Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1911-05-18
DANIEL FROHMAN TELLS
OF ACTORS HE HAS KNOWN

The change in popular taste is sug-
gested in this account of Frohman's
production OF Pinero's sweet I.ayen-
| DER in 1888:
| In those days the audiences were
| tar more unsophisticated and fastidious
as to their dramatic subjects. The first
| night patrons were startled to find that
| the heroine was an illegitimate child.
| IL seemed to cast pail upon the as
semblage. felt IL, and saw the reason.
Il cabled the author for permission
to make slight change In the rela-
tons OF the parents. He grudgingly
consented, and deprecated the attitude
| or the public mind on the subject. But
| the success of the play was at stake.
and as result OF my revision 1t ran a
| season.
"A little reflection on the character
| or the audiences of 1887 and of pres
| ent-day theatergoers will show how the
| public's acceptance OF plays has
| changed. When / revived this play a
| Few years later / produced it as orig
inally written, and there was not a
| ripple of objection. My experience with
| The Second Mrs. Tanqueray was sim
| liar"
or this play he says: "It was then
| regarded as exceedingly strong meat
| Now 1t would seem no stronger than n
nursery tale, when compared to some
| or the subjects of the plays of 1909
| TO-"
But this was not true of all Amer
lean cities. I'm San Francisco, where
one might suppose a play like The
Second Mrs. Tanqueray' would find
great favor, that work fell fat The ex-
| PLANTATION was that the play carried no
| illustion for the Golden Gate audiences,
| The clty-tt was explained--was full of
| Mrs. Tanquerays then, and the play
| seemed to be too much of a moral in
dlctment to find favor as a superb
| realistic drama"
In relating the history OF "Trelawny
| of the Wells" Mr.. Frohman tells q
pretty story:
Several years later, when near the
end of the season at Days, / revived
| the play for three nights as a fare
Weir to Mary Mannering, who was to
| leave my company shortly to assume
stellar honors the following year under
another management. The last night
drew for this occasion large audi
| ence.
When, during the supper scene IN
Act l., Rose makes her farewell
speech TO the members of the Bagnigga
Wells company, and she has to say
Wen, / know / shall dream of you
often; and If you send for me I'll
come behind the curtain to you, and
sat with you and talk of bygone times
these times that end tonight, and so
on, the ears ran down her checks
and the immediate finish Of the act
saved her from complete collapse. II
was a real farewell to u.s."
Mr. Frohman has great deal to say
about how plays are altered and inn
proved at rehearsal and performance
and how vlgilant managers must be In
seizing every hint that accident gives
them. He quotes Dion Boucicauit as
saying to him:
IAN author is foolish not to take
advantage of every hint that could
favor him. He must be quick and alert
at rehearsals to see where he can adj
just and readjust effects and scenes
Surprises come the first night that are
sometimes disquieting, at other times
delightful.
Il remember on one OCCASION" con-
tinued Boucicault, Il was to play a
comic character in one OF my plays. I
had arranged to get a round of ap-
plause for a scene in which extracted
charge from a gun, which, ii was
known, the villain would furtively use
to shoot the hero. When the scene ar
rived and the gun failed / listened for
that round of applause.
THE audience was silent I saw I
had failed; but a few minutes after.
when my own head appeared triumph
antly at an upper window, q sudden
tribute of applause followed. saw
that the result was right. knew
there was a round due for that action.
but did not know had not OWNED
the exact place for 1t. But II was
there, and / felt relieved. It is these
things, the uncertainties, that make the
first performance of a new play ex-
citing"
Many plays" says Mr. Frohman.
develop opportunities during rehear-
sails. When Mr.. Sothern and l pro-
duced Captain Lettarblair,' the heroine
had to leave the hero's apartment In
anger. At her exit, as she turned to-
ward the hero, her dress was acct
IDENTIFY caught in the door so she
couldn't leave the apartment.
THE captain, not seeing the cause.
could not understand her hesitancy.
The rehearsal was stopped. But we
regarded ii as good business and an
elaborate scene was developed by Mr..
Sothern which evoked roars of laugh
ter.
I'm Lord ChumIey' the slayey acct
dentally left her huge feather buster
sticking, feathers upward. In a chair.
Lord Chumley had to sit on this piece
of furniture. The feathers tickled his
head. He started with a shout of
alarm He began TO demonstrate with
the actress for her carlessness. when
1t was suggested that this be made a
part of the business Of the scene"
American plays, he says, do not make
success in England, as a rule, but ne
excerpts William Gillette in Sherlock
Holmes"
There was something unique in Mr..
Gillette's manner of acting and in his
personality, which was new In England
He became socially very popular
though he had no fondness for social
life, and usually preferred the quiet of
his own suite at his hotel.
ION one occasion he told me that the
Duchess of Manchester desired him to
spend Sunday at her country home,
some distance from the city. He said
he was absolutely forced to accept an
invitation that he sought politely to
decline
He had thought OF a way out of it.
He knew there was only a very early
train out OF London of Sundays He
explained that after a weeks work he
would require that morning for rest
"She Immediately brought forth an
other alternative. The express that left
later for the north did not stop at her
station. This he knew, and had urged
that in extenuation of his refusal
"'Oh, that's all right she said. TIL
see that the express stops to let you
off, So, perforce, he went. She had
promised that only the members of her