Broadway, My Childhood Fascination, Is Back In A Big Way
by Micheline Maynard May 28, 2015
I’ve loved Broadway shows my entire life. When I was little, my parents ushered at the Fisher Theater in Detroit, owned by the Nederlander Organization. They pretty much saw every pre-Broadway tryout and Broadway touring company from the 1950s through the early 1970s, and our house resounded with Broadway musical soundtracks.
Occasionally, they’d get discounted tickets or sneak my brother and I into the second balcony. We had to stay out of the patrons’ way, but we were glued to what was going on far below us on the Fisher stage. Once in a great while, we went backstage, where chorus members towered above us, rushing around in a scent of greasepaint and sweat.
My mother had a little flirtation with Abe Burrows, whom she was thrilled to meet even though Hugh O’Brian was sitting near by. Burrows hugged her and said, “She’s my people.”
I was agog to meet Gloria Swanson and June Allyson, who I’d watched endlessly on TV movies, and who both appeared in touring productions (Butterflies Are Free and 40 Carats, respectively).
Decades later, I’m still as enthralled by Broadway as I was when I was six, and I’m not alone.
Megastars, long-running musicals and a strong tourism climate are causing a boom on Broadway, according to the New York Times. The Broadway League reported record attendance during the 2014–15 season, as well as record ticket revenues.
Of course, it’s pretty easy to break ticket revenue marks, given that the cost of attending Broadway shows seems on an endless upward spiral. Indeed, the League said 40 Broadway theaters sold $1.36 billion worth of tickets this past season.
But those tickets went to a record 13 million people, who flooded Times Square and its surrounding streets to see Broadway shows. That means the average theatergoer paid about $104 for their experience, not including parking, concessions and the cost of a hotel stay.
Why was Broadway so hot this year?
Big stars. Famous actors and actresses trod the boards this year, including Hugh Jackman, Helen Mirren, and Broadway veterans Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. Broadway also saw the return of some actors who have become well known on TV, such as Larry David and Matthew Morrison.
Major stars alone can’t carry a show, especially if they don’t handle the pressures of the stage, but the combination of their buzz plus a good production are enough to convince people to buy tickets.
Tourists. About 70 percent of Broadway tickets are sold to people from out of town, the Times says, and this year Broadway theaters put on a special push to attract visitors from Brazil. They are the second-biggest group of tourists to visit New York, behind those from Britain.
Next week, the city’s tourism bureau is hosting an event for travel agencies from overseas, where six Broadway shows will preview their productions, including a new version of Fiddler On The Roof, which doesn’t open until December.
Musicals. Broadway has long been a place where musicals can run for years, and even decades. This year, according to the Times, “The Lion King” remains Broadway’s top grossing show, even though it opened in 1997. It brought in a record-breaking, $102 million last season.
The other top draws were “Wicked,” at $92 million, “The Book of Mormon,” at $84 million, and “Aladdin,” at $76 million. Three other recently minted hits, “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical,” “Kinky Boots” and “Matilda,” grossed more than $50 million each. “Kinky Boots,” by the way, is in its first U.S. national tour and is selling out at theaters across the country. (I saw it at ASU Gammage, and the Phoenix audience loved it.)
Hits from overseas. Mirren appears as Queen Elizabeth II in “The Audience,” in which she starred in London. Another London hit, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” is doing well without a star. The show is about a young boy with Asperger’s syndrome who forms a relationship with a neighbor’s dog. It has grossed $29 million since opening in September.
This doesn’t all guarantee great ratings for the Tony Awards broadcast a week from this Sunday, but we theater fans will be tuning in, tweeting and sharing memories from the shows we took in.
Originally published at businessjournalism.org on May 28, 2015.
