Shubert Brothers

Shubert Brothers , theatrical managers and producers. The brothers were Lee (1871-1953), Sam S. (1878-1905), and Jacob J. (1880-1963). Originally from Syracuse, N.Y., they began as managers of touring companies. In 1900 they became managers of the Herald Square Theatre, New York City, thereafter managing and building theaters in New York and other U.S. cities. At first known for their productions of operettas, they introduced many stars to the public and staged many of the best-known revues . Hurt by the depression, the Shuberts produced musicals and dramas in the 1930s and 1940s. From 1953 until his retirement (c.1959), Jacob was the sole head of Shubert Enterprises, with offices in the Shubert Theatre (named for Sam, opened 1913) off the famous Shubert Alley in New York City. The Shubert Organization, now owned by the nonprofit Shubert Foundation, continues to play a major role in the Broadway theater, owning 17 theaters and actively producing new shows; it also manages Washington, D.C.'s National Theatre and has other theatrical interests nationwide.

Bibliography: See J. Stagg, The Brothers Shubert (1968); B. McNamara, The Shuberts of Broadway (1990); F. Hirsch, The Boys from Syracuse: The Shuberts' Theatrical Empire (1998, repr. 2000).

Shuberts, The. [Levi] LEE (1873?–1953), SAM[uel] S. (1876?–1905), and J[acob] J. (1878?–1963) [né Szemanski] were born in Shervient, Lithuania, and brought to America in 1882 and settled in Syracuse, New York. Lee and Sam soon had odd jobs at local theatres, and Sam shortly became box‐office treasurer at one. When Sam purchased the area‐touring rights to the Charles Hoyt play A Texas Steer in 1894, the brothers' careers were launched. By 1900 Sam and Lee were ready to tackle New York, although this meant bucking the Theatrical Syndicate, or Trust and its boss Abe Erlanger. They leased the old Herald Square Theatre, made a precarious agreement with Erlanger, and booked in Arizona (1900). The play's success put their house on a firm footing. Within a few years, joined by brother J. J., they would break Erlanger's monopoly and become the largest theatre owners in New York and elsewhere, as well as the most active producers in America. When Sam was killed in a train wreck, Lee took over management. Many had felt that Sam was the driving force behind the brothers, but Lee proved as good an executive. From the start J. J. was the least of the trio, left to attend to the staging of productions and to import his beloved operettas. Their first production, The Brixton Burglary (1901), was not a success, but their second, the musical A Chinese Honeymoon (1902), was, and between then and 1954 “The Messrs Shubert,” as their billing read, produced 520 plays on Broadway. Their emphasis was largely on musicals, since, if successful, they promised the greatest return. A brief sampling of their productions, musical and nonmusical, includes Heidelberg (1902), Widowers' Houses (1907), The Passing of the 3rd Floor Back (1909), The City (1909), Little Eyolf (1910), The Passing Show (first edition, 1912), Ruggles of Red Gap (1915), Peter Ibbetson (1917), Maytime (1917), Sinbad (1918), He and She (1920), Blossom Time (1921), Bombo (1921), The Student Prince (1924), Countess Maritza (1926), Life Begins at 8:40 (1934), At Home Abroad (1935), The Show Is On (1936), Hellzapoppin (1938), and Dark of the Moon (1945). Among their principal New York houses were the Shubert, the Winter Garden, and the Princess. Although the brothers' tactics were often deemed crass and ruthless, they could be seen as responding to the tactics of the Trust and other unethical managers. Typically, in later years, they often gave substantially reduced rents to struggling, worthwhile attractions and kept many theatres in the legitimate fold that might otherwise have been lost to movies or burlesque. The vast collection of records, manuscripts, and other materials left behind by the brothers has been reorganized into the Shubert Archive, housed in the Lyceum Theatre. The brothers' various companies were restructured in 1973 as the Shubert Organization. The new company has been headed by two native New Yorkers, Bernard B. Jacobs (1916–96), a graduate of New York University and Columbia Law School, and Gerald Schoenfeld (b. 1924), a graduate of the University of Illinois and New York University Law School. The Shubert Organization owns and operates sixteen Broadway houses, as well as others in cities such as Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia, and has co‐produced dozens of productions, including Amadeus (1980), Dreamgirls (1981), The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1981), Little Shop of Horrors (1982), Glengarry Glen Ross (1984), Sunday in the Park with George (1984), Big Deal (1986), Once on This Island (1990), Passion (1994), Bring in da Noise, Bring in da Funk (1996), and Dirty Blonde (2000). Biography: The Boys from Syracuse: The Shuberts' Theatrical Empire, Foster Hirsch, 1998.