What is the biggest misconception about Broadway?- Page 2

[rjjn]

Posted: 6/19/10 at 11:39pm

I also used to think that a show being on Broadway meant it was on the street, and Off-Broadway was somewhere else in New York.

[Tsao5]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 12:28am

All Broadway performers give 110% on stage for each new audience.

Nonsense. This idea was shattered years ago upon repeated trips to some of the long running shows I really liked such as Miss Saigon.

Whenever I visited NYC I would always try to see Saigon or Les Miz. But as I got older, I started to notice more and more that the ensembles......CLEARLY.........did not seem to give a ****.

They seemed to be bored, having conversations and reactions that did not have to do with the scenes they were in, and even playing jokes on each other. This was not a one time thing, Cats, Les Miz and Saigon, it happened in all of them.

Later this lack of work ethic and false "we give 110% for you" concept was openly talked about in Making It On Broadway (very interesting book). In it, performers from these shows talk about that exact thing: being bored, knowing that with the pink contract they basically could not be fired, and stayed with shows so long for its paycheck ( which I have no problem with as long as they perform at the standard they claim they do to non industry people who know that this is not a reality)

Now, when I see a long running show, I EXPECT at least half the ensemble to be sleep walking, Saw Wicked last year, ensemble could care less and one guy kept looking at the audience the whole time as if trying to spot a friend, and others during a big dance scene were all chatting and clearly not in character.

For some of you who were here in the 60's and 70's and early 80's, was it always like this?

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 1:15am

1. that James Barbour just made a mistake and was framed and innocent.

2. that the actors actually choose the restaurants in Playbill.

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 3:36am

When I heard that Cats was the longest-running show, I thought that meant it was literally the longest show to ever run on Broadway (as in the length of each performance).

[Phantom of London]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 7:47am

That Broadway was very short, that when I am old enough and go to Broadway, I will devour it and walk the whole length, so much in awe. Yeah right, the 5 times I have been to New York, I am yet to do this, although I have walked 54th to 40th many time and sometimes go as far as 31st to get back to my hotel.

One day I must do this, but I get the feeling I never will.

[legally_popular]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 11:42am

The biggest overall misconception in the popular consciousness is, as far as I can tell, that Broadway is exclusively musicals.

This is the case for practically all my friends and family. For example, if I tell someone, "Oh I saw Scarlett Johannson in a Broadway show," they'll be like, "Oh she sings?" Yet they call every show a "play" and never differentiate between a play or musical.

[Marianne2]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 1:12pm

When I was younger, I used to believe that if a show was on Broadway, that automatically meant it had to be good. Fortunately, I have not seen anything that I really regret or can say I hate yet.

[phantomcrazy14]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 1:16pm

Some people i know think that when they see a touring production, they've seen the Broadway cast, and it's all the sets from the show in NYC transported. Two, some people think the original cast stays forver. And lastly, some of my friends immediately think of Broadway as gay, cheezy, and stupid (even though they've never seen a show)

[StephanieJBlockFan]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 1:19pm

Well until I was like 11 I thought Broadway was based in Chicago. All the theaters were there and it was like a world renowned place. I also thought it was in one avenue too. When I still think of Broadway as a place where you dress up to go and it's eloquent...to me it is a fine art.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 2:58pm

I was also in the group to be surprised by the size of the theatres. I first started seeing show on tour in the Palace and State Theatres in Cleveland, both of which are significantly larger than even the largest of the Broadway houses. I was very surprised when seeing my first show, Beauty and the Beast in the Palace, and learning that that was one of the largest of the Broadway theatres.

[After Eight]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 10:02pm

"Most of the people who wax poetic about the golden age are "seeing" it from a very distant memory. It's selective. And rose-colored. But what they DO remember is the emotional impact of what they saw. And that is clear as a bell."

Sorry, but NO, NO, NO!

Sorry again, but Nonsense! Absolute nonsense!

[iflip4musicals]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 10:06pm

I'm not sure if I had any myself, but count my friends in the group that thought Broadway was like a movie theater. Multiple showings/day and all in the same house.

[Aswatrowinkenbo]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 10:12pm

Broadway only offers cutsie musicals that are aimed for younger audiences and families.

I shock so many friends when they hear swearing on a cast recording.

[CockeyedOptimist2]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 10:43pm

"I shock so many friends when they hear swearing on a cast recording."
^
I learned my first curse words listening to "Master of the House" from Les Mis in first grade. I was destined to be a Broadway dork even then.

I would say a big misconception that I probably have helped to perpetuate is that there are only musicals on Broadway, Until today, I had seen many musicals on Broadway, but Red tonight was my very first play on Broadway (and I loved it). I always knew there were plays but have not taken advantage of exploring them.

So many friends of mine don't realize the deal with shows closing as some have mentioned. People tell me they're dying to go up to NYC and see Les Mis.

Ooh, one more. That Wicked is the best thing playing on Broadway.

[backwoodsbarbie]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 11:34pm

A lot of people think that plays are much more highbrow and that musicals are fluffy and silly--that performers just break into song with no merit do do so.

[TimesSquared]

Posted: 6/21/10 at 12:00am

that it's pronounced Broad-way

[vfd88]

Posted: 6/21/10 at 4:15am

"When I heard that Cats was the longest-running show, I thought that meant it was literally the longest show to ever run on Broadway (as in the length of each performance)."

Me too! I heard that it was the longest-running show after I saw it when I was 6, and I remember thinking, "Well, it was long, but I don't think it was that long."

[noplain]

Posted: 6/21/10 at 8:46am

In Australia, I often see adds saying "Broadway musical" or "played on Broadway" to describe any show which played in New York, on- or off-Broadway, or any other house. So there is the misconception (or deception?) that all New York theatre = Broadway.

[morosco]

Posted: 6/21/10 at 10:22am

When I was young and heard that a show was in previews I assumed the audiences that attended would just get a sample of a few scenes or songs. Like the previews shown before a movie.

[Wishing Only Wounds]

Posted: 6/21/10 at 10:28am

I too thought Broadway was all on one street (that street being Broadway).

I also thought 42nd Street only played on 42nd Street.

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 6/21/10 at 10:55am

I thought the National Tour was the actual original cast of that production, leaving the theatre and going around the country. I always imagined a big sad empty theatre while the cast was on the National Tour.

I saw the National Tour of Cats at the National Theatre when I was ten, and I was so excited because I was fully obsessed with that musical. When I got my Playbill, though, I was shocked and disappointed to see that the actors in the show weren't the same ones from my cast album and picture book! I was so mad that the Rum Tum Tugger wasn't Terrence Mann that I couldn't even enjoy the show. (Interestingly, I saw the current National Tour of Cats last night, and somehow, I liked most of the vocalists MORE than on the C.D.)

[sabrelady]

Posted: 6/21/10 at 2:09pm

That being in a Bway show meant you had made it as a performer and had job opportunities that others did not. Oh, and MONEY! GOOD money= nice life style.

( I laughed as I wrote this!)

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 6/21/10 at 10:23pm

I had many misconceptions, the biggest one being that there was one Broadway Theatre that played a different musical every night.

[Orangesaretuesdays]

Posted: 11/25/10 at 11:08am

I used to think that the original cast stayed with the show until it closed. I was wondering how the people in Cats did it for 20 years!

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 11/25/10 at 11:30am

Many people I talk to think that all Broadway performers are all pampered stars (even the ensemble dancers/singers) and live a life of leisure in penthouses on Park Avenue, only working for about 4 hours each night for a HUGE paycheck.