The list of truly original musicals, stories that don't pull from already created and published source material, that are currently on Broadway could be counted on two hands. “Hamilton,” “Come From Away,” “Dear Evan Hansen,” “The Book of Mormon,” and “Chicago” and “Oklahoma” if we ́re counting revivals and…that's it.
Maybe a few more if you want to count jukebox musicals, but even then, that makes eight, meaning that fourteen out of the twenty-one shows running are based off of already-created stories. Compared to 1979, where 21 out of 23 musicals that opened were original, the list of original shows opening has been dwindling ever since.
This is not necessarily a bad thing; this past season has the best attendance in history, with 14.77 million people seeing a Broadway show and making more than $1.83 billion.
What this does mean, however, is that Broadway is changing. The shifting demographic of viewers defines the shows that are being written. With Mean Girls and Spongebob being produced and attended last season and Phantom of the Opera being Broadway's longest-running show, the survival of original musicals in a climate that is filled with big-named, flashy musicals is being called into question.
Take 2018 ́s notable flop ¨Getting the Band Back Together ̈. The show was marketed as the original show of the season, but closed after only 40 performances, compared to Broadway’s sweetheart Phantom of the Opera, which has had more than 10,000 performances over 32 years. Now, Phantom opened to rave reviews while Band opened to mixed, mostly negative reviews, but would the critics have enjoyed it more if it was a movie or a hot commodity? Signs point to yes.
Shows like “Wicked,” “Phantom,” “Les Miserables,” and even the new Broadway hit Hadestown, all based off of published source material, dazzle and shine because of the great reviews these productions received. Without a doubt, these shows all deserve the recognition because they are masterpieces, but nonetheless strived because of their original source material. It is significantly easier to create additions to published stories than to write something wholly original.
After all, original musicals like “Getting the Band Back Together” come under fire most frequently because of their scattered plots.
Can original musicals catch up to the flashy lights of a blockbuster hit? Theatregoers seem to think so, but it's not so black and white.
¨It ́s not impossible for original musicals to catch up, ̈ says freshman Reagan Meguiar. ̈it's just really difficult. You have to be on another level of amazing.̈
Sophomore Ashtyn Browning believes the same. ̈If the quality is amazing, it shouldn't matter,” she said.
Shows like “Hamilton” and “Dear Evan Hansen” have proven they deserve a place on the Great White Way. But because of movies ́ cult following, Meguiar says, original shows ̈ couldn't catch up because musicals that are based off of movies already start ahead ̈. One of the reasons shows like “Beetlejuice” are so successful is because of the following behind their source material. It attracts people to the Broadway stage, and we can see that with the number of people seeing shows skyrocketing in the past three years. Now, we see people who have never thought about seeing a show going to New York just to see their favorite musical on the stage.
Exposing people to a different way of storytelling is fantastic, but what about the lesser known shows struggling to survive in this movie to stage cycle? Shows like “Be More Chill,” “Head Over Heels,” and “The Prom” closed after losing millions of dollars. This shows where the loyalties of audiences and producers lies, and that is terrifying for the future of musical theatre.
Maybe a few more if you want to count jukebox musicals, but even then, that makes eight, meaning that fourteen out of the twenty-one shows running are based off of already-created stories. Compared to 1979, where 21 out of 23 musicals that opened were original, the list of original shows opening has been dwindling ever since.
This is not necessarily a bad thing; this past season has the best attendance in history, with 14.77 million people seeing a Broadway show and making more than $1.83 billion.
What this does mean, however, is that Broadway is changing. The shifting demographic of viewers defines the shows that are being written. With Mean Girls and Spongebob being produced and attended last season and Phantom of the Opera being Broadway's longest-running show, the survival of original musicals in a climate that is filled with big-named, flashy musicals is being called into question.
Take 2018 ́s notable flop ¨Getting the Band Back Together ̈. The show was marketed as the original show of the season, but closed after only 40 performances, compared to Broadway’s sweetheart Phantom of the Opera, which has had more than 10,000 performances over 32 years. Now, Phantom opened to rave reviews while Band opened to mixed, mostly negative reviews, but would the critics have enjoyed it more if it was a movie or a hot commodity? Signs point to yes.
Shows like “Wicked,” “Phantom,” “Les Miserables,” and even the new Broadway hit Hadestown, all based off of published source material, dazzle and shine because of the great reviews these productions received. Without a doubt, these shows all deserve the recognition because they are masterpieces, but nonetheless strived because of their original source material. It is significantly easier to create additions to published stories than to write something wholly original.
After all, original musicals like “Getting the Band Back Together” come under fire most frequently because of their scattered plots.
Can original musicals catch up to the flashy lights of a blockbuster hit? Theatregoers seem to think so, but it's not so black and white.
¨It ́s not impossible for original musicals to catch up, ̈ says freshman Reagan Meguiar. ̈it's just really difficult. You have to be on another level of amazing.̈
Sophomore Ashtyn Browning believes the same. ̈If the quality is amazing, it shouldn't matter,” she said.
Shows like “Hamilton” and “Dear Evan Hansen” have proven they deserve a place on the Great White Way. But because of movies ́ cult following, Meguiar says, original shows ̈ couldn't catch up because musicals that are based off of movies already start ahead ̈. One of the reasons shows like “Beetlejuice” are so successful is because of the following behind their source material. It attracts people to the Broadway stage, and we can see that with the number of people seeing shows skyrocketing in the past three years. Now, we see people who have never thought about seeing a show going to New York just to see their favorite musical on the stage.
Exposing people to a different way of storytelling is fantastic, but what about the lesser known shows struggling to survive in this movie to stage cycle? Shows like “Be More Chill,” “Head Over Heels,” and “The Prom” closed after losing millions of dollars. This shows where the loyalties of audiences and producers lies, and that is terrifying for the future of musical theatre.
By Ian Tweedy