Short term future of Broadway?

[mc1227]

Posted: 12/2/09 at 8:41pm

I am very discouraged that great shows like Ragtime and Brighton Beach Memoirs are closing so quickly. It seems as though no matter the quality of the production, it will not sell enough tickets. I know shows will do well through the holidays, but then what? How many shows will never even be produced due to the fear of economic failure? It's pretty scary.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/2/09 at 8:47pm

Unless I've missed something in the last few minutes, Ragtime's fate has not yet been announced.

This coversation happens annually as the early Jan date often brings multiple closings.

Like anything else, timing is everything. This exact production of Ragtime, for example, might have soared in good economic times. I don't mean that BECAUSE of money but when things are financially difficult, people are more likely to seek out fluff and other strictly joyous entertainment.

There is not guarantee...for any investment, there is always a risk.

[alightinthedark23]

Posted: 12/2/09 at 8:50pm

You bring up a good point about how the economy is effecting Broadway. I think it's pretty clear that shows are closing faster and faster these days. You also make a good point about being weary of shows not being produced because they are new. However, I think the one example that should be remembered is 'Next to Normal". Next to Normal was a ground breaking show that was opened in a rough economy and it has certainly profited and must be close to recouping. Also, many new shows might not be closing solely because of the bad economy. The writing, casting or directing could just be wrong.

I do think that the economy could have played a small role in the revival selection of shows. Producers would want to put on shows such as "West Side Story", 'Hair" and "Bye Bye Birdie" because they know people are familiar with the material and they are house hold names. Although Birdie is closing, it's grosses are often high.

Updated On: 12/2/09 at 08:50 PM

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/2/09 at 8:58pm

Shows aren't closing faster and faster these days. It's just going back to the way things used to be when producers closed shows when they weren't making any money instead of keeping them open for months and months losing millions of dollars in a misguided attempt to keep their dignity.

[April Saul]

Posted: 12/2/09 at 9:01pm

I agree MC, it's all scary. I work in the newspaper industry, which is probably in worse shape that theater. Broadway will hang on, but it's not going to be an environment that encourages risk-taking, at least not for a while. Maybe off-Broadway will flourish? And it's probably a great time to join a papering organization because tickets will never be cheaper...so at least there's that.

[After Eight]

Posted: 12/2/09 at 9:26pm

I wouldn't say that shows are closing faster and faster nowadays. In the 40s, 50s, and 60s, shows closing after a week's run were commonplace. There are many less of those now. Of course, there were more plays produced then as well.

Could it be that the shows that are closing now just aren't that good? The critics have gone out of their way to overpraise them, and in so doing, may have lured people into the theatre only to have them be mightily disappointed. Maybe they're trying to do it to help the theatre, or to make themselves seem relevent or important, but it doesn't seem to be working. Just the reverse.

Take "Superior Donuts." It got far better reviews than it deserved. It's a poor play. And the audience was not fooled. So too "Brighton Beach Memoirs." I thought it was OK, but not a patch on the original production. It also seemed very dated. All the people I know who saw it voiced opinions ranging from fair to good. Well fair to good is not going to send people flocking to the box office. Of course, in this case, there was no interest in this from the start.

"Finian's Rainbow" got raves. I thought it was not as good as the Irish Rep production some years ago. It looks cheap. It was overpraised, and audiences aren't flocking.

Then there's "In the Next Room." Excellent reviews, no business. The people I know who've seen it actively disliked it. If it weren't a Lincoln Center subscription, it would have already closed.

Then there's "The Starry Messenger," but I'll not go into that.

The point is, there's a disconnect between the critics and the audience, which is no way good for the theatre. The audience will ultimately disregard the critics who send them to too many turkeys.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 12/2/09 at 10:26pm

Remember when people were freaking out about how a bunch of shows would/might close after 9/11? And after the strike? We got over that too.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 12/2/09 at 10:36pm

You are being way too optimistic IMO

The economy is in the tank & is not improving any time soon . Prices are exploding. It used to be that the increase would be small & would last for awhile. Now it seems like prices are increasing with every new show that opens. Honestly, 5 years ago did you think prices would be what they are now?

Everything has a breaking point . The big 3 automakers are down for the count & municipalities are finding out they can no longer use smoke & mirrors to balance budgets & people are getting fed up with higher & higher taxes with more to come.

I see this as the tip of the iceberg & it will only get worse.

[Basely Tearful]

Posted: 12/2/09 at 10:39pm

Broadway has its highest grossing year ever last year. Just because the critically acclaimed shows are tanking doesn't mean Broadway is dead.

"Everything has a breaking point"

Unless you're Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, and The Lion King.

[MusicSnob1]

Posted: 12/2/09 at 10:44pm

Roxy. You don't see the glass half empty - you see someone p!ssing in it.

Get a grip, you old maid. G' Damn.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 12/2/09 at 10:52pm

Denial is not a river in Egypt

Maybe they had the highest grossing year as their prices are at the highest they have ever been. You are entitled to your opinion as am I. Let's leave it at that shall we?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 12/2/09 at 10:54pm

LOL, oh, Roxy. At certain points in history, people stopped manufacturing ether for anesthesia, cars started outselling horses, and the VCR made way for the DVD player. Change happens. Some cope better than others. It's not all bad. Go have some scotch and watch PBS.

[siny]

Posted: 12/2/09 at 11:07pm

As someone who is not a theater expert, but enjoys seeing musicals, all I can say is that there is not a single Broadway musical that opened this season that I want to see. The subject matter of all of them does not appeal to me - shows dealing with racial problems, revivals of old shows that have been done to death, Nigerian musician - none of it interests me. I saw White Christmas yesterday and really enjoyed it and I am taking my kids to see Avenue Q in January, but other than that I don't think I want to see anything from the current crop. So, if many shows are closing this season maybe it's because they don't appeal to an average theatregoer.

As far as prices go, high prices are for tourists. I get my tickets at the TKTS booth, so it's not an issue for me. I could go see a musical every week if any of them appealed to me. Here's hoping that something better opens after January.
Updated On: 12/3/09 at 11:07 PM

[jeffmiele]

Posted: 12/2/09 at 11:23pm

Mr. roxy,

you might appreciate this article after what u wrote about ticket prices increasing.. its from 1987 and made me really laugh when i read it

http://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/30/theater/broadway-ticket-prices-slowly-rise.html

[fgreene1938]

Posted: 12/3/09 at 11:41am

BW has always had shows that closed quickly (the book NOT SINCE CARRIE is filled with examples). However, economics have permanently changed NY theater. I saw the original SWEENEY TODD in 1979 and paid $15 for a great orchestra seat. That would probably cost $120 today. Since so much of the audience has been priced out of attendance, producers lean on revivals of the tried-and-true and (mostly) safe, middle-of-the-road material.

Also, audience expectations are different. Many people who attend BW shows today don't want to be challenged; they want to be comforted by what's familiar. Hence, revivals and musicals of Disney cartoons thrive. BW has become more of a theme park for tourists than a place to see viable theater.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 12/3/09 at 12:29pm

Yada, yada, yada. I've been in the Broadway trenches longer than most of you have been alive and these dire predictions come up all the time. Bottom line is, there is something in the human creature that needs LIVE entertainment to help get him/her through the day-to-day. It may change format, style, scope, etc., etc., but that fundamental need is there. During the height of our worst Depression, it meant enough to enough people to keep on going, no matter what. My parents were both victims of the Depression and they still found a way to get to a show once in a while. It might not have been the best seat in the house, it might have meant forgoing a meal, struggling with public transportation, but they still went.

Posted: 12/3/09 at 12:33pm

Ah good- all's well with the world. A bunch of people are hand-wringing that Broadway is doomed, dying, dead. I think we get a variation on this rap every few weeks. If I had a nickel for every time someone told me Broadway is dead I'd be able to afford to see every show I want to.

All you doom & gloomers, can you please explain to me why Wicked grossed TWO MILLION DOLLARS last week? Why have shows not be able to move to Broadway because there were no theaters available?

By the way, I paid $15 to see Sweeney in 1979, too- and my two bedroom apartment included all utilities and a garage for $210 a month.

[Timmer]

Posted: 12/3/09 at 2:09pm

You might have a poitn, After Eight. A basic principle of advertising is that the best way to kill a ba product is with good advertising. The reason for that is that it gets everybod to try the bad product at once and they find out how bad it is more quickly, denying it the opportunity to get established. The same could well be true of Broadway shows -- the best way to kill a bad show (ora bad production of a good show) is with good reviews.

Of course, Broadway needs to refocus the way it promotes itself,but that's another issue.

[binau]

Posted: 12/3/09 at 4:12pm

"revivals of old shows that have been done to death,"

...You think Ragtime, A Little Night Music and Finian's Rainbow have been done to death?

"I saw the original SWEENEY TODD in 1979 and paid $15 for a great orchestra seat. That would probably cost $120 today. "

That is much much cheaper but it's a little misleading when you consider inflation

'What cost $15 in 1979 would cost $43.93 in 2008.'

http://www.westegg.com/inflation/infl.cgi

Still much cheaper, but I'm just saying.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 12/3/09 at 4:54pm

People have been predicting the demise of Broadway since long before I was born and will continue predicting it for a very long time. The fact is that the place of theater in popular culture has changed...in the '40s and '50s and even to a certain extent in the '60s, Broadway show tunes often wound up on the radio and were hit singles, but over the years it's become a far less mainstream entertainment medium.

There are still relatively recent shows that are successes that are far from Disney cartoons or movie-to-musicals or whatever...Avenue Q, Next to Normal, even Wicked. On the flip side, there are musicals that fit into those categories that are flops like 9 to 5, The Little Mermaid, etc.

Theatre is such a unique art form and I think it's evolved and changed more over time than most other entertainment mediums have because of what it involves and the fact that it is live storytelling. There are a lot of factors that go into creating a successful Broadway show, and sometimes a lot of that just involves being in the right place at the right time.