New York City – A hub of world-class performers all battling it out to land a gig on the world famous Broadway stage. The Big Apple is a place where anyone can achieve their dreams; it’s the land of opportunity. But recently Broadway has been slowly dimming the lights on fresh faces and turning their attention to those with namesake. To truly understand the reasons behind this we need to first understand Broadway began.
Broadway began in 1750 with the opening of a theatre company run by Thomas Kean and Walter Murray . The company was then expanded after the Revolutionary War into the Park Theatre which held over 2,000 patrons. Shakespearean plays were the most prominently performed during this time period. And following the theatre great success many more theatre started to pop up all over the city. Shows now expanded from straight plays to Operas and the first ever musical The Elves was produced. Jumping to the 19th Century patrons mainly saw “Princess Theatre” shows – which brought with them the iconic electric signs we see today. Thus, “The Great White Way” was born.
Broadway at its start
These shining lights would prove to be a cultural phenomenon as people clamored their way to sing and dance under their illumination. Stars like Hugh Jackman, Julie Andrews, Kristen Bell, Viola Davis, Barbra Streisand just to name a few all began their careers performing under the white lights. Shows like A Chorus Line, Rent, and Chicago have all swept the nation for their innovation and storytelling. All performed by fresh new actors who were living their biggest dreams in the big apple. While shows like these gave many world-renowned stars their big breaks. A shift has occurred, what once was “The Great White Way” of opportunity and beginnings has now turned into a place of bland casting and repetition.
Broadway has since dimmed from the Golden Age. Now it is a rarity for any new completely original show to be put in production. The 2019 Tony Awards only provided two completely original new musicals with the of the 11 available for nomination that year. Hadestown and The Prom, with Hadestown sweeping with 8 awards. Both of these Musicals were new, innovative, and discussed topics pressing to today’s society. Similar to that of the three Musicals listed in the previous paragraph. This innovation is a rarity. Why? It simply doesn’t sell. People have increasingly wanted to see something familiar on the stage. Tootsie and Beetlejuice being the most recent example. Although both absolutely spectacular shows the story and concept is completely derived from a movie. It’s nothing unique to broadway. And offers actors no real opportunity to stretch the limits of character development. That being said Broadway had its highest grossing year to date raking in just shy of $1.8 Billion. This record breaking year only further digs Broadway into doing what’s best for money and not for art.
Hadestown The Prom
This digging is also prominently portrayed in broadway’s lack of tact in casting. People train for years to able to perform on these stages, but casting directors simply go with less talented “famous” counterparts. A few examples: Dove Cameron was cast as Clara in Light at the Piazza alongside broadway veterans Renee Fleming and Brian Stokes Mitchell. Dove Cameron has no true classical vocal training, but was simply cast as a marketing strategy. Similarly, Cameron Dallas of YouTube fame will be taking over the role of Aaron Samuels in the wildly successful Mean Girls musical. Again, a non-singer entering a world of renowned performers and taking opportunities away from those who I trained all their lives to step into a coveted role such as that. In fact, many of the actors who got their start on broadway (listed above) also prove as examples of this major issue. Most recently Hugh Jackman as Harold Hill in The Music Man.
Name-fame is great for the people at the top. Yes, it makes money. Yes, tickets will sell. But what happens next, what happens when the stars move on to the next project? Will The Music Man still sell without Hugh Jackman leading its charge? The simple answer is no – once these stars are gone people’s connections with the shows are lost. They have mended the star and the show and can’t see it any other way. It’s time to revive the revival. It’s time to bring back new faces to the world. Let new voices be heard, and let the stories speak for themselves.
Daily Dawson 