The Shubert Organization
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Shubert Organization was founded by the Shubert brothers, Sam S. Shubert, Lee Shubert, and Jacob J. Shubert of Syracuse, New York in the late 19th century in upstate New York, entering into New York City productions in 1900. The organization produced a large number of shows and began acquiring theatres. Sam Shubert died in 1905; by 1916 the two remaining brothers had become powerful theatre moguls with a nationwide presence.
By 1929 the Shubert Theatre chain included Broadway's most important venues, the Winter Garden, the Sam S. Shubert, and the Imperial Theaters, and owned, managed, operated, or booked nearly a thousand theatres nationwide. The company continued to produce stage productions in New York until the 1940s, returning to producing Broadway productions in the 1970s after a hiatus.
The company was reorganized in 1973, and as of 2004 owns or operates sixteen Broadway theatres in New York City: the Ambassador, the Ethel Barrymore, the Belasco, the Booth, the Broadhurst, the Broadway, the Cort, the John Golden Theatre, the Imperial, the Longacre, The Lyceum, the Majestic, the Schoenfeld Theatre, the Royale, the Shubert, and the Winter Garden. The company also recently obtained the half of the Music Box formerly owned by the Irving Berlin Estate. They also own an off-Broadway theatre, the Little Shubert, in New York, the Shubert Theatre in Boston and the Forrest Theatre in Philadelphia.
The best known of the Shubert named theatres includes:
- The Shubert Theatre in New York, at 44th Street built in 1913.
- The Shubert Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts is known as Boston's "little princess". The 1,600-seater is half of The Wang Center for the Performing Arts, the other half being The Wang Theatre.
There are former Shubert-owned theatres across the United States that are still referred to by the Shubert name. One of the most famous is the New Haven Shubert, the second theater ever built by the Shubert Organization. Until the 1970s it was traditionally where major Broadway producers would premiere their shows before opening in New York (such as A Streetcar Named Desire). It was immortalized in many mid-20th century films, such as All About Eve.
Another important regional theater was the Shubert in Chicago, Illinois located within the Majestic Building on 22 West Monroe St. Originally known as the Majestic Theatre, it was purchased by the Shubert Organization in 1945 and reopened as the "Sam Shubert Theatre." It was sold to the Nederlander Organization in 1991 and in 2005 its name was changed to the LaSalle Bank Theatre.
[edit] External links
- The Shubert Organization official web site
- The Shubert Foundation web site
- The Shubert Archive web site
[edit] See also
Broadway theatres | |
|---|---|
| Shubert | Ambassador Theatre · Ethel Barrymore Theatre · Belasco Theatre · Booth Theatre · Broadhurst Theatre · Broadway Theatre · Cort Theatre · John Golden Theatre · Imperial Theatre · Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre · Longacre Theatre · Lyceum Theatre · Majestic Theatre · Music Box Theatre · Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre · Shubert Theatre · Winter Garden Theatre |
| Nederlander | Brooks Atkinson Theatre · George Gershwin Theatre · Lunt-Fontanne Theatre · Marquis Theatre · Minskoff Theatre · Nederlander Theatre · Neil Simon Theatre · Palace Theatre · Richard Rodgers Theatre |
| Jujamcyn | Al Hirschfeld Theatre · Walter Kerr Theatre · Eugene O'Neill Theatre · St. James Theatre · August Wilson Theatre |
| Roundabout | American Airlines Theatre · Studio 54 |
| Other | Vivian Beaumont Theatre (owned by LCT) · Biltmore Theatre (owned by MTC) · Circle in the Square Theatre (independent) · Helen Hayes Theatre (independent) · Hilton Theatre (owned by Clear Channel) · New Amsterdam Theatre (leased by Disney) |
| Active but no longer Broadway houses | City Center of Music and Drama · Hammerstein's Theatre/Manhattan Theatre · Hudson Theatre · New Victory Theatre · Manhattan Opera House |
| Defunct and/or Demolished | 39th Street Theatre · 44th Street Theatre · 48th Street Theatre · 49th Street Theatre · 52nd Street Theatre · Adelphi Theatre · American Theatre · Apollo Theatre · Astor Theatre · Bandbox Theatre · Belmont Theatre · Berkeley Lyceum Theatre · Bijou Theatre · Broadway Theatre (41st St.) · Casino Theatre · Center Theatre · Central Theatre · Century Theatre (46th St.) · Century Theatre (62nd St.) · Circle Theatre · Cosmopolitan Theatre · Criterion Theatre · Daly's Theatre (30th St.) · Daly's 63rd Street Theatre · Earl Carroll Theatre · Edison Theatre · Eltinge Theatre · Empire Theatre · Fifth Avenue Theatre · Frolic Theatre · Fulton Theatre · Gaiety Theatre · Garrick Theatre · George M. Cohan's Theatre · Hampden's Theatre/Harkness Theatre · Henry Miller's Theatre · Herald Square Theatre · Hippodrome Theatre · Jardin de Paris · John Golden Theatre/Cort's 58th Street Theatre · Klaw Theatre/Avon Theatre · Knickerbocker Theatre · Latin Quarter · Liberty Theatre · Lincoln Square Theatre · Manhattan Theatre (33rd St.) · Mark Hellinger Theatre · Maxine Elliott's Theatre · Mayfair Theatre (44th St.) · Mayfair Theatre (46th St.) · Mercury Theatre · Morosco Theatre · New Century Theatre · New York Theatre (44th St.) · Nora Bayes Theatre · Olympia Theatre · Playhouse Theatre · Playhouse Theatre (6th Ave.) · President Theatre · Princess Theatre (29th St.) · Princess Theatre (39th St.) · Proctor's Theatre · Punch and Judy Theatre/Charles Hopkins Theatre · Rialto Theatre · Sam H. Harris Theatre · Savoy Theatre · Star Theatre · Theatre Republic · Times Square Theatre · Vanderbilt Theatre · Victoria Theatre · Waldorf Theatre · Wallack's Theatre/Harris Theatre · Wallack's Theatre/Palmer's Theatre · Wallack's Lyceum Theatre · Waverley Theatre · Winter Garden Theatre (Jenny Lind Hall) · Ziegfeld Theatre |

