{{Short description|American theater manager (1859–1930)}} {{use mdy dates|date=October 2021}} {{Use American English|date=December 2022}} {{Infobox person | image = Abraham Lincoln Erlanger.jpg | image_size = | caption = Abraham Lincoln Erlanger 1909 | birth_name = Abraham Lincoln Erlanger | birth_date = May 4, 1859 | birth_place = Buffalo, New York, U.S. | death_date = March 7, 1930 (aged 70) | death_place = New York City, New York, U.S. | death_cause = | other_names = '''Abe Erlanger''' | education = | spouse = | occupation = Theatre producer | children = | parents = | family = }}
'''Abraham Lincoln Erlanger''' (May 4, 1859 – March 7, 1930) was an American theatrical producer, director, designer, theater owner, and a leading figure of the Theatrical Syndicate.
==Biography== Erlanger was born to a Jewish family<ref name=JTAObit>[https://www.jta.org/1930/03/10/archive/funeral-services-for-a-l-erlanger-theatrical-magnate Jewish Telegraph Agency: "Funeral Services for A. L. Erlanger, Theatrical Magnate"] March 10, 1930</ref><ref>Tenney, John. [http://www.immigrantentrepreneurship.org/entry.php?rec=178 "Marc Klaw."] In ''Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies, 1720 to the Present'', vol. 4, edited by Jeffrey Fear. German Historical Institute. Last modified March 19, 2014.</ref><ref>[https://forward.com/articles/5466/finding-an-audience-years-of-invisibility/ Jewish Daily Forward: "Finding an Audience: Years of Invisibility" by Stuart Klawans] April 9, 2004</ref> in Buffalo, New York. Erlanger and his partner, Kentucky lawyer Marc Klaw, started out as a theatrical booking agency in New York City in 1888.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ingham |first1=John N. |title=Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders, Volume 2 |date=1 January 1983 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |page=725 |isbn=9780313239083 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Suu9yUKdA8IC&pg=PA725 |accessdate=11 February 2019}}</ref> Immensely successful, together they built a large chain of theatres and vaudeville playhouses. In 1896, they joined with theatre operators Al Hayman, Charles Frohman, Samuel F. Nixon, and Fred Zimmerman to form the Theatrical Syndicate. Florenz Ziegfeld joined the Syndicate in 1906 but had produced plays for them before he joined. Their organization, known as "Klaw & Erlanger", established systemized booking networks throughout the United States and created a monopoly that controlled every aspect of contracts and bookings until the late 1910s when the Shubert brothers broke their hold on the industry.
[[Image:Ben-Hur (Klaw & Erlanger).jpg|thumb|1901 poster for the representation of Ben Hur at the Illinois Theater of Chicago.]] The operations of Klaw & Erlanger produced dozens of Broadway shows during the first three decades of the 20th century, including ''Dracula'', ''Ben-Hur'', and ''The Jazz Singer''.<ref name=broadway>[http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=21033 "A.L. Erlanger Broadway Listings"] Internet Broadway Database, accessed December 2, 2011</ref> They produced the first ''Ziegfeld Follies'' in 1907 at the rooftop "Jardin de Paris" in New York City.<ref>Kenrick, John.[http://www.musicals101.com/ziegfollies.htm Ziegfeld 101"] musicals101.com, accessed December 3, 2011</ref> They also built several of Broadway's most outstanding theaters such as the Art Nouveau New Amsterdam Theatre in 1903<ref>Kenrick, John.[http://www.musicals101.com/bwaypresent4.htm#Newa "New Amsterdam Theatre History"] musicals101.com, accessed December 2, 2011</ref> and in 1927 Erlanger's Theatre (renamed the St. James)<ref>Kenrick, John.[http://www.musicals101.com/bwaypresent5.htm "St. James Theatre History"] musicals101.com, accessed December 2, 2011</ref> plus the new Erlanger Theatre in Philadelphia. Also in 1927, he leased a newly built theatre in Buffalo, New York and applied the Erlanger name to it.<ref>LaChiusa, Chuck.[http://www.buffaloah.com/a/del/120/index.html "Erlanger Theatre, Buffalo, NY"] accessed March 21, 2013</ref> In addition to playhouses, he and his partner owned the "Klaw & Erlanger Opera Company" and "Klaw and Erlanger's Costume Company."
Erlanger's cold disdain and ruthless tactics helped bring about his own downfall. He made a bitter enemy of the Shubert brothers after Sam Shubert died in a train wreck in 1905, when he is said to have refused to abide by any legal agreements "with a dead man." The enraged Shubert brothers Lee and Jacob began an all out campaign to wrestle power in the industry away from the Theatrical Syndicate.<ref>Trager, James.[https://archive.org/details/newyorkchronolog00trag_0/page/296 <!-- quote="A. L. Erlanger". --> "1905"]''The New York Chronology'' (2003), Harper Collins Publishers, Inc., {{ISBN|0-06-052341-7}}, p.296</ref> In 1910, he drew the ire of New York mayor William Jay Gaynor when one of his theaters hosted ''The Girl with the Whooping Cough'', a risque farce that the mayor condemned as indecent.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mayor Cuts Off an Indecent Play |work=The New York Times |date=May 11, 1910 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1910/05/11/104933700.pdf |accessdate=August 9, 2013}}</ref> In 1919, after he dismissed out of hand the demands of the Actors' Equity Association, the labor union launched a strike that eventually shut down all the theatres in New York City, Chicago, and Boston. In the end, Erlanger suffered large financial losses and had no choice but to accede to union demands.
The strike spelled the demise of his once powerful organization and the partnership of Klaw & Erlanger produced their last Broadway show in 1919 (''The Velvet Lady'').<ref name=broadway/> Erlanger continued to produce on Broadway. He died on March 7, 1930.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1930/03/08/archives/al-erlanger-dies-after-long-illness-largest-individual-owner-of.html?sq=Erlanger&scp=1&st=p "A.L. Erlanger Dies After Long Illness"]''The New York Times'' (abstract), March 8, 1930</ref> He is interred at Beth El Cemetery in Ridgewood, New York. Rumor of marriage.<ref name="nytimes/1931/12/08/denial-marriage-erlanger">{{cite news |title=DENIAL OF MARRIAGE BY ERLANGER CITED; Former Publicity Man Swears Producer Asked Newspaper to Suppress Divorce Rumor. SAILING LIST IS PRODUCED It Indicates Presence of "Wife" on Voyage--Income Tax Returns Give Status as Single. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1931/12/08/archives/denial-of-marriage-by-erlanger-cited-former-publicity-man-swears.html |access-date=19 July 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=8 December 1931}}</ref>
Erlanger's brother was lawyer and New York Supreme Court Justice Mitchell L. Erlanger, who served as counsel for his brother's company and took it over upon Abraham's death.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|date=31 August 1940|title=M. L. Erlanger, 83, a Retired Jurist|volume=LXXXIX|page=13|work=The New York Times|issue=30170|location=New York, N.Y.|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1940/08/31/91587833.pdf}}</ref>
==Former theatres== Theaters controlled by Erlanger included:<ref name="who owns">{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/11/20/archives/who-owns-the-theatres-who-owns-the-theatres.html| title=Who Owns the Theatres?| date=20 November 1927| work=The New York Times| accessdate=2013-08-23}}</ref>
===Broadway=== *Erlanger Theatre *Fulton Theatre *Gaiety Theatre *George M. Cohan's Theatre *Knickerbocker Theatre *Liberty Theatre *Henry Miller's Theatre *New Amsterdam Theatre **New Amsterdam Roof
===Regional=== *Erlanger Theatre (Atlanta) *Colonial Theatre (Boston) *Hollis Street Theatre (Boston) *Tremont Theatre (Boston) *Erlanger Theatre (Buffalo) *Blackstone Theatre (Chicago) *Erlanger Theatre (Chicago) *Illinois Theatre (Chicago) *Grand Opera House (Cincinnati) *Biltmore Theatre (Los Angeles) *Mason Theatre (Los Angeles) *Crescent Theatre (New Orleans) *Tulane Theatre (New Orleans) *Erlanger Theatre (Philadelphia) *Nixon Theatre (Pittsburgh) *Metropolitan Theatre (Seattle) *American Theatre (St. Louis)
== References == {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Erlanger}} Category:American theatre managers and producers Category:Artists from Buffalo, New York Category:19th-century American Jews Category:1859 births Category:1930 deaths