To the original poster: How did Hairspray change the face of Broadway?
I'm a big fan of the show, but I fail to see how the show changed Broadway.
Any Fosse show
Sweet...but not true.
His choreography was enormously influential, but the majority of the shows themselves did not change the way Broadway produced shows. Dancin' probably comes the closest for being a dance revue or perhaps Pippin, for its dance-heavy stylized concept which paved the way for Chicago (both produced by Stuart Ostrow). Though it took 20 years for Chicago to reach its potential (after being overshadowed by the sensation of A Chorus Line) and make its mark on Broadway as the longest-running revised revival (Oh! Calcutta! still barely holds the title of longest-running "revival") and international sensation.
But it's not like Redhead, Little Me or Big Deal changed anything or were even milestone productions.
I never said that The Producers changed the face of Broadway. What i said, if you care to read it, was that the show brought a resurgence of musical comedy back to Broadway after a very disinteresting and quiet time in the late 90's. It also helped influence subsequent productions to develop more musical comedies due to it's enormous success.
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