Essays on Modern Dramatists by William Lyon Phelps; Books for Libraries Press, 1921

There is another reason why we should always hold this drama in grateful remembrance. It was the establishment in America of an alliance between Mr. Barrie and Mr. Charles Frohman as manager, with Miss Maude Adams as chief impersonator--a position for which she was foreordained. Although I do not believe either in the managerial monopoly or in the star-system, and will never cease to pray for that happy time when all the cities in America can have the opportunity of seeing a new Barrie play at the same moment--if we must have the monopoly and the star, nothing could have been better than this alliance in business and in art.

Never shall I forget that Monday afternoon in the spring of 1909 when Maude Adams presented this play in New Haven. She presented it in every sense of the word, making an outright gift of the gross receipts to the Yale University Dramatic Association. She hired the theatre, paid the salaries of the actors, paid for the transportation of the company and the scenery from New York and return, so that every cent taken was given to the beneficiary. The performance began at one o'clock, as the play had to fill its regular date in New York at eight. The theatre was jammed; and the special occasion put both actors and audience on edge. There was a tenseness in the atmosphere that it is impossible to describe--the actress and her company fairly outdid themselves, and everyone in the house, from President to sweep, was melted --I remember one grey-bearded professor sitting near me, who, as the tears coursed down his whiskers, exclaimed, "I thought you said this was a comedy!" It was impossible to restrain one's emotion; and that it reacted on the stage may be surmised from the fact that in the last scene both Miss Adams and the leading man were so overcome that they could scarcely articulate. After a score of recalls, an undergraduate, representing the Dramatic Association, stepped on the stage, announced that Maude Adams had been made an honourary member, and presented a medal. She was both laughing and crying, and it seemed impossible that she could make a speech. But she did. She surprised us even as Maggie surprised John Shand at the end of the second act. With an affectionate gesture that embraced the audience she said:

My Constituents!

As we owe to Richard Mansfield the opportunity to see Cyrano on the American stage, so we owe to Maude Adams the American presentations of L'Aiglon and Chantecler . She was loudly denounced for attempting the latter, but I admired her Chantecler even more than her L'Aiglon. Physique is important perhaps, but not necessary to persons in the audience who have imagination; and it is never so important as brains.

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