When he had finished, Howard spoke up warmly and said, "Mr. Frohman, you are right, and I shall be very glad to adopt your suggestions." The very changes that Howard made in the play were the ones that helped to make it a great success, as he was afterward frank enough to admit. Frohman now made a contract for the play and went to Burnham to book time. Burnham, meanwhile, had been to Boston to see the play, and he said: "I saved six weeks for you at the Star for Shenandoah.'" From the very beginning of his association with "Shenandoah" Charles Frohman had an instinct that the play would be a success. He now dedicated himself to its production with characteristic energy. Scarcely had he signed the contract for "Shenandoah" than occurred one of the many curious pranks of fate that were associated with this enterprise. Al Hayman, who had a half-interest in the piece, was stricken with typhoid fever in Chicago on his way to the coast. He thought he was going to die, and, not having an extraordinary amount of confidence in "Shenandoah," he sold half of his half-interest to R. M. Hooley, who owned theaters bearing his name in Chicago and Brooklyn. With his usual determination to do things in splendid fashion, Frohman engaged a magnificent cast. Now came one of the many evidences of the integrity of his word. Years before, when he had first seen Henry Miller act in San Francisco he said to him: "When I get a theater in New York and have a big Broadway production you will be my leading man." He had not yet acquired the theater, but he did have the big Broadway production, so the first male character that he filled was that of _Colonel West_, and he did it with Miller. This cast included not less than half a dozen people who were then making their way toward future stardom. He engaged Wilton Lackaye to play _General Haverill_; Viola Allen played _Gertrude Ellingham_; Nanette Comstock was the original _Madeline West_; Effie Shannon portrayed _Jennie Buckthorn_; while Dorothy Dorr played _Mrs. Haverill_. Other actors in the company who later became widely known were John E. Kellard, Harry Harwood, Morton Selten, and Harry Thorn. Charles determined that the public should not lose sight of "Shenandoah." All his genius for publicity was concentrated to this end. Among the ingenious agencies that he created for arousing suspense and interest was a rumor that the manuscript of the third act had been lost. He put forth the news that Mr. Howard's copy was mislaid, and a city-wide search was instituted. All the while that the company was rehearsing the other acts the anxiety about the missing act grew. A week before the production Frohman announced, with great effect, that the missing manuscript had been found.