Who has been good to Broadway?
Who has been good to Broadway?
Broadway Star Joined: 10/21/04
Who has been good to Broadway?#0
Posted: 5/22/05 at 11:05amI've been reading the 'Disney: Good Or Bad For Broadway' thread with interest. I'm surprised by how many people think it's a good thing. Myself, I'm not sure yet. And it got me thinking, who else has been good for Broadway? For example, a lot of people on this board love Sondheim, but has anything he done been perceived as damaging to Broadway. Similarly, has Brooklyn any redeeming features? And let's think about ALW and Wicked too. And anything else anyone has to contribute! Big question!
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
re: Who has been good to Broadway?#1
Posted: 5/22/05 at 11:20am
Hasselhoff
He never came back
Joined: 12/31/69
re: Who has been good to Broadway?#2
Posted: 5/22/05 at 11:20amEd Sullivan, and later on Rosie O'Donnell, by showcasing Broadway performances on their respective shows. The Today show should probably be included here for the same reason.
Broadway Star Joined: 10/21/04
re: Who has been good to Broadway?#3
Posted: 5/22/05 at 11:24amHasselhoff. Hahaha.
re: Who has been good to Broadway?#4
Posted: 5/22/05 at 1:38pmHugh Jackman showed us a true star could not only rise above mediocre material but be a total sellout. It's also a rarity to have a show selling so well close rather than replace the star once his contract expired. I can't recall the last time a production actually closed down to give its star performer a vacation. They didn't do it for Glenn Close in "Sunset Blvd" (although ALW tried fudging the box office receipts while she was gone to prove the show was star-proof which it wasn't). John Stamos proved on the other hand that although "Nine", which received decent reviews and might have run longer, did not because the audiences were there to see Bandaris and once he left the ticket sales nose dived.
re: Who has been good to Broadway?#5
Posted: 5/22/05 at 3:47pmCabaret is a great example of a cast-proof show. The role of the Emcee was the one most publicly (and by that I mean, advertised) rotated. They could get minor stars in there that didn't sell tickets and the show would still perform marvelously because it was strong enough to stand on its own accord.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/9/04
re: Who has been good to Broadway?#6
Posted: 5/22/05 at 3:53pmRoundabout and to a lesser extent MTC...
re: Who has been good to Broadway?#7
Posted: 5/22/05 at 4:04pm
Anybody that has ever made a positive contribution to Broadway. Whether writing , starring in, producing, composing, orcontributing to a long-running show. Also, anyone who has ever promoted Broadway on a show they host, or anyone that has ever rented the rights to a Broadway show. All of these people have been good to Broadway.
Sounds corny, but it's true.
re: Who has been good to Broadway?#8
Posted: 5/22/05 at 4:07pmSum- just out of curiosity, do you hate the English mega-musicals? Because the fact that they're completely "cast-proof" is something a lot of people hold against them, but you're holding it up as a virtue in Cabaret.
re: Who has been good to Broadway?#9
Posted: 5/22/05 at 4:10pmRosie O'Donnell. did I get it right? do I win a free prize???
re: Who has been good to Broadway?#10
Posted: 5/22/05 at 4:12pmThat is a very interesting point Plum. While I certainly don't HATE the Mega-Musicals, I don't appreciate them. I think about the shows that could have gone into those houses and it saddens me a little bit. I wonder what exactly made those musicals cast-proof. Was it the score? The book? The sets? The name recognition?
re: Who has been good to Broadway?#11
Posted: 5/22/05 at 4:17pmI don't know. What makes a show more about the show than about the cast? One way, I think, is if it's from Sondheim or Lloyd Webber, since their names are practically brands in themselves. Another is if it's a revival of one of the really big classics. A third way is an attachment to another cultural landmark- jukebox shows, Wicked, and Avenue Q, despite itself, come to mind.
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/29/04
re: Who has been good to Broadway?#12
Posted: 5/22/05 at 4:21pmWhy would you dislike a show that is capable of a long run? You'd rather see a show like The Phantom of the Opera close while it's still doing very well, just so another show can go into the theatre and, most likely, fail? I thought Broadway was supposed to be for the best of the best, not just whoever can snag the next open theatre.
re: Who has been good to Broadway?#13
Posted: 5/22/05 at 4:22pm
Well, I happen to think that Phantom isn't the best of much of anything. But that's just me, clearly.
Updated On: 5/22/05 at 04:22 PM
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/29/04
re: Who has been good to Broadway?#14
Posted: 5/22/05 at 4:23pmSo replace it with any other long-running show that you like. Then, maybe you can answer the question.
re: Who has been good to Broadway?#15
Posted: 5/22/05 at 4:24pmBroadway is not and was never intended to be a place where shows run as long as possible. This is the dream of a producer, not the intent of any creatively oriented person. Imagine a Broadway where every theatre has had the same show for 15 years. It would be terrible. Shows have to fail, shows have to succeed, shows MUST close. This recent phenomenon of runs over 5 years is an anomaly in the history of Broadway since its roots.
re: Who has been good to Broadway?#16
Posted: 5/22/05 at 4:24pmAnyway, a serious argument can be made that at a certain point, having too many really long-running shows occupying the theaters leads to some stagnation because new shows can't get in. I mean, I know the situation won't last, but right now, only 1 theater on Broadway is dark. Lots of promising productions, from Sweeney Todd to Jerry Springer, are up in the air because of that.
re: Who has been good to Broadway?#17
Posted: 5/22/05 at 4:40pmspringer should stay that way, please...
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