Beginnings

One day, early in the year 1896, six men gathered for lunch at the Holland House in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. These men were Charles Frohman

Charles Frohman

Charles Frohman was an American theatrical producer. Frohman was producing plays by 1889 and acquired his first Broadway theatre by 1892. He discovered and promoted many stars of the American theatre....

, Al Hayman

Al Hayman

Al Hayman, also known as Raphael Hayman, was the business partner of the better-known Charles Frohman who together with others established the Theatrical Syndicate in 1896 and as theater impresarios and booking agents helped develop the theater district in New York at the turn of the 20th...

, A.L. Erlanger

A.L. Erlanger

Abraham Lincoln Erlanger was an American theatrical producer, director, designer, theatre owner, and a leading figure of the Theatrical Syndicate....

, Marc Klaw, Samuel F. Nirdlinger, and Frederick Zimmerman. All were theatrical managers and/or booking agents with influence throughout the country: Frohman and Hayman owned theatres in New York and the surrounding area, Erlanger and Klaw were booking agents for almost all the major theatres in the South, and Nirdlinger and Zimmerman controlled theatres in the Ohio region. Frohman also owned a chain of theatres extending to the West Coast. At lunch, the men discussed the disarray in American theatre. By the end of lunch, these men had essentially formed the outline of the Theatrical Syndicate. In order for the Syndicate to succeed, it needed to form a monopoly. Within weeks of their lunch meeting, the men organized all the theatres which they owned or represented into a national chain. All free time and space was filed with Klaw and Erlanger. This joining of forces marks the beginning of the Syndicate.

Operation

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, theatre companies in America thrived by touring. In order to take control of the situation, the Syndicate needed only to possess key theatres between the major touring cities. In order to take control of a city, the Syndicate did not need control of theatres within the city. It needed only to control theatres on the routes approaching the city. The first city to be completely overtaken by the Syndicate was Philadelphia because of the influence of Nixon and Zimmerman. By February 1896, 37 first-class theatres were owned by the Syndicate. Klaw and Erlanger became the booking agents for the whole organization. Company managers no longer organized their tours by dealing with individual theatre managers. Instead they had to go through Klaw and Erlanger who would arrange their tour for them.

Praise

The Syndicate was praised among certain circles. Daniel Frohman

Daniel Frohman

Daniel Frohman was a Jewish American theatrical producer and manager, and an early film producer.Frohman was born in Sandusky, Ohio...

, the brother of Charles Frohman, gives an account of the creation of the Syndicate. He writes that after discussing the growing chaos in the business of theatre, "they decided that its only economic hope was in a centralization of booking interests, and they acted immediately on this decision." Those who praised the Syndicate believed that they had saved theatre by standardizing bookings. In the time prior to the formation of the Syndicate, routing of road-based companies was described as chaotic. Smaller travelling companies would find themselves in massive amounts of debt because of stiff competition. Klaw, who acted as the spokesman for the Syndicate, was quoted as saying, "The Theatrical Syndicate has brought order out of chaos, legitimate profit out of ruinous rivalry."

Criticism

Criticism and opposition to the Syndicate came from managers, agents, and actors alike. At first, it was the managers that attempted to put a stop to the Syndicate, but they failed almost as soon as they began. A more serious threat to the Syndicate came in the form of rebellion from actors. The most prominent actors to take a stand were Nat Goodwin, Francis Wilson

Francis Wilson

Francis Wilson may refer to:*Francis H. Wilson , U.S. Representative from New York*Francis Wilson , American actor*Francis Wilson , Australian lichenologist...

, and Richard Mansfield

Richard Mansfield

Richard Mansfield was an English actor-manager best known for his performances in Shakespeare plays, Gilbert and Sullivan operas and for his portrayal of the dual title roles in Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....

. Others who took a stand against the Syndicate were James A. Herne, James O'Neill

James O'Neill

James O'Neill or Jimmy O'Neill may refer to:* James O'Neill , father of the playwright Eugene O'Neill* James O'Neill , American acting Archivist for the National Archives...

. One particular actress, Minnie Maddern Fiske, became very well known for her opposition of the Syndicate. She became famous for her roles in plays by Ibsen, Shaw, and Wilde. The voices of the actors were much louder than any opposition previous. However, the fight was a very short one as Nat Goodwin, the original leader of the rebellion, was "captured" by the Syndicate. The others fell into the clutches of the Syndicate very soon after.

Shubert family

The only real threat to the Syndicate came in the form of the Shubert brothers

Shubert family

The Shubert family of New York City, New York was responsible for the establishment of the Broadway district, in New York City, as the hub of the theatre industry in the United States...

, Sam, Lee, and J.J. In the building stages of their empire, Sam Shubert was seen as the "leader." At the age of twenty one, Sam controlled theatres in Utica

Utica, New York

Utica is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 62,235 at the 2010 census, an increase of 2.6% from the 2000 census....

, Rochester

Rochester, New York

Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...

, Syracuse

Syracuse, New York

Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...

, New York City, and Troy

Troy, New York

Troy is a city in the US State of New York and the seat of Rensselaer County. Troy is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany and Schenectady, forming a region popularly called the Capital...

. In the next five years, he would obtain many more all over the country. At this point, his holdings were only surpassed by Syndicate itself. Unfortunately, Sam died in a railroad accident in 1905. After his death, his brothers formed a very brief working agreement with the Syndicate. After 3 years of solidifying their holdings, the Shuberts were strong enough to go toe to toe with the Syndicate. At first, the Shuberts operated in a very similar manner to the Syndicate. They dealt with theatrical managers and were able to book a year's tour for the manager, but any length of time after that became unprofitable. The Shubert brothers then changed tactics. They abandoned the tactic of buying theatres. Instead, they focused on collecting actors. During the 1908-09 season, the Syndicate did not have enough actors or plays to fill all of their theatres. The Shubert brothers took advantage of this by following the Syndicate to certain cities and performing similar works in the same city, but of a better quality.

The Fall of the Syndicate

Early in 1910, several prominent actors and playwrights defected from the Syndicate to the Shuberts. The fight of the Shubert brothers gave smaller independent theatres the motivation to take a stand against the Syndicate, and by April, the New England area had completely declared independence from the Syndicate. In May of that year, 1,200 small town theatre owners joined together to form the National Theatre Owners Association. This act was the nail in the coffin for the Syndicate, and finally its stranglehold on American theatre had been released.