Posted: 11/20/16 at 4:38pm
I was looking into Sunset Blvd's original production and noticed how barren this particular season was for new musicals. What was going on during this time to cause this?
Posted: 11/20/16 at 4:48pm
Updated On: 11/20/16 at 04:48 PM
Posted: 11/20/16 at 5:00pm
A podcast I listen to blamed the AIDS crisis for the musical dry spell of 1980-1990. If I recall correctly, the only reason Sunset won the Tony for Best Score that year was because there were no other original scores on Broadway that year.
Posted: 11/20/16 at 6:45pm
In the early 90s there were plenty of new shows on Broadway; I think the crisises you are talking about historically were much earlier...
As I recall, the buzz was that Broadway anticipated Sunset Boulevard being such a colossal hit, most new musicals didn't want to come in and go up against it at the Tony awards. The other other major productions that year were both revivals; Hal Prince's production of Showboat, and Matthew Broderick in How to Succeed in Business without really Trying.
Posted: 11/20/16 at 9:48pm
I just looked back at the '94-'95 season-- you're right, it was a real nadir for new musical productions, but oh the plays that season! We have super-fond memories of the original productions of INDISCRETIONS; LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION!; and most especially ARCADIA. Plus for many of us, seeing Hal Prince's SHOWBOAT revival was like seeing a brand new show we had never seen before-- it was glorious!
Posted: 11/21/16 at 1:53pm
Someone in a Tree2 said: "I just looked back at the '94-'95 season-- you're right, it was a real nadir for new musical productions, but oh the plays that season! We have super-fond memories of the original productions of INDISCRETIONS; LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION!; and most especially ARCADIA. Plus for many of us, seeing Hal Prince's SHOWBOAT revival was like seeing a brand new show we had never seen before-- it was glorious!
"
I thought a real star of this particular season was Lamb Chop on Broadway! 
https://www.playbill.com/production/lamb-chop-on-broadway-richard-rodgers-theatre-vault-0000003077
Posted: 11/21/16 at 4:45pm
I think there were also a fair amount of hold outs from earlier Broadway seasons still running: CAROUSEL, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, GREASE, THE WHO'S TOMMY, DAMN YANKEES, ANGELS IN AMERICA, KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, AN INSPECTOR CALLS etc and of course the things that had been playing forever like PHANTOM, CATS, LES MIZ, MISS SAIGON. Come to think of it, there may not have been a lot of new musicals to come in because there weren't a lot of empty theatres. There definitely wasn't a shortage of things to see if you were a tourist in NYC that season, though the new musicals to actually open that season were sparse.
Updated On: 11/21/16 at 04:45 PM
