Mr. Broadway by Gerald Schoenfeld
Mr. Broadway | The Inside Story of the Schuberts, the Shows and the Stars by Gerald Schoenfeld gives an in-depth look into the Schubert Organization through the eyes of its chairman.
Mr. Broadway was completed just one month before Gerald Schoenfeld’s death in 2008 at the age of 84. Bringing the reader backstage, the long-term chairman of the Shubert Organization shares his triumphs and failures, sings praise, and settles scores. He recounts nightmarish tales of the Shuberts, themselves – the meanness of Lee, the madness of JJ, the turmoil surrounding John’s personal life, and the drunken ineptitude of Lawrence Shubert Lawrence, Jr., the man who succeeded them and nearly brought the Shubert legacy to an ignominious end.
An active participant in that legacy for over 50 years, Schoenfeld describes how he and his partner, Bernie Jacobs, saved the Shubert Organization, bringing some of Broadway’s greatest hits to the stage – from A Chorus Line, Equus, and Amadeus to Pippin, Les Misérables, Evita, Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Godspell, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Dreamgirls, Dancin’, Sunday in the Park with George, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Heidi Chronicles, The Gin Game, Miss Saigon, and Chess.
Gerald Schoenfeld, chairman of the Shubert Organization for more than 35 years, was one of the most influential people in commercial theater. He is credited with being a catalyst for the revival of Broadway and the theater district/Times Square in New York City.
Foreword by Hugh Jackman
Introduction by Alec Baldwin