(July 15, 1856 - May 7, 1915)
Charles Frohman was a popular American theatrical producer and agent who dominated the business for twenty five years and is credited with bolstering the business from the run of stock companies to a system of a bright "galaxy of stars." 1 From its beginnings in Sandusky, Ohio, where he was born to a traveling peddler in 1856, Frohman's life is an example of the power of the American Dream. A lover of theater since a young child, Frohman left home at age twelve to work as a newspaper reporter in New York for the The Tribune and The Daily Graphic. At night turned to his second job selling tickets for Hooley's Theatre in Brooklyn.
Armed with an innovative mind and a great ambitious drive, Frohman began to work his way up the theatrical business chain, doing almost every job imaginable on every level, from booking agent to producer to theatre owner. He sent for his brothers Daniel and Gustave to work with him, and devised the idea of sending full companies on tour for New York productions. In 1883, he managed the traveling Wallack Theatre Company and then opened a booking office. In 1888, after borrowing money from various sources, Frohman produced Howard Benson's play Shenandoah to great success. He then bought his own theatre and managed and produced his own stock company.
In 1895, Frohman formed the Theatrical Syndicate with Al Hayman, Mark Klaw, Abe Erlanger, Sam Nixon, and Fred Zimmerman. Designed to streamline the production and management of theatre by creating booking networks, it created a "monopoly" in the industry. 2 While Frohman has been severely criticized for the absolute control he had over the business and for substituting artistic vision for star power and commercial success, he nonetheless succeeded in furthering the careers of many actors, developing new works, and making theatre accessible to a wider audience. Authors such as J.M. Barrie found Frohman to be a source of friendship and commercial success, as when he produced Peter Pan, and actors such as Ethel Barrymore, Billie Burke, Annie Russell, Maude Adams, Otis Skinner and William Gillette owed their careers to him. Frohman once wrote in a letter, "A good play is a good play; but the difficulty I find is to ascertain through the public and box-office what they think is a good play. Our opinion is only good for ourselves. But give me a dramatic play and I'll put it at once to the test." 3
In 1915, playwright J.M. Barrie asked for Frohman's help on a production in London. While Frohman was en route, his ship, the Lusitania, was torpedoed by a submarine. According to the survivors of the disaster, Frohman eschewed one of the prime places of the lifeboats, famously offering as an explanation one of the lines from Peter Pan: "Why fear death, it's the greatest adventure of all."
1. Morcosson and Frohman 276
2. Wikipedia
3. Morcosson and Frohman 398
Resources
Marcosson, Isaac F and Daniel Frohman. Charles Frohman : Manager and Man. London:
The Bodley Head, 1916.
Extremely useful source with lots of anecdotes, dates, information, pictures. Lots of details on Frohman's life and career. If one had the time to drive to the Hayes Presidential Library, they hold the bulk of the collection of works on Frohman. Unfortunately, they do not loan out their materials.
Stiver, Harry E. Charles Frohman and the Empire Stock Theatre Company. Ann Arbor:
University of Michigan Press, 1960.
Dissertation that provides a wealth of information on the Stock Theatre Company, the Syndicate, and Frohman's involvement.
"Charles Frohman." Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Frohman 5 October 2007.
"Charles Frohman." Answers.com: AmericanTheatre Guide. www.answers.com/topic/charles-frohman 5 October 2007.