The turnover rate on Broadway
is such an odd thing to witness. On one hand you want to watch a show if you
get there by some turn of events. But you appreciate the opportunity for new
works to get their moment in the sun, or under the lights, as it was. Then
there is the joy of watching a show be open long enough to recoup, then to get
some sort of long running title (I’m waiting for you, Chicago).
Every year we see these shows flicker out and go dark, to see new ones take their place. I
have heard gossip of new shows ranging from Mean Girls the Musical, and Clueless the Musical,
Speaking of rumors, chatter
of a musical adaptation of Gloria Estefan’s life, came about and will now be
opening on Broadway later this year.
The (arguably too soon) revival of Spring Awakening is much anticipated and lauded due to the critically acclaimed deaf
theatre west production and will be opening on Broadway soon.
Most of the shows that are being chatted about are all revivals: Fiddler on the Roof, Dames At Sea, And the Color Purple.
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| Yes, that's Jessie Mueller |
Not to be out done, are
the “new works” that are based on something… School Of Rock, Waitress The
Musical, And Tuck Everlasting.
For me, personally, I’m
so happy that Allegiance is finally opening. It's been too long, George Takei
Looking back on the
previous couple of seasons, it's odd to remember how worked up we all were about
Rocky The Musical (Aherns & Flaherty do no wrong), Bridges Of Madison
County (JRB does no wrong), Bullets Over Broadway (..is that Zach Braff??)
Last year was really
interesting to see an American in Paris, and On the Town open, and be hits!
Something Rotten was such an original thing, and that made me swoon, but
honestly the fact that Fun Home got the recognition it deserved made me proud
to be a musical theatre nerd.
The titles, and stars,
and composers names that fly around the theatre world can be dizzying.
Did I read there is a
musical based on Tupac’s music?
Kelsey Grammer is
playing a pirate in something?
Jason Robert Brown has
another show opening on Broadway?
Could it be that Sara Bareilles
wrote the score for a show? Is it good?
It’s hard to keep up,
and I love that I have a hobby like this.
It's like collecting baseball cards,
but the revisions are every other week
(I don't actually know how baseball card
collecting works).
It’s hard to tell if the
anticipation actually works in ticket sales. Most of the shows I mentioned in
the post did not do well. Some of them will most likely be hits (fingers
crossed, Spring Awakening) and a lot of them will not get the audiences they
deserve.
Did shows like The Music
Man, and The Wiz and Sweeney Todd face these kinds of rumors and apprehension?
Before the time of the internet, what was the rumor mill like? It’s fun to
think of those things…
Have you ever been
burned by a show you were expecting big things from, even just the cast album? What’s
the show you have most been looking forward to? Why?
