James Nederlander had built up quite a reputation during his lifetime, coming to be known as Broadway’s Last Patriarch. Chairman of the entertainment company, the Nederlander Organization, Nederlander passed on Monday at ninety-four years of age. Nick Sandalios, the executive vice president of the Nederlander Organization, confirmed his death.
The Nederlander Organization presented arena concerts and theatrical shows. It got its start in 1964, with James Nederlander purchasing a single New York theater, the Palace on Broadway. Under his direction, it quickly became a rival to the likes of Shuberts.
Though the company has shifted over the many years it has operated, the Nederlander Organization owns / operates nine Broadway theaters, including: Brooks Atkinson, Gershwin, Lunt-Fontanne, Marquis, Minskoff, Nederlander, Neil Simon and Richard Rodgers. Two operate in Detroit, one in Los Angeles, four in Chicago and three in London. Other locations are spread across several cities in California such as: San Diego, San Jose, Tucson, and Anaheim. The last two locations are in North and South Carolina.
James Nederlander differentiated himself from other theater owners, according to his family and associates. Many claimed that he had no pretentiousness and never tried to disguise his motives for profit in the name of art. Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Sweeney Todd” made its Broadway debut in a Nederlander house.
His various theaters had a certain grittiness and oddity to them, which played in their favor especially well with the 1996 opening of “Rent”. James Nederlander believed there were no bad theaters, only bad shows.
He also had a notorious disdain for anyone who claimed the ability to predict which shows would be hits or misses.
Though he was eccentric and direct in how he conducted his business, Nederlander had good relationships with most producers and was well respected within the theater community. He also received a special Tony Award for lifetime achievement in 2004.
