One by one, the big shows on Broadway are folding due to the great American economy. Right as Broadway could have been looked at as having a boom, it took a quick turn to the worse. What were once blockbuster shows that drew full houses are now scavenging to maintain 50% capacity. Altogether I do not believe it could be all that bad. The world is changing and so will all of the Entertainment that is deemed as a luxury. Broadway holds a special place in the hearts of many people. Now is the chance for those shows to travel across America and expose themselves to a greater audience. I know there are traveling shows and community groups that perform, but will we see a new model of “Broadway” across America? They can’t afford to be stationed in one location, expect for those to come out of town to view their productions, put hundreds of thousands of dollars in to it and then receive a return on investment. What I see is a lot more emphasis on bringing a production elsewhere.
Even if shows start in New York – then move on from there. The recession is an opportunity for the Arts to truly reach out to the people. There have been talks of turning recently closed shows Spring Awakening and In the Heights in to musical films. Will Broadway conform to the corporate model of production and distribution? The turn around time for films to be released to DVD depends on the success that it has in movie theaters. Often, if a film does poorly in theaters it will be released to the public not long after to cash in on the movie still being relatively fresh in the minds of viewers. Likewise if it does well, the release date may be pushed back or even postponed until a significant season because the movie has a placeholder in society.
In order to cash in on a shows popularity Broadway should release a movie version or decide to instantly tour not too long after a show is closed. To A.) keep it fresh in the minds of the public and to B.) utilize marketing and promotions to reach new audiences outside of the Broadway landscape. So, yes. The Tony’s will be a bit odd this year but I believe that it will bounce back in the near future. Broadway is not going to die. It just may lie in the dark for a while.
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Aw, this was a really quality post. In theory I’d like to write like this too – taking time and real effort to make a good article… but what can I say… I procrastinate alot and never seem to get something done.
I suppose I’m going to need to read up some more but this is a good place to start.
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