Tis the worst season on Broadway fa la la la la...

[AnythingGoes23]

Shows closing after few performances and lots of empty houses... It seems to be the worst season Broadway has seen for a long time.

Annie doesn't seem to be hitting off either, I'm surprised to hear so little on this year for buzz and hype, I thought Kate's Miss Hannigon would be the talk of the town when she was announced, but it doesn't seem to have worked?

I hope a new Evita cast may help the revival which again seems to not quite th big hit as hoped.

Cinderella, Matilda, Motown and Kinky Boots will hopefully brighten on the White Way come Spring and I've a feeling eyes are in the West End for The Bodyguard and Viva Forever to come over as well as Charlie in 2013.

[FANtomFollies]

I'd have to agree with you. I ended up going to see 'Phantom' a few weeks ago since I had a craving to see a show, but there was nothing new that interested me. I've got high hopes for Matilda and Kinky Boots. Isn't Sheryl Crow trying to bring 'Diner' to Broadway soon?

[JoeKv99]

Opinions are fine, but you are factually incorrect- this is THE MOST successful year in Broadway's history. More people have attended a Broadway show in 2012 than any year in history.

[AnythingGoes23]

I read that report but I can't understand it considering the amount of empty house there has been.

A lot of the time, like in London, they say it's been the most successful year but mainly that's due to prices rising...

Still report aside, as a theatregoer this season in a Broadway has been one of the worst I can think of

[JoeKv99]

It is also the most successful year in terms of total gross (as you say, probably due to price increases) but more tickets have been sold to Broadway shows this year than any year in history.

[forgetmenotnyc]

Joe. Why don't you substantiate YOUR 'factual' opinion with a link? My feeling is that because of rising ticket prices, facts may show record highs in terms of box office - but NOT attendance records like you suggest.

[dyland]

I saw on twitter an instagram picture by Gabrielle Ruiz , of the Evita stage and hastagging #1streplacement .

[JoeKv99]

Here you go.
Entertainment Weekly

[Kelly2]

Drood is also magical and IMO a bright spot in the current line-up.

[Idiot]

My friend who goes to NYC this time of year (every year) to see EVERYTHING just got back and saw nothing he liked... though I don't think he saw DROOD.

[EricMontreal22]

Perhaps for musicals, but it seems like it's not been all that bad a season for plays...

[Bettyboy72]

It's awful. I take a trip every fall and spring and this fall I was hard pressed to find anything that was worthwhile. DROOD and WOOLF were the only shining stars. The rest was ho-hum.

[dramamama611]

I have a feeling that we are going to see this pattern of revivals and duds in the fall; better stuff in the spring to better insure Tony recognition which will hopefully turn into dollars.

[fingerlakessinger]

Broadway has been a little off. I mean, it was the best year for BIG shows (WICKED, Lion King, BOM, Phantom, ONCE) which those shows probably were the biggest contributions to the "best year" thing. But this year, we have not had any real "big" shows come along.
I think if nothing interests you that's on Broadway right now, try and see an off Broadway show. Seems like there are some good shows playing off the boards.

[broadwaydevil]

Every fall, people say everything new is awful and that box offices are tanking and Broadway is dying. Can we not remember that this is a cyclical process? The best material has been consistently coming in the spring for the past several years. Attendance is always lackluster in the fall/winter. There's always tons of crap that closes quickly. None of these are new developments.

So far this fall we've had one of the best productions of a play I've seen in a very long time (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf) and a phenomenal production of Golden Boy (I don't like the play quite as much but some have been saying the production is even better than Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.) The Mystery of Edwin Drood is a very good production of a musical that hasn't hit Broadway in a long time.

Sure, I wish the new material was better and that we had more revivals, but this is pretty par for the course for the fall. Last fall it seemed like everything that open died a horrible death (Lysistrata Jones, Bonnie and Clyde.)

I'm not saying this year will turn out to be phenomenal or even good, but we really need to wait until the spring to make that call. In terms of box office success, we have the mega British import that is Matilda coming...

[qolbinau]

I'm surprised that apparently less than half of ticket buyers apparently buy tickets online (I would have thought more - from that EW article).

But anyway, even if this is the most attended and highest grossing season, I feel the issue is more complicated than saying it is "the best season ever". With a few shows who are stealing a lot of theatregoers + ridiculously high ticket prices I would be interested to see how financially strong this Broadway season was in terms of profit or average capacity. Broadway is indeed dying I think if shows aren't able to make a profit. The losses this season seem particularly large..many shows seem to have lost their entire investment.

[Kad]

However, arguably, two of these recent closures were terribly unwise investments to begin with, derided by audiences and critics alike. And Chaplin seems just to illicit more shrugs than true praise. How can we lament these closures when the shows weren't strong in the first place?

The fall is a time when weaker shows are able to book space- since the more well-backed productions that inspire confidence in producers and investors are holding out till the spring.

[Kelly2]

Broadwaydevil is right, I do think there have been some great productions this fall, especially plays, I adored both Golden Boy and Virginia Woolf, and as I'm sure is already clear, I was more charmed by DROOD than I have been by any show in quite a long time.

Spring is always when the big-money shows come in, this is hardly the first time that many of the higher-profile new shows are being saved for the spring.

[JoeKv99]

It never fails to amaze me: Theater "lovers" are eager to insist (despite any evidence to the contrary) that Broadway is dying. It's been called the "fabulous invalid" for over 75 years now.

[ACL2006]

The spring looks much more promising in terms of new musicals.

[Bettyboy72]

I don't see anyone, myself included, who are inferring that Broadway is dying. There's just a LOT of S@#T on the boards. You know its bad when plays with names (Holmes. Gyllenhaal, Rudd) aren't packing them in.

There are a few shows with high prices and incredible attendance. I am sure they help the average with all the s@#t peddling going on as well.

[beautywickedlover]

I am concerned about 'Cinderella' beginning performances in January, which is one of the slowest months for Broadway shows.

[wonkit]

Cinderella will probably run ten years just doing group sales. It is a known quantity and family friendly, with an attractive cast. It should do fine.

[EricMontreal22]

It'll have some run, but I wouldn't say it's guaranteed 10 years (I know you were exagerating to make a point)--look at Little Mermaid. A lot can depend on the production, new book, and even word of mouth (but it is more critic proof than many shows).

[whatever2]

"My friend who goes to see EVERYTHING ...didn't see DROOD."

Huh?

[NewYorkTheater]

The surprise for me this season is how half-baked so many of the shows were, especially the plays of late -- as if they were works in progress, or meant to be part of a larger evening of one-acts.