The Ultimate in Bands
and Entertainment
S
• Rumplestiltskin
• Simone Vitale
• Skyline And The
Back Street Horns
• Vizitor
Here Come The Feds
• And More
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR
But did they have Super Sunday back in 1895?
Jerry Ross Band
"Thank you, thank you, thank you for making our daugh-
teis wedding a musical dream. You were fabulous!"
11 li b 0•1 0
(11 6NTERTA
—Rene and Max Kreitman
■
fIMEI1T
th Lafayette, Royal Oak, MI 48067
(810) 398-9711
ANNI-iTTN'S
Unique Boutique
YOUR FITTING SOLUTION
The Finest Quality
• Svvimwear
•Bras
•Undergarments
•Night Gowns
•Robes
•Wigs and Head
Coverings
Full & Extended Sizes
Full Service Mastectomy
Boutique
After breast surger-y forms and fashions.
Full figureclifulL busted intimate apparel_
3646 Rochester Rd. • Troy • Century Plaza • 810 680-1600
Wo men's Issues
F i c t i on Israel Politics Philanthropy n
LLJ
Carrie, Eileen, Karen, Lauren, Leslee,
Nancy, Terri, Steve, Susan and Sylvia
went to the 1997 BookExpo to select
the biggest authors for the
46th Annual Jewish Book Fair.
0
0
O
Now is the time to have your
organization, synagogue, temple,
club, auxiliary or reading group select
a speaker to sponsor.
H-
40
0
For more details call (248) 661-7648
Children's Interest jewisA Troaltions
Q: Recently I heard that had it
not been for a certain Jewish the-
ater producer, there might never
have been a Peter Pan on stage.
What's the story behind this story,
Tell Me Why?
A: "They could have lit a city
with his energy," Peter Pan au-
thor J.M. Barrie said of Charles
Frohman, the man who first
staged the classic tale of the boy
who wanted never to grow up.
Frohman was born in 1860
in Ohio and died in an infamous
disaster — the sinking of the
Lusitania in 1915.
He came to New York when
he was 4, and got his first job,
selling tickets at Hooley's The-
atre in Brooklyn, when he was
14. Three years later, Frohman
was an agent for a traveling
comedy troupe, and by 1881 he
was a manager for a show that
traveled throughout the Unit-
ed States and England.
In 1883 Frohman produced
his first play, called The
Strangers of Paris. It failed mis-
erably. By 1885, Frohman was
bankrupt. But instead of run-
ning away from the business,
he dug in even deeper. He or-
ganized his own production
company, and headed a firm
that booked plays all over the
United States. This firm was a
real rarity for its time, when
"booking a show" usually trans-
lated to "our manager will try
to get through to somebody who
will try to get through to some-
body else and we'll see what we
can arrange." Frohman was or-
ganized and professional, and
it didn't take long before he was
in control of the largest booking
agency in the United States.
Of course, he still had some-
thing to learn about the artis-
tic side of the theater world.
Throughout the 1880s,
Frohman produced play after
miserable play, finally finding
success in 1889 with Shenan-
doah, a Civil War story. The
money came in, and Frohman
built his own theater called The
Empire, at Broadway and 40th
Street. Then he began to buy
other theaters, both here and
in England. He also expanded
his producing to Britain, which
is how he eventually met up
with author J.M. Barrie.
Among the plays Frohman
was first to produce: Charley's
Aunt, Sherlock Holmes,
Chantecler, and numerous
works by Oscar Wilde, George
Bernard Shaw and John
Galsworthy. No doubt Peter
Pan was his most famous,
though, and he suggested his
own epitaph read: "He gave Pe-
ter Pan to the world and
Chantecler to America. It is
enough for any man."
Among the thespians
Frohman made into celebrities
were Maude Adams, John
Drew, William Gillette, Otis
Skinner, Ethel Barrymore, Bil-
lie Burke and
Ellen Terry.
Virtually
everyone who
met Frohman
liked him, ad-
mired his energy
and trusted him.
He never used
written contracts,
and had a repu-
tation for always
keeping his word.
Among his fans
was George
Bernard Shaw,
who said of Frohman, "He is the
most wildly romantic and ad-
venturous man of my acquain-
tance." J.M. Barrie was so
confident in Frohman's abilities
that he agreed to let him pro-
duce Peter Pan, though the au-
thor himself was convinced it
could never be done.
In 1915, Frohman produced
what would be his last play. It
was called The Hyphen, a sto-
ry of patriotism, which was
written by Justus Miles For-
man. •
Forman, a journalist, was on
assignment for the New York
Times when he set sail on the
Lusitania with his colleague
Charles Frohman. An anony-
mous caller had told Frohman
not to sail aboard the ship, that
it was doomed for disaster, but
he ignored the warning.
When the Lusitania was tor-
pedoed by a German subma-
rine, both Justus Miles
Forman and Charles Frohman
were sent to their deaths.
There were survivors of the in-
cident, though, including a
woman who was near
Frohman as his life was com-
ing to an end. She recalled his
last words: "Why fear death?
It is the most beautiful adven-
ture in life."
Q: I always thought Jewish fed-
erations were a relatively new cre-
ation, certainly no older than the
20th century. But then I heard that
there are some more than 100
years old? Is that true?
A: Yes, federations really
have been around that long,
and they were quite a success
right from the start.
The first Jewish federation
was founded in 1895 in Boston;
one year later, Cincinnati had
its own federation. Their job
was to raise funds for a hand-
ful of constituent agencies, and
the first two federations proved
Detroit's
Jewish
Federation
has been
around for
more than
90 years
(though not
in this
building, of
course).
so successful in this effort that
they were quickly followed by
organizations in Chicago
(1900), Detroit (1901), Cleve-
land (1904), Indianapolis
(1905) and Brooklyn (1910),
among others.
With World War I, federa-
tions took on additional re-
sponsibilities, lending their
support to Jewish educational
institutions, for example, and
agreeing to oversee social-ser-
vice agencies. Of course, no one
could agree on exactly what to
call them, though, so there ex-
isted quite a hodgepodge of or-
ganizations operating under
names like the Jewish Chari-
ty, the Federated Jewish Char-
ities, the Federation of Jewish
Philanthropies, the Jewish
Welfare Federation, etc.
By around 1930, when the
country was home to hundreds
of federations, things were
much more organized, and in
1932 the federations' umbrel-
la organization was founded in
New York City. Now known as
the Council of Jewish Feder-
ations, it originally was formed
as the National Council of Jew-
ish Federations and Welfare
Funds. CI
Send questions to Tell Me Why,
The Jewish News, 27676
Franklin Road, Southfield, MI
48034, or fax to (248) 354-6069.
All letters must be signed and in-
clude the writer's address. Ques-
tions answered in the column will
feature only the writer's initials
and city of residence.
_
c