John B. Schoeffel was born in
Rochester, New York, on May 11, 1846. In 1876, he co-founded the theatre management and production firm of Abbey and Schoeffel with fellow impresario
Henry E. Abbey. Together, they managed Buffalo's
Academy of Music from 1876 until it was destroyed by fire in 1882. They also co-managed
Abbey's Park Theatre in Manhattan. Schoeffel was resident manager of Boston's
Park Theatre when it was built in 1879, and manager of Boston's
Tremont Theatre until his death. Hofmann's agent in London was Narciso Vert, whose business became the firm of
Ibbs and Tillett. He and Abbey managed opera singers, including
Adelina Patti,
Christina Nilsson,
Ernestine Schumann-Heink,
Francesco Tamagno and
Fyodor Chaliapin in their tours of opera houses in Boston, Chicago and New York. Fellow theatre manager and producer
Maurice Grau began collaborating with Abbey and Schoeffel as early as 1880 when the three men co-produced and managed Bernhardt's first U.S. tour. Grau did not officially join the firm of Abbey and Schoeffel until 1887 after Bernhardt's second tour under their management which is when Abbey, Schoeffel and Grau was officially established. When Abbey became the first managing director The Met in 1883, Schoeffel was not involved with The Met at this time. Grau was hired by Abbey to run the business affairs of The Met during its first season; although he did not have an official title or role on the staff of The Met at this point. Later, Abbey, Schoeffel and Grau were appointed co-managers of The Met in 189, a role they maintained until Abbey's death in 1896. The firm was in a financially bad state at that time, and it was disestablished in 1897 at the conclusion of The Met's 1896–1897 season. Schoeffel 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. ==Personal life==