Razzle Dazzle: The Battle for Broadway

Booking agents and producers star in Riedel's (PBS Theater Talk) history of the Broadway theater through the prism of the Shubert Organization. Among the issues considered are the gentrification of Times Square, the rise of the spectacle-reliant modern Broadway musical, and the decimation of a generation of artists by the AIDS epidemic. The rocky road from out-of-town production to Times Square smash is depicted with more than a little delightfully black humor. However, firmly taking center stage in this volume are the businesspeople. The resilient Shuberts, who grew their concern from small regional theaters in upstate New York and shepherded it through the advent of talking pictures and the Great Depression, function as the true heroes of the piece. Much space is also given to the bleaker side of the business; the institutional larceny known as "ice," in which the profits from the resale of prime tickets dwarf the profits of producing a show.