Volume I: Narrative History

Chapter 1: Under the Red Robe

An unattributed clipping in Edwin Thanhouser's scrapbook reveals that in late spring 1897 an Atlanta reviewer noted: "September 1st Mr. Thanhouser will join Charles Frohman's Empire Theatre stock company, assuming the part of Captain LaRolle [usually spelled Larolle], in Edward Rose's successful dramatization of Stanley J. Weyman's romantic novel, Under the Red Robe, now in its sixth crowded month at the Empire.

Captain LaRolle is next in importance to the leading part itself, that of Jean de Ribault, already rendered famous by Faversham, the Empire company's famous romantic actor. I cannot imagine a part better suited to Mr. Thanhouser's abilities, and I prophesy a big hit for him the first night he appears. Those who saw Edwin Thanhouser during his long and successful engagement with the younger Salvini, in whose support he played 18 different parts during the three years they were together, are familiar with the high character of his work in the legitimate, but I can promise a pleasant surprise to all who see him for the first time in light comedy.

The Under the Red Robe company, with a different cast from that which achieved success at the Empire Theatre in New York City, headed out on the road on a tour which would eventually lead the players to the West Coast. The title of the four-act drama referred to the vestments of Cardinal Richelieu, who at one time was a powerful figure in the fortunes of France. Richelieu and his followers provided the subject for numerous books and dramatic productions, and, later, films. Note

The troupe, in order as listed on a typical program, included: William Morris (as Gil de Berault), Giles Shine (Richelieu), Milton Shipman (Henri de Cocheforet), George Taylor (Marquis de Pombal), Henry James (DeFargis), Edwin Thanhouser (Captain Larolle), William Farnum (Lieutenant), Lawrence Eddinger (Sir Thomas Brunt), Frank McGlynn (Clon), Ogden S. Wight (Louis), James Wallace (Sergeant), Frank Walsh (Malpas), Charles Hartley (Landlord), Andrew Leigh (Doorkeeper), Herbert Denton (Major Domo), Mary Hampton (Madame de Cocheforet), Marie Moore (Madame Zaton), Lorie Eddinger (Suzette), and Olive Crompton (Waitress).

Following a performance at the Collingwood Opera House in Poughkeepsie, New York, on Tuesday evening, September 28, 1897, the next stop on the tour was Utica, New York, where on September 30, 1897, The Utica Press reported: "Miss Hampton (in the role of Madame de Cocheforet) is much admired in Utica, and deservedly so, for her work here has always been of a high order.... Mr. Thanhouser makes as much or more out of Capt. Larolle...."

On the next day in the same state, The Watertown Daily Times gave its readers a synopsis of the play staged at the City Opera House: "Gil de Berault is a spendthrift, gambler, and elegant ne'er-do-well of noble family. His reputation with his sword has made him feared, and his readiness to use this weapon has caused many deaths to be placed to his account. He has done odd jobs of questionable nature and once has saved Cardinal Richelieu's life. His brawling - elegant in the manner of his time - has displeased his eminence, who has placed him on parole not to fight again.

The play opens in a tavern, where Gil engages in cards with an English nobleman, one Sir Thomas Blunt. A quarrel ensues, and despite his promises to the cardinal, Gil, insulted, is forced to fight, killing the doughty Britisher. Richelieu, passing at the time, and remarking the excitement, learns the truth of the affair. He condemns de Berault to death. Gil protests and is given one chance for his life - a desperate one to be sure, but he accepts it. It is to go to a certain Chateau de Cocheforet, where resides one of the feudal families at war with the king. There he is to ingratiate himself with the women, locate the head of the house, Henri de Cocheforet, make him prisoner, and return with him to the cardinal. Against his inclination, but to save his life, Gil starts out on his objectionable enterprise.

The second act opens with the adventurer installed in the chateau. He has found the women agreeable, and has become so interested in the sister of the man he has been sent to capture that he has not had the heart to do the dirty work his mission called for. As for the girl, she has trusted him implicitly, and with each kindly word he feels his position more keenly. He is about to throw up the job when a troop of soldiers, sent by the king on the same mission, enters the chateau. Count Henri is hidden in a secret chamber, waiting a signal from his friends to come forth and join the insurgents in camp. His wife has the family jewels, which are to be donated to the cause. They are diamonds and are in a little bag. She places them in a secretary and by her manner betrays to Gil where they are hidden.

Gil was bidden by the cardinal to bring along with the captive the spoils of war as well, and here is the treasure within his grasp. He hesitates, yields to the impulse, and secures the bag. A company of the king's soldiers, commanded by a light-headed young fop of a captain, who is guided by his lieutenant - his contrary in every respect - appears and makes a search of the house. Gil meanwhile has gone to his room, and from thence, by a secret stairway, to a position where he can watch the proceedings.

He is discovered, his mission betrayed, and the girl learns of his perfidy. But his love for Renee de Cocheforet again disarms him. He returns to her the jewels, the loss of which she had deeply mourned, and with a plausible story once more installs himself in her favor. Once more the captain of the king's forces denounces him, but the lady declines to believe a word, and to show her absolute confidence in Gil, discloses to him the hiding place of her brother.

A dumb servant is seized by Capt. Larolle of the king's force and under torture by pantomime betrays the count. Then Gil, throwing off all disguise, presents his commission from Richelieu and arrests the prisoner himself. He leaves the chateau accompanied by de Cocheforet and his sister. But the good within him triumphs. He gives his captive his liberty, declares his love for Renee, and returns to Paris to give himself up to his patron and forfeit his wretched life. There affairs are satisfactorily arranged. The cardinal forgives him, the lovers are united, and all ends happily.

The Watertown Daily Times commented favorably on the acting of a leading player, noting: "Edwin Thanhouser, as Capt. Larolle, was the foppish character he was meant to portray, and his witty sayings and mannerisms produced the fun of the play, if indeed a drama can have an intermingling of that which is humorous." The competing Watertown Standard rated Thanhouser's work as "deserving of special mention."

In Burlington, Iowa the next week, The Hawk-Eye reported on the October 5th production of the play, stating that Thanhouser gave "a strong rendering...to the somewhat difficult role of Captain Larolle." The Omaha Daily Bee advised that patrons of the Boyd Theatre on October 11th saw a strong performance of the play, and that: "The only part with a touch of comedy, that of Capt. Larolle, was well taken care of by Edwin Thanhouser."

The Baldwin Theatre in San Francisco Note was home to the Under the Red Robe company for two weeks, beginning Monday, October 18, 1897. In a review the next day, The Evening Post observed: "It is possible that the people applauded the actors rather than the play, for the latter is not far removed from that vague estimate of mediocrity rated 'average.' The drama is not as good as the novel, and the novel, as everybody will remember, is not the author's best effort." The actors were, "in the main, worthy of the favor bestowed upon them," the report continued. In the same review, Thanhouser's role was examined closely:

When a playwright or adapter is reduced to the necessity of evolving the comedy of his drama from the cowardice or frivolity of a soldier in active service there must be a woeful lack of comedy material in the play or the author. Captain Larolle is an anachronism in a play depicting the stirring events of Richelieu's time - a period when the armies of France defied the world and backed their defiance with a courage that won victories on every field. It is not the fault of Edwin Thanhouser that Captain Larolle is an arrogant fool and a cowardly fellow. Mr. Thanhouser rendered the character as it was given to him, and he played his part well; it was not the fault of Mr. Thanhouser - it was the fault of Stanley Weyman, who created the original from which Edward Rose adapted the character.

On Monday evening, the 25th of October, in the middle of the play's run in San Francisco, a banquet was tendered to cast member Frank McGlynn. Sponsored by the Balfe-Moore Club, and held at Delmonico's, the occasion was to honor McGlynn, a former member of the club, who had given up the practice of law 18 months earlier to go to the East to study drama. In the course of the evening's festivities, Edwin Thanhouser proposed a toast to "Drama," on behalf of the Under the Red Robe company, and entertained the audience with remarks on drama and pantomime, at first laughingly threatening to discourse on the subject for an hour.

On Monday evening, November 1st, the players departed from San Francisco by rail on the Southern Pacific, headed for Los Angeles, from there intending to go to San Diego on the next train. Problems developed enroute, the train reached Los Angeles three hours late, and the connection was missed. A special train was hired, and at 8:00 on Tuesday evening, a half hour after the curtain was scheduled to go up at the Fisher Opera House, the players arrived at the station. Finally, at 9:01 the curtain was lifted, and the players, who had gone without rest and food for many hours, turned in a creditable performance. The San Diego Union commended the play, complimented the leading performers on their acting, and noted that: "Edwin Thanhouser, as Captain Larolle, ably rendered an undesirable part."

On Wednesday, November 3rd, it was back north on the train, where the play was staged at the Los Angeles Theatre. In contrast to an earlier San Francisco reviewer, a columnist for the Los Angeles Daily Times liked the script: "As for the play, it is a strong, vivid, keenly interesting conceit wrought out by a competent hand from a mine of rich material. Stanley Weyman's romances are always 'good stories,' according to the universal judgment of novel readers, and in Under the Red Robe he has accomplished some of his best work." Commentary concerning the acting was subdued, but Thanhouser's part as Captain Larolle was viewed as "excellently simulated."

From Los Angeles, the troupe headed eastward, arriving in Salt Lake City by November 16th; Pueblo, Colorado at the Grand Opera House on the 19th ("Mr. Thanhouser...does the part well," observed The Chieftain); then on to Colorado Springs, where Under the Red Robe was presented at the Opera House on the evening of November 20th. The Daily Gazette opined that the play was of the type "that can be enjoyed once, but would cloy on repetition." Thanhouser was said to have handled his role "with considerable cleverness."

In Denver on Monday evening, November 22nd, the play opened at the Tabor Grand Theatre, the most lavish opera house in the Rockies. Note The day after the performance, The Denver Post complimented William Morris in the role of de Berault, showed favor to Mary Hampton as Renee, criticized Giles Shine as Richelieu, and then dismissed nearly everyone else: "The other characters need no mention other than general commendation, with the exception of Mr. Thanhouser's Captain Larolle, which stood out as distinctly excellent." The Denver Times also named Thanhouser among the better performers.

The week beginning Monday, November 29th saw the troupe at the Coates Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri, where the play and Thanhouser's part in it drew favorable notices from The Times and The Kansas City Star. From there it was a short trip to Lincoln, Nebraska, where the company opened on December 6th at the Oliver Theatre. In its generally favorable review, the Evening News hastened to inform its apparently uneducated readers that Edwin Thanhouser was no relation to Wagner's Tannhäuser!

On December 14th, a particularly sophisticated review in The Sentinel, published in Milwaukee, advised readers of certain differences between the book and the play and noted that although the week-long engagement of Under the Red Robe was being performed by a touring company and not the original New York City cast, the work was still "excellent, mounted and placed upon the stage in the complete manner usual with the Frohman productions."

The untiring pace of the players was maintained through early the next year. A Friday evening performance at the Wieting Opera House on January 8, 1898 was favorably reviewed by The Syracuse Post, which took care, however, to warn future playgoers of a certain episode: "It reaches a point of unnecessary violence only once, and it is only proper to warn those to stay away who cannot endure to hear what seems like an excellent representation of the sound made by a tongueless wretch who is being cruelly flogged (behind the scenes). It is a more ghastly sound than printed words would indicate, and it must be said that what with a duel in the first act and death by drowning (unseen) in the third, there would still be plenty of Kiplingesque vigor in the play if the whipping were omitted." Concerning Edwin Thanhouser's role as Captain Larolle, the same writer suggested that it "could hardly be improved upon."

Then came a week-long stay at the Cleveland Opera House, beginning Monday, January 10th. The following Monday evening, January 17th, saw the company in Columbus, Ohio, opening at the Great Southern, in a performance which was so well received that the audience demanded a curtain call at the end of the second act. The Ohio State Journal noted that advance ticket sales portended a full house for the three-day run in the city. The next week, on January 27th, The Grand Rapids Democrat reported somewhat pretentiously that Thanhouser's performance at the Powers Opera House, "as the pusillanimous Captain Larolle, was a study in pompous nonentity."

Monday, January 31st, saw the troupe at the Temple Theatre in Fort Wayne, Indiana, one of the towns where Edwin Thanhouser had lived as a youth. The Evening Sentinel found that the play was "one of the best seen here this season," and noted that: "Edwin Thanhouser, formerly of this city, was warmly greeted by many old friends whose interest and applause he merited by an excellent interpretation of the only comedy part in the drama."

At the next stop, in Kentucky, where the company played from February 3rd through the 5th at Macauley's Theatre, The Louisville Commercial advised readers that the audience enjoyed the play and that Edwin Thanhouser's part was "very well done." From there it was but a short trip on the rails to Pittsburgh, where reviewers liked the production staged at the Alvin Theatre for the week beginning Monday, February 7th, and commented favorably concerning Thanhouser's part in it.

On Monday, March 8, 1898, the Under the Red Robe company, having completed its trip by rail across the United States, was back on the East Coast on stage at the Amphion in Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Daily Times on March 8th gave the production a lukewarm review, as did the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on the same day, but both newspapers liked the work of Edwin Thanhouser. The former noted that his role was "well taken," while the latter found that "the Larolle of Edwin Thanhouser made a break in the otherwise somber atmosphere."

Departing once again from New York, the troupe staged many additional performances in the Eastern United States and Canada. In his personal scrapbook Edwin Thanhouser pasted reviews from the Newark Evening News (March 15, 1898); The Toronto World, The Globe, and The Evening News (Toronto, March 22, 1898), and, finally from The Telegram (Providence, Rhode Island, March 27, 1898). In all instances, reviews appeared the day after the opening performance. Edwin Thanhouser kept only a small number of reviews; those which were seen by him during his stays in various cities, or which were sent to him later. Note Under the Red Robe continued to play in Eastern cities, with one of the final stands being at The Nesbitt Theatre, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, beginning on April 29, 1898.