Rainmaker Stewart Lane On A Roll, Braces For ‘On Your Feet’ Debut

An eloquent silence surrounds the lush East Hampton home of Stewart Lane and Bonnie Comley. From the windows that look out on the backyard can be seen tall, sculpted birds that spout streams of water into a pool that looks more like a pond. Verdant fields, followed by bursts of robust flowers, and then endless woods, beckon.

This idyllic paradise, and escape from Manhattan, is interrupted only by Lizzie, the family’s furry black sheltie—named for Liz Lemon on NBC’s “30 Rock”—who sounds like she has a Tina Fey kind of bite. But Lizzie just loves to bark.

Sammy, the Yorkie at Ms. Comley’s heels, on the other hand, is subdued and ready for her closeup—unlike the couple’s 9-year-old sons, fraternal twins Lenny and Frankie, who quickly joke that they need another 10 years for theirs. Mr. Lane’s eyes glitter at his children’s sense of humor.

Right now, his professional focus is fixed on October’s Broadway opening of “On Your Feet,” the new autobiographical musical from Grammy Award winners Gloria and Emilio Estefan, which he is producing. Talking passionately about a show may be the producer’s trade, but, in Mr. Lane’s case, it’s innate. Therein lies a personal attachment, explained Mr. Lane, grandson of poor immigrants from Russia whose children sought assimilation and success, and achieved it.

“[‘On Your Feet’] reinforces the faith that the American Dream is still alive and viable and vibrant and achievable,” the six-time Tony Award-winner said during a recent interview at his home. “Here they are, a poverty-stricken family ... discovering a style of music … that is not Cuban, but American with a Latino flavor to it.”

More than the Estefans’ popular music, the musical captures their road to success, their marriage, the wonderful family that surrounds them, as well as the many obstacles they faced—most significantly, Gloria’s near-fatal bus crash.

For Mr. Lane, it is always all about the story, above all else. He is a man of seemingly boundless energy. Words, ideas and stories pour out of him. With a mind that is quicker than his mouth, he occasionally gets tongue-tied.

“[Mr. Lane] is a gentleman. There aren’t many of them in this business,” his colleague and friend, Ward Morehouse III, said. “And he’s done it all.”

The Great Neck native moved to Los Angeles in his youth, working there as an actor, writer and producer. But he couldn’t stand it, he said, so he called Broadway veteran James Nederlander looking for a job. Next thing he knew, he was back in New York as assistant house manager of the Brooks Atkinson Theater.

From there on, the story is a matter of public record. Mr. Lane was officially on his way to producer stardom, fortified by co-purchasing the Palace Theater with the Nederlander Organization.

As is his wont, his upbringing is the source of many anecdotes, the most well-known of which was when his best friend, Ricky, took him to see his first Broadway show, “Little Me.” Ricky’s father, Sid Caesar, was starring in it, and from that moment on, as it is said, Mr. Lane was smitten.

“Sid was the father of situation comedy,” Mr. Lane said. “Before that, all of the vaudeville performers and comedians were joke tellers, telling one-liners. And here’s this post-World War II writer/performer who said the comedy comes out of the character and the situation.”

Mr. Lane, an old-school showman, still has that youthful eye and love of new forms, imagining, for instance, that “Hamilton” may become a watershed musical the way “Hair” was at one time. That is what makes his enthusiasm quell.

From producing his first Broadway show, “The Grand Tour,” in 1979 with the Nederlanders—by investing money left over from his bar mitzvah—he has since earned innumerable accolades, among them six Tony Awards, including Best Musical for “The Will Rogers Follies,” “La Cage aux Folles,” “Thoroughly Modern Millie” and, recently, “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” in 2014.

He admits to his admiration of Will Rogers, the titular hero of the musical for which Mr. Lane won his first Tony. “La Cage,” however, was his true love affair.

“Two men on stage celebrating love, life and family,” he said. “That was exciting for me [because it was] a show with social conscious, as well as a comedy.

“The theater is an amazing form of communication for generations,” he continued. “That’s how we speak to each other.”

But even Mr. Lane is not immune to failure. Just look at the brick wall in Joe Allen’s restaurant—eatery to the stars and record keeper of the biggest flops Broadway ever saw.

“Some big names are up there,” he said. “David Merrick is up on that wall … Hal Prince and, yes, Stewart Lane is on that wall.”

That infamous show, “Frankenstein,” was a $2 million non-musical—and very expensive for the 1980s. At the end, when the castle comes down, the whole Palace Theater collapsed on itself, a spectacle that involved boulders and a ton of noise.

“We had speakers and vibrators so you’d shake in your chairs. Talk about immersive theater!” he exclaimed. “It was ahead of its time.”

It closed in one night.

“I used to say, when I was younger, I knew a hit show. I could smell it,” Mr. Lane grinned wryly. “Today, 40 years later, I know nothing. I never try to pander to the audience. I never try to second-guess the critics. I just try to tell the best story, bring the best team together, and get the chemistry right on stage.”