NYTimes.com: The words “Broadway” and “musical” have become so tethered in the popular imagination that it is worth reminding people that much of the most innovative musical theater in New York — make that virtually all of the most innovative musical theater in New York — happens Off Broadway. While Broadway must play it safe, relying on tried (and trite) formulas to rope in the crowds, artists can take chances Off Broadway, where the stakes are lower, the audiences more adventurous and the landscape more nurturing to new ideas.
2 comments:
Off Broadway really is given the short stick sometimes. It's not Broadway, so it's nothing, right? Isn't that the mindset of most people? To me, half of these shows look REALLY interesting, and I would definitely go see them.
Something that I found really funny about this article was the amount of name-dropping it did. I guess that happened because those are the shows that are playing this season, but doesn't it seem weird that all the people involved already have had success on Broadway? Doesn't that make Off Broadway "Tried and trite" as well? The people have already proved that they can make a hit show, so the automatically get their next piece on Off Broadway. They already have a style that works, though, so they are just gonna copy that style. It only takes one success to prove the experiment good. No one is going to change a formula that worked. Doesn't that mean that if you want real experimental theatre you have to go Off Off Broadway?
I totally agree with Kristen. Just because something isn't on Broadway doesn't mean it's not good. Many great Broadway musicals started Off Broadway and were then picked up by producers. This summer I had the incredible experience of working for The Public, and to see the kinds of shows that they're working on (and that they have worked on) was incredible. They're an Off Broadway theatre that does such a wide variety of shows, including a lot of Shakespeare and a lot of New Works. They are also very into labs and workshops, and they'll spend months playing around with concepts for a show just to see what will happen. This technique, although it may have seemed ridiculous at the time is how A Chorus Line was written. Someone had the idea to write a musical about dancers, and with the help of The Public, the idea came to life. The budget was so low that the main scenic element was a line on the floor, but after an incredibly successful run the show was picked up and brought to Broadway. The same thing happened a few years later with Hair, which was also written at The Public. Even right now, Fun Home is about to open and Broadway and that was created at The Public last year. It was interesting to read about Hamilton actually, because it's getting so much attention and already has so many backers that it's prepared to move directly to Broadway after it's run at The Public is over, and it hasn't even opened yet. Off Broadway has a bad connotation to it, but it really shouldn't. People need to get past the fact that it isn't Broadway, and realize that it's where all the cool stuff is happening.
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