Tallu’s West End success, she declared, “She’s always skating on thin ice—and the British public wants to be there when it breaks.”
Q : Who were the Shuberts?
A : Brothers Sam, Lee, and Jacob were Lithuanian immigrants to Syracuse, New York. Sam died prematurely in 1905. Lee and “Jake” (or J.J.) helped break the power of the Theatrical Syndicate or Trust, which had almost monopolized show business in the US. The Shuberts’ theater empire became the largest ever. The brothers’ business savvy and their penchant for real estate gave themunrivaled theatrical power. Predictably, they put the bottom line before art and were eventually referred to as a near-monopoly.
Lee was a big fan of Sarah Bernhardt—whose 1906 American tour he sponsored—not only for her talent but for her business acumen. Years later, he would often recount, “English she couldn’t talk. English she couldn’t pronounce. But, boy, could she count in English!”
Q : How was the stranglehold of the infamous Trust broken?
A : In 1895 six powerful businessmen joined forces to seize control of the American stage, not just in New York. Their Theatrical Syndicate all but took over the supply-and-demand ends of show biz by booking nearly all the acts and players and by owning or controlling almost all the theaters. By eliminating competition the Syndicate could fix prices. As growing urban populations’ demand for live entertainment increased, the sextet’s greed did too, and ticket prices went up while performers’ salaries and production costs were slashed.
The Trust intimidated star after star into signing with it. One lone actress-manager consistently stood against them: Minnie Maddern Fiske (1865–1932). For twelve years the star toured under adverse conditions, sometimes acting in a tent. Yet people flocked to see her. She chose controversial plays and performed in a boldly naturalistic style. Fiske made plays by Ibsen acceptable and successful in the US, even when dealing with a volatile topic like divorce in
A Doll’s House
.
The energetic and progressive Fiske opposed bullfighting and clubbing seals to death for their fur, and almost single-handedly rescued the snowy egret from extinction after its feathers became popular on women’s hats. She shamed society ladies into giving up egret feathers, and within one season the fashion for them died. The publicity resulted in laws to ensure the birds’ protection.
Fiske’s allies against the Trust were impresario David Belasco and the brothers Shubert, who quietly bought up individual theaters as they became available (sometimes using other names). The embryonic Shubert empire was shaky and heavily mortgaged; to enable the brothers to retain their theater network, Minnie Maddern Fiske agreed to use her drawing power on tour in their mutual war on the syndicate. Ironically, the woman later nicknamed the Trust-Buster would live to see the Shuberts become almost as monopolistic on Broadway as the Trust had been.
Finally, a telegram from Manhattan was sent to Fiske while she was performing in Cincinnati, offering her the use of any Trust theater she cared to occupy, and on independent terms. The monopoly was broken, marking the moral highpoint of a shining forty-five-year career that earned Fiske the significant title of “First Lady of the American Theater.”
Q : Did a musical ever have its premiere in the Yukon?
A : The 1964 Broadway flop
Foxy
, starring veteran ham Bert Lahr (the Cowardly Lion in
The Wizard of Oz
), did open and play seven whole weeks in the remote, frozen Yukon. Why?
Foxy
, inspired by Ben Jonson’s
Volpone
(1616), was set in that area, and Canada was pushing tourism to the Yukon, so it co-produced and opened the show. Canadian-born star Beatrice Lillie was chosen to show up and introduce
Foxy
on opening night in far-off Dawson City.
Playing in the middle of nowhere, with a skimpy population and few tourists even on weekends, the musical saw mostly empty
Q : Who were the Shuberts?
A : Brothers Sam, Lee, and Jacob were Lithuanian immigrants to Syracuse, New York. Sam died prematurely in 1905. Lee and “Jake” (or J.J.) helped break the power of the Theatrical Syndicate or Trust, which had almost monopolized show business in the US. The Shuberts’ theater empire became the largest ever. The brothers’ business savvy and their penchant for real estate gave themunrivaled theatrical power. Predictably, they put the bottom line before art and were eventually referred to as a near-monopoly.
Lee was a big fan of Sarah Bernhardt—whose 1906 American tour he sponsored—not only for her talent but for her business acumen. Years later, he would often recount, “English she couldn’t talk. English she couldn’t pronounce. But, boy, could she count in English!”
Q : How was the stranglehold of the infamous Trust broken?
A : In 1895 six powerful businessmen joined forces to seize control of the American stage, not just in New York. Their Theatrical Syndicate all but took over the supply-and-demand ends of show biz by booking nearly all the acts and players and by owning or controlling almost all the theaters. By eliminating competition the Syndicate could fix prices. As growing urban populations’ demand for live entertainment increased, the sextet’s greed did too, and ticket prices went up while performers’ salaries and production costs were slashed.
The Trust intimidated star after star into signing with it. One lone actress-manager consistently stood against them: Minnie Maddern Fiske (1865–1932). For twelve years the star toured under adverse conditions, sometimes acting in a tent. Yet people flocked to see her. She chose controversial plays and performed in a boldly naturalistic style. Fiske made plays by Ibsen acceptable and successful in the US, even when dealing with a volatile topic like divorce in
A Doll’s House
.
The energetic and progressive Fiske opposed bullfighting and clubbing seals to death for their fur, and almost single-handedly rescued the snowy egret from extinction after its feathers became popular on women’s hats. She shamed society ladies into giving up egret feathers, and within one season the fashion for them died. The publicity resulted in laws to ensure the birds’ protection.
Fiske’s allies against the Trust were impresario David Belasco and the brothers Shubert, who quietly bought up individual theaters as they became available (sometimes using other names). The embryonic Shubert empire was shaky and heavily mortgaged; to enable the brothers to retain their theater network, Minnie Maddern Fiske agreed to use her drawing power on tour in their mutual war on the syndicate. Ironically, the woman later nicknamed the Trust-Buster would live to see the Shuberts become almost as monopolistic on Broadway as the Trust had been.
Finally, a telegram from Manhattan was sent to Fiske while she was performing in Cincinnati, offering her the use of any Trust theater she cared to occupy, and on independent terms. The monopoly was broken, marking the moral highpoint of a shining forty-five-year career that earned Fiske the significant title of “First Lady of the American Theater.”
Q : Did a musical ever have its premiere in the Yukon?
A : The 1964 Broadway flop
Foxy
, starring veteran ham Bert Lahr (the Cowardly Lion in
The Wizard of Oz
), did open and play seven whole weeks in the remote, frozen Yukon. Why?
Foxy
, inspired by Ben Jonson’s
Volpone
(1616), was set in that area, and Canada was pushing tourism to the Yukon, so it co-produced and opened the show. Canadian-born star Beatrice Lillie was chosen to show up and introduce
Foxy
on opening night in far-off Dawson City.
Playing in the middle of nowhere, with a skimpy population and few tourists even on weekends, the musical saw mostly empty
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