John B. Schoeffel

John Baptist Schoeffel (11 May 1846 - d. Boston, 31 August 1918), was an American theatre manager and producer, and hotel owner. With Henry E. Abbey he was involved presenting European theatrical stars in the US, including Sarah Bernhardt, Henry Irving and Ellen Terry: and with Maurice Grau 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.

He was born in Rochester, NY. He joined the theatre impresario Henry E. Abbey as his business partner in 1876. As a partner in the firm of Abbey, Schoeffel and Grau formed in 1880, he was involved in presenting grand opera during the 'Golden Age of singing' at the New York Metropolitan Opera House ("the old Met") in 1883 and from 1891-1903.

He 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 USA, but he was stopped from playing because of overwork. A letter from Schoeffel from the Tremont Theatre dates from this period.

He 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.

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