Is Broadway Doomed?

[senorvoce]

http://psychicinfection.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-canaries-in-coal-mine.html

[FindingNamo]

You lost me with the sports stuff.

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

I thought it was very articulate. from RC in Austin, Texas

[all that jazz]

Broadway will never die!!! As long as people have the desire to dream, it will triumphantly stand amongst us as a an ever chaging symbol of the Glory of America herself.

[LizzieCurry]

You lost me at the wrong "its."

[kieranbec]

To answer the titular question: no.

[FindingNamo]

I have the desire to dream.

[FishermanBob]

A lot of broad generalizations but precious few specifics to support his thesis. "There are many more shows that don't make it compared to megahits", "plays on average don't do as well as musicals" blah blah blah. All this was probably true 30 years ago and it will probably be true 30 years from now. And his apparent solution...lower ticket prices... will still not get people to come see mediocre shows. There are certainly issues Broadway needs to work through (the expectation that has been created of a major star(s) in every show, too much reliance on revivals and not enough on pushing quality new work etc.) but his simplistic solution ignores a lot of complex issues.

[egghumor]

senorvoce, thanks so much for posting the article. While I agree with others that somehow Broadway will survive, I strongly agree with many of the writer's assertions. I think Broadway will have to "bottom out" soon and start producing and selling shows differently. This season we're seeing that big names do not necessarily yield big box office. I think the Hollywood Star production is somewhat played out.

[yankeefan7]

One of my biggest complaints about Broadway musicals is there are so few original ideas and shows. Every hit movie or TV show is now considred for a Broadway musical and most of them just don't work. I think people crave something original but yet due to money issues producers want to make a musical out of some hit movie because they believe it will gather a audience for people who liked the movie. With $145 and above ticket price for orchestra seat, people want to see more than a rehash of some Disney movie or something like "Ghost". While Broadway will never be "doomed", I think it needs to get its act together.

[FindingNamo]

I do like the idea of the booths putting up prices and not percentages, and doing more to promote plays.

[beensince1987]

I don't believe so but just hoping I can afford them when I am older.

[RippedMan]

It's an odd catch 22. My friend and I were talking today about how this theater company we had both worked for down in Florida did "The Drowsy Chaperone" and it failed miserably. Even though it's really a throwback Golden Age musical, it doesn't have the name resignation of Oklahoma, etc. So therefore, no one went to see it because they didn't know what it was.

Everyone wants original musicals, but sadly they just don't sell that well. I think there will be a resurgence of original work though. If you look at the past Tony winners for Best Musical, a lot of them have been original works: Memphis, The Book of Mormon.

[PalJoey]

It's been on its last legs for about 75 years.

[GavestonPS]

With $145 and above ticket price for orchestra seat, people want to see more than a rehash of some Disney movie or something like "Ghost".

yankeefan7 makes several good points, but I'm afraid that is exactly what people want for $145: something they already know they like.

pal joey and others are right that Broadway as a financial institution is in no danger, but it will probably never enjoy the same cultural prestige it enjoyed 70 years ago. Film and then TV replaced it as the central performance forms of world culture.

[AnythingGoes23]

Broadway and theatre will never die or go, it will, as everything does, change.

Theatre was where music came from 60 years ago now media is so huge, it isn't, so you don't get new composers the way you did. Costs are high so tickets are high so producers bank on titles familiar. You will find it will change again soon...

The one thing that doesn't change is its man made and live and that's what I think keeps its so fresh and exciting because anything can happen.

[suestorm]

""Broadway as a financial institution is in no danger, but it will probably never enjoy the same cultural prestige it enjoyed 70 years ago. Film and then TV replaced it as the central performance forms of world culture.""

good point GAVESTONPS, and you can probably say the same thing about newpapers, magazines, radio and network tv

[yankeefan7]

GavestonPS - I forgot to add "jukebox" musicals which for the most part annoy they heck out of me. I want to hear original music for my $145 but maybe I am in the minority - lol.

[sinister teashop]

A very good article. Thanks for posting.

[broadwaybabywannabe2]

every decade someone who thinks they are smart predicts the death of Broadway...she ain't dead yet and if she can survive the 70's and 80's and 90's, she just might be able to live forever...or at least until that asteroid hits us...

[sinister teashop]

What's doomed is actually reading articles before commenting on them.

[South Fl Marc]

The question is, what has Broadway become. It is the place to see shows for the masses, shows that will last 5-10 years. It's the place to see , in movie terms, theatre's equivalent of "Oz, The Great and Powerful", "The Avengers", "Jackass", maybe even now and then a "Lincoln".

If you want to see theatres equivalent of "Argo", Amour" or "Beast of the Southern Wild" you have to go to Off Broadway, Off Off Broadway or regional theatres.

Since I moved to DC four months ago, I have seen more theatre that I have been excited about and that has moved me than I have seen for the last 20 years on Broadway. Theatre companies are thriving in Dc and they are producing thought provoking shows that are selling out. What's even better is that the audiences, for the most part, are young and they seem excited by what they are seeing. One of the reasons is that the shows are Affordable.

Broadway may or may not be dieing but theatre is not. Quite frankly, considering there are only a few shows now playing on Broadway that I would see (or see again), I don't much care what happens to Broadway. It's no longer the place to see innovative, affordable theatre.

[ARTc]

Although the subject, Is Broadway Doomed?, is a bit much, the article associated with this thread was very articulate and I share many of its sentiments.

I would like to believe that Broadway will adjust. It always has. I just wish it would happen sooner than later. I'm so over premium pricing. In fact, I started a recent thread about many of the same issues.

Producers, are you out there reading?

[Mister Matt]

The question is, what has Broadway become.

It has become...Broadway. It's still the center for live commercial theatre and entertainment the same it always was before, during and after the "Golden Age".

[South Fl Marc]

I would disagree. Production costs have gone up so much that shows that used to be produced on Broadway don't have a chance. But thanks for the laugh.

[Kelly2]

"Production costs have gone up so much that shows that used to be produced on Broadway don't have a chance."

To be fair, some increased production costs are due to the perceived demand for "special effects" and expensive, fancy automated sets. Many shows have proven these things are not necessary, but they bloat a budget real quick. Legally Blonde's automated set and lifts cost a fortune and many did not feel they were necessary, but Jerry Mitchell was apparently insistent on it. As long as producers and directors remain convinced that they need gimmicks, props, and effects to sell a show, production costs will remain high.

Obviously since this technology is new, these costs weren't a factor in the "Golden Age".