Jan 2. marks the end of the "typical" Broadway show

I am very sad this show is closing. This is the only show I wish wasn't closing on the 2nd.

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My point is that 42nd Street is the TYPICAL Broadwya musical.

All the new, modern (contemporary, if you will) musicals have been eating away at the heart of Broadway....

im sad its closing as well i loved it. its definately one of those actual broadway shows. its not all cheesy and what not, its one of a kind. how long was it running for?

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No, it really wasn't. The original post said that with 42nd Street closing, we see the end of the typical Broadway musical. This show was written twenty years ago, so that's not even a relevant statement. It's not like there aren't other "typical" shows on Broadway right now, like:

LA CAGE AUX FOLLES
THE PRODUCERS
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
HAIRSPRAY
BOMBAY DREAMS
WONDERFUL TOWN

I don't understand how by a revival closing, it's like the end of an era. It doesn't make sense to me and seems a tad dramatic.

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With the exception of La Cage - the others are not typical Bway shows.

Yes, the producers has the attributes of a bway show - but in the end it was made to mock them....

BatB - umm, Disney is not "typical" Broadway
Hairspray - no
Bombay Dreams - lack of taste, but that's another thread
Wonderful Town - I can kind of give you that one....

Even La Cage - isn't typical.

Although 42nd Street is a "recent" show (even the original is recent) it's heart is still rooted in the early 1900s...
One reason the original was such a success was that it WAS a show that embodies what Broadway used to be....

All the new, modern (contemporary, if you will) musicals have been eating away at the heart of Broadway....

That was a bad statement. I too enjoy the new, modern shows. Sometimes I like to see a show, like Chorus Line or 42nd street, that is all about the dancing and singing...

Exactly - it dies a long time ago. The last show that really encompasses that is 42nd Street

Don't worry, these types of shows constantly get revived, because they're nostalgic for Broadway's biggest audiences: aging theatregoers who want to remember the dazzling days of the Great White Way.

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I wouldn't say Chorus Line is just about the dancing and the singing. I'm not sure if your point was to group Chorus Line and 42nd Street into the old-fashioned glitzy musical comedy type model, but that's never been what Chorus Line was about.

The thing that I mourn with the passing of 42nd Street ... when you paid $100, you got your $100 worth of show on that stage. I can't say that about everything that's running currently.

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Oh, I'd say the songs in 42nd Street are major standards for a reason... "You're Getting To Be A Habit With Me," "Young and Healthy," "Shuffle Off to Buffalo," "42nd Street," "I Only Have Eyes for You," "Dames," just to name a few, are the epitome of classic Hollywood songwriting. They are GREAT songs.

Chorus Line was always less about the score, and more about Michael Bennett's electrifying staging, but even there, "At the Ballet," "Nothing," "Hello Twelve," "Music and the Mirror," "What I Did for Love" and "One" all strike me as great songwriting as well.

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I would definitely put A Chorus Line on the list of "contemporary musicals" because of its structure (I resist calling it a narrative), which is definitely of the New Musical Theatre tradition.

I think what we seem to be talking about (if we want to put ACL and 4nd Street in the same category) is the alleged "death" of the dance musical -- a show with lots of singing and dancing, where both are of equal importance, and that usually features a large ensemble.

I don't quite necessarily agree that the dance musical is dying -- look at Movin' Out and the Tony Award wins for Fosse and Contact -- but I definitely think that it's changing.

EDIT: I just realized that Movin' Out, Fosse and Contact aren't the best examples, because they feature all dancing and either no plot or no singing. I therefore offer Hairspray and the revival of Chicago as examples.

One example of a musical that is both in the dance and "Golden Age" tradition is The Producers. A friend of mine and I were having a conversation, and she remarked how "old" the comedy of The Producers felt. I definitely agree; Mel Brooks and Susan Stroman have definitely styled the show after the classic musical comedies of the 1940s, complete with fedora hats (or whatever those black hats are called), glittering chorus girls and slapstick characters.

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Updated On: 12/21/04 at 08:48 PM

Indeed,, both scores are great, just not something I would put on my CD player and go jogging with, lol

What the dance musical needs is for someone to pick up where Bennett (unfortunately) left off, which was a director with an overarching vision to unify score, book, design and performance into one cohesive whole. A genuine auteur. Tommy Tune was heading there with Grand Hotel (although the material in that show was a little spotty), and then he took a step backward with The Will Rogers Follies and didn't quite ever return to form again. There doesn't seem to be an heir apparent to Michael Bennett, the way Bennett was their heir apparent to Jerome Robbins. Shows are often so aimless now because they are produced by giant corporations or by committee, instead of one person who knows how to get the best out of all of his or her collaborators and who calls all the shots.

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Updated On: 12/21/04 at 08:57 PM