Charles Frohman: Manager and ManMarcosson, Isaac Frederick
General
Charles Frohman: Manager and Man
Marcosson, Isaac Frederick
Frohman, Charles, 1860-1915; Theater -- United States
On one occasion in Cleveland, when he was producing a play by Clyde
Fitch for the late Clara Bloodgood, the chief press representative from
the New York office was taken along to look after the work. The press
agent sent stories to all of the papers for Saturday morning's
publication, and to his dismay not a line was used. Feeling that Frohman
would be hurt about it (for Charles was hurt and not angered by the
failure of any of his men), he wrote a note to his chief, stating that
he was sorry nothing had been used in print and did not understand it.
At lunch that day Frohman remarked to the agent:
"Why did you send me that note about the papers?"
"Because," replied the young man, "I feared that you would think I had
not attended to my work."
"Well," said Frohman, "you sent matter to all the papers, didn't you?"
"Yes," said the agent, "all of them, of course."
"Then," said the manager, "what else could you do? You are not running
the papers."
It was not only an evidence of Frohman's fairness, but an instance of
his knowledge of newspapers.
* * *
Frohman had a remarkable memory. One night during Collier's London
engagement he asked the actor to meet him at the Savoy the next morning
at nine o'clock. Collier, who had been playing bridge until dawn, showed
up at the appointed time, whereupon Frohman said:
"How did you do it?"
"I sat up for it," said Collier.
Five years later Frohman asked Collier one night to meet him at nine
o'clock the next morning. Then he added, quickly:
"You can sit up for it."
* * *
Frohman got much amusement out of a butler named Max who was employed at
his house at White Plains. One of the most original episodes in which
this man figured happened on the opening night of "Catherine" at the
Garrick Theater.
The play was a little thin, and the whole action depended on a love
scene in the third act, in which the hero, a young swell played by J. M.
Holland, on telling his mother that he loved a humble girl, gets the
unexpected admonition to go and be happy with her. Dillingham had two
seats well down in the orchestra. Frohman was to sit in the back of a
box. Just before the curtain went up Frohman said to Dillingham, who
then had a house on Twenty-fourth Street, "Let us have some of those
nice little lamb chops and peas down at your house after the play."
"All right," said Dillingham, and he telephoned the instructions to Max,
who had been drafted for town service.
The curtain went up, the first two acts went off all right, and the
house was dark for the third act. The seat alongside Dillingham was
vacated, so Frohman came down and occupied it. The curtain went up and
the action of the play progressed. The great scene which was to carry it
was about to begin when Dillingham heard a loud thump, thump, thump down
the aisle. Frohman turned to Dillingham and said:
"What in the name of Heaven is that? The play is ruined!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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