Broadway and Chicago theater king James Nederlander dead at 94

SHARE Broadway and Chicago theater king James Nederlander dead at 94
obit_james_nederlander.jpg

In this Sept. 29, 2014 file photo, Margo MacNabb Nederlander (from left), James L. Nederlander, James M. Nederlander and Charlene Nederlander attend an event in New York City. James M. Nederlander, who took over the fledgling Nederlander Organization from his father and built it into one of the largest producers of live entertainment and a dominant national theater chain died, Monday, July 25, 2016. He was 94. | Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File

NEW YORK — James M. Nederlander, who took over the fledgling Nederlander Organization from his father and built it into one of the largest producers of live entertainment and a dominant national theater chain that includes nine Broadway houses, has died. He was 94.

“The world has lost one of its great impresarios,” said his son, James L. Nederlander, who confirmed his father died Monday.

Known as Jimmy, the elder Nederlander produced or co-produced more than 100 shows including “Annie,” ”Copenhagen,” ”The Will Rogers Follies,” ”Les Liaisons Dangereuses,” ”La Cage aux Folles,” ”Nine,” ”Noises Off” and “The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby.”

Nederlander famously rejected anyone who claimed to have a rational way to predict which shows would be hits as opposed to flops. “Nobody can,” he would say. “I trust my gut.”

He won a dozen Tony Awards as a producer or co-producer — including a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2004 — and has presented operas, ballets, concerts and artists ranging from Rudolf Nureyev to Frank Sinatra to U2.

Condolences were quick to arrive. Theater icon Andrew Lloyd Webber tweeted: “Farewell Jimmy, truly the end of a great theatrical era.” Kate Shindle, the president of the Actors Equity Association union wrote: “#RIP to a true titan.”

The Nederlander Organization is one of three big theater chains on Broadway. The Shubert Organization owns 16 theaters outright, and Jujamcyn Theaters owns five. Nederlander’s stable is bigger than its rivals once its theaters nationwide and in London are added to the mix.

One of Nederlander’s most lucrative business collaborations is with the Walt Disney Co., which started in 1994 when Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” opened at the Palace Theatre. Since then, “Aida,” ”Tarzan,” ”The Little Mermaid” and “Newsies” all found a home at a Nederlander house. Nederlander’s Minskoff Theatre is the home of Disney’s “The Lion King.”

Founded by David T. Nederlander, the Nederlander Organization began in 1912 with the purchase of a 99-year lease on the old Detroit Opera House. In 1939, the then-17-year-old Jimmy left school to join the family business — sweeping the lobby, working as an usher and a stagehand and selling tickets in the box office.

By 1943, Jimmy Nederlander was in New York City as a serviceman in the Air Force and worked as box-office treasurer for a production of Moss Hart’s “Winged Victory.” In 1964, his father bought the Palace Theatre, a historic vaudeville house that had gone into decline. After a two-year renovation, Nederlander’s reopened the Palace with Bob Fosse’s production of “Sweet Charity,” starring Gwen Verdon. After his father died in 1967, Nederlander took over running the family business.

In addition to the Palace, Nederlander’s eight other Broadway venues in New York are the Brooks Atkinson, Gershwin, Lunt-Fontanne, Marquis, Minskoff, Nederlander, Richard Rodgers and Neil Simon theaters.

Outside New York, its venues include Chicago’s PrivateBank Theatre, the Broadway Playhouse, the Cadillac Palace and Oriental theaters operated under the Broadway in Chicago umbrella, and the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University; the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles; and the Adelphi, Aldwych and Dominion theatres in London.

In a 2000 interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Miles Wilkin, chief executive officer of the SFX Theatrical Group said of the partnership: “This new partnership holds out the promise of making Chicago the staging ground for many more pre-Broadway tryouts, and for putting Chicago on the map as a more consistent stop for Broadway hits on the national touring circuit.”

Chicago’s theater marquees will dim their lights Aug. 3 in Nederlander’s honor. “He was one of a kind,” said Broadway in Chicago president Lou Raizin.

In June 2000, Miles Wilkin (from left) CEO of SFX Theatricle Group, James L. Nederlander and James M. Nederlander, before announcing that their two companies will join forces creating a new company called “Broadway in Chicago.” | Sun-Times Photo/Brian Jac

In June 2000, Miles Wilkin (from left) CEO of SFX Theatricle Group, James L. Nederlander and James M. Nederlander, before announcing that their two companies will join forces creating a new company called “Broadway in Chicago.” | Sun-Times Photo/Brian Jackson

Innovative ways to get people into those arenas prompted changes to the industry that continue to be felt. In 1992, Nederlander’s and Ticketmaster were the first to give Broadway theatergoers the ability to select their own seat location.

The concept of the student lottery ticket was reimagined at the David T. Nederlander Theatre when young fans of “Rent” could get seats in the first two rows of the theatre for just $20.

With Nederlander’s son Jimmy Jr. currently overseeing the organization’s daily operation, the Nederlander Organization has passed the baton to a third generation. Another son, Robert Nederlander Jr., is president of Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment, which manages theaters and presents Broadway productions in international markets.

Nederlander is also survived by his wife, Charlene S. Nederlander; daughter-in-law Margo M. Nederlander; his grandchildren, James M. Nederlander II and Kathleen M. Nederlander; his stepdaughter, Kristina Gustafson; and her children, Gunnar and Krisanna Gustafson. Funeral services will be Thursday.

One of Jimmy Nederlander’s legacies was his backing of the next generation of Broadway stars, through sponsoring The National High School Musical Theater Awards. The annual competition culminates each June with a trip to New York, mentoring from veterans and then a night of performances from dozens of hopefuls from across the country. They are called The Jimmy Awards.

Associated Press; Contributing: Sun-Times theater critic Hedy Weiss.

The Latest
The man was shot in the left eye area in the 5700 block of South Christiana Avenue on the city’s Southwest Side.
Most women who seek abortions are women of color, especially Black women. Restricting access to mifepristone, as a case now before the Supreme Court seeks to do, would worsen racial health disparities.
The Bears have spent months studying the draft. They’ll spend the next one plotting what could happen.
Woman is getting anxious about how often she has to host her husband’s hunting buddy and his wife, who don’t contribute at all to mealtimes.
He launched a campaign against a proposed neo-Nazis march at a time the suburb was home to many Holocaust survivors. His rabbi at Skokie Central Congregation urged Jews to ignore the Nazis. “I jumped up and said, ‘No, Rabbi. We will not stay home and close the windows.’ ”