The Issue
What was once known as the People’s Art is now pricing tickets at an average of $128.50. Despite the popularity of Broadway and the culture surrounding it, musicals seem to be closing left and right; only a few have been left as staples on the Great White Way. Because it has become so expensive to enjoy a show, the fans of the art have often resorted to bootlegs and cast recordings. Additionally, there seems to be an issue with the quality and audience perception of shows. Many shows have found this to be a big problem, receiving poor reviews and in some cases, just outright closing.
The Shows
Among the shows being hit by the slump in Broadway this year, is the recent revival of “Cabaret.” It will be closing in March of 2025, despite producers and investors expecting it to be a long-running show. They even gutted the theater to rebuild the “Kit Kat club” for the show. The short run of the show will be a loss in finances for everyone involved in the project. This came as a surprise to many due to the musical often being regarded as a “cult classic” among theater fans. Despite this surprise in such an early closing date to what audiences expected, the show has been very well received by both critics and casual viewers.
Another show that didn’t do well this Broadway season was “Tammy Faye.” The show originally opened in London at the West End and received relatively good reviews during its two-month run. Later the show would be moved to Broadway, which was the moment when things started to turn south. The show’s closing date, Dec. 8, was announced less than a week after its opening. Despite having an extremely talented cast, this was the first big indication of how the show would perform. The show received mixed reviews, but one of the biggest issues was its audience. The humor of the show was well received in England but in New York, it failed to find its audience, and this eventually led to its end.
The last of the shows to receive backlash or unexpected reviews is “Romeo and Juliet,” starring Kit Conner and Rachel Zegler. The show started strong, gaining popularity among younger audiences. However in its recent run on Broadway, many have found an issue with the understudies of the main cast. In the past few weeks, there has been an increase in reports of understudies coming onstage with scripts in hand or not having the lines memorized for the show. More worryingly, some have reported songs being cut from the show to accommodate the understudies.
Rising Prices
According to Playbill, in 2000 the average price of a Broadway ticket was about $56; this amounts to nearly $100 today. In just 25 years, the price of a show ticket has gone up to about 3 times that. With these rises in cost, many theater fans aren’t able to afford tickets for friends and family to support their favorite actors and the arts. People are upset about the ever-rising cost of tickets as Broadway is becoming less and less affordable. These rises in prices can be attributed to many things: greater demands in special effects, inflation, and stunt casting (castings with celebrity/semi-celebrity level actors).
Silver Linings
Despite all this negativity, there is still hope for future Broadway seasons as more news and reviews come out about this season’s shows. For example, many newer shows have now earned a million dollars at the box office, the most notable of which is the musical adaptation of “The Great Gatsby.” This is a big accomplishment considering the show came to Broadway in April of last year, thus showing off the success of the musical.
Expectations
When it comes to Broadway, the theater community is hopeful that these slight lulls are just a bump in the road and that Broadway will take off again soon. But no one can be certain as to when that time will come. Will Broadway tickets ever lower in price, will there be another show-stopping performance that wows audiences, or will we get another Broadway staple like “Hamilton” or “Wicked?” Audiences are hopeful to see how the upcoming Broadway season turns out.
