Charles Frohman: Manager and ManMarcosson, Isaac Frederick
General
Charles Frohman: Manager and Man
Marcosson, Isaac Frederick
Frohman, Charles, 1860-1915; Theater -- United States
_To His Majesty the German Emperor. This photographic record of the
first English performance in America of Friedrich von Schiller's
dramatic poem, "Jungfrau von Orleans," given for the Building Fund
of the Germanic Museum of Harvard University under the auspices of
the German Department in the Stadium, Tuesday, twenty-second of
June, 1909, is respectfully presented by Charles Frohman._
There is no doubt that "Joan of Arc" was the supreme effort of Miss
Adams's career. She was the living, breathing incarnation of the Maid.
When she was told that Charles Frohman had refused an offer of $50,000
for the motion-picture rights, she said:
_Of course it was refused. This performance is all poetry and
solemnity._
The following June, in the Greek Theater of the University of
California, at Berkeley, Miss Adams made her first and only appearance
as _Rosalind_ in "As You Like It." Ten thousand people saw the
performance. Her achievement illustrates the extraordinary and
indefatigable quality of her work. She rehearsed "As You Like It" during
her transcontinental tour of "What Every Woman Knows," which extended
from sea to sea and lasted thirty-nine weeks.
* * *
Most managers would have been content to rest with the laurel that such
a performance as "Joan of Arc" had won. Not so with Charles Frohman.
Every stupendous feat that he achieved merely whetted his desire for
something greater. He delighted in sensation. Now he came to the point
in his life where he projected what was in many respects the most unique
and original of all his efforts, the presentation of Rostand's classic,
"Chantecler."
It was on March 30, 1910, that Charles crossed over from London to Paris
to see this play. It thrilled and stirred him, and he bought it
immediately. He realized that it would either be a tremendous success or
a colossal failure, and he was willing to stand or fall by it. In Paris
the title role, originally written for the great Coquelin, had been
played by Guitry. It was essentially a man's part. But Frohman, with
that sense of the spectacular which so often characterized him,
immediately cast Miss Adams for it.
When he announced that the elf-like girl--the living _Peter Pan_ to
millions of theater-goers--was to assume the feathers and strut of the
barnyard Romeo, there was a widespread feeling that he was making a
great mistake, and that he was putting Miss Adams into a role, admirable
artist that she was, to which she was absolutely unsuited. A storm of
criticism arose. But Frohman was absolutely firm. Opposition only made
him hold his ground all the stronger. When people asked him why he
insisted upon casting Miss Adams for this almost impossible part he
always said:
_"Chantecler" is a play with a soul, and the soul of a play is its
moral. This is the secret of "Peter Pan"; this is why Miss Adams is
to play the leading part._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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