Tales of a Theatrical Guru

by Danny Newman

Published 11 December 2006
In Tales of a Theatrical Guru, legendary showman Danny Newman brings together thirty-three profiles of key arts people he\u2019s known during his amazing career, many of them connected with Lyric Opera of Chicago. Among the singers, conductors, promoters, actors, and others are Pl\u00e1cido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Milton Berle, Jimmy Durante, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Sally Rand, Sam Wanamaker, Dina Halpern (to whom he was married), George Balanchine, Samuel Goldwyn, Carol Channing, Yul Brynner, Richard Tucker, Leontyne Price, Jussi Bj\u00f6erling, Tito Gobbi, and Maria Callas. Ranging from hilarious to somber, these fascinating vignettes and anecdotes provide a complete picture of a world that few have ever seen so intimately. Newman himself is necessarily very much a part of these stories, and his irrepressible nature and love for the arts shine through on every page.