is broadway dead? — Page 2

And Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Me and Juliet" circa 1953, has the song, "Intermission Talk," which contains the repeated refrain, "The theatre is dying! The theatre is dying!"

52 years later...

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Broadway is not dead and it will take more than having celebrities in the shows to make it flatline. The only thing that will make broadway dead, is if people stop going to the shows. Wherever there is supply, there is demand.

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Must this thread come up every three months or so? Broadway is not dead and will never die.

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Broadway's nowhere near dead.

Oh, I've been hearing about Broadway disappearing ever since I put on long pants," says illustrator Al Hirschfeld. "I mean, it's been the fabulous invalid. You know, but it survives, it survives."

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"I've been hearing about Broadway dissapearing ever since I put on long pants. It's been the fabulous invalid. But it survives, it survives." - Al Hirschfeld

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I don't think it is at all dead. I do, however, feel the battle between art and money.

Casting an individuals such as Britney is purely for financial gain and is definitely not going to add to the artistic integrity of a production. That is very unfortunate.

However, there are some great writers and composers out there creating some great new works.

You can't see or hear a production by Jason Robert Brown, for example, and suggest that Broadway is dead.

What we have to do as audience members, however, is to support the shows that maintain their artistic integrity, that keep Broadway alive and thriving by attending and spreading word of mouth of these shows.

As tempting as it is to watch Britney butcher Charity, it would be a crime to support that purely greedy casting decision by attending.

We as an audience have a lot of say regarding the future of Broadway.

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Well, if they are seriously considering Ms. Spears, than yes, broadway is pretty close to dead.

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Is Broadway dead? No. However it has changed--and not for the better.

When I started going to the theater in the mid-60's, musical comedies were written for specific stars. In my high school days I saw Barbra Streisand in FUNNY GIRL, Bea Lillie in HIGH SPIRITS, Zero Mostel in FIDDLER, Richard Kiley in MAN OF LA MANCHA and the Goddess Carol Channing in HELLO, DOLLY! That was all in the span of two years. What's more, these shows were GOOD.

There were delightful scores for musicals in those days; perhaps because they were written for specific performers. Also, a long-run was 5-7 years. Nowadays a show has to run DECADES to keep filling the producers' purses and keep the theaters occupied so that other productions cannot come into NYC.

We now have generic theme park quality musicals that have roles virtually dozens of performers can fit into. The scores in these shows cannot compare with what we had in the past. I find myself getting boared very easily in today's shows.

The sad thing is that today's musicals are turning in greater profits than they did in the 60's which means that according to some people, Broadway is more successful than it ever was. Why? Marketing. Clever marketing strategies draw non-theater-goers to shows that are mediocre at beast and the shows run and run.

Sad but true.

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No, it's just sick... and needs a miracle cure as soon as possible.

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...See: "Aladdin: The Family Musical" starring Bret "The Hitman" Hart.

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Yes, it's dead. So stop doing such grotesque things to its corpse.