Is it really the end of the Broadway Star?

[Anne5122]

Posted: 12/21/04 at 11:38am

An interesting article with an interesting point. Is he right?

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/19/theater/newsandfeatures/19ishe_isherwood_pc.html?pagewanted=1&th&oref=login

Updated On: 12/21/04 at 11:38 AM

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 12/21/04 at 11:39am

I think not.

[Plum]

Posted: 12/21/04 at 11:55am

The sky's been falling on Broadway for almost as long as it's existed. And...I would go into a long schpiel about how it's not really dead at all, but I'm really tired and it's about 50 degrees in here. Maybe later.

[robbiej]

Posted: 12/21/04 at 12:02pm

Isherwood is not saying Broadway is dead...he's saying the concept of the Broadway Star, that remarkable performer who dedicated their lives to the theatre and actually made a living at it, is a thing of the past.

In many ways, it's true. Those who wish to have the kind of notoriety that Merman or Martin had simply must expand their opportunites to perform by taking jobs in the movies and television (or, as Ms. Peters has done, on the concert stage).

Though the article is a little bit 'old news' for those of us who lived though the trials and tribulations of Ms. Peters and Ms. Murphy, it makes an excellent point.

[Plum]

Posted: 12/21/04 at 12:16pm

You're right about Isherwood's point, robbie. Did I mention I'm tired?

-Plum, off to take a nap.

[ElisaC]

Posted: 12/21/04 at 12:17pm

I think the writer may be write that the big Broadway musical star will never again be the constant presence that a Merman was, as an example.

But he's blaming it n the wrong phenomenon by focusing on oft-absent stars. It seems like a low blow to blame these actors, when their salaries are likely a very small percentage of the budget of a musical...and it's the astronomical budgets that are reducing the viability of launching new, innovative musicals.

Coincidentally I wrote a rather long post about this on 42nd St. Moon's blog yesterday:
http://42stmoon.blogspot.com/2004/12/no-show-big-stars-on-broadway-epidemic.html
42nd St. Moon Blog

[gherbert]

Posted: 12/21/04 at 12:24pm

Yes and no.

In the old days, once upon a time, there were stars who solely made their name on the Broadway stage: Ethel Merman, Gwen Verdon, Chita Rivera. AND still, the average theatregoers KNOW these names. It sort of goes back to the whole pricing thing I am always harping about. In those days, for Joe Theatergoer, he could get a ticket for a Broadway show for the same price it was to see a movie. The Broadway theater was as natural as breathing for a New Yorker. It wasn't an "event" like it is now. Therefore a much wider audience would see those stars. There were an abundance of composers, lyricists, and bookwriters who were regularly cranking out material for those stars, so they would be on Broadway almost every other season, gaining more notoriety with every show.

Now there are no regular Broadway authors, therefore we lean on revivals and he new work becomes more and more rare. In their careers Gwen Verdon never starred in a revival. In addition, no one writes vehicles for specific performers anymore. Sweet Charity, Chicago, Redhead, and New Girl in Town were all written for Miss Verdon specifically! No one is gonna sit down now and write a vehicle tailored to a performer's personality and talents. Therefore, good roles for musical-theater stars become rarer and rarer to the point when the only time these stars get showcase, leading roles is in revivals.

Also, performers' insistance on shorter and shorter runs is not helping because in an age when shows will run a vulgar decade and a half, no one is willing to sign a "run-of-the-play" contract because right through the seventies and een the eighties a SUCCESSFUL run was about two and a half years, three or four if it was a mega-hit. Oklahoma! held the longest-run record on Broadway with 2212 performances for a while. And that is only five or so years. An unsuccessful show can run that long now. Therefore, performers are scared to commit for a year and a half or two even, lest their other careers in other medias pass them by. But usually a performer like Gwen Verdon or Mary Martin would do the show for two or so years and then move on to the NEXT show, not take a four year break and move out to the West Coast. Therefore, with these eight-month runs or six-months runs, the majority of theater-goers see replacements, often big TV or movie stars, and never think that there was another performer in the role.

Also with the demise of summer stock, no stars tour. Like Tommy Tune relays in Broadway: The Golden Age, "Carol Channing tought me that you must tour because when those people come to New York they'll say, 'Oh! Let's go see Carol Channing because Carol Channing came to see us.'" Stars are reluctant to leave New York with their shows, which is part of the reason names like Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel and Donna Murphy and Brian Stokes Mitchell are primarily known in NY: not only did star take their success on the road, they also did an abundance of summer stock, so they would have much more exposure around the country, even if people in Dayton, Ohio never went to New York, they still saw several Broadway stars because of summer stock.

But is it the end of the Broadway star? No. Because I'm sure there are producers out there like David Merrick and Hal Prince who are just about to emerge. You see, Broadway is in a bit of a slump right now as is a lot of American culture. But it can be going down-hill forever. There will be a reprieve and then Broadway stars will emerge again.

[eslgr8]

Posted: 12/21/04 at 12:55pm

Great post, Gherbert! You are someone who understands New York theater, past and present. I've begun to wonder why anyone, no matter how rich, would even think of being a Broadway producer. When a 900+ performance show like Thoroughly Modern Millie LOSES money (as was recently posted), something is most definitely wrong. Maybe we wouldn't be so concerned about absent stars if ticket prices were not astronomical, but who wants to pay $100+ and find out that the name performer they've paid to see will not be performing? Actually, I enjoy seeing an understudy, if I've already seen the the actor who usually plays the role, just to compare and get a different take on a character, plus it makes the show a fresh experience for me. But at Broadway prices...well, I'd feel cheated too if I didn't see the star.

[Plum]

Posted: 12/21/04 at 12:56pm

When a Broadway show pays off, it can pay off big time. Ask Cameron Macintosh.

[Ruth Sherwood]

Posted: 12/21/04 at 4:20pm

I think he makes a good point. A Broadway Star can no longer make a living just by working on Broadway. They have to expand to t.v., movies, concerts etc. However, the author needs to realize that we can no longer use Merman as a standard for absences. Theatres are significantly older and very unhealthy for performers. Times are very different from the time when Ethel Merman was performing on Broadway. He also fails to mention that previous committments, like concerts, are prescheduled absences.

[bjivie2]

Posted: 12/21/04 at 5:23pm

The onl people that the writer really focuses on is Donna Murphy and Bernadette Peters. Yes, he mentioned Audra McDonald, Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel, but they all were out of their shows for completely legitimate reasons. It's only natural for many Broadway performers to want stardom at the next level, which is why they take all-star concerts, tv shows and movies. With Peters and Murphy, their absences were due to illness. But it never really mentions how Harvey Fierstein only missed one act of his long run, and Hugh Jackman didn't miss a single performance. And for the vocal demands of the role, Idina Menzel has a pretty amazing track record. When Patti Lupone was in Evita, I believe she only performed 6 times a week, and was very public about it. The Broadway star still exists, just in a different form than in the past. We've got Kristin Chenoweth, Audra McDonald, IdinaMenzel, Donna Murphy, Bernadette Peters, Harvey Fierstein, Hugh Jackman, and Brian Stokes Mitchell among others. That's a pretty good list of damn good performers that I would pay top dollar to go see, even if I have to get my money back once and buy another ticket to see them. That's the Broadway star of today.