Does it seem like there is a lack of New Musicals this season?
Does it seem like there is a lack of New Musicals this season?
#1Does it seem like there is a lack of New Musicals this season?
Posted: 10/25/09 at 10:40am
I was looking at the list of shows on Playbill.com and it looks like there are very few new musicals this year. There only seem to be four...
Memphis
The Addams Family
Fela!
Spiderman (If it ever happens)
PiraguaGuy2
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/10/08
#2re: Does it seem like there is a lack of New Musicals this season?
Posted: 10/25/09 at 10:57am
Yup. This does seem to be another year of revivals, although you are forgetting other new musicals that will most likely arrive this season:
Catch Me if You Can
Minsky's
Sondheim on Sondheim
American Idiot
Come Fly With Me
Formerly SirNotAppearing - Joined 3/08
Smaxie
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/26/05
#2re: Does it seem like there is a lack of New Musicals this season?
Posted: 10/25/09 at 11:01am
Don't look for Catch Me If You Can and Minsky's to arrive on Broadway this season.
Million Dollar Quartet, though, is expected to open in the spring.
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
AwesomeDanny
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/30/09
#3re: Does it seem like there is a lack of New Musicals this season?
Posted: 10/25/09 at 11:02amWell, I guess this makes up for only having four revivals of musicals last season. I laughed a little bit when shows advertised themselves as "nominated for (x) Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical!"
husk_charmer
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/19/06
#4re: Does it seem like there is a lack of New Musicals this season?
Posted: 10/25/09 at 11:12amIsn't Memphis the last new score of this calendar year?
http://www.youtube.com/huskcharmer
#5re: Does it seem like there is a lack of New Musicals this season?
Posted: 10/25/09 at 11:15amI think Catch Me if You Can will make it but I don't know about Minsky's.
Smaxie
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/26/05
#6re: Does it seem like there is a lack of New Musicals this season?
Posted: 10/25/09 at 11:17amAgain, both Catch Me and Minsky's are aiming for fall.
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
#7re: Does it seem like there is a lack of New Musicals this season?
Posted: 10/25/09 at 11:22amYet another lackluster season where the highlights appear to be the plays (and even those aren't all that interesting).
#8re: Does it seem like there is a lack of New Musicals this season?
Posted: 10/25/09 at 11:36amI thought CMIYC was aiming for Spring.
#9re: Does it seem like there is a lack of New Musicals this season?
Posted: 10/25/09 at 11:56am
Won't BURN THE FLOOR be considered as a new musical, now that the Special Theatrical Event category has been eliminated? I'm not expecting it to get any nominations or anything come Awards season, but I believe it'll still be in the musical category.
But, all in all, this is shaping up to be a pretty lackluster season. I have no desire to see either of this fall's new musicals, and can't get really excited about the ones coming in this spring either. I'm excited about the number of revivals though, especially considering that the past two seasons have only had four each.
Smaxie
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/26/05
#10re: Does it seem like there is a lack of New Musicals this season?
Posted: 10/25/09 at 12:01pmWhy is the leap from four musicals revivals to six considered so especially noteworthy?
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
harper2
Swing Joined: 6/9/08
#11re: Does it seem like there is a lack of New Musicals this season?
Posted: 10/25/09 at 12:10pm
Thank God there are fewer musicals this season. If Broadway were capable of producing more than one or two original and interesting musicals per season maybe the Musical Theatre artform wouldn't be on the cusp of irrelevance. I, for one, can't wait for the next "Gypsy" revival (which should be coming sometime in the season or two, just in time to compete with the next "Grease" revival) and the exciting new "X-Men" musical, or the "Astro Boy" musical or whatever straight from the movies trat they decide to crap out next. If we're really lucky (and say this only half snidely) it will be "Where The Wild Things Are".
I mean, "Catch Me If You Can: The Musical", "Spiderman: The Musical"..... Really? That's...just...sad
#12re: Does it seem like there is a lack of New Musicals this season?
Posted: 10/25/09 at 12:14pm
"Why is the leap from four musicals revivals to six considered so especially noteworthy?"
Because no a days they seem to be the only good ones...
#13re: Does it seem like there is a lack of New Musicals this season?
Posted: 10/25/09 at 12:19pm
"Thank God there are fewer musicals this season. If Broadway were capable of producing more than one or two original and interesting musicals per season maybe the Musical Theatre artform wouldn't be on the cusp of irrelevance. I, for one, can't wait for the next "Gypsy" revival (which should be coming sometime in the season or two, just in time to compete with the next "Grease" revival) and the exciting new "X-Men" musical, or the "Astro Boy" musical or whatever straight from the movies trat they decide to crap out next. If we're really lucky (and say this only half snidely) it will be "Where The Wild Things Are".
I mean, "Catch Me If You Can: The Musical", "Spiderman: The Musical"..... Really? That's...just...sad"
The musical theatre is not on the cusp of irrelevance. Even though there may not be a ton of new musicals, there are still a few. Memphis opened to great reviews this week and there are still new musicals set to open this season.
I don't think you can really determine what Spiderman is going to be like yet. I know the idea is quite scary, but Julie Taymor would not do something that she did not have complete faith in.
Updated On: 10/25/09 at 12:19 PM
#14re: Does it seem like there is a lack of New Musicals this season?
Posted: 10/25/09 at 12:20pm
Why is the leap from four musicals revivals to six considered so especially noteworthy?
I'm excited about having more revivals this season because it means that, hopefully, the four best will receive the Tony nominations for best revival. In the past few seasons, some poor productions (ex. Grease in 2008 ) have been nominated simply because the category had to be filled out. With 6+ musical revivals this season, the less than stellar productions can be rightfully left out.
#15re: Does it seem like there is a lack of New Musicals this season?
Posted: 10/25/09 at 12:30pm
Julie Taymor would not do something that she knows would flop and disappoint.
No one does anything knowing it will flop. Even people behind GLORY DAYS believed in what they were doing. Many people considered ACROSS THE UNIVERSE a big disappointment.
David walked into the valley
With a stone clutched in his hand
He was only a boy
But he knew someone must take a stand
There will always be a valley
Always mountains one must scale
There will always be perilous waters
Which someone must sail
-Into the Fire
Scarlet Pimpernel
#16re: Does it seem like there is a lack of New Musicals this season?
Posted: 10/25/09 at 12:38pm
"No one does anything knowing it will flop. Even people behind GLORY DAYS believed in what they were doing. Many people considered ACROSS THE UNIVERSE a big disappointment."
Sorry, I definitely did not word what I was trying to say right. I trying to say that Taymor would not do something that she had faith in.
And of course for every play, musical, or movie, there will be some people who are disappointed and some people who love it.
#17re: Does it seem like there is a lack of New Musicals this season?
Posted: 10/25/09 at 12:52pm
No one does anything knowing it will flop
No one but Max and Leo.
Sorry, I couldn't resist.
"You drank a charm to kill John Proctor's wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!" - Betty Parris to Abigail Williams in Arthur Miller's The Crucible
TalkinLoud
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/3/09
#18re: Does it seem like there is a lack of New Musicals this season?
Posted: 10/25/09 at 12:59pm
Finian's
Ragtime
ALNM
La Cage
----
Birdie
Am I going crazy? What's the sixth? We're not counting White Christmas are we?
#19re: Does it seem like there is a lack of New Musicals this season?
Posted: 10/25/09 at 1:01pmTalkinLoud, you're missing PROMISES, PROMISES.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
#20re: Does it seem like there is a lack of New Musicals this season?
Posted: 10/25/09 at 1:39pmI hope they do a major overhaul on Catch Me if You Can. I think it's smart they're waiting (I assumed this would happen as O'Brien and Mitchell are wrapped up in Love Never Dies). The score is standout (as are the performances) but McNally's book rivals his book for The Rink as one of the worst I've witnessed.
#21re: Does it seem like there is a lack of New Musicals this season?
Posted: 10/25/09 at 4:21pm
It's a reflection of where investors are willing to put their money. In titles that will more likely return their investment. Revivals and adaptations.
We won't get another URINETOWN for a very very very long time, I'm afraid. No one wants to take a risk with their money.
I wonder what kind of original musicals are in development right now. Big names or fresh faces - I just want to know if ANYONE is working on ORIGINAL material in the musical genre.
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
--Aristotle
BrianS
Broadway Star Joined: 10/8/07
#22re: Does it seem like there is a lack of New Musicals this season?
Posted: 10/25/09 at 4:50pm
^^^ Bingo.
This season's arrivals were the shows getting funded over the economic crisis of the last few years. For the decade before that... mediocre shows got funding all the time, but now a show really needs to come out of a first reading very strong to move forward. People who used to invest $250k sight unseen are now stretching to put in $100k and that's if they LOVE what they see. Unfortunately, there are very few shows in development and the number of new readings is way down. It's gonna take a few years to come back.
p.s. Harper... your name very much suits you. I looked up your contributions to this site and got just the 2 very negative posts with little insight to support either one (trashing an actresses performance without going into why it didn't work when those who disagreed with you presented lucid arguments and then claiming that the musical is more irrelevant now without supporting it). My guess is that if you take the time to go look back at any time including the "Golden Age" of Broadway, you'll see that even then they didn't produce more than a few interesting and original musicals a year. They just accumulate over time. I'm very happy to see shows like Spring Awakening, Grey Gardens, Next to Normal, Drowsey Chaperone, Jersey Boys, Light in the Piazza, Ave Q, and In the Heights over the last few years.
Be snide if you want, but if you don't back up your points, you just become the cliche internet troll.
If the audience could do better, they'd be up here on stage and I'd be out there watching them. - Ethel Merman
#23re: Does it seem like there is a lack of New Musicals this season?
Posted: 10/25/09 at 4:55pmIt does seem to be shaping into a not so great season.
Genius lasts longer than beauty.
#24re: Does it seem like there is a lack of New Musicals this season?
Posted: 10/25/09 at 5:07pmRagtime will make up for it!
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