Gov. Paterson Backs Off B'way Ticket Tax; Producers Reply with Lower Prices (Not)

As the Times reported yesterday, Gov. Paterson has withdrawn his idea of an "8 percent levy on theater tickets that Broadway industry leaders had fought fiercely." That is, of course, good for consumers. But as I wrote in this post last month, there has been a bit of disingenuousness in the commercial producing community regarding how much of a negative impact the levy would really have on Broadway. Ask a commercial producer and they'll likely tell you the sky would fall, a fiscal nuclear holocaust would ensue, and the only shows still to be open would be, well, theirs.

Here's a bit of Patrick Healy's piece:

Representatives for theater owners, producers, actors and union members testified against the tax proposal in Albany last month, arguing that the new levy would drive down ticket sales and ultimately lead producers to close some shows. They made the case that such a tax would have negative side effects on tourist business for restaurants and hotels and work for scenery carpenters, dry cleaners and others who contribute to theater productions.

Several theater organizations released statements of praise on Wednesday in reaction to the decision, and it was also a matter of chatter (the positive kind) at some of the theater district restaurants that producers and press agents frequent for lunch.

“Broadway is a business that creates jobs: When a Broadway show closes, 100 percent of the jobs are lost,” Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of the Broadway League, an industry association representing producers and theater owners, said in a statement. “Our industry can’t simply ‘cut back’ 10 percent or 20 percent of the work force when things get challenging. Unemployment in the Broadway industry causes a major ripple effect on the state’s economy.”

Given that St. Martin's job is to promote the idea that "everything's perfect on Broadway," she is supposed to make statements like the one above. But Broadway, as anyone who knows the business knows, is rather a closed shop -- if you're a stagehand and one show closes, more than likely you'll work again on the next show coming in or on a different show in a different house. So when St. Martin warns that "100 percent of the jobs are lost," what she really means is "100 percent of the jobs are lost at that production." Well, that's true, but that's different from her implication: that those people are out of jobs for weeks, months or years. At Back Stage, we used to observe how Broadway shows -- and I'm not talking about stars -- use the same people in the chorus, the pit and the wings over and over. It's a whole community of mainstays, of usual suspects, and it many ways it always has been. I'm not saying this is bad or good; I'm saying it's a fact. And anyway, if "unemployment in the Broadway industry causes a major ripple effect on the state’s economy," why isn't St. Martin concerned about Equity unemployment, which never seems to decline? Oh, right, they're commercial producers...

But back to the math. When you have Broadway shows with top ticket prices of $100, $110, $120, $130, $200, $300, $400 -- depending on the show, the seat and method of purchase/acquisition -- for St. Martin to warn that an 8 percent levy "would drive down ticket sales and ultimately lead producers to close some shows" is a little bit like a deaf mute ringing an alarm bell. If people are willing and able to pay $120 a ticket, would $9.60 more really force shows to close? Who honestly believes that?

I'm glad the consumer won't be hit with the extra fee, but I fear for Henny Penny's vocal cords, as they must be getting hoarse. I'd write more about this, actually, but I'm waiting for commercial producers to raise Broadway ticket prices again. I figure that'll take, er, five minutes. The clock is already ticking.

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Would Broadway Allow Photo Taking in the Name of Viral Marketing?

Amanda Ameer's fun blog Life's a Pitch had an interesting post yesterday that is all about what us old-school fogies would call courtesy and decorum at public performances. This means, among other things, dressing a certain way, applauding or laughing as the performance may incite or require, leaving meals in the restaurant where they belong, keeping beeping and buzzing and burring objects on mute and shutting the hell up when people are on stage doing whatever it is they do. Unfortunately, as Amanda points out and as everyone pretty much acknowledges, the ideas of courtesy and decorum are extinct, like passenger pigeons. Read this:

I was sitting in the last row of the orchestra at Alice Tully last night and, at one point during a performance, the woman to my left leaned back and loud-whispered to an usher, "There's someone taking pictures down there!", gesturing to her right dramatically. No sooner had the dutiful usher trotted off to investigate the situation did the woman to my left whip out her iPhone and take a photo herself.

Bold, madam.

[That would be seat Z104, if anyone from Lincoln Center is reading.]

During the final bows, my tricky left-neighbor took another iPhone photo, and this time, the usher told her to stop, so she first took the picture and then turned off the phone. If I were the usher, I might have said, "Ma'am, I'm gonna need to delete that photo..." and then mistakenly deleted her contacts. Simultaneously, the woman to my right busted out her camera equivalent of Zach Morris' cell phone and took a flash photo! The usher asked her to stop, at which point she implored, "But I'm a critic." and waved scribbled notes on her program in his face. (Keep in mind, this was all happening while the Chamber Music Society was playing.) I was going to point out that, as a Publicity Professional, I can safely say we were not in press seats, but I thought it best not to cause a scene while on the new hall's maiden voyage.

Aside from the fact that Amanda references the main character in Saved By the Bell, she goes on to wonder whether turning up her proud nose at the dastardly insouciance of those photo takers is actually ignoring something that could be vital to the renaissance of live performance. Read:

On the train ride home, I found myself wondering why I was being so rigid. What is actually the problem with audience members taking non-flash photos at performances? Flashes distract performers, but iPhone/Blackberry/camera phone photos are very discreet: they're silent and flashless. A second potential problem is that the artists don't have approval of photos that are taken during concerts then posted who knows where, but shouldn't performers be thrilled that someone was enjoying the experience of them playing enough to want to preserve a memory of it? We take photos when we like something, when we want to remember something or when we want to share our personal experiences with others. With that in mind, how can taking photos at concerts be against the rules? And if the photos end up on blogs or Flickr, or videos are posted on YouTube or Vimeo, what damage is done? If anything, a positive concert experience at your venue is being advertised. By prohibiting photos, presenters are essentially preventing audiences from doing the viral marketing leg-work for them.

Now, let's just be clear: the day Actors' Equity allows people sitting in Broadway houses to take photographs of actors in performance, even if they're without flash and silent as a mouse, is the day we can safely assume Armageddon has arrived. So this is really more of a theoretical question than an action item, at least for now. Is the desire among audience members to take photos of their experience (let's just forget for a moment how uncouth and obnoxious it is for a press person to do it) the kind of impulse that could, under certain circumstances, be turned into a powerful example of viral marketing? "Dear Aunt Ruth, this is me at the theatre watching Julia Roberts!" Is it so crazy? What if the rules are made so that the performers are protected and the audience thus empowered? What does live performance gain by denying audiences the ability to share in the moment in some way, to document their experience, to thwart the inherently temporal nature of the experience? I do realize that if everyone takes photos, you don't need souvenir programs, for example. Or do you? Is there a corrolation that one negates the other?

I mean, sure, part of this makes my stomach turn. But it makes you wonder.

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On the Proposed Broadway Tax

I think the upset over the governor's proposed tax on Broadway tickets signifies a certain quality of doublespeak and doublethink on the part of commercial producers. Yes, we fully understand that whenever you tax, you discourage consumption. Just to get everyone up to speed, the Times coverage of the testimony by a small group of high-powered Broadway folk boiled down what is currently being proposed to this succinct paragraph:

Mr. Paterson has proposed a 4 percent state tax on commercial theater tickets; if it is approved, an additional 4 percent tax would be automatically imposed by New York City, as well as a 0.375 percent Metropolitan Transportation Authority tax. For a Broadway orchestra seat that goes for $120 — a fairly common price at major productions — the tax would add $10.

In light of the stratospheric price of Broadway tickets -- something noted by Assemblyman Herman D. Farrell (whose son, Herman Daniel Farrell III is a noted playwright and also an acquaintance of mine) -- how facile, it seems, for Rocco Landesman, president of Jujamcyn Theaters, to employ these quotes:

“With the ongoing demise of the financial sector, policy makers must fight to nurture and protect industries, such as Broadway, that have been proven to generate tourist dollars.”

“I ask you to also recognize the dire consequences this tax proposal may have on the hard-working men and women employed by Broadway, as well as the thousands of other businesses that rely on Broadway spending."

Understand: I'm not questioning whether Broadway generates tourist dollars, because we know it does. And I'm not questioning whether the tax may have a negative effect on production and thus have a negative effect on employment. I am questioning whether this argument has been used before in other forms and proven a rhetorical bugaboo. For example, if any of the unions win in their demands for higher salaries and benefits, commercial Broadway said, it would have a negative impact on production and force higher ticket prices. Yet here's Landesman participating in a Q&A in the Times, published on January 18, 2008.

Q: What was the purpose behind the $20 million strike fund that the producers have been accumulating over the last 4 years? Presumably, it was established to keep the shows running during a strike — which didn’t happen.

A: If all of the producers’ requests had been granted during the IATSE negotiations, resulting in lowering expenses for the producers, would ticket prices have been reduced? They would have stabilized. That in itself is progress.

So ticket prices will only go up, not down, Landesman says. Thus, back in the context of the current situation, may we not deduce that there is no incentive to reconsider the tax?

Let me allow Landesman's quote in the more recent Times piece to speak for itself:

After the hearing, Mr. Landesman said that theater owners and producers were “going to have to look hard at our cost structure” and try to find ways to lower ticket prices to make theater more accessible to financially strained New Yorkers and tourists.

Yes, that's just what Broadway may have to do. Let's also note that when Assemblyman Richard L. Brodsky, who the Times describes as "an avid theatergoer," says "Broadway had not received the sort of public assistance that sports teams have enjoyed" or "the kind of public subsidies and private contributions that helped support many ballet companies and orchestras nationwide," there's a tiny bit of sophistry at work, one the Times elects, perhaps understandably, not to explore.

I feel that when you have a system by which dollar values are assigned to air rights above theaters such that the owners of those theaters (who are, let's remember, regular investors in commercial productions) can generate and have indeed generated substantial sums by selling those rights to real estate developers, that is additional income. True, it's additional income relating to privately owned land and property. But it is a privileged system that the public has a limited amount of say over -- people can show up to Community Board meetings to protest this or that overpriced condominium that in the fullness of time has turned Midtown West into one of the ugliest architectural messes this side of Calcutta, but clearly they hold very little sway over the decision-makers, and all of those air-rights sales, with all the income it has generated, has never led to a "stabilization" in ticket prices, much less a lowering of them. It's not so much a gaming of the air-rights system as a system that favors fatcats like Landesman and leaves the residents of Midtown West -- and I don't mean the millionaire condo owners -- with the fabric of their neighborhood fundamentally destroyed.

And doesn't anyone remember the Broadway Initiative, in which ticket prices for new plays would be subsidized by part of the interest generated on the money made by the sale of those aforementioned air rights? Whatever happened to that?

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Producers File Grievance Against Jeremy Piven, But Kristen Chenoweth Smacks Him Around

As reported elsewhere and often, the producers of Speed-the-Plow have filed a grievance with Actor's Equity against actor Jeremy Piven for up and leaving the show on about as much notice as it takes to make a California roll. You can read one of the stories about this here.

Here's a little more information from the story:

The actor quit the David Mamet comedy less than two months after it opened to favorable reviews at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Piven's doctor said the 43-year-old actor was unable perform because of high levels of mercury in his system, possibly caused by eating large amounts of raw fish.

Piven's publicist, Samantha Mast, called the producers' claims "absurd and outrageous."

"He withdrew from the play due to medical necessity on the advice of his doctors, after he was hospitalized and warned by his physicians that enforced rest was necessary in order to avoid serious medical problems, including a heart attack," Mast said in a statement Friday.

No date for the grievance proceedings was announced.

Frankly, though, I think the best take on this is from an old Broadway hand. See if you agree.

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Jeffry Denman, Currently on Broadway in "White Christmas" RAPS

Watch, my peeps:

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Liza on the Ice

Well, no, Liza isn't going to be on the ice when she has her upcoming Broadway appearance -- and I have been duly reprimanded by a certain individual for not even mentioning that this great star and great diva is headed back to the Great Ecru Way!

But here's what I can report, as per a press release I received just today:

Due to OVERWHELMING Demand

"Liza's At The Palace...."

Extends Broadway Engagement !

2 More Weeks! Dec. 3rd thru 28th

Palace Theatre

Tickets for add'l. performances go on-sale November 8th

Due to overwhelming demand, "Liza's at the Palace...." the new show starring Liza Minnelli will play an additional two weeks of performances at Broadway's Palace Theatre (Broadway & 47th Street). With an opening set for December 3rd (6:30PM), Miss Minnelli will bring her unmatchable magic to Broadway for an engagement now scheduled to play through December 28th---surpassing the originally announced closing date of December 14th. Included in the extension, is a special holiday matinee at 3PM on December 24th.

Produced by John Scher/Metropolitan Talent Presents & Jubilee Time Productions and directed and choreographed by Ron Lewis, the evening will feature an incomparable Minnelli songfest including many of her personal favorites and signature hits, followed by a dance-filled tribute to the groundbreaking late-1940s nightclub act of Minnelli's godmother, Kay Thompson. Gary Labriola will serve as Executive Producer.

Along with a twelve-man orchestra led by conductor/drummer Michael Berkowitz and pianist/musical supervisor Billy Stritch, “Liza’s At The Palace…. will be highlighted with many of Liza’s showstoppers such as “Cabaret,” “Maybe This Time,” and “New York New York” – all written especially for her by the legendary Broadway song writing partnership of John Kander and Fred Ebb. For the first time onstage, Liza will pay an affectionate salute to her godmother, the late Kay Thompson who was a legendary performer (“Think Pink!” from “Funny Face”), author (“Eloise at the Plaza”) as well a gifted vocal arranger and Music Director/vocal coach at MGM Studios who worked with stars such as Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra and Lena Horne. Supported by a quartet of dynamic singer/dancers, Liza will perform musical hits (with the original vocal arrangements) from Thompson's act including such numbers as “I Love a Violin,” “Clap Yo' Hands,” “Jubilee Time” and “Hello Hello”---set to brand-new staging and choreography by Mr. Lewis. Accompanying her onstage will be Johnny Rodgers, Cortés Alexander, Jim Caruso and Tiger Martina.

The concert performance will be scripted by Liza and Tony Award-winner David Zippel, and will be full of personal stories, anecdotes and heartfelt reminiscences embraced in a theatrical setting featuring scenery by Ray Klausen, costumes by Halston, lighting by Matt Berman and sound by Matt Kraus.( click here for full release)

“Liza’s At The Palace….” will play the following performance schedule at the Palace Theatre (Broadway & 47th Street) : Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8PM with matinees on Sundays at 3PM. PLEASE NOTE: on Wednesday, December 24th there will be a special 3PM matinee performance and no 8PM evening show. Tickets prices range from $125 to $55. (***Upon special request by Liza--- $25 seats will be made available at box office by daily lottery. **** For more information and tickets by phone Tickets: 212-307-4100 or 800-755-4000 or log onto: http://www.lizasatthepalace.com/

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Broadway Begs FCC: "Please Don't Take Away Our Horrid Head Mics!"

But what horrible thing would happen if actors actually had to project? Anyway, here is a press release I received yesterday:

THE BROADWAY COMMUNITY
URGES THE FCC TO RECONSIDER RULES
THAT COULD SILENCE LIVE THEATRE

“Can you hear me now?” is NOT what the audience wants to hear actors say on stage

Actors wear wireless microphones that transmit on frequencies soon to be compromised by consumer devices. Without publishing proposed rules and allowing public discourse, the FCC, pressured by leading technology firms, will vote on this issue on November 4, 2008: Election Day. The FCC’s own engineers’ report demonstrates that the technology in place to prevent interference is ineffective.

The Broadway League has asked the FCC to refrain from voting to approve new devices that will transmit in the “white space” radio spectrum, currently occupied by wireless microphones. Wireless microphones are an essential tool of the live performance industry, used in the daily operations of countless theatres and non-profit performance venues, sports arenas, and concert halls across the country.

These comments were filed in response to the FCC’s announcement that it will vote on an order potentially opening the white spaces to portable internet devices employing spectrum sensing technology intended to prevent interference with wireless microphones. However, a preliminary review of an FCC engineers’ report issued on October 15, 2008 demonstrates repeated failures of spectrum sensing to recognize wireless transmissions. While regulations that include reference to spectrum sensing technology would rely on unproven technology, the FCC may forge ahead and adopt new rules without allowing interested parties any prior opportunity to ensure the Commission took adequate steps to address the needs of all wireless microphone users.

Theatres in urban areas are at particular risk because the complex radio environment is beyond any measure of control. Not only is the quality of the performances at risk, but also the safety of all who work in these venues will be compromised. Accordingly, sound engineers will have no way to locate or report the source of interference should a portable device disrupt a live performance.

The Broadway League believes any action on this issue is premature. However, should the FCC go forward with new regulations at this time, they strongly urge the Commission to recognize incumbent white space users and, at the very minimum, employ basic protections to address the needs of Broadway. The Broadway League has been working with theatres across the country to help get the message to the FCC of the many consequences of a hasty decision. This week it also reached out to the Commission with an ad campaign (see attached) to help bring attention to the serious situation this premature vote creates.

The New York City Council recently adopted a Resolution urging the FCC to open a formal comment period on its engineers’ report before putting the issue to a vote and to allocate sufficient channels for current wireless microphone users.
Representative Carolyn B. Maloney echoed the City Council’s sentiments and said, “The FCC should not be trying to rush this decision out the door this way in the closing days of this administration without adequate public comment. This action puts the theatre industry at risk.”

Nina Lannan, Chairman of The Broadway League, commented, “Broadway contributes more than $5 billion to the City of New York and generates the equivalent of 44,000 full time jobs. We must be assured that these devices work, not only for Broadway, but also for theatres across America too. Touring Broadway productions help infuse the nation’s economy with over $3 billion annually.”

Tom Viertel, Producer, stated, “Our industry relies on clear, consistent wireless microphone transmissions. The Broadway Unions and Guilds have joined forces with us to demand notice and opportunity to be heard before any further FCC proceedings because our jobs and lives are on the line. Many groups, including the National Association of Broadcasters and Sports Technology Alliance, also oppose the FCC’s actions which threaten their ability to conduct businesses and employees’ livelihoods.”

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Full Cast of West Side Story Announced

This is going to be very exciting -- and how amazing for Arthur Laurents, at 90.

FULL CAST CONFIRMED
FOR
THE NEW BROADWAY PRODUCTION OF WEST SIDE STORY:

MATT CAVENAUGH AS “TONY”
KAREN OLIVO AS “ANITA”
CODY GREEN AS “RIFF”
GEORGE AKRAM AS “BERNARDO”

AND INTRODUCING
JOSEFINA SCAGLIONE AS “MARIA”

LEADING THE CAST OF 37

OPENING AT BROADWAY’S PALACE THEATRE ON THURS., MARCH 19, 2009
PREVIEW PERFORMANCES BEGIN MON., FEBRUARY 23, 2009
FOLLOWING A PRE-BROADWAY ENGAGEMENT DEC. 15, 2008 - JAN. 17, 2009
AT THE NATIONAL THEATRE IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
WHERE THE MUSICAL MADE ITS WORLD PREMIERE IN 1957

The producers of WEST SIDE STORY have confirmed full casting for the new Broadway production. The cast of 37 will star Matt Cavenaugh (A Catered Affair, Grey Gardens) as “Tony,” Karen Olivo (In the Heights) as “Anita,” Cody Green (Movin’ Out) as “Riff” and George Akram (The Farrelly’s Stuck on You) as “Bernardo.” The role of “Maria” will be played by Broadway newcomer Josefina Scaglione. The 21 year old actress comes directly, by special arrangement with Actors’ Equity Association, from Buenos Aires after an exhaustive international search for the role. She created the role of Amber Von Tussle in the Argentinean production of Hairspray and the title role in Cinderella. Miss Scaglione is a classically trained opera singer who has received critical acclaim appearing as a soloist in the nation’s most prestigious concert halls.

WEST SIDE STORY will also feature Steve Bassett as “Lt. Schrank,” Kyle Brenn as “Boy Soprano,” Joshua Buscher as “Diesel,” Mike Cannon as “Snowboy,” Kyle Coffman as “A-Rab,” Joey Haro as “Chino,” Eric Hatch as “Big Deal,” Curtis Holbrook as “Action,” Michael Mastro as “Glad Hand” Danielle Polanco as “Consuela,” Jennifer Sanchez as “Rosalia,” Lee Sellars as “Krupke,” Tro Shaw as “Anybodys,” Ryan Steele as “Baby John,” Greg Vinkler as “Doc” along with Madeline Cintron, Lindsay Dunn, Matthew Hydzik, Marina Lazzaretto, Chase Madigan, Kaitlin Mesh, Pamela Otterson, Sam Rogers and Amy Ryerson as “The Jets” and Isaac Calpito, Haley Carlucci, Peter John Chursin, Yurel Echezaretta, Manuel Herrera, Yanira Marin, Mileyka Mateo, Kat Nejat, Christian Elan Ortez, Michael Rosen, Manuel Santos, Michaeljon Slinger and Tanairi Sade Vazquez as “The Sharks.”

Directed by multiple Tony Award winner and author of the musical Arthur Laurents, WEST SIDE STORY will feature scenic designs by James Youmans (Gypsy), costumes by Tony Award nominee David C. Woolard (The Farnsworth Invention, The Who’s Tommy), lighting by Tony Award winner Howell Binkley (Gypsy, Jersey Boys), hair by Mark Adam Rampmeyer (The Farnsworth Invention) and sound design by Tony Award nominee Dan Moses Schreier (Gypsy, A Catered Affair). The original Jerome Robbins choreography will be reproduced by Tony Award nominee Joey McKneely (The Boy from Oz, The Life).

WEST SIDE STORY is written by three theatrical luminaries: two-time Tony Award winner Arthur Laurents (book) and multiple Tony and Grammy Award winners Leonard Bernstein (music) and Stephen Sondheim (lyrics) in his Broadway debut.

WEST SIDE STORY is produced by Kevin McCollum, James L. Nederlander, Jeffrey Seller with Terry Allen Kramer, Sander Jacobs, Freddy DeMann, Roy Furman, Robyn Goodman / Walter Grossman, Hal Luftig, Roy Miller and Broadway Across America.

Tickets for the Broadway production of WEST SIDE STORY at the Palace Theatre (1564 Broadway) are currently on sale at Tickemaster.com or by calling 212-307-4100. Tickets for the pre-Broadway engagement at Washington D.C.’s National Theatre are currently on sale through Telecharge.com (212- 239-6200). Broadway preview performances will be Monday through Saturday at 8 p.m., Wednesday and Saturday at 2 p.m. Beginning the week of March 23, performances will be Tuesday at 7 p.m., Wednesday - Saturday at 8 p.m., Wednesday and Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. D.C. Ticket prices are $121.50 - 46.50.

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See American Buffalo for a Nickel

What a smart marketing idea: take advantage of the deteriorating economy -- and the casting of Haley Joey Osment, John Leguizamo and Cedric the Entertainer in the revival of David Mamet's American Buffalo -- and offer a ticket for 5 cents if you buy a full-price ticket for the play. How many people, though, know what a buffalo nickel is? And how much money will the producers lose on each of these nickel tickets? Clearly they're banking on volume, and the casting of this revival make may that a smart bet.

Personally, I haven't decided whether I'm reviewing American Buffalo or not, given how I often feel about Mamet's work and certainly how I feel about his current right-leaning politics. But the casting is so intriguing that I may have to succumb.

Meantime, here's the information I received on this offer, plus the nifty image.



See American Buffalo for a Nickel!

5 PERFORMANCES ONLY:
Fri., Oct. 31 @ 8; Sat., Nov. 1 @ 2 & 8; Sun., Nov. 2 @ 3; Mon., Nov. 3 @ 8

DAVID MAMET's masterpiece, AMERICAN BUFFALO, directed by two-time Tony Award® winner ROBERT FALLS (Death of a Salesman, Long Day's Journey into Night), is the story of three desperate men, one rare coin and a plan to rip it off. Volatile, violent Teach (JOHN LEGUIZAMO - Sexaholix: A Love Story; Freaks; Summer of Sam) schemes and spars with street-savvy junk-shop owner Donny (CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER - Be Cool; Barbershop - making his Broadway debut) eventually enlisting Bobby (HALEY JOEL OSMENT - The Sixth Sense - also making his Broadway debut), a slow-witted, young delinquent, to carry out their robbery. A comedic, banter-fueled heist and a heartbreaking portrait of small-time criminals, AMERICAN BUFFALO's all-star cast is powered by DAVID MAMET's brilliant, rapid-fire dialogue.

3 Easy Ways to Order Election Special Tickets:
1. Visit BroadwayOffers.com and use code AUELEC8.
2. Call 212-947-8844 and use code AUELEC8.
3. Bring a print-out of this email to the Belasco Theatre box office, 111 West 44th Street. Box Office Hours: Monday - Saturday: 10am - 8pm; Sunday: Noon - 6pm (Starting Nov 2).

VISIT AMERICANBUFFALOBROADWAY.COM for more details.

POST-ELECTION CELEBRATION DISCOUNT
$76.50 Orch/Preferred Mezz
$71.50 Mezz

Use code AUBBX92.
Valid for performances Nov. 5 – 23
Tue. @ 7; Wed.-Sat. @ 8; Wed. & Sat. @ 2; Sun. @ 3

*Offers subject to availability and prior sale. Applicable only to specified performance dates and times; Post-Election Offer not valid for Saturday performances at 8PM. Post-Election offer not valid on opening night, November 17. Not valid on previously purchased tickets and may not be combined with any other offers. All sales final; no refunds or exchanges. All prices include facilities fees. Telephone/internet orders subject to standard Telecharge.com service fees. Limit 8 tickets per order. Offers may be revoked at any time. Election Special Offer expires November 3. Post-Election offer expires November 23, 2008. Photos: Justin Borucki

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Mercedes Ruehl Returning to Broadway

Just received this press release:

MERCEDES RUEHL & LILY RABE
TO APPEAR IN THE MANHATTAN THEATRE CLUB
BROADWAY PREMIERE OF RICHARD GREENBERG’S
THE AMERICAN PLAN

PREVIEWS TO BEGIN FRIDAY, JANUARY 2
OPENING NIGHT IS THURSDAY, JANUARY 22
AT MTC’S SAMUEL J. FRIEDMAN THEATRE

Manhattan Theatre Club (Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director; Barry Grove, Executive Producer) is pleased to announce that Academy Awardâ and Tony Awardâ winner Mercedes Ruehl and Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominee Lily Rabe will appear in the upcoming Broadway premiere of THE AMERICAN PLAN by Tony Awardâ-winning playwright Richard Greenberg (Take Me Out).

The limited engagement, to be directed by Tonyâ nominee David Grindley (Journey’s End), will begin previews at MTC’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street) on Friday, January 2 for a Thursday, January 22 opening.

THE AMERICAN PLAN will mark Mercedes Ruehl’s first appearance on Broadway since her acclaimed performance in 2002’s The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? for which she received a Tonyâ nomination. She was most recently seen Off-Broadway in the critically lauded production of Edward Albee’s The Occupant. In 1991, Ruehl received an Oscarâ and a Golden Globe Awardâ for her work in Terry Gilliam’s The Fisher King. That same year, she received a Tonyâ and a Drama Desk Award for her work as ‘Bella’ in Neil Simon’s Lost in Yonkers.

Lily Rabe returns to Broadway in THE AMERICAN PLAN following her acclaimed turn last season in Heartbreak House for which she received an Outer Critics Circle nomination. She made her Broadway debut in 2005 as ‘Annelle’ in the revival of Steel Magnolias receiving a Drama Desk Award nomination.

It is the Catskill Mountains in the early 1960s, and Lily Adler (Rabe) and her mother Eva (Ruehl) are spending the summer across the lake from a bustling hotel where comics entertain and buffets overflow. When a handsome young stranger enters their world, the emotionally fragile Lily finds herself falling in love. But once her imperious mother learns of their relationship, lies are exposed, alliances are forged and Lily's one chance to escape her mother's control may be lost forever.

Additional casting for THE AMERICAN PLAN will be announced in the coming weeks.

The creative team for THE AMERICAN PLAN will include: Jonathan Fensom (Scenic & Costume Design), Mark McCullough (Lighting Design), and Darron L West and Bray Poor (Sound Design).

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, MTC has become one of the country’s most prominent and prestigious theatre companies. MTC productions have earned a total of 16 Tony Awards and five Pulitzer Prizes, an accomplishment unparalleled by a New York theatrical institution. Renowned MTC productions include Top Girls; From Up Here; Come Back, Little Sheba; The Receptionist; LoveMusik; Blackbird; Translations; Shining City; Rabbit Hole; Doubt; Proof; Kimberly Akimbo; The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife; Love! Valour! Compassion!; Sylvia; Four Dogs and a Bone; Putting It Together; Lips Together, Teeth Apart; Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune; Crimes of the Heart; and Ain’t Misbehavin’.

This season, MTC’s Broadway stage was renamed the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street). The landmarked theatre has been the institution’s home on Broadway since 2003 and was rehabilitated by MTC following a two-year, $35 million capital campaign. In addition, MTC operates two theatres at New York City Center (131 West 55th Street), its Off-Broadway home since 1984.

You can subscribe to MTC by calling (212) 399-3030, Monday – Friday, noon – 8 PM, with a major credit card. Subscriptions are available online at www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com.

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One Ticket for A Tale of Two Cities

I'm finally catching A Tale of Two Cities at this Wednesday's matinee. Who wants to join me? If so, email me.

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[title of show] closing; uber-believers aim to make it to become the theatre's Rasputin

oy. so in honor of [title of show] -- a show i liked enough to have a good time at but never thought was the second coming of jesus christ, and a show that would have never gone to Broadway had it not been for the overweening sense of sanctimonious super-overentitlement of its creators, particularly, it seems, Hunter Bell, and which is closing, according to playbill, after 103 performances and 13 previews -- i'm only using lowercase letters in this post.

and then, as i was cruising talkinbroadway.com this afternoon, there's a string asking whether [title of show] could move off-broadway. god almighty, what the hell is this show -- the rasputin of the american musical theatre?

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As for That Bootleg YouTube Video You Love, AEA and the League Are Watching You

This is a really terrific, if not especially revelatory, Washington Post article on the problem of bootleg Broadway videos on YouTube and what, if anything, the unions, the Broadway League and media mega-corporations are going to do about it, or can do about it.

It's excellently written and while it doesn't make me want to sneak my camcorder into a theatre (actually, I don't own one), it doesn't make me feel guilty about cruising YouTube and another of my favorite sites, BlueGobo.com.

And don't worry, the powers-that-suck will find a way to profit from this conundrum, too.

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Are the Broadway Boom Times Busting?

Two articles lately seem to indicate that Broadway's high-flying post-Sept. 11 years may be either coming to an end or entering a particularly rocky period.

The first was from Michael Riedel, who went through all the shows -- a growing list -- that announced Broadway berths that turned out to be stillborn, either temporarily or perhaps permanently, including the revivals of For Colored Girls..., Brigadoon, and Godspell.

What's also amusing is that while Riedel raises a red flag about the forthcoming Shrek ("A real laggard...that...has yet to break $5 million in advance ticket sales"), in a later story Riedel suggests otherwise ("Broadway hyenas lying in wait for DreamWorks to stumble are going to have to find some thing other than Shrek to gnaw on this fall") while maintaining that box-office isn't great for this show so far ("Advance ticket sales in New York are weak, and sources report rows of empty seats at the back of the house in Seattle").

Anyway, now comes Variety into the discussion, reminding us that there are other shows on hold, too, although the reasons vary. For example, writes Gordon Cox, "the Harry Connick Jr. starrer Nice Work if You Can Get It indefinitely postponed a Boston tryout when producers were unable to reach a deal that satisfied all the parties involved." This is code for the fact that Kathleen Marshall is, ahem, no longer part of the project and that she was the glue holding it together, more or less. This isn't a money thing, but it makes the project more vulnerable to fiscal pressures hitting the industry.

Indeed, I don't think Broadway's boom times are fading, but I do think people are being more circumspect -- everyone got all excited a year ago when, a year ago, it was announced that Spike Lee was directing Stalag 17 and certain people got on my case for not being politically correct enough with my language (as if certain people have exclusive contracts with political correctness). Well, that production has yet to materialize, and that, too, may be a financial thing or it could be a logistical thing. Either way, it appears things are getting tougher on the Main Stem. But hey, let's keep raising ticket prices, right?

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The One Thing About Second Stage Theatre's Acquisition of the Helen Hayes Theatre No One's Discussing

Below I'm pasting in the text of the press release, sent out on Thursday just in time for Friday reportage, announcing the Second Stage Theatre will be purchasing its first Broadway house -- the Helen Hayes -- and taking over its programming as of 2010. But there's one thing in this release, which is as sunny and optimistic as you'd expect, that is contained in the actual release. No, it's buried in Robin Pogrebin's coverage of the announcement in the New York Times:

Second Stage will raise $35 million to buy and renovate the theater, the company’s founding director, Carole Rothman, said. The Helen Hayes is likely to be renamed.

Can't you see the headline?:

CAROLE ROTHMAN TO
HELEN HAYES' MEMORY:
DROP DEAD

What a total outrage. I'm going to start a campaign to stop Rothman before she even starts to think about it. What, she'll allow it to be renamed for some tenant-raping real estate developer? Where the hell are her manners? For now, here's the release. Trust me, I'm not going to let this issue rest.

SECOND STAGE THEATRE
TO ACQUIRE AND PRESERVE LANDMARK
HELEN HAYES THEATRE ON BROADWAY

Third Home Will Be Only Broadway House Dedicated
Exclusively to Producing Contemporary American Theater
Programming in the Helen Hayes Will Begin in 2010

(New York, NY—Thursday, July 17, 2008)—Second Stage Theatre today announced that it has acquired the right to purchase the historic Helen Hayes Theatre, located at 240 W. 44th Street. With this new home, Second Stage will be the only theater company on Broadway dedicated exclusively to the development and presentation of contemporary American theatrical productions. Second Stage will also become one of only four non-profit theater companies that own and operate theaters on Broadway. The new theater will become Second Stage’s third venue in New York.

Second Stage will continue to lease and operate their original theaters on the city’s Upper West Side and in Midtown Manhattan. They have also entered into the quiet phase of a capital campaign to acquire, renovate, preserve, and operate the new facility and to start an endowment for the organization. Programming in the Helen Hayes will begin in 2010. Until that time, the current owners, Martin Markinson and the late Donald Tick, will continue to operate the theater.

Since its founding nearly 30 years ago, Second Stage has distinguished itself as a champion and leading producer of American theater, committed to developing and staging new work and nurturing up-and coming playwrights, directors, designers, and actors. It is known for its consistent focus on contemporary American playwrights and for mounting and initiating innovative productions such as Edward Albee’s Peter & Jerry, Jitney by August Wilson, Crumbs from the Table of Joy by Lynn Nottage, Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants, Coastal Disturbances by Tina Howe, Jar the Floor by Cheryl L. West, and Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl.

Second Stage has also discovered and nurtured new talent such as Cynthia Nixon, Julie White, Mark Ruffalo, Amy Ryan, Tim Daly, Laurence Fishburne, and Chandra Wilson. In the past six years alone, a number of Second Stage’s notable productions, such as Metamorphoses, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and The Little Dog Laughed, have gone on to extended Broadway runs. Second Stage is also distinguished for its commitment to mounting ‘second stagings’ of recent works that merit further exposure to audiences.

“Acquiring the Helen Hayes is the natural, yet amazing next step for Second Stage in bringing our mission of presenting innovative American theater to the heart of Broadway,” said Carole Rothman, Second Stage Theatre’s founding director. “With this acquisition, we have both the tremendous opportunity and responsibility to help ensure that contemporary American theater remains a vibrant part of Broadway and, in turn, benefits from the power of Broadway to draw and excite new audiences across the nation.”

“Over its lifetime, Second Stage has built a community of artists, and has nurtured literally thousands of theater people,” said Second Stage board co-chair Tony Kiser. “Second Stage has a proven record of success, both artistically and financially, an enviable position for a New York non-profit organization.”

Second Stage board co-chair Stephen Sherrill commented, “Building on thirty years of fiscal responsibility and support, the Theatre is on solid financial footing, allowing us to take this important investment in our artistic development. It’s not often a Broadway house becomes available, but because we have achieved and maintained artist and audience loyalty and financial vitality, we are in a position to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

“When I joined Second Stage two years ago, one of my main objectives was to find the company a permanent home,” said Ellen Richard, Second Stage’s executive director. “Opening our third home in a building which we will own provides a firm foundation for long-term planning and financial stability, which is especially important to the health of a not-for-profit theater company.”

“This is the perfect theater for Second Stage,” said Martin Markinson, Helen Hayes Theatre owner since 1977. “The size is well-suited for the presentation of new and innovative work, as we have had the good fortune to realize over the years, and it resonates with the history of the theater as an incubator for innovative works. I think it’s important that original, American drama has a strong presence on Broadway, so I’m thrilled that Second Stage will establish its permanent home at the Helen Hayes Theatre.”

When it opened in 1912, the Little Theatre (as it was then known) had only 300 seats and was built as an intimate house to present new playwrights and experimental dramas that were deemed too risky to stage in large Broadway theaters.

The Helen Hayes Theatre
In the 1920’s, theater architect and designer Herbert J. Krapp redesigned the space to increase capacity to nearly 500 and improve the acoustics. In 1931, the building was sold to the New York Times and converted into a conference hall renamed New York Times Hall. CBS used the theatre as a radio facility for a time, but it was reconverted by ABC into a legitimate theatre in 1958, once again as the Little Theatre. When not being used as a theatrical venue, the building was leased to CBS Radio and the Westinghouse Corporation, among others and housed television and radio shows for ABC and CBS, among them The Dick Clark Show, Who Do You Trust with Johnny Carson, and the Merv Griffin and David Frost shows. After the original Helen Hayes Theatre on 46th Street was razed in the 1980s to make way for the Marriott Marquis Hotel, the Little Theatre was renamed the Helen Hayes to honor the then still-living legend. Notable engagements include a five-year run of Albert Innaurato’s Gemini, Harvey Fierstein’s Tony-winner Torch Song Trilogy, Tony-winner The Last Night of Ballyhoo by Alfred Uhry, Dirty Blonde, Golda’s Balcony and many others. Currently home to Xanadu, the venue remains the smallest house on Broadway and is independently owned and operated by Martin Markinson and the late Donald Tick. In 1987, it was designated as a Landmark Site by the City of New York’s Landmark Preservation Commission.

Second Stage Theatre
Director Carole Rothman founded Second Stage Theatre in 1979 to give ‘second stagings’ to contemporary American plays that originally failed to find an audience due to scheduling problems, inappropriate venues or limited performance runs. Since then, Second Stage has evolved from a small theatre into an Off-Broadway institution dedicated to developing plays, artists and audiences. In addition to its original mission, the theatre provides emerging authors with their Off-Broadway debuts and produces world premieres by America’s most respected playwrights. Through both the production of new plays and long-term residencies that focus on artistic process rather than product, artists find a supportive environment in which to try new roles, production designs and writing techniques.

Audiences are an essential factor in program development at Second Stage Theatre, which is nationally known for its dedication to building future audiences by educating teens about the art of contemporary theatre and encouraging their participation in the cultural life of New York City.

For nearly three decades, Second Stage Theatre productions have launched the successful careers of numerous directors, actors, playwrights and artists, many of whom regularly return to work at Second Stage. The company’s mission also has expanded to the commissioning of a body of multigenerational plays; the creation of a training base for young directors and a home base for mid-career directors; and the development of educational projects that are integrated with the ongoing artistic work at the theatre.

Second Stage Theatre’s Original Two Homes
Second Stage Theatre’s original home is the McGinn/Cazale Theatre. The first three seasons were presented in a 99-seat house located in the penthouse of a West Side Hotel. The unorthodox Upper West Side location proved a critical asset in building an audience and a loyal subscriber base, and added a new segment to the theatre-going public. In 1984, when Second Stage built its first permanent home on Broadway at 76th Street - the 108-seat McGinn/Cazale Theatre - it deepened its roots as a fixture of this neighborhood where so little theatre was otherwise available. The McGinn/Cazale Theatre is currently the home of Second Stage Theatre's Uptown series, dedicated to producing American plays by a new generation of theater artists.

Second Stage Theatre expanded into a second home in April of 1999, marking the twentieth anniversary of the company, and enabling the company to further its mission of rediscovering great American plays while broadening its range of productions. The17,000 square-foot space was designed by renowned Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, in collaboration with New York-based architect Richard Gluckman. A converted historic bank building, the new space tripled Second Stage’s audience capacity to 296 seats and significantly increased the production facilities for large-scale shows.

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Want Some End-of-Season Broadway Statistics?

You can get'em right here, courtesy of the Broadway League. Personally, I think a chorus of "Don't Cry For Me, Charlotte St. Martin" would be pretty much in order.

The Broadway League Announces 2007-2008 Broadway Theatre Season Results

The Broadway League has released end-of-season statistics for the 2007-2008 Broadway season, which began May 28, 2007 and ended May 25, 2008, showing a slight decline in both paid attendance and grosses.

Thirty-six new productions opened on Broadway during 2007-2008 (eight new musicals, one musical return-engagement, four musical revivals, 11 new plays, and 12 play revivals). This compares to 35 new productions (12 new musicals, five revivals, 11 new plays, and seven play revivals) in the previous season.

Paid attendance and grosses dropped slightly in the period ending May 25, 2008, in large measure due to the 19-day Local One Stagehands work stoppage that shut down Broadway in the fall of 2007.

1. For this 52-week period ending May 25, 2008, paid attendance at Broadway shows was 12.27 million, down 0.2 % from last season (12.3 million).

2. Broadway shows grossed approximately $937.5 million, compared to the previous season’s record of $938.5 million (includes estimate for “Young Frankenstein”).

League officials estimate that had the strike not occurred, all-time records for both box-office grosses and attendance would have been set with an estimated $975 million in grosses, and 12.9 million tickets sold.

"While we are disappointed that we didn't exceed last year's record-breaking season, we are confident that in the coming season, with such big name shows on the horizon as Billy Elliot, Shrek, West Side Story and Equus, to only name a few, that we will have the best season in recorded history," commented Charlotte St. Martin, Executive Director, The Broadway League.

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Broadway Goes Green for Earth Day

For once, green on Broadway doesn't mean some producer charging obscene prices for a ticket. Here's a press release I received earlier today:

BROADWAY SMASH HITS
XANADU, SPRING AWAKENING, AND LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL
team up with GREENDIMES to ELIMINATE JUNK MAIL on EARTH DAY, April 22nd

Theatre-goers can do their part for the environment by attending Broadway hit shows on Earth Day & taking control of their mailbox

New York, N.Y. (April 17th 2008)--GreenDimes, the largest, most trusted full-service company that gets rid of junk mail today announced an Earth Day campaign to give away a FREE GreenDimes premium subscription to every one who sees Xanadu and Spring Awakening on April 22nd and Legally Blonde The Musical on April 23rd.

Broadway lovers attending shows on those days will be given a gift certificate at their seat for GreenDimes “Premium” service which retails for $20. They can redeem it and become GreenDimes members by logging onto www.Greendimes.com and typing in a special Broadway password. In addition to stopping junk mail and catalogues, the “Premium” service continues to monitor your account every month, making sure you remain off direct marketing and catalogue lists. This service also allows unlimited household names, automated removal, and does all the work for the member. At the same time, to offset the junk mail still being produced, GreenDimes will plant five trees for each “Premium” subscriber.

“I am thrilled that our fans can do their part simply by attending our show on Earth Day and signing up for GreenDimes. Junk mail is an everyday problem that is not only a nuisance but is also harmful to the environment,” said Xanadu Producer, Tara Smith. More than 100 million trees are chopped down each year for unsolicited mail in the U.S. and a shocking 5 percent of the waste we send to landfills is junk mail, 44 percent of which gets thrown away unopened. The average household receives over 100 pounds of junk mail a year, constituting the majority of household waste--GreenDimes reduces a whopping 90 percent of that.

“Everyone gets junk mail and no one likes it. We’ve created a simple solution to help every household make a positive impact on the environment,” said GreenDimes Founder, Pankaj Shah. Since it’s inception in 2006 GreenDimes has stopped nearly 4 million pounds of junk mail, stopped 624,388 catalogues and planted 1,062,200 trees. These numbers are updated in real time on the user friendly site’s running impact counter.

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The Hyperbole of House Records

Every time a Broadway show breaks a house record -- meaning the production in that theatre "wraps," or grosses, more in one week than any other production in that theatre before it, I get a press release about it. I totally understand it's the job of the publicist to publicize such things, but I've never been convinced that anyone particularly cares. Here's what I received today:

GREASE BREAKS THE HOUSE RECORD
AT THE BROOKS ATKINSON THEATER

Producers of the new Broadway production of GREASE(TM) announced today that during the performance week of December 26 - December 31, 2007, the production set a new box office record at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre by grossing $1,140,813.46. GREASE(TM) broke the record ($962,662.00) previously set by The Odd Couple, starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick.

A few things on this. First, does anyone on earth spellcheck? Is it Atkinson Theater or Theatre? ("What is 'Theatre,' Alex?") Second, why remind everyone that Grease is trademarked? Who, exactly, is going to steal it, and for what purpose? Mostly it's there to make journalists ignore it, or to be obnoxious, which Grease most assuredly is in any event. Third, who, other than box-office personnel, fannish dweebs, the producers of the current Broadway revival, and the good folks at the Shuberts/Nederlanders/Jujamcyns, are keeping track of these figures? And what does it all mean? Does it mean Grandma Kleinbaum is going to rush right out and buy tickets for it because they've bought into the idea that it must be the hottest ticket in town and therefore they've got to see it? Well, sure, that's the point of such PR, but does anyone -- and can anyone -- measure the effect of such PR? I'm just saying.

I also find hilarious the plot synopsis attached to the release, just to clue those born under rocks or living, say, in Idaho or Middle Earth:

After spending a hopelessly devoted summer with Sandy Dumbrowski (Osnes), the new girl in town, Danny Zuko's (Max Crumm) world is thrown upside down when Sandy appears at Rydell High on the first day of school. What follows is a rock 'n' roll celebration of growin' up, cruisin' with friends and goin' steady.

The new production of GREASE(tm) features songs from the smash hit 1978 motion picture for the first time ever on Broadway including "Sandy," the Academy Award nominated song "Hopelessly Devoted to You," "Grease" and "You're the One That I Want" both of which were #1 hits on the Billboard Top 100 list.

These songs will be heard in addition to the Jacobs/Casey songs made famous by the original stage production including "Summer Nights," "Greased Lightnin'" and "We Go Together."

You gotta just love all those dropped g's. At least that what I'm thinkin.'

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Broadway Announces End-of-Year Statistics

And everything is just rosy, according to the Broadway League and Bloomberg.com:

1) Total revenue was about $938 million, up 3.5% over 2006. No doubt the total would have topped $1 billion had the 19-day stagehands strike no occurred.

2) Attendance rose to 12.29 million in 2007, about 2.7% more than 2006.

Due to an anomaly in the calendar, 2007 actually included 53 weeks, so that, to some degree, mitigates these sunny numbers. Also, we can assume the rise in total grosses has everything to do with skyrocketing, anti-audience ticket prices.

Average ticket price for 2007: $76.32. And your first-born.

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Bull's Eye on the Strike...and a Miss

Jeremy Gerard, whose previous piece on the Broadway strike struck me as petty, has written what I think is the definitive post-mortem on the strike -- assuming there is a post-mortem to be written as of tonight. Read it here. I take back what I wrote before.

Meanwhile, I just read Terry Teachout's think piece on whether, in terms of dollars and cents, Broadway is worth it as compared to 1968 -- in other words, whether we really should give a damn about the strike, or about Broadway and its demanding denizens. I have a few problems with his piece. He pegs his comparison year, 1968, to the year Peter Brook wrote The Empty Space, which is as much a totem for me as I guess it is for Terry.

(As a side note, I'd have preferred Terry focus on the more provocative part of Brook's book, in which Brook said that critics should be "part of the whole, and whether he writes his notices fast or slow, short or long, is not really important. Has he an image of how a theatre could be in his community and is he revising this image around each experience he receives? How many critics see their job this way?....It is for this reason that the more the critic becomes an insider, the better. I see nothing but good in a critic plunging into our lives, meeting actors, talking, discussing, watching, intervening. I would welcome his putting his hands on the medium and attempting to work it himself." This idea, however fraught with contradictions and problems, is my idea of what a critic should be, and how I have tried to conduct my career.)

Anyway, Terry noted that the top ticket price on Broadway in 1968 was $11, or "$64 in today's dollars. Nowadays it will cost you anywhere between $51.50 and $121.50 to see 'Young Frankenstein' --unless you're prepared to fork out $450 for a premium-priced weekend seat." So the point of his essay is to ask whether Broadway is worth roughly twice what it was worth 40 years ago. It's the old "Let's quantify art through economics" trope. I mean, a Picasso that sold for $20 million three years ago just sold for $80 million -- is it really worth four times what it was worth before? Well, a conservative would say yes -- that's what the market would bear. But is the intrinsic value four times than it was before? No, of course not. When you consider the behemoth that is Broadway -- the branding, the history, the marketing -- it's a little too easy to try to boil everything down to 40 years ago versus now. You can pick any date, do all the math, and ask the same question, using a different multiple.

Even in 1968, Terry writes, "the curious, intelligent, nonconforming middle-class New Yorkers celebrated in 'The Empty Stage' could still afford -- just -- to visit Broadway often enough to feel that they were keeping up with American theater. Now they're more likely to go once or twice a year, if that. Broadway is no longer a meaningful part of their cultural lives."

This paragraph implies that Broadway's economics are to blame for people visiting the Great White Way once or twice a year. What Terry leaves out, conveniently, is that there are millions more people visiting Broadway than were sitting in those seats 40 years ago (and there were more theatres then). And speaking of the Great White Way, it is also important to note that it is less white (if less great) than it was 40 years ago as well. Indeed, if Broadway's demographics have a long way to go before we can consider attendance representative of the nation's citizens, I see no evidence that theatregoing habits have changed drastically since 1968. Certainly there are more options on the cultural palate. But it's hard for me to see how the numbers are alone to blame for shifting cultural tides.

I'm glad Terry wrote the piece. It should stir conversation. These are very large sociological issues we're dealing with. And with the strike perhaps ending tonight, it's worth asking whether ticket prices are going to come down. We all know the answer to that.

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