Charles Frohman
Charles Frohman (July 15, 1856 – May 7, 1915) was a Jewish American theatrical producer. Frohman was producing plays by 1889 and acquired his first Broadway theatre by 1892. He discovered and promoted many stars of the American theatre.
In 1896, Frohman co-founded the Theatrical Syndicate, which grew to exert monopoly control over the U.S. theatre industry for nearly two decades. He also leased the Duke of York's Theatre in London, promoting such playwrights as J. M. Barrie, producing Barrie's Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, which he debuted at the Duke of York's in December 1904 and later produced in the United States starring a Frohman favorite, Maude Adams. He partnered with English producers, including Seymour Hicks, with whom he produced a string of London hits prior to 1910, including Quality Street, The Admirable Crichton, The Catch of the Season, The Beauty of Bath, and A Waltz Dream. Many of his London successes also enjoyed runs in New York.
Frohman produced over 700 shows. At the height of his career, he died in the 1915 sinking of the RMS Lusitania.
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Life and career
Charles Frohman was born in Sandusky, Ohio, the youngest of three Frohman brothers, including Daniel and Gustave. The year of his birth date is generally erroneously reported as 1860, and his birthday is shown as July 16 on his tombstone, but the correct date is July 15, 1856.[1]
In 1864, Frohman's family moved to New York City, where Frohman eventually worked for a newspaper. In New York, Frohman developed a love of the theatre that led to him becoming a booking agent and then working his way up to producer and theatre owner/operator. He began to produce plays by 1886.[2]
Frohman's first success as a producer was with Bronson Howard's play Shenandoah (1889). Frohman founded the Empire Theatre Stock Company to acquire the Empire Theatre in 1892. The following year, he produced his first Broadway play, Clyde Fitch's Masked Ball. In this piece, Maude Adams first played opposite John Drew, which led to many future successes. Soon Frohman he acquired five other New York City theaters. In 1895, he produced the New York premiere of The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde. The same year, he produced The Shop Girl.[2]
Frohman was known for his ability to develop talent. His stars included William Gillette, John Drew Jr., Ethel Barrymore, Billie Burke, E. H. Sothern, Julia Marlowe, Maude Adams, Paul Gilmore, and Henry Miller. In 1896, Frohman, Al Hayman, Abe Erlanger, Mark Klaw, Samuel F. Nixon, and Fred Zimmerman formed the Theatrical Syndicate. Their organization established systemized booking networks throughout the United States and created a monopoly that controlled every aspect of contracts and bookings until the late 1910s, when the Shubert brothers broke their stranglehold on the industry.
In 1897, Frohman leased the Duke of York's Theatre in London, introducing plays there as well as in the United States. Clyde Fitch, J. M. Barrie and Edmond Rostand were among the playwrights he promoted. As a producer, among Frohman's most famous successes was Barrie's Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, which he premiered at the Duke of York's in 1904 and produced the next year in the United States starring Maude Adams. In the early years of the 20th century, Frohman also established a successful partnership with English actor-producer Seymour Hicks to produce musicals and other comedies in London, including Quality Street in 1902, The Admirable Crichton in 1903, The Catch of the Season in 1904, The Beauty of Bath in 1906, The Gay Gordons in 1907, and A Waltz Dream in 1908, among others. He also partnered with other London theatre managers. The system of exchange of successful plays between London and New York was effected largely as a result of his efforts. In 1910, Frohman attempted a repertory scheme of producing plays at the Duke of York's. He advertised a bill of plays by J. M. Barrie, John Galsworthy, Harley Granville Barker, and others. The venture began tentatively, and while it may have proved successful, Frohman canceled the scheme when London theatres closed at the death of King Edward VII in May 1910.
Other Frohman hits included The Dollar Princess (1909), The Arcadians (1910), The Sunshine Girl (1913) and The Girl From Utah (1914).[2] By 1915, Frohman had produced more than 700 shows, employed an average of 700 actors per season, and paid salaries totalling $25,000 a week. Frohman controlled five theaters in London, six in New York City, and over two hundred throughout the rest of the United States. His longtime live-in companion, theatre critic Charles Dillingham (1868-1934), also became a well-known producer.[2]
Death
Frohman died in the 1915 sinking of the RMS Lusitania by German submarine U-20. Frohman seems to have asked several people to accompany him on the voyage to Liverpool. Actress Ethel Barrymore could not leave her young children. Songwriter Jerome Kern was meant to accompany him on the voyage, but overslept after being kept up late playing requests at a party. Actor/playwright William Gillette also would have accompanied him, but was forced to fulfill a contract obligation in Philadelphia. Likewise playwright Edward Sheldon, whom Frohman had invited, had to renege on the voyage as he was obligated to attend the wedding of a Harvard classmate. Frohman was reported by survivor, actress Rita Jolivet (the only survivor of his party), to have declined a seat on a lifeboat, saying "Why fear death? It is the greatest adventure in life", echoing the famous line from Peter Pan, "To die would be an awfully big adventure". Frohman's body was recovered and brought back to the United States for burial in the Union Field Cemetery in Ridgewood, Queens, in New York City.
Portrayals in films and television
Frohman was portrayed by Harry Hayden in the film Till the Clouds Roll By in 1946. He was played by William Hootkins in the BBC mini-series The Lost Boys in 1978. In 2004, Dustin Hoffman portrayed him in the film Finding Neverland.
Further reading
- Anderson, John. The American Theatre (The Dial Press, 1938).
- Atkinson, Brooks. Broadway (The MacMillan Company, 1970).
- Bailey, Thomas A. & Paul B. Ryan, The Lusitania Disaster (The Free Press, 1975).
- Binns, Archie. Mrs. Fiske and the American Theatre (Crown Publishers, Inc., 1955).
- Bordman, Geral, The Concise Oxford Companion to American Theatre (Oxford University Press, 1984).
- Burke, Billie, With a Feather on My Nose (Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1949).
- Churchill, Allen. The Great White Way (E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1962).
- Frohman, Daniel & Isaac Frederick Marcosson. Charles Frohman, Manager and Man (John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1916).
- Frohman, Daniel. Daniel Frohman Presents, An Autobiography (Claude Kendall & Willoughby Sharp, 1935).
- Frohman, Daniel, Encore (Lee Furman, Inc., 1937).
- Hughes, Glenn. A History of the American Theatre 1700-1950 (Samuel French, 1951).
- Marker, Lise-Lone. David Belasco: Naturalism in the American Theatre (Princeton University Press, 1974).
- Morehouse, Ward. Matinee Tomorrow, Fifty Years of Our Theater (Whittlesey House, 1949).
- Robbins, Phyllis. The Young Maude Adams (Marshall Johns Company, 1959).
- Skinner, Otis. Footlights and Spotlights (Blue Ribbon Books, 1924).
- Stagg, Jerry. The Brothers Shubert (Random House, 1968).
- Timberlake, Craig. The Bishop of Broadway (Library Publishers, 1954).
References
External links
- Charles Frohman at the Internet Broadway Database
- Biography of Frohman
- Brief profile of Frohman
- Detailed profile of Frohman
- Production and cast lists for a number of London shows produced by Frohman
- Includes an anecdote about Frohman's last words and deeds on the Lusitania
- Frohman and Edna May
- Charles Frohman: Manager and Man at Project Gutenberg
