George Bernard Shaw provoke, although it was shown at the city's Royal Theatre in November 1907. Shaw later wrote that William Butler Yeats, who had requested the play, "got rather more than he bargained for... It was uncongenial to the whole spirit of the neo-Gaelic movement, which is bent on creating a new Ireland after its own ideal, whereas my play is a very uncompromising presentment of the real old Ireland." Nonetheless, Shaw and Yeats were close friends; Yeats and Lady Gregory tried unsuccessfully to persuade Shaw to take up the vacant co-directorship of the Abbey Theatre after J. M. Synge's death in
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre Masque next door). The Shubert Organization then assumed ownership and initially leased the theatre to CBS Radio. In 1940, the Royale was restored to use as a legitimate theatre under its original name. On May 9, 2005, it was renamed for longtime Shubert Organization president Bernard B. Jacobs. "Once" achieved the box office record for the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. The production grossed $1,447,598 over nine performances, for the week ending December 30, 2012. Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre The Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, formerly called the Royale Theatre and the John Golden Theatre, is a Broadway theatre located at 242