentric man.
but artist OF high IDEALS. Mans
fields work for the stage was always i'm
pressive. dignihed and artistic. and his
death was a great loss 10 the higher in
terestS OF the drama"
Mr. Frohman has a significant paragraph
about the difficulty OF Judging the merits
OF a play In judging play" he says. IA