blug said: "Sometimes I thinkthat perhaps the Broadway musical, as an art form, needs a nice 10-year rest. No musicals for ten years. Let creative minds recalibrate because there's a LOT of mush being put out there by seemingly smart people that feels unfelt, over-meddled with, or not thought out and sometimes, paradoxically, all threeat once.
Did we need a musical of Beaches, Smash, Tootsie, Pretty Woman, The Bodyguard, The Notebook...on and on and on and on and on and on and on. Were they really inspired or were theyjust latching onto these storiesbecause it's recognizable IP? I don't even think creatives know what inspires them anymore."
I’ve worked on several out of town world premieres, and the problem isn’t that Broadway needs a ten year break. The problem is that too many creative teams operate in a culture of politeness that prevents anyone from saying, “this isn’t working,” until it’s far too late.
Once a director and creative team are hired, producers usually step back, which is appropriate, but it also means no one wants to risk being labeled “difficult” by questioning a Tony winning colleague. By the time runthroughs reveal that what looked good on paper isn’t landing in the room, you’re already at the edge of tech. At that point, you’re out of time for meaningful rewrites, and most teams default to small tweaks and wishful thinking.
Inside that fishbowl, people lose perspective. They’ve lived with the material for months, they’re exhausted, and no one wants to be the person who says the obvious thing out loud. That’s how simple, fixable problems make it all the way to first preview.
This is why someone like Hal Prince mattered. He had the authority and the clarity to say, “this isn’t good enough,” and people listened. Not every team today has that dynamic. Some collaborators aren’t as strong as their résumés suggest, and some producers hand out credit to investors who then feel entitled to meddle.
The solution isn’t a decade long shutdown. It’s better taste at the script selection stage, directors who can speak honestly to their teams, and producers who build environments where candor is expected, not punished. Workshop more. Invite colleagues who will tell the truth. Stop hoping a show will magically fix itself in tech. Weak work isn’t inevitable, it’s the result of avoidable silence.
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