Joseph Z. Nederlander


Joseph Z. Nederlander is the former Executive Vice President of the Nederlander Organization, one of the largest live theater owners and producers in the United States.

Early life and education

Nederlander was born in Detroit, Michigan, one of six children of Sarah and David T. "D.T." Nederlander. His father's first venture into live theatre came in 1912, when he signed a 99-year lease on the old Opera House at Campus Martius in Detroit and founded the family company, the Nederlander Organization. He has four brothers: James, Harry, Robert, and Fred; and one sister, Frances.
Nederlander attended Pontiac High School in Pontiac, Michigan. He served in the Navy before returning home in 1947 and enrolled at Wayne State University for one semester. After he dropped out of college, he joined the family's theatre business.

Career

In 1940, Nederlander's father bought the Orpheum Thetare on Lafayette with the Shubert Organization. They renamed the theatre the Shubert-Lafayette Theatre. Nederlander, now working in all aspects of the business from the box office to sweeping the floors, with his father and brother James, also purchased the Riviera Theatre on West Grand River.
Nederlander was instrumental in the complete reconfiguration of the Fisher Theatre in 1961 with his father, D.T. and brother, James. The 3,500-seat movie house built by the Fisher brothers would be pared down to a state-of-the-art 2,200-seat legitimate live theatre. It quickly became a premier venue not only in Detroit, but across the country. Not long after opening, it boasted the largest season-ticket subscription in the country, at 55,000.
As the family business expanded and James moved to New York to continue to buy theatres and produce Broadway shows, Nederlander stayed behind to run operations in Detroit. The Nederlander Organization controlled the Fisher Theatre, Shubert Theatre, and Grand Riviera Theater. Nederlander was instrumental in the opening of the Pine Knob Music Theatre in the 1970s.
The Nederlander Organization controls nine Broadway theaters and is the second-largest of the three companies that dominate Broadway, after the Shubert Organization and ahead of Jujamcyn. On a global scale, the Nederlander Organization is larger, with an additional 15 theaters nationwide. They are the only one of the three that is still run by its owners.
Nederlander produced the revival of Stop the World – I Want to Get Off, Into the Light, and Side Show.

Personal life

His nephew, James L. Nederlander, is the current President of the Nederlander Organization in New York.

Theatre

Awards and nominations