# John B. Schoeffel

John Baptist Schoeffel (May 11, 1846 - d. Boston, 31 August 1918), was an American theatre manager and producer, and hotel owner. With Henry E. Abbey he co-founded the theatre management and production firm Abbey and Schoeffel in 1876. Together they managed the Academy of Music in Buffalo, New York and Abbey's Park Theatre in Manhattan until both were destroyed by fire in 1882. They also presented European theatrical stars in tours of the United States, including Henry Irving and Ellen Terry.
In 1880 Schoeffel and Abbey collaborated with fellow theatre impresario Maurice Grau to manage and produce actress Sarah Bernhardt's first tour of the United States. Grau later worked under Abbey, but without Schoeffel, as business manager of the Metropolitan Opera during its first season in 1883. The trio re-united in 1887 to manage a second American tour by Bernhardt, and immediately following this Grau joined Schoeffel and Abbey to form the firm Abbey, Schoeffel and Grau. From 1891 until Abbey's death in 1896 the three men co-managed the Metropolitan Opera. Grau and Schoeffel continued on until the close of the Met's 1896-1897 season at which point the firm was dissolved. Alone, Schoeffel continued to manage the Tremont Theatre, Boston until his death in 1918.

## Career

John B. Schoeffel was born in Rochester, New York on May 11, 1846. He began his career in the theatre business working as an usher at the Hayes Opera House in his native city. In 1876 he co-founded the theatre management and production firm of Abbey and Schoeffel with fellow impresario Henry E. Abbey. Together they managed the Academy of Music in Buffalo, New York from 1876 until it was destroyed by fire in 1882. They also co-managed Abbey's Park Theatre in Manhattan.
Schoeffel was resident manager of the Park Theatre, Boston when it was built in 1879, and manager of the 1889 Tremont Theatre, Boston until his death. Abbey and Schoeffel managed the 10-year-old Josef Hofmann when he toured the US, but he was stopped from playing because of overwork. A letter from Schoeffel from the Tremont Theatre dates from this period. Hofmann's agent in London was Narciso Vert, whose business became the well-known firm of Ibbs and Tillett. He and Abbey managed opera singers as Adelina Patti, Christina Nilsson, Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Francesco Tamagno and Fyodor Chaliapin in their tours of opera houses in Boston, Chicago and New York.
Fellow theatre manager and producer Maurice Grau began collaborating with Abbey and Schoeffel as early as 1880 when the three men co-produced and managed actress Sarah Bernhardt's first tour of the United States. Grau did not officially join the firm of Abbey and Schoeffel until 1887 after Bernhardt's second tour under their management which is when Abbey, Schoeffel and Grau was officially established. When Abbey became the first managing director of the Metropolitan Opera (the Met) in 1883, Schoeffel was not involved with the Met at this time. Grau was hired by Abbey to run the business affairs of the Met during its first season; although he did not have an official title or role on the staff of the Met at this point. Later Abbey, Schoeffel and Grau were appointed co-managers of the Met in 1891; a role they maintained until Abbey's death in 1896. The firm was in a financially bad state at that time, and it was disestablished in 1897 at the conclusion of the Met's 1896-1897 season.
Schoeffel produced some plays at Daly's Theatre on Broadway in 1904 after Grau retired. One of these, Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, starred Nance O'Neill, a close friend of Lizzie Borden.

## Personal life

In 1885 he married the Australian actress Agnes Booth (née Marion Agnes Land Rookes) (4 October 1841? - 2 January 1910), the widow of Junius Brutus Booth Jr., (brother of John Wilkes Booth and Edwin Booth, owner of Booth's Theatre) as her second husband.
Together they managed the huge Masconomo hotel in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts until her death in 1910. He purchased the property outright at public auction in 1911, which changed hands before its complete destruction by fire in 1919.

## Death

Schoeffel died at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, on 31 August 1918 after a stroke two weeks earlier. He was buried at the Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester, NY.

## Disambiguation

John Baptist Schoeffel is not to be confused with Lt. John Bernard Schoeffel, 9th Infantry, (1874–1940) who fought at the Battle of Manila in the Spanish–American War, and later in the Battle of Peking during the Boxer Rebellion.