In Tales of a Theatrical Guru, legendary showman Danny Newman brings together thirty-three profiles of key arts people he’s known during his amazing career, many of them connected with Lyric Opera of Chicago. Among the singers, conductors, promoters, actors, and others are Plácido 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 Bjöerling, 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.