Is Broadway Dying? Essay

Most people fail to realize the importance of Broadway and all the history behind it. Did you know John Wilkes’ Booth, the assassin of Abraham Lincoln, brother played on Broadway? Or that Broadway wasn’t always in the same spot. Also, many famous actors today started out on Broadway before making it to Hollywood. Even some plays weren’t that famous until they were showed on Broadway. For example, The Phantom of the Opera, or Hamilton! Also, people also fail to realize that through many national tragedies, Broadway always found a way to show their support for their country. But honestly, how did it all start?

By 1900, there were currently thirty-three legitimate Broadway theatres, and many more would be built over the next couple of decades to meet the demand of the growing audiences. The productions included those of drama, comedy and musicals, but legitimate theatre was not the only theatrical entertainment of this time. During this time a large group of entertainers travels from one small theater to the next, entertaining thousands with their simple song and dance, mini-comical skits, and different acts of entertainment. These people were known as Vaudevillians and their theatre circuit was known as Vaudeville.

Broadway was one of the first forms of entertainment. Before there were television programs, or movies, there was Broadway. Broadway originated in New York in 1750, when actor-manager Walter Murray built a theatre company at the Theatre on Nassau Street. A musical would show about once every weekend. The shows were very male based, and would commonly show a relationship between young boys and their fathers. Women were slowly integrated into Broadway, and as society changed its point of view on women, so did theatre.

For this assignment. I will be talking about the original musical performance of 42nd street. I will present the conditions of the stage and setting for the original stage performance. In this, I will talk about the plot and the characters of 42nd street, how the plot progresses and how each character has their own purpose in the story in comparison to each other. I will talk about the underlying themes of 42nd street; how these themes are important

Theatre and Musical Theatre has been a form of entertainment since before North America was “discovered”. Broadway shows have been dated back to the early 1920’s and 1930’s. By 2016, over 25,000 tickets are sold to Broadway shows in a week. Thousands of people enjoy the shows that are featured on Broadway but have no idea the work and process that brought it to life. The process of getting a show on to Broadway can be broken down into three phases: pre-production, staging, and performance/promotion.

Can you imagine ever performing on Broadway? Let me go a step further and ask if you could ever imagine performing in the Broadway show Chicago? To feel the excitement of performing for the longest-running American musical in Broadway history. Broadway shows may not be for everyone, but it truly says something when a show is completely sold out and not one single person is left sitting down at the end of the play.

In recent years, the trend on Broadway has been to adapt films and books into musical productions. Mel Brooks found huge success with a musical version of his comedy, The Producers. Off-Broadway plays have also found mainstream success, led by Jonathan Larson's hit show,

best known. The Broadway Theatre district is a popular tourist attraction in New York City. You can

I believe a musical, or any play is successful when it receives good reviews from critics, good reviews from the general audience, and tends to have a close to 100% of seats filled. My definition of a successful show is about as close to flawless as reality can allow. It pleases everyone and turns a profit.

Two ways the economics of producing Broadway musicals changed by the 1960s were that musicals had gotten larger so they cost more to produce and that it took a long time to break even. The rise in ticket prices outpaced inflation. Broadway tried to lure in customers by adopting some of the marketing techniques like television commercials and promotional packages.

. Broadway which was the king of entertainment for such along time became replaced by the musical once the country became settled and well appointed after the war. Musicals became part of the American culture and also increased its boundary lines past the Theatre District. Technology also had a major impact on the musical, because it made it easier for folks to see their favorite Broadway performers right from their own living rooms. One of the reasons why I think the musical replaced Broadway is because shows before were focused on the musical comedy, but then all of a sudden musical comedy was dropped which then allowed for their to be a focus on the character development.

The commencement of renovations, then, relied heavily on the support of the city and state of New York’s investment, and because of the potential profit to be made from tourism, the state obliged (Wollman 1). This investment greatly contributed to The Walt Disney Company’s decision to lease the New Amsterdam Theatre. Prior to 1994, the theatre spent decades without use and had fallen into decay. Professor of Performance Studies and academic, Elizabeth Wollman detailed the deal between Disney and the city in an article analyzing the interaction between theatre and corporations. She explained:

According to Joseph Swain in his book The Broadway Musical: A Critical and Musical Survey, there are a number of

Imagine if it only cost you one penny to get tickets to a Broadway production. It would almost seem too good to be true! Well, back in the 1600s, in London, you could buy your way into a theater for as little as one penny. This price made it easy for anyone of any class to be able to partake in the festivities. Hence, the reason the theaters became so popular from 1562 to 1642. The theatres were very profitable based on the fact they were so popular in the community. The Elizabethan theatres were viewed as popular entertainment because of their fanciful attributes, their various events, and their several venues.

     There have been many dramatic plays over the centuries. Many of these plays have died in their time, while others have lived on. What makes these plays endure time and continue to be influential over time? Perhaps it is the storyline or the interesting nature of the play is what makes these dramas last. I think that it is the focus on human nature and its essential truths that keep these plays alive. Most of the plays, still enacted in theaters today, deal with social issues that people can learn from and relate to.