Original musicals on Broadway

I'd say four completely original musicals on Broadway is a lot at one time. I never have bought into the idea that adaption=bad for Broadway, just so long as the work itself is good.

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well there's a difference between something like Legally Blonde, which is very closely based on the movie, and something like rent, where la boheme is more inspiration than anything else. I mean you could then argue that In the heights is based on a neighborhood and on people in Lin's life, or that Passing Strange is based on Stew's travels and experiances, or even that Avenue Q is based on Sesame St. I don't disagree with you but I guess what I'm getting at is that everything has a starting point.

And as for revivals, while it is not NEW material, the fact that those shows are still powerful today, says a lot about those shows.

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I am glad we have revivals. Especiallythis season when we had 3 of such exceptional quality.

Funny thing. When SOUTH PACIFIC was announced there were posts right here on BWW from some of the younger members saying things like: why arethey doing SP? My high school/community group did that show. Its long and boring... NOW, of course they are clamoring for tickets. We need revivals to bring back the classics and some overlooked gems. (110 IN THE SHADE for instance.) That said I don't want Broadway to become like the Metropolitan opera running on steady stream of re-mounted classics and seldom producing anything new.

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Can we just create a standard response to this tired old "ORIGINAL musicals are in short supply" BS? Every few weeks someone posts a variation on this base canard and smugly complains about a lack of original thought on Broadway.

As everyone will (has) point out, "Original" does not mean better in a Broadway show. It is an adaptive medium. The vast vast vast majority of musicals (and operas for that matter) take their plots from an earlier form. (Shakespeare, too actually- why not mix it up with a "tired old derivative Bill" thread for a change?)

And if you want to talk about actual "original" thought- look at your examples. I can not speak to Passing Strange or In the Heights, but there is NOTHING particularly "original" about taking Sesame Street characters and putting them in the real world or another backstage whodunit, compared to say taking Romeo & Juliet and reshaping it to comment on current events.

Ivan and I are writing an original musical! ... we just haven't finished it yet.

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