Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Star-Studded Theatrical Hits Obscure Broadway’s Challenges
NYTimes.com: "While Broadway is having one of its strongest fall seasons in overall ticket sales in recent years, that unusual financial success is being driven by the star-studded productions of three plays, obscuring challenges facing several other shows."
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5 comments:
its great that even though the economy hasnt recovered, people are still taking a general interest in broadway and in musicals. it actually makes a lot of sense that in these times, people would seek musicals and shows with the general uplifting and positive attitude that shows in broadway often have, and of course also because so many talented and famous actors like jude law, daniel radcliffe, etc are starting to unexpectedly crossover to broadway and try something different
I love that plays are making so much money on Broadway these days. Almost always you hear of musicals making so much money but rarely can "straight" plays compete. Press wise I have read a lot about the actors starring in plays, like Hugh Jackman and Jude Law, but much much less about headliners of the current Broadway musicals. I really do think publicity and star power can take you far especially in an economic crisis.
New York has the fortunate tourist appeal that keeps their theatre's going. Smaller LORT and regional theatres have to rely more on the dedicated subscriber base that is frankly dying off or downgrading their subscription levels. When people travel to New York, it is almost expected that you will see a play, an expectation not common in other cities around the country. It is reassuring that straight plays are competing well with the big musicals and setting box office records.
I think that the economic hard times are showing that the producers will still find a way to make money putting on shows. What will be more interesting to see is once the economy recovers what the long-term effects are: If the producers continue to use big names to draw in crowds (and money), it could starve out other shows, potentially having a large impact in how Broadway is done 10 years from now. The use of big names on Broadway seems to be commercializing it even more, which could be occurring at the risk of losing artistic value in the shows.
I suppose it's good that casting huge movie stars is a good way for theaters to make more money, but ideally that's just a temporary fix during bleak economic times. Of course, I don't see why shows would shy away from casting celebrities even if the economy picked up, because making a lot of money is attractive during any time. It's just a shame that that's the major pull of shows these days; it kind of cheapens Broadway.
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