Sad article in the Post the other day about how the economy is affecting Broadway. A whole bunch of shows are closing in early 2009--Hairspray, Spamalot, Spring Awakening, Boeing Boeing, Gypsy, Grease. Now, Hairspray had a good run; it's been around 6 years. A bunch of the others were in the 1- to 2-year range. It's interesting, though, that we now expect shows to run forever (e.g., Cats: "Now and Forever"), whereas before, it was respectable for a show to only run for a couple years. Now that seems like a fairly short run.
The problem, of course, is the economy, and the fact that Broadway relies heavily on tourists for its audience. The happy flip side to this is that Washington theater doesn't rely on tourism, and business around here has been pretty steady. The run of West Side Story currently at the National--before it goes to Broadway, actually--is selling well. (And it's cool that they're doing it here, because WSS played DC before it originally opened in New York.)
I do wish I could get up to New York more and see shows there. But it is a hassle, and an expensive one to boot. And with the DC theater scene so dynamic, at times it seems silly to go up there when there's so much here to see.
One thing that particularly jumped out at me in the article was that Avenue Q has one of the lowest running costs of a Broadway show--about $250K a week. Dang.
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Part of the problem, in my opinion, is that Broadway ticket prices are such that most 'locals' (those of us who live within an hour or so of Manhattan and love the theater) have been priced out of the market. 10 years ago, you could get really good seats (center Orchestra, 6-10 rows from the stage) for $60-70 each. Now, you're looking at upwards of $150 - more if you want an aisle seat. I don't know who's to blame for this (the unions, the producers, the theater owners...there's plenty of blame to go around), but the net result is that Broadway became overly reliant on the out-of-town traffic for survival. The side effect, particularly for musicals, is exactly what you noted - where a 6-month run was considered a success before, producers increasingly need a run of multiple years to clear expenses and be considered a 'hit'.
Another, more dramatic side effect is that the truly original, exciting new work is never making it to wide exposure because of the implied risk. As much as I loved (and I mean LOVED) "[title of show]", I was astounded that it transferred from off-broadway because it was just so...different from all of the Disney, catalog, and converted-movie musicals running now (read: Little Mermaid, Jersey Boys, and Xanadu, respectively). Ironically, [tos] could have run for a decade off-broadway, but only lasted 6 months after its transfer.
Heck, I remember in high school going to shows and getting the cheap seats for $15 a pop. The most expensive seats were $65. I think now $65 is the cheapest, if available at all.
Most shows at the bigger theaters in DC (Kennedy Center, National) have limited seats for $25, and I've managed to suss out the discount places so I can indulge my theater cravings fairly reasonably.
Geez, at those prices, it's almost cheaper for me to take Amtrak down to DC to go to the theater!
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