247:
227:, whose attacks on Klaw & Erlanger persisted for years and ranged into ugly anti-Semitic caricature. Metcalfe's "special vendetta against the syndicate" led to the January 1904 publication of a cartoon showing a skeleton, costumed as Bluebeard, guarding the padlocked door of a theater exit, with the caption "Messrs. Klaw and Erlanger Present Mr. Bluebeard, Late of the Iroquois Theater." For that, Klaw & Erlanger presented Life with its first libel suit, for $ 100,000 in damages. After considering that the partners had owned 25% of the Iroquois, managed its bookings, and had owned the production of "Mr. Bluebeard," the jury dismissed their libel suit after five minutes' deliberation.
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himself, will be all there is of the
Syndicate... The combination took life in 1896...with a view of avoiding conflict and confusion, fixing responsibility for broken engagements and disregarded contracts, and incidentally of determining the drawing-power and consequent sharing-terms of plays and starts. The scheme, Mr. Erlanger long ago told me, originated not with him, but with the late Al Hayman...
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Vaudeville", reportedly capitalized with $ 100 million. The
Shuberts had hoped to fill up their oversupply of theater seats. The motivations of Klaw & Erlanger became clear seven months later when they and the Shuberts sold out the entire operation to Albee in November. Albee also paid a bonus fee $ 250,000 for the promise to stay out of vaudeville for another ten years.
84:
286:. Sam Shubert began to compete through the billing of "independent theater," an appeal that soon broke the Syndicates' playhouse monopoly and began the diversification of Broadway theater. But the Klaw & Erlanger booking system was also decried and challenged by performers such as the prominent actor
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in
Chicago opened weeks later, in November, after a rushed construction schedule. The new theater burned during a holiday matinee on December 30, 1903, with the loss of more than 600 lives, among the worst fires in American history. The Iroquois fire brought intense criticism to Klaw and Erlanger.
74:
and accusations of trust building forced the
Syndicate to lose much of its market power in 1910. After 1910, Klaw and Erlanger continued to play a role in the syndicate, which still sparred with the Shuberts for market share for years. Klaw and Erlanger also ran their own productions, experimented
45:
Klaw and
Erlanger joined in partnership in 1888. Starting from the purchase of an existing booking agency, the partners gradually gained control of the southern territory, anchored in New Orleans. They ran allied businesses, produced Broadway shows, and owned a number of theaters. They were part
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The partners did cross over into the vaudeville business territory occasionally. The biggest foray was in April 1907, in concert with none other than Lee and J.J. Shubert. Together they established a new vaudeville booking operation called the United States
Amusement Company, promising "Advanced
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over the booking of stage performers into first-class legitimate theaters across the United States. Its control of the theater market was brief. As the
Syndicate attempted to bring vaudeville from its "lowbrow associations by presenting only the finest, class acts", pressure from the independent
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Mr. Erlanger, who was the most powerful member of the anti-unionists, has wearied of conducting the famous
Theatrical Syndicate without assistance while dividing the profits with the heirs and assigns of the other original members; so, he has arranged the matter in such fashion that hereafter he,
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After a meeting in San
Antonio, in 1888 Klaw teamed with Erlanger to purchase the former H.S. Taylor Theatrical Exchange in New York. Through Klaw's personal contacts with theater owners, they expanded it to assert control over southern touring routes, but with operational control and a major
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Klaw and
Erlanger's own operations encompassed running the Syndicate's booking operations for over 500 theaters across the country, regular Broadway productions, direct ownership of a number of houses in New York and New Orleans, and the occasional commissioning of entirely new theaters.
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Its monopoly was broken in 1910, but the Theatrical Syndicate continued in operation with considerable holdings. As late as October 1924—after the partners' brief foray into the film business circa 1915, after Marc Klaw ended his partnership with Erlanger in 1919 and opened his own
333:
Klaw & Erlanger were primarily producers for legitimate theaters, as opposed to vaudeville. Vaudeville had its own parallel chains of theaters, and its own dominant booking monopoly in the east, called the United Booking Office, run by
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All the members of the Theatrical Syndicate brought in geographic territories, sections of a national, networked chain of theaters in the United States. The strength of Klaw and Erlanger came from its dominance in the south.
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of Rich & Harris in Boston. Taking advantage of their physical chain of theaters, the syndicate developed a standardized booking process, and brought efficiency to an otherwise fragmented and wasteful scheduling system.
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theatrical presence in New York City. The partners also ran a number of allied subsidiary businesses, including the "Klaw and Erlanger Opera Company", "Klaw and Erlanger's Costume Company", and a construction company.
188:(1,702 seats), new office headquarters for the firm, and, in a prompt expansion upward a year later, creation of the Aerial Gardens rooftop theater with its notorious see-through staircase, home of the
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on Broadway in 1921—A.L. Erlanger was still reported as the most powerful member of the Theatrical Syndicate. In fact, poised to take over the complete operation and its multifaceted benefits:
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in Chicago, which suffered a catastrophic fire in 1903 that resulted in more than 600 deaths and brought Klaw & Erlanger bitter criticism. In the same year they opened their flagship
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to defend against the resulting wave of criminal and civil litigation. Most prominent among its critics in the press was James Metcalfe, drama critic and editor of the old
38:
based in New York City from 1888 through 1919. While running their own considerable and multi-faceted theatrical businesses on Broadway, they were key figures in the
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in 1858. He received his law degree from Louisville Law School and practiced law while maintaining a role within the theater industry as a part-time critic.
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with vaudeville, and embarked on film production from 1913 to 1916. They dissolved their partnership in 1919, remaining independently active afterward.
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176:, working in a hard-to-classify fin-de-sciele style, with integrated sculpture and murals from artists the caliber of
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As partners Klaw & Erlanger remained involved—dominant—in the affairs of the Theatrical Syndicate after its peak.
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and others as business manager for touring theater companies. He was known for his bullish personality.
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Vaudeville old & new: an encyclopedia of variety performances in America
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Erlanger throughout his career was known for underwriting shows such as
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in New York, where the Aerial Gardens became the longtime stage for the
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American entertainment management and production partnership (1888–1919)
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220:
487:
485:
478:(32 ed.). Pleasant Hill: Theatre History Studies. pp. 53–55.
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Cullen, Frank; Hackman, Florence; McNeilly, Donald (1 January 2007).
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338:—set up in 1900 in conscious emulation of the Theatrical Syndicate.
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The Rogers Brothers in Klaw and Erlanger's "Reign of Error" 1898-99
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108:(1860-1930) came from Cleveland, beginning as treasurer of the
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510:
Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders, Volume 2
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30:
was an entertainment management and production partnership of
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From 1896, Klaw and Erlanger joined with others to form the
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Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders (H-M)
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Donaghey (as "F.D."), Frederick James (30 October 1924).
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Avengers and Defenders: Glimpses of Chicago's Jewish Past
210:
magazine cartoon, January 21, 1904, subject of libel case
184:. The New Amsterdam featured the largest playhouse on
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Amsterdam Theater - 42nd St. - New York Vity 1905 crop
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The system was opposed—by their main competitors, the
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Chicago Death Trap: The Iroquois Theatre Fire of 1903
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the partnership's 1901 production of Ben Hur, Chicago
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721:. New York: Harper and Brothers. pp. 186–188.
219:The team retained the brilliant Chicago attorney
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192:from 1913 through 1920. Designer and architect
172:, opened October 23, 1903. The architects were
200:shows at the New Amsterdam starting in 1915.
254:The partners became founding parties to the
513:. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 725.
230:Other KE theaters in New York included the
127:(1889) and producing large numbers such as
559:musicals101.com, accessed December 3, 2011
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450:"The New Amsterdam Theatre Aerial Gardens"
168:The most lavish of these was the flagship
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467:
328:
274:. Another loosely associated figure was
135:(1926). The partners produced the first
761:. Psychology Press. pp. 1919–1920.
572:. Publication Office, Julius Cahn. 1909.
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494:The Oxford Companion to American Theatre
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796:American theatre managers and producers
570:Julius Cahn's Official Theatrical Guide
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454:Theater Historical Society of America
613:. Chicago Review Press. p. 28.
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545:. Greenwood Press. pp. 724–726.
476:A Failed Attempt at World Domination
587:Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre
376:The Rogers Brothers in Central Park
196:became the scenic designer for the
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507:Ingham, John N. (1 January 1983).
496:. Online: Oxford University Press.
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258:in 1896. The other members were
112:. In his 20s Erlanger worked for
718:Charles Frohman: Manager and Man
647:. n18: SIU Press. p. xxiv.
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690:"Life Magazine January 21 1905"
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641:Brandt, Nat (3 August 2006).
607:Roth, Walter (1 April 2008).
152:Abraham Lincoln Erlanger 1909
715:Marcosson, Issac F. (1916).
404:The Rogers Brothers in Paris
317:A.L. Erlanger died in 1930.
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474:Schweitzer, Marlis (2012).
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390:A Little Bit of Everything
110:Euclid Avenue Opera House
674:: CS1 maint: location (
541:Ingham, John N. (1983).
492:Bordman, Gerald (2004).
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410:Musical/Farce/Vaudeville
382:Musical/Farce/Vaudeville
141:in 1907 at the rooftop "
98:(1858-1936) was born in
65:which held an effective
36:Abraham Lincoln Erlanger
589:(1980), Da Capo Press,
329:Vaudeville productions
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298:, among many others.
264:J. Fred Zimmerman Sr.
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170:New Amsterdam Theatre
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52:New Amsterdam Theater
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806:Vaudeville producers
296:Minnie Maddern Fiske
256:Theatrical Syndicate
145:" in New York City.
125:The Great Metropolis
63:Theatrical Syndicate
40:Theatrical Syndicate
292:Harrison Grey Fiske
182:Roland Hinton Perry
178:George Grey Barnard
174:Herts & Tallant
426:Musical/Vaudeville
396:Musical/Vaudeville
368:Musical/Vaudeville
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46:owners of the new
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736:. Chicago Tribune
696:. 19 January 1905
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740:11 February
700:14 February
694:archive.org
660:17 February
626:14 February
526:11 February
459:11 February
357:Tour Dates
131:(1911) and
790:Categories
734:"Theaters"
584:"Ziegfeld"
385:1900-1901
336:E.F. Albee
221:Levy Mayer
670:cite book
272:Al Hayman
129:Pink Lady
96:Marc Klaw
87:Marc Klaw
32:Marc Klaw
351:Producer
186:Broadway
160:Theaters
67:monopoly
198:Follies
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234:, the
436:Notes
429:1905
413:1904
399:1904
371:1899
354:Genre
348:Title
776:2019
763:ISBN
742:2019
702:2019
676:link
662:2019
649:ISBN
628:2019
615:ISBN
591:ISBN
528:2019
515:ISBN
461:2019
294:and
270:and
214:The
208:Life
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