Jujamcyn Amusement Corporation

Jujamcyn Theaters is a group of five theatres that was owned by James H. Binger, former Chairman of Honeywell, and his wife Virginia McKnight Binger, and is now owned by the organization's president, Rocco Landesman.

The third-largest company on Broadway, behind the Shubert Organization and the Nederlander Organization, Jujamcyn only owned five of the 39 Broadway district playhouses, but created a much-envied business model that accounted for as much as one-third of the gross revenues.

History

Virginia McKnight Binger, daughter of former 3M chairman William L. McKnight and wife of James H. Binger the former chairman of Honeywell, had a love of theatre.

When in 1970 McKnight wanted to sell his two theatres, Binger stepped in to assist. He found the business fascinating, and after paying the gift tax and selling the Colonial Theatre in Boston, he and Virginia agreed to expand the operation.

Jujamcyn derives its name from the names of the Bingers' children: Ju [dith] , Jam [es] , and Cyn [thia] . Jujamcyn expanded to five theatres to create the third-largest company on Broadway, behind the Shubert Organization and the Nederlander Organization - the St. James Theatre, Al Hirschfeld Theatre, Eugene O'Neill Theatre, Walter Kerr Theatre and the Virginia Theatre (2005 renamed August Wilson Theatre).

Jujamcyn only owned five of the 40 Broadway district playhouses, but created a much-envied business model that has accounted for as much as one-third of the gross revenues. One box office juggernaut was The Producers, which won a record 12 Tony Awards in 2001 [ [http://www.mcknight.org/about/news_detail.aspx?itemID=2163&catID=54&typeID=2 McKnight Foundation : About ] ] Binger was a life member of the Guthrie Theater board

After Binger's death

Virginia died in 2002, and after the announcement of Binger's death in 2004, The League of American Theatres and Producers announced that Broadway's marquees would be dimmed at 8 PM on 4 November in tribute to "this extraordinary man."
Rocco Landesman, producer and President of Jujamcyn, announced that he planned to buy Jujamcyn Theatres, telling the New York Times that he had a long-standing understanding with Binger that he would buy Jujamcyn's five playhouses. The theatres had an estimated net asset value of about $30 million

Landesman closed the deal in February 2005 for $30M, but then tried to sell a 50% stake in the group for $50M to enable an investment in the Cincinnati Reds baseball team - his group lost out to Robert Castellini [http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050822/SPT05/508220351]

Quotations

* "My initial purpose really was to take a headache off his shoulders, and see if I could get the theatres to a point where they could be sold for a reasonable sum. But in the meantime I found it was a fascinating business and money could be made at it. One of the big differences between running Honeywell and Jujamcyn was that theatrical decisions, such as closing a play, could be made much more quickly than major corporate moves" - Binger in a 1987 interview with The Associated Press
* "Binger created the market for Broadway here in Minneapolis. These theatres and this theater district would not be around but for Jim Binger" - Fred Krohn, who presented Binger-backed productions in Minneapolis
* "Jim was a risk-taker. There’s nothing more risky than owning racehorses and owning Broadway theatres, so he was always challenged. …He took both victory and defeat with grace" - friend, thoroughbred owner, co-investor in the Vikings and fellow Minnesotan Wheelock Whitney to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune about Binger on the announcement of his death [ [http://www.racingmuseum.org/news/nrm-news-view-story-detail.asp?varID=47 National Museum of Racing - Horse Racing News ] ]

List of theaters

* If no show is currently running, the play listed is the next show planned (marked with a *).
* If the next show planned is not announced, the play listed is the last one that closed (marked with a #).

ee also

* Broadway theatre
* William L. McKnight
* James H. Binger

References

External links

* [http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=20447 Internet Broadway dBase]
* [http://www.theatredb.com/QPerson.php?pid=p007660 Theatre dBase]
* [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/89420.html Announcement of Landesman takeover]