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Power and Greed

Spencer Weber Waller
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A01=Spencer Weber Waller
Antitrust Law
Author_Spencer Weber Waller
Broadway
Category=AT
Category=ATDS
Category=ATY
Circus
Collusion
Competition
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
forthcoming
Gilded Age
Musicals
New York City
Orpheum Circuit
Shubert Organisation
Shubert Theatres
Taylor Swift
Ticketmaster
Vaudeville
West End

Product details

  • ISBN 9781350578098
  • Dimensions: 156 x 234mm
  • Publication Date: 15 Oct 2026
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
  • Publication City/Country: GB
  • Product Form: Hardback
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Description

Since the second half of the 19th century, live entertainment in the United States has been governed by monopolies and powerful business cartels who together through power and greed controlled who could produce, book, and present live performance and legitimate theatre, affecting audiences in New York City and across North America.

Far from being a historical problem, it took the botched rollout of the 2023 Taylor Swift Eras tour via Live Nation/Ticketmaster for people and Congress to question this established history, and more importantly, ask what could be done to change it via stronger enforcement of the antitrust laws to help prevent high prices and poor service suffered by concert-goers who buy their tickets online.

But how did we get to this point? This is the story of the real battle for Broadway, where the men who controlled the business determined not only who produced for the theatrical and vaudeville stage but also what they produced, who would perform, where the show would play, how much the audience would pay, and how those profits would be divided. Discover how it took the law nearly sixty years to catch up to the illegal anticompetitive strategies of the Barons of the Gilded Age and their successors and why this story matters today.

Including 18 images, many of which are exclusives from the Shubert Archives, Power and Greed unpacks the shady world of the Syndicate, the Shuberts, the Vaudeville Combine, and their modern-day successors. Combining archival research, lively discussion and historical narrative this is a perfect read for theatre and entertainment fans, history enthusiasts and students of anti-trust law that shows us how market competition and competition law can shape, but never eliminate, the worst impulses of those in power and those who seek power over what we see in live entertainment.
About Spencer Weber Waller
Spencer Weber Waller is deeply involved in the Broadway and touring theater industry, having represented actors, playwrights, marketing professionals, and theater companies. He was co-producer of the 2024 Broadway revival of The Who’s Tommy and has invested in Broadway shows and touring productions. Professor Waller also is an internationally recognized expert in antitrust and consumer protection law. He is widely published in law and related subjects and frequently interviewed in the press.

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