Mr. Broadway

Book excerpt: 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.