THE SHUBERTS OF BROADWAY by Brooks...

THE SHUBERTS OF BROADWAY by Brooks McNamara (Oxford University Press: $35; 230 pp.). The memorabilia in the recently opened Shubert Archive tells as colorful a tale about the founders of the legendary theatrical organization as has been told since A. J. Liebling’s 1939 New Yorker profile, “The Boys From Syracuse.” The 1909 caricature above lampoons a reconciliation between flamboyant producer David Belasco and the Theatrical Syndicate, an alliance struck with the announcement that the parties could “enter upon business relations for the betterment of the American stage without any sacrifice of principle, dignity or integrity.” Nothing new about the language of hype.