Volume I: Narrative History

Chapter 1: Milwaukee and Further Success

In the meantime, Edwin Thanhouser had made arrangements to manage the Academy of Music in Milwaukee and to locate his own stock company there. The theatre had a seating capacity of 1,800 Note and was one of the largest houses in the Midwest, but in recent years it had fallen on hard times. The Davidson, Pabst, and other theatres and attractions had eclipsed it, and no longer was it a focal point for Milwaukee society.

Edwin Thanhouser (L) shown in the upper right as manager of the Academy of Music in a 1900 directory of "Milwaukee's Theatrical Managers." Courtesy of Larry Widen (M-59)

An April 1903 photograph (R) of The Academy of Music in Milwaukee. Courtesy of Larry Widen and the Milwaukee Public Library (M-60)

On October 23, 1898, The Sentinel advised readers: "Edwin Thanhouser, manager of the new stock company soon to open the season at the Academy, is not a stranger to the Milwaukee theatre-going public. His Sir Richard Cursitor in Sowing the Wind, Bertie Nizril in Thoroughbred, and Captain Larolle in Under the Red Robe - all Frohman productions - are bits of character work pleasantly remembered."

Frank B. Hatch, an actor who had been with him in Atlanta, joined Thanhouser in the Milwaukee venture, which was designated as the Thanhouser-Hatch Stock Company. Earlier, Hatch had been on the stage with George B. Broadhurst's players. Tickets went on sale on November 7, 1898 for the opening performance on Monday, November 14th, which featured The District Attorney. Note

Members of the Thanhouser-Hatch Stock Company at the beginning of the season included the two principals, Thanhouser and Hatch, who not only directed the performances but were on stage in many roles, and Donald Bowles, Meta Brittain, Irving Brooks, Mary Davenport, Millie Flagg, Alberta Gallatin, Willis Granger, Lucius Henderson, Gertrude F. Homan, Samuel Lewis, Nan Mifflin, and William Yerance. In charge of the scenic backdrops was Thomas Neville. Some of the cast members had been members of the Grand Stock Company in Atlanta several months earlier.

The opening night was reviewed the next day by The Milwaukee Journal: "THE REOPENING OF THE ACADEMY OF MUSIC: Prof. Mayr, the excellent leader of the orchestra at the Academy, began the evening's entertainment last night with an overture especially composed by himself for the occasion (and a very good overture it was, by the way) entitled The Phoenix, and the name was characteristic of the situation. Note The house has indeed re-arisen - not from the flames to be sure, but from that innocuous desuetude in which it has lain dormant for the past ten years.

Turned to every possible use - now for a concert, now for a political convention - again for cheap burlesque and even for prize fights, this celebrated old auditorium has passed through a hard period, especially hard when one remembers easily the days when the incomparable Bernhardt played here, when this was, par excellence, "the" theatre of Milwaukee, when the life and light of the town at night was on the East Side, and when carriage after carriage rolled up nightly to the hospitable portals of the old Academy. Let us hope that after the auspicious opening of last evening the wings of this phoenix will speedily gain strength, that it may hover powerfully on mighty pinions of art and not again sink faltering to earth to die in silence and alone.

The old house has been brightened up greatly on both sides of the curtain and hardly looks like its old self in any particular. The auditorium has been greatly improved, and the stage still more so. A notably clever scenic artist, Mr. Thomas Neville, has supplied the house with new and modern scenery, very well painted, the properties were all handsome and thoroughly in keeping with the various scenes, and the lights have been greatly improved - their power increased - well, when they are a little better handled than they were last night (slight mistakes being doubtless owing to the natural nervousness of an opening) they will produce many beautiful effects.

The play selected for the occasion and witnessed by a large and enthusiastic audience was The District Attorney, by Harrison Grey Fiske, a bad play to be sure, written as many a play has been for the sake of a single good act. Mr. Fiske conceived the strong idea of the third act first, evidently, and then had to worry about for two acts to precede it and one to follow, and all of those three show all too evident signs of having been "made" for the occasion. The district attorney of New York marries the daughter of a man who has swindled the city out of millions; the crime has been covered by getting an innocent man to acknowledge the forgeries on the promise that a pardon would be obtained for him after a year's imprisonment and then $50,000 would be paid him, but the conspirators, once he has pleaded guilty, leave him to rot in jail. Eventually, disclosure follows and the district attorney finds himself forced to proceed against his wife's father.

The play was not an entirely fortunate selection for the opening, moreover, in that it is practically a one-act production. Neither the leading man nor woman have good parts, and the "fat" role falls to the character actor, the portrayer of the old millionaire swindler who originated the conspiracy. This role was assumed most admirably by Frank Hatch, one of the managers of the organization. Despite all the worries which he must have had, attendant on the opening, the rehearsing of a newly congregated company, and other multitudinous cares, he gave a clean-cut, artistic, highly finished performance which held the audience all the time he was on the stage. It was an augury of much fine work which we may expect in the future and gave every promise of finished stage management so far as his work in that difficult department was also concerned.

The leading man, Mr. Willis Granger, late of Daly's Theatre in New York and formerly of many high-class organizations, possesses a fine stage presence, a musical, well-modulated voice, remarkable grace of gesture and finish in all he does, showing the experienced, thoughtful actor. All of these qualifications were shown in many of his scenes last evening, yet in other scenes his all too evident unsteadiness as to his lines held back the action and marred not only his work but that of those with whom he was playing the scenes in question. However, much must be excused on an opening night.

Miss Gallatin, the leading woman, possesses personality, beauty and grace and remarkable artistic taste in dress, and her work was very delightful, although the part was not one in which any leading woman would particularly desire to make a debut, as with the exception of the last act she has hardly a scene calling for more than the merest perfunctory work. We may, however, expect much more from her in the future when she is supplied with more congenial parts.

The performance of Mr. Yerance as Gen. Ruggles was perhaps the most completely finished individual work in the cast. This admirable actor was impressively good in the role, and he made friends and admirers of everyone in the house. Mr. Brooks was also exceedingly good in the character role of McGrath, a typical Tammanyite, and in makeup and action his work bespoke the actor who thinks out his work and balances it well. Again, Mr. Lucius Henderson, in the slight role of the innocent convict, made an excellent impression. His interpretation of the role was firm and impressive, and the careful avoidance of the slightest tendency to exaggerate, highly praiseworthy.

Mr. Bowles, a trifle over-exuberant in a few spots, played the juvenile role delightfully, and Mr. Berthelet, a young Milwaukeean, was excellent in the role of a Yale football-playing student. Mr. Lewis overplayed the role of Williams but was good as old Corrigan, and the smaller parts were well rendered throughout. Miss Gertrude F. Homan, formerly the favorite child actress in Little Lord Fauntleroy, appeared as the "ingenue" and made a delightful impression; she is pretty and has a charming smile and played very prettily. Miss Nan Mifflin, as the fiancée of the innocent man, played remarkably well, with power and equipoise, and Miss Brittain was as pretty as a picture as a maid.

In short, the individual performances were all excellent, barring trifles noted. As yet there is some little lack of ensemble, as is but natural with a company just organized, but the strength of the aggregation artistically is unquestioned. The stage management was admirable and, all things considered, there were wonderfully few mishaps for a first night. The new orchestra under Franz Mayr played well, and Mr. Mayr's overture, already noted, is a dignified, musicianly composition....

The District Attorney was an auspicious beginning to Edwin Thanhouser's Milwaukee venture. Other plays followed at the rate of one or two a week, and before long such productions as The New South, Niobe, and Carmen delighted audiences. The last featured a new addition to the company, W. Eugene Moore, who took the part of José. Note

As the season progressed, the Academy of Music became the talk of Milwaukee. The Lost Paradise, Confusion, The King's Pleasure, Friends, Young Mrs. Winthrop, The Prodigal Daughter, A Social Highwayman, A Celebrated Case, The Burglar, Butterflies, Aristocracy, Madame Sans Gene, The Masked Ball, and other productions drew record crowds. Success inspired more success, and by May 1899, when Trilby was reviewed as the best play of the season, Edwin Thanhouser was on his way to becoming a man of wealth, rapidly accumulating a nest egg which a decade later would permit him to enter the field of motion pictures without financial worry. His first-hand experience with the staging of hundreds of performances, his knowledge of audience reactions, and his familiarity with the idiosyncrasies of actors and actresses would also serve him well.

In the summer of 1899, some members of the Thanhouser-Hatch Stock Company went to Atlanta, where Edwin Thanhouser had leased the Grand Theatre. Beginning with Charity Ball on May 18th, the troupe presented a season with such plays as Lend Me Your Wife, My Partner, The Paper Chase, A Runaway Wife, Trilby, Ferncliffe, The Banker's Daughter, Saints and Sinners, Innocent as a Lamb, The Idler, A Wise Child, Victory and Wife, and other productions. Reviews were enthusiastic and the till overflowed with receipts.

In the meantime, other members of the Thanhouser-Hatch Stock Company remained in Milwaukee, where the Academy of Music had a virtual monopoly for much of the summer, when most other theatres were shuttered. Such plays as Forget Me Not, Lend Me Your Wife, Little Lord Fauntleroy, The New Magdalen, The Late Mrs. Jones, and others were presented again to enthusiastic audiences.

Around this time, Frank B. Hatch, tired of co-managing the stock company, sold his interest to Edwin Thanhouser, after which the troupe was known as the Thanhouser Stock Company; sometimes capitalized in trade paper and newspaper usage, but more often written as "Thanhouser stock company." This was an unwise financial move for Hatch, for a newspaper article of the time commented, "Shortly after [Hatch left] they had to keep the banks open to prevent the Thanhouser intake from blocking the sidewalks." Now, Thanhouser had direct control of all operations. The bottom-line profit was his, and before long he had a tidy bank account, perhaps not as dramatic as the newspaper story indicated, but substantial nonetheless.

At the time, many major theatres in the larger cities had their own resident stock companies. Typically, this involved a cast of characters which included a leading man, a leading lady, a young girl or "ingenue," a "juvenile," "heavies" for secondary parts (including villains), comedians, and various character actors. More likely than not, children of the adult players would fill in for parts calling for infants and tots.

Standard painted backdrops were supported by ropes and pulleys and could be "flown" away into the flyloft during curtain closings or when the stage was dark. Theatres and opera houses in smaller towns usually had just three or four standard scenic backdrops, while those in larger cities might have a dozen or more. With few exceptions, standard backdrops were employed. Only in large theatres, and the Academy was one, was a scenic artist commissioned to create special backgrounds for specific productions.

A stock company such as that managed by Edwin Thanhouser typically had a repertoire of standard comedies and dramas, ranging from adaptations of popular novels of the time to the works of Shakespeare, although for the latter, well-known actors were sometimes secured as guest stars. The season for a typical theatre ran from early autumn to late spring, and was designated, for example, "the season of 1897-1898." The Academy of Music was unusual among large Milwaukee theatres in that it remained open during the summer. In the days before air conditioning, many if not most of the larger theatres in America, including those on Broadway, were dark during most of June, July, and August. Note If not, then it was often the practice to employ troupes of summer stock consisting of less experienced actors or, in vacation locations which drew well-paying audiences such as the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts, well-known city players who were secured for the summer run.

During the regular season a typical house featured a varied program. On a serious evening, Shakespeare's Hamlet might be presented. On other evenings lighter fare consisted of melodramas such as Blue Jeans, Lady Audley's Secret, Uncle Tom's Cabin, or some other tear-inducing or emotion inspiring story. The program of Thanhouser's Academy of Music tended toward more sophisticated fare.

If the plays presented were short, with one or two acts, the program of a typical American theatre of the time would have additional features such as an acrobat, clown, or magician, a troupe of dancers or singers, or a monologuist who would declaim on politics, the wonders of science, or travel. Beginning in the 1890s, short films were used as fillers between acts.