Wow -- you go offline for a few hours and find that your comment made has been taken into several different directions and interpretations. Where to begin?
My saying what Broadway used to have and have today was intended to be short-sighted. Artforms evolve all the time and I was merely stating the facts. The shows I listed were just general examples of original works. For example, yes, the show GYPSY is based on the historical figure Gypsy Rose Lee. But that specific figure isn't really a DRAW to bring in crowds. The American Revolution, The French Revolution, Thurgood Marshall, President Bush, Nixon, Kennedy -- these are names that will DRAW in crowds to a show about them. Gypsy Rose Lee? Not so much.
Anyway -- my point is that back then, people would see anything on Broadway. Original, based-on, etc. Today, it has to have a hook. (Note: of course this isn't a sure thing. Just look at the success of August: Osage County or the brilliant Caroline or Change, as previously mentioned by another poster).
That is what (I, at least) mean by "theme park." Of course you don't judge the individual shows on how good or bad they are until you see them. Theme parks use a "theme" to draw in guests, even though they all will have the same types of rides. People flock to Disney World because they love the characters -- even though they can go to a different theme park with similar rides for much less money). That's a semi-stretchy example but you get the point.
And yes, it is exactly the American culture. We've been changed by cinema and television and technology. Broadway (and theatre in general) has raised ticket prices to catch up. People expect to see on stage what they see in the movies. I'm not saying this is a shame or it's a good thing -- I'm just recognizing how we changed.
It was so refreshing to see URINETOWN -- a show written the stage that had no "gimmick" if you will. It was an original story written for the theatre as a musical. It wasn't based on any pre-existing material -- a true rarity. Same with CAROLINE OR CHANGE and AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY.
As for SHREK -- I love Tesori so I imagine I will favor the score, hopefully. We'll see what kind of a show it turns out to be. Right now, it is discouraging to see the design for Shrek (at least to me) that it is a duplicate of how the character looks on film.
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
