The Shubert Organization is renaming two of its Broadway theaters. Okay, that may not be a bad idea. Some of those hallowed shrines have names that are pretty meaningless and have no real connection to the art form. It was nice that the Martin Beck Theater, for instance, became the Al Hirschfeld Theater. No one even knew who Martin Beck was, whereas Mr. Hirschfeld was an important contributor to the history of the theater.
(In case you care: Martin Beck was a theatrical impresario, distinguished mostly in the area of vaudeville. But near the end of his life, he turned to Broadway, built a theater and named it after himself.)
Unfortunately, the Shubert executives have decided to rename those two theaters after…other Shubert executives. The Plymouth Theater will become the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater. The Royale Theater will become the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater. While neither the Plymouth nor the Royale have been sporting names that mean anything in the theater, the new monikers won't mean much to anyone, either. (Mr. Schoenfeld is the chairman of the Shubert Organization. Mr. Jacobs was its president for 24 years, up until his death in 1996.)
These two men may be wonderful, important folks who made great contributions to the theater…but really, no one cares about executives. If theaters are named for people, they should be named for authors, actors, directors…maybe even producers.
How about naming some theater for George S. Kaufman? Or Alan Jay Lerner? Wouldn't you like to see a musical at the Ethel Merman? Or a serious drama at the Arthur Miller? They named a theater for Richard Rodgers…how about one for Oscar Hammerstein? They named one for George Abbott…how about Jerome Robbins or Harold Prince? And everyone hated David Merrick but he was responsible for a staggering number of shows ever existing. I'd go see a show at the Merrick.
The other day at a big memorial service for Tony Randall, Jack Klugman concluded his eulogy with the fervent hope that New York would someday have a Tony Randall Theater. He's right. It should. It would remind me people of a fine actor and a great supporter of Broadway, whereas looking at the marquee of the Jacobs isn't going to remind anyone of anything.