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Arthur McKee Rankin's The Danites 1877–1881: Prime Example of the American Touring Process

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2009

Levi Damon Phillips
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Extract

Having secured production rights to Joaquin Miller's The Danites; or, The Heart of the Sierras, actor-manager Arthur McKee Rankin presented it in the United States, Canada, and the British Isles during the years 1877–1881. Rankin's method of operation typified an important phase of a period Alfred Bernheim refers to as “the industrial revolution in the theatre.” In this phase the dominance of the combination system over the stock company evolved. Although the combination system was firmly established by the early 1870's, it was not until the end of the 1870's that disbandment of nearly all remaining provincial stock companies signaled the close of a theatrical era — the end of isolation and local independence — and stimulated a momentous increase in the number of combination companies on the road.

Type
Articles
Information
Theatre Survey , Volume 25 , Issue 2 , November 1984 , pp. 225 - 247
Copyright
Copyright © American Society for Theatre Research 1984

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References

NOTES

1 New York Herald, 16 09 1877, p. 13, col. 2.Google Scholar

2 Bernheim, Alfred L., The Business of the Theatre (1932; rpt. New York: Benjamin Blom, Inc., 1964), p. 31Google Scholar. Bernheim presents an excellent overview of this period.

3 New York Mirror, 3 05 1879, p. 4, col. 3.Google Scholar

4 Clipper [New York], 29 05 1880, p. 79Google Scholar, col. 1; St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 8 09 1883, p. 11Google Scholar, col. 1; Hubert, Philip G. Jr., The Stage as a Career (New York: The Knickerbocker Press, 1900), pp. 141 and 150Google Scholar. The term “season” was also used in reference to individual engagements. For example, the Milwaukee Sunday Telegraph (27 03 1881, p. 5, col. 3)Google Scholar announced the following: “They [the Rankins] will return here this week for a season of five nights and Wednesday matinee, coming on Monday evening.”

5 Sun [New York], 14 05 1877, p. 3Google Scholar, col. 3; 25 Aug. 1878, p. 5, col. 3; Spirit of the Times [New York], 30 07 1881, p. 722, col. 1Google Scholar; New York Times, 17 08 1879, p. 7, col. 1Google Scholar; World [New York], 30 09 1877, p. 4, col. 6.Google Scholar

6 14 Aug. 1877, p. 3, col. 3.

7 Account Ledger, p. 19, in the Performing Arts Collection, Shields Library, University of California, Davis; Cincinnati Commercial Tribune, 10 04 1881, p. 8, col. 1.Google Scholar

8 Cincinnati Daily Enquirer, 16 01 1878, p. 5Google Scholar, col. 7; Syracuse Morning Standard, 22 11 1878Google Scholar; Toronto Mail, 11 09 1879, p. 2, col. 5Google Scholar; Baldwin's Theatre Programme in Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

9 Chicago Tribune, 22 02 1880, p. 10, cols. 3 and 4.Google Scholar

10 7 March 1885, p. 2, col. 4.

11 Chicago Tribune, 22 02 1880, p. 10, col. 2.Google Scholar

12 31 Aug. 1878, p. 4, col. 4.

13 Chicago Tribune, 22 02 1880, p. 10, col. 3.Google Scholar

14 1 Sept. 1878, p. 8, col. 4.

15 2 Sept. 1878, p. 1, col. 2.

16 Chicago Tribune, 5 01 1879, p. 10, col. 1.Google Scholar

17 16 July 1881, p. 2, col. 3.

18 Chicago Tribune, 22 02 1880, p. 10, col. 3.Google Scholar

19 Chicago Tribune, 22 02 1880, p. 10, col. 2.Google Scholar

20 Chicago Tribune, 22 02 1880, p. 10, col. 3.Google Scholar

21 In an interview with the Chicago Tribune (5 01 1879, p. 7, col. 6)Google Scholar, theatre manager A. M. Palmer commented that “the practice of playing on Sunday nights exists in New Orleans, Chicago, and one or two other cities.”

22 New York Herald, 18 08 1878, p. 10, col. 2.Google Scholar

23 Account ledger, p. 97.

24 Krows, Arthur Edwin, Play Production in America (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1916), p. 262Google Scholar. Rankin's totals for his four seasons are 31 two-night stands, 12 three-night stands, and 6 four-night stands.

25 Jno. B. Jeffery's Guide and Directory to the Opera Houses, Theatres, Public Halls, Bill Posters, etc. of the Cities and Towns of the Western, Southern, & Middle States of America (Chicago: the Author, 1878)Google Scholar. Since the 1880 census lists the population of Nashville at 43,350, the 26,000 figure, taken from Jeffery's 1878 edition, may be in error.

26 10 May 1879, p. 4, col. 2.

27 Account ledger, pp. 89, 99, 133, 139.

28 Bernheim, , p. 36.Google Scholar

29 New Bedford Daily Mercury, 27 10 1877, p. 3, col. 4Google Scholar; Fall River Daily Herald, 31 10 1877Google Scholar; Lawrence Daily American, 1 11 1877Google Scholar; Worcester Evening Gazette, 1 11 1877, p. 3, col. 8Google Scholar; Boston Evening Journal, 31 10 1877, p. 3, col. 7.Google Scholar

30 New York Mirror, 2 07 1881, p. 12, col. 1.Google Scholar

31 Actress Mary Anderson's manager, when asked why the popular star would not perform in Toledo, maintained that Whitney would not book stars or combinations in his circuit unless they agreed to play his Detroit theatre too. In denying this charge, Whitney's manager confessed that Whitney preferred to reserve his circuit for the benefit of attractions that played Whitney's Grand Opera House in Detroit. Toledo Blade, 14 02 1880, p. 5Google Scholar, col. 4. 17 Feb. 1880, p. 3, col. 4.

32 28 June 1879, p. 8, cols. 2 and 3.

33 New York Mirror, 17 07 1880, p. 12, cols. 1 and 2.Google Scholar

34 Ohio State Journal [Columbus], 1 10 1879, p. 4, col. 6.Google Scholar

35 New York Mirror, 29 05 1880, p. 12, col. 1Google Scholar. See my Note in Theatre Survey (11 1979), pp. 62–63Google Scholar, concerning the use of the term “manager” in 19th century U.S. theatre.

36 New York Mirror, 7 06 1879, p. 4Google Scholar, cols. 1 and 2; 28 June 1879, p. 8, cols. 4 and 5.

37 15 Feb. 1881, p.4, col.7; New York Mirror, 12 02 1881, p. 12Google Scholar, cols. 1–5. This Mirror advertisement lists sixteen towns, including one in Delaware and two in New Jersey, followed by “etc., etc.”

38 Bernheim, , p. 34.Google Scholar

39 18 Aug. 1878, p. 10, col. 1.

40 Bernheim, , p. 33.Google Scholar

41 New York Herald, 18 08 1878, p. 10, col. 2.Google Scholar

42 Bernheim, , p. 40.Google Scholar

43 New York Mirror, 3 05 1879, p. 4, col. 3.Google Scholar

44 18 Aug. 1878, p. 10, col. 2.

45 New York Mirror, 25 01 1879, p. 6, cols. 4 and 5.Google Scholar

46 New York Mirror, 10 04 1880, p. 12, cols. 2 and 3.Google Scholar

47 New York Mirror, 10 04 1880, p. 12, cols. 2 and 3.Google Scholar

48 New York Mirror, 26 03 1881, p. 9, col. 4Google Scholar; 17 July 1880, p. 12, cols. 1 and 2.

49 New York Mirror, 17 04 1880, p. 8, col. 4.Google Scholar

50 Gardiner included Rankin's combination in a listing of “star companies whose business I have entirely arranged” (New York Herald, 18 08 1878, p. 10, col. 2Google Scholar), but the New York Mirror (10 05 1879, p. 4, col. 2)Google Scholar maintained that Rankin arranged part of the season's booking himself. Rankin's business ties with both Haverly and Gardiner ended with the 1878–1879 season. He booked through Wall's Dramatic Bureau during the 1879–1880 season and through “Simonds & Brown” during the 1880–1881 season (New York Mirror, 5 07 1879, p. 5, col. 3Google Scholar; Park Theatre Programme in Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley; Clipper [New York], 1 01 1881, p. 323, col. 3).Google Scholar

51 New York Mirror, 22 03 1879, p. 4, col. 2.Google Scholar

52 The number of weeks entailing one-, two-, or three-night stands increased from six to sixteen.

53 Jeffery, , p. 15; pp. xxiv–xxviii.Google Scholar

54 12 Aug. 1877, p. 5, col. 1.

55 1 Jan. 1882, p. 8, col. 1. The approximately 60 combinations operating during the 1877–1878 season increased to an estimated 135–155 formed for the 1880–1881 season (New York Herald, 12 08 1877, p. 5, col. 1Google Scholar; Indianapolis Daily News, 27 08 1877, p. 2, col. 4Google Scholar; Clipper [New York], 29 05 1880, p. 70, col. 1Google Scholar). Also, in the summer of 1880, the New York Mirror, 19 06 1880, p. 6, col. 2Google Scholar, declared that “Every Captain must have a full company now, under the new theatrical dispensation, and instead of a star traveling about by himself or herself, the leading tragedians and comedians carry complete troupes with them.”

56 New York Mirror, 7 06 1879, p. 4, col. 5Google Scholar; New York Times. 17 09 1879, p. 5, col. 3Google Scholar. Other members of Rankin's troupes who eventually headed their own companies were W. H. Lytell, originator of the Judge (New York Mirror, 13 08 1881, p. 10, col. 3Google Scholar), and Ben Maginley, impersonator of the Judge during the 1879–1880 season (Park Theatre program, Boston, for week ending Sat., March 13, 1880, in Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley).

57 Edwin Booth named Sheridan (in a letter dated August 1879, to critic William Winter) as an example that “‘Poor support’ has ever been, will ever be, the cry at the heels of the ‘star,’ no matter how good his actors may be.” In Watermeier, Daniel J., ed., Between Actor and Critic: Selected Letters of Edwin Booth and William Winter (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1971), p. 141.Google Scholar

58 4 Oct. 1879, p. 2, col. 4.

59 23 Oct. 1879, p. 5, cols. 2 and 3.

60 23 April 1881, p. 4, col. 1.

61 8 March 1881, p. 4, col. 2.

62 Jeffery, , p. xxviiiGoogle Scholar. The section quoted is actually dated 1878, and is probably taken from Jeffery's first edition.

63 Clipper [New York], 22 11 1879, p. 278, col. 1Google Scholar; New York Times. 15 04 1883, p. 5, col. 7.Google Scholar

64 New York Times, 15 04 1883, p. 5, col. 7.Google Scholar

65 Jeffery, , p. xxvi.Google Scholar

66 1 Jan. 1882, p. 8, col. 2. There was pressure from another source when Harry Miner, in his American Dramatic Directory for the season of 1884–'85, listed the “special rates” offered by specific hotels, and, in “A Page Solely to the Profession” (op. p. 74), requested that any charges in excess of those given be reported promptly to his office.

67 Lowell Daily Courier, 17 12 1878, p. 4, col. 1.Google Scholar

68 15 April 1883, p. 5, col. 7.

69 Rydahl, Eugene Elvin, “A History of the Legitimate Theatre in East Saginaw, Michigan, from 1860–1884,” Diss. University of Iowa 1958, pp. 295–297.Google Scholar

70 New York Times, 1 01 1882, p. 8, col. 1.Google Scholar

71 Figaro, 18 06 1878Google Scholar; Morning Call [Sun Francisco], 2 06 1878, p. 3, col. 2.Google Scholar

72 Account ledger, pp. 27, 53, 55.

73 See, for instance, Louisville Courier-Journal, 23 10 1878, p. 4Google Scholar, col. 3; Washington Post, 9 12 1879, p. 4, col. 3.Google Scholar

74 Milwaukee Daily News, 2 12 1877, p. 7, cols. 5 and 7.Google Scholar

75 New York Times, 1 01 1882, p. 8, col. 1.Google Scholar

76 Lansing Republican, 16 11 1877, p. 4, col. 1.Google Scholar

77 See, for instance, Evansville [Indiana] Journal, 4 11 1878, p. 4, col. 3Google Scholar; Manchester [New Hampshire] Daily Union, 14 12 1878, p. 1, col. 3.Google Scholar

78 New York Times, 1 01 1882, p. 8, col. 1Google Scholar; account ledger, pp. 2–71.

79 New York Dramatic Mirror, 29 06 1901, p. 8, col. 2.Google Scholar

80 Account ledger, pp. 2–42. This arrangement continued from 1 Oct. 1877 until 23 Feb. 1878.

81 New York Times, 15 04 1883, p. 5, col. 7.Google Scholar

82 Account ledger, pp. 2–6.

83 New York Mirror, 5 09 1885, p. 6Google Scholar, col. 5 (obituary); 2 Aug. 1879, p. 4, col. 4; Bridgeport Daily Standard, 16 04 1879.Google Scholar

84 Account ledger, p. 2.

85 Letter dated 17 May 1879, quoted in Kennedy, Charles E., Fifty Years of Cleveland, 1875–1925 (Cleveland: the author (?), 1925), p. 93.Google Scholar

86 New York Mirror, 20 12 1879, p. 4, col. 2.Google Scholar

87 Rankin's agreement to pay Parsloe's board increased his expenses by $202.15 during the period extending from 26 Nov. 1877–6 April 1878.

88 According to the New York Mirror, 20 12 1879, p. 4Google Scholar, col. 2, salaries were determined in large part by “professional standing, strength of name, and, above all, metropolitan reputation.”

89 Account ledger, pp. 6–69.

90 Account ledger, pp. 72–142.

91 New York Mirror, 4 10 1879, p. 5, col. 4Google Scholar; Park Theatre Programme [Boston], for week ending 6 March 1880, in Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley; Academy of Music Programme [Buffalo], 7 March 1881, in the Performing Arts Collection, Shields Library, University of California, Davis; Clipper [New York], 10 Sept. 1881, p. 403, col. 2.Google Scholar

92 4 March 1882, p. 6, col. 5.

93 Clipper [New York], 12 06 1879, p. 126, col. 5.Google Scholar

94 New York Times, 29 07 1879, p. 8, col. 2Google Scholar; Clipper [New York], 12 06 1879, p. 126, col. 5.Google Scholar

95 11 Aug. 1883, p. 7, col. 5.

96 7 May 1879.