Has Broadway become a theme park?

[UDIGDUG]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 8:59am

Happy Holidays!
Edited to please. Updated On: 12/14/06 at 08:59 AM

[MotorTink]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 9:05am

intriguing article.

[D2]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 9:17am

Spot on.

[winston89]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 9:24am

There is already another thread on this same exact article.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 9:28am

Not only has this been posted, but that entire article will be deleted as it's against copyright.

[Mamie]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 9:38am

I remember being put in a line of ticket holders when I went to see "The Producers" early in its run. It was personnel at the St. James who were doing it and it really ticked me off. I could understand waiting in line to BUY a ticket, but we had already shelled out way too much money and now we were being made to wait again in another line.

I've refused to get in those ridiculous lines since then. They do seem to sprout on their own at any popular show. A sign of the 'theme parking' of Broadway? Possibly. Then again, maybe it's a sign of our having been brain washed over the years into forming nice neat lines for everything we do. That prospect is even scarier.

EDITED TO ADD: UDIGDUG - can you post a link to the article?

Updated On: 12/14/06 at 09:38 AM

[UDIGDUG]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 9:42am

Here's the link. http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/13/features/broad.php

I'm sure if I've broken some rule, some of the nice folks on here will let me know. I remember now why I stopped reading these boards.

The atheists have produced a Christmas play. It's called Coincidence on 34th Street.

[jasobres]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 10:46am

I say that Broadway was a theme park since day one. Funny thing is that the first performer in the Zeigfeld Follies was a weightlifter/bodybuilder from local state fairs named Eugene Sandow.

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 10:57am

"I say that Broadway was a theme park since day one."


True enough.

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 12/14/06 at 12:20pm

This is the romanticized assessment of Broadway in the 70's and 80's according to the writer:

"Before the wholesale transformation of Times Square into a teeming commercial and entertainment hub, dereliction and the flavorsome squalor of urban decay perfumed the neighborhood. To partake of Broadway's pleasures, you might have to forge a brave path through a local sideshow of unsavory characters pursuing their unknown ends."

Don't you love "flavorsome Squalor" as a description? Face it, Broadway was basically a combination crack/whorehouse for more than a decade. I'll take the theme park, as long as what's inside the theaters is good.

[JMVR]

Posted: 12/15/06 at 12:35am

Mamie: are you suggesting it's better to have everyone pushing and shoving to get into the theater at the same time? Getting in line helps to get people into the theater quickly and safely. IMHO.

[Mamie]

Posted: 12/15/06 at 8:07am

I've never had people pushing and shoving to get in. Maybe I'm just fortunate that way but most folks I've run into have been polite and they knew they were getting in. Nobody was going to grab their seat if they didn't get in first. Organizing themselves into lines once they've entered the theatre is one thing - but being put into lines out on the sidewalk is something else. Arrive a little bit later and you don't have to bother with them.

[D2]

Posted: 12/15/06 at 8:08am

No one EVER pushed or shoved to get into a theater. It was all very civilized, with manners and common sense prevailing, two things which are sorely lacking in today's society.