Great News! The restored Frohman Statue is back home. Congratulations to everyone who contributed to its restoration. The statue sits on The Causeway near his favourite view and is in a prominent position, visible to all who enter the town over Marlow Bridge.
Who was Charles Frohman?
Charles Frohman (or CF to his friends) was one of the greatest theatre impresarios to have ever lived. He rose from humble beginnings in a backwater in Ohio to run a huge number of famous theatres in London, New York and Paris.? He was a great friend and supporter of J M Barrie and he staged the first production of ?Peter Pan? in December 1904 at the Duke of York Theatre when no other producer would back it. The play was an immediate success and was run by Frohman in his theatres round the world until his untimely death. It has continued to enthrall millions of children over the succeeding decades right up to the present day.
Frohman visited England every summer from 1900 and he often visited Marlow which he regarded as ?the most beautiful spot in the entire world?, particularly admiring the view from The Causeway over the bridge and the river to The Compleat Angler.
Sadly, he lost his life in the sinking of the Lusitania by a German submarine in 1915. He chose to stay on the sinking ship and was reported by a survivor to say "Why fear death? It is the most beautiful adventure of life," echoing the famous line from Peter Pan, "To die would be an awfully big adventure".
THE MEMORIAL
The stone memorial featuring a nymph was erected in 1924 by his friends and admirers including J M Barrie and Pauline Chase and is the only tribute in the world to this remarkable impresario and showman.
The translated Greek text on the plinth is a fragment? by the poetess Sappho which relates to the great joy and pleasure that CF took from life and that he gave to audiences the world over.
Included in the current work is the change of Frohman?s date of birth shown on the plinth to 1856. This revised date has been confirmed by recent research carried out by the Marlow Society at Frohman?s place of birth in Sandusky, Ohio.
Very generous donations from local businesses and Marlow Society members, together with a grant from O2 in Slough under their It?s Your Community scheme, have enabled this important heritage project to get underway. The Town Council has made a firm commitment to regular maintenance of the memorial in future to keep it looking as good as possible and to protect it from further erosion.
THE RESTORATION PROJECT
Cliveden Conservation Workshop will be undertaking the following tasks as part of the restoration works:
1) Cleaning of the statue using various methods, including poultice and solvents.
2) The legs of the statue will be made stable with pins and the original left toes will be reattached. A new right foot will be carved to fit, and also attached.
3) The head will be restored and its features enhanced with the use of mortars.
4) The birth date of Frohman will be corrected, from 1860 to 1856. This revised date has been confirmed by recent research carried out by the Marlow Society at Frohman?s place of birth in Sandusky, Ohio.
SPONSORSHIP
Very generous donations from local businesses and Marlow Society members, together with a grant from O2 in Slough under their It?s Your Community scheme, have enabled this important heritage project to get underway. The Town Council has made a firm commitment to regular maintenance of the memorial in future to keep it looking as good as possible and to protect it from further erosion.
