Jews on Broadway

 Fanny Brice, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Barbra Streisand, Alan Menken, Stephen Sondheim—Jewish performers, composers, lyricists, directors, choreographers and producers have made an indelible mark on Broadway for more than a century. Award-winning producer Stewart F. Lane chronicles the emergence of Jewish American theater, from immigrants producing Yiddish plays in the ghettos of New York’s Lower East Side to legendary performers staging massive shows on Broadway.
In its expanded second edition, this historical survey includes new information and photographs, along with insights and anecdotes from a life in the theater.

Stewart F. Lane is a six-time Tony Award winner, an Olivier winning producer, owner and operator of the palace theater in New York City and president and C.E.O. of Broadwayhd (broadwayhd.com), a streaming service for viewing full length Broadway shows.

Stewart F. Lane
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 252
Bibliographic Info: 30 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2017
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6705-8
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2877-6
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments vi

Preface 1

Introduction: Setting the Stage 3

1. Immigration, Yiddish Theater and Building Broadway 7

2. Part of the Melting Pot: From Vaudeville to Broadway 28

3. The Music of Broadway: Classic Composers, Legendary

Lyricists 44

4. Group Theater, Acting Teachers and Life During Wartime 68

5. From Communism to the Catskills 92

6. Jewish Themes, Legends and Life in the 1960s and 1970s 120

7. Young Playwrights with a Message, Inflation, Disney and Me 158

8. The New Millennium Sees Broadway Breakthroughs:

Veterans and Newcomers 184

Epilogue 215

Chapter Notes 217

Bibliography 219

Further Reading 221

Index 225

Reviews of the first edition: “Well informed…the roster of Jews in the theater is extensive and Lane’s own experience plus his research have enabled him to do a fine job of identifying their significant contributions”—Jewish Journal (Dade County, Florida).