The Shubert Organization

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 Jacobs, the Longacre, The Lyceum, the Majestic, the Schoenfeld Theatre, 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.

External links

* [http://www.shubertorganization.com/ The Shubert Organization official web site]
* [http://www.shubertfoundation.org/about/organization.asp The Shubert Foundation web site]
* [http://www.shubertarchive.org/index_flash.htm The Shubert Archive web site]

See also

*Shubert family