The Shubert name has been synonymous with Broadway for almost as long as Broadway entertainment itself. With seventeen Broadway theatres including the Ambassador, the Music Box, and the Winter Garden, The Shubert Organization perpetuates brothers Lee and Jacob Shubert's business legacy. In The Shuberts and Their Passing Shows: The Untold Tale of Ziegfeld's Rivals, author Jonas Westover investigates beyond the Shuberts' business empire into their early revues and the centrifugal role they played in developing American theatre as an art form.
The Shubert-produced revues, titled Passing Shows, were terrifically popular in the teens and twenties, consistently competing with Florenz Ziegfeld's Follies for the greatest numbers of stars, biggest spectacles, and ultimately the largest audiences. The Shuberts and Their Passing Shows is the first-ever book to unpack the colorful history of the productions, delving into their stars, costumes, stagecraft, and orchestration in unprecedented detail.
Providing a fresh and exciting window into American theatrical history, Westover traces the fascinating history of the Shuberts' revue series, presented annually from 1912-1924, and covers more broadly the glorious days of early Broadway. In addition to its compelling history of Broadway's Golden Age, The Shuberts and Their Passing Shows also provides a revisionary argument about the overarching history of the revue. Bolstered by a rich collection of documents in the Shubert Theater Archive, Westover argues against the popular misconception that the Shubert's competitor, producer Florenz Ziegfield - responsible for the better-known Follies - was the sole proprietor of Broadway audiences. As Westover proves, not only were the Passing Shows as popular as the Follies but also a key component in a history of the revue that is vastly more complex than previous scholarship has shown.
The Shuberts and Their Passing Shows brings to fruition years of original research and invaluable insights into the gilded formation of present day Broadway.
Industry Reviews
"Westover's excellent, corrective study brings important balance to the subject, offering the first detailed study of the revue series produced by these theatrical brothers at New York's Winter Garden Theatre and on tour. Westover (independent scholar) also provides an exceptionally strong overview of the genre in general, offering insights into other individuals who contributed to this phenomenon, with examples of specific shows and individuals. Excellent
throughout, this study is unique for its extensive use of the Shubert Organization's Shubert Archive. The book includes good illustrations, and a companion website provides additional useful material.
Westover provides wonderful suggestions for subjects waiting to be tackled." --D.B. Wilmeth, Brown University, Choice
"For readers interested in the entertainment world of New York City in the late 1910s and early 1920s, particularly musical theater and Broadway revues, this book offers insightful cultural analysis and highlights many long forgotten starts of the era." -Gretchen Martin, Journal Studies in American Humor
"Ultimately, Westover's book constitutes a significant contribution to a richer understanding of the collaborative nature of revue shows and the Shuberts' critical, often overlooked role within the genre. In doing so, Westover lays an impressive foundation from which to rethink the revue. This book will be particularly interesting for scholars of musical theater history from a variety of disciplines and could easily be incorporated into graduate seminars.
Additionally, some of the earlier chapters could and should be adopted for undergraduate musical theater history surveys." --American Music
