Broadway musicals now....vs. Broadway musicals then.....

Ok...so today I was listening to that TV station that plays Broadway music all the time.....you know that station where they play tons of stuff from long ago in addition to what's appeared on Broadway recently. I'm interested to know if people think the quality of the musicals being made today meets...or exceeds...the musicals that were made many, many years ago. In my opinion.....with very few exceptions, nothing made in the last several years even comes close to the classics......discuss...

Updated On: 3/28/11 at 10:03 PM

^I agree...the one's you mentioned I think are the gems out of generally poor shows (with a few more you can add)

I think now, we have A LOT more variety. Back then, a lot of Broadway shows consisted of the same thing...man falls for women, they begin a relationship, there's conflict, then they marry.

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Also, keep in mind that generally only the "good" ones make the history books. We generally don't hear about the flops. In 50 years, people are going to remember shows like Next to Normal (I hope) and Hairspray and will forget all about Young Frankensteins.

The dancing is more athletic now, the lighting and sound are better; the sets are more three-dimensional and so are the stories.

However, in 1940, three bucks could buy you a ticket to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsvDiqzSUBQ

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Economics have always guided the quality of Broadway musicals, but so has audience demand and the level of "informed" audiences. For instance, it's curious that foreign movies, books, and plays were often adapted into musicals in the Golden age up through the 1980s. More recently, musicals are adapted from movies made within the last 10 years or so.. I think this speaks to the level of "informed" audiences we are now catering to.

What's interesting to me is how in the last several years there have been a number of completely original musicals, musicals not adapted from previously existing source material or subject matter. In the Heights, Next to Normal, Urinetown, Avenue Q, and The Book of Mormon come to mind. Yes, BoM is about Joseph Smith, but it opens the subject up into an original narrative.

How many completely original musicals like those have appeared on Broadway? They are rare, yes? Anyone Can Whistle sticks out in my mind, but honestly I am searching for another....

I think the quality of musicals is continuously uneven and will remain forever so.

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