Broadway and the Economy
New York City is known for their abundance of theatre, culture, and the exciting world of Wall Street. When thinking of the economics of New York, many think of the stock exchange and don't think of the theatre. But in reality Broadway theatre is running New York, while creating jobs, creating money, and its constant production of new shows, it is changing economics around the world. When moving to New York City and trying to find a job, it can be very difficult and quite nerve racking but it is getting increasingly easier because so many jobs are being created. There are so many different aspects of a production that take so many people doing different jobs. From writing the show to producing to opening night, many shows are worked on by close to one thousand people on average before the official opening night. To see the production of “Wicked” at The Gershwin Theatre, it takes 211 people to run each performance; there are eight performances a week! (Contray, “How Many People
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You can have an amazing script and an amazing music score but nothing will come of it unless you have the money. In many situations, a great show never gets to see the light of day for one of many reasons. It could be a lack of funding or no backing behind it, but in all situations, it comes down to the producers. An average Broadway show has around thirteen producers who go out and find investors. They do this by holding events and galas to raise awareness of the show. Shows will smaller budgets like “Book of Mormon” can be funded in months but shows like “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” which had a whopping budget of 79 million dollars, can take years to fund. In most cases, shows with huge budgets won't be able to pay back their investors, but that is the game of investing in a risky business. ("Making a Broadway Musical: Part III."John Kenrick;"How Much Does It Cost to Put on a Broadway Show?" Broadway
essence of New York and all its nuances in the form of terse observations. Whether
And both are oriented to an audience younger than Broadway usually attracts. If both, or either, settle in for a successful run, the door may open for new talent to reinvigorate the once dominant American musical theater. "RENT" so far has the sweet smell of success, marked no only by it's $6 million advance sale (solid, but no guarantee) but also by the swarm of celebrities who have clamored for tickets: Michelle Pfeifer, Sylvester Stallone, Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson, Ralph Fiennes...name your own biggie. Last week, on opening night, 21 TV crews, many from overseas, swarmed the Nederlander Theatre to shoot the 15 youthful cast members in euphoric shock under salvos of cheers.
People have dreams of what they want to do or accomplish in life, but usually musical theatre is just pushed into the non-realistic void. It isn’t a dream for me. In the past four years, musical theatre has been clarified as my reality. Musical theatre has been the only thing I have seen myself wanting to do. My first love was The Phantom of the Opera, seeing how I watched it almost every day and it was one of the first shows I saw. Of course, I started doing all of those cute shows in middle school and making a huge deal about it to my family and friends, but I have never felt so passionate about something. The minute I get up on that stage I throw away Riley for two and a half hours and it’s the most amazing feeling! Being able to tell a story
New Amsterdam became New York and changed hands from the Dutch to the English. But it is not only Dutch place names and styles of architecture scattered across the five boroughs and all of the Empire State that beat witness to this moment in history. The values of openness, tolerance, liberalism and engagement with the world remain the hallmarks of New York, city and state alike. They have made it one of the economic, intellectual and cultural centers of the
He has the commerce of the city in his hands now, and the signs on Broadway make one think of the main street in New
Dumenil, Lynn, ed. "New York City." The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Social History. N.p.: Oxford UP, 2012. Oxford Reference. Web. 8 Apr. 2013.
There are several contextual events which heavily influenced the transformation of New York City’s political system. Many social forces such as “migration of capital, jobs, people . . . [and] technological changes” also heavily contributed to the fiscal crisis during the 1970s (Tabb 324). The exodus of jobs and higher skilled workers coupled with the presence of a large unemployed population in New York City created a declining tax base. Additionally, the general devolution of the federal government interest in local politics and the general shift in considering the urban fiscal crisis as more an individual problem rather than a systemic problem, also mean less funding from the federal government to help balance the city’s budget. During this process, however, the degradation of power and authority was relayed from the federal to state. Cities still remained responsible for the balancing their budget without having much authority (Eisinger 309). With a growing impetus to create a fiscal balance and increased globalization, cities have more heavily relied on the business community to provide
New York City has always been an example of how diversity can exist in a successful and peaceful place. Full of action, enthusiasm, and a combination of many cultures, New York is rich in every sense of the word. For example, taking a walk down the busy streets not only opens your eyes to the small but meaningful details of the city and the different people that revive it but also the numerous worlds that are somehow fused in this magical city, like Little Italy, Chinatown, Little Syria, Korea Town, and many others.
The ingredients that are essential to a hit musical according to, Jack Viertel are the characters, story, and point of view. These are created after starting a play from scratch and creating an outline of where you want the story to go. Finally, the process ends with readings and rewrites to get it just right. Viertel also says that you have a general idea about whether a play will succeed in the first read through if it has these qualities. If it does, then great and if not a decision has to be made on whether it is possible for the play to be successful through additional rewrites to create the essential qualities needed in a hit musical.
When Hudson explored the New World, he recognized that there was a commercial potential of the geography of New York City today. It was described that the “city’s natural setting was a blessing” (Atlas, 10), which tells us that New York City was a perfect place for trading and business. As a result, this could support that the place had its commercial advantages already from the first time when the city was discovered. However, as New York City was able to become the way it is after going through many different events and developments after 1609 until the twentieth century, the characteristic of the city of New York has kept
As in all genres, the musicals have had its share of failures. Some worthy dramas have been pressed into service and musicalized and sometimes butchered in the process, and audiences have had to watch a fine play diluted into a mediocre musical. But the successes have been many and spectacular and they have left a long lasting effect on the American art and culture.
New York City’s population is a little over 8.3 million people. 8.3 million people are spread out among five boroughs and each have their own set routine. Each one of those 8.3 million see New York in a different way becuase “You start building your private New York the first time you lay eyes on it” (“City Limits” 4). Some people are like Colson Whitehead who “was born here and thus ruined for anywhere else” (“City Limits” 3). Others may have “moved here a couple years ago for a job. Maybe [they] came here for school” (“City Limits” 3). Different reasons have brought these people together. They are grouped as New Yorkers, but many times, living in New York is their only bond. With on going changes and never ending commotion, it is hard to define New York and its inhabitants in simple terms.
The 2000s/ 2010s brought in a wave of movie musicals- adapted from the stage shows. These brought new audiences into the theatre world, and for the first time in 20 years, brought a love to some of the timeless musicals. With slightly altered songs to appeal to a newer audience, these films brought in much needed money into the industry, with films including: Les Misérables, Phantom of the Opera, Rent, Hairspray, Mamma Mia, Fame- and many more. Together with this, musicals began to push the concept of the songs in them, with a wave of new styles being written. Rap musicals such as ‘Hamilton’ and ‘In The Heights’, Pop musicals including ‘Waitress’ and ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ and Rock musicals of ‘American Idiot’ and ‘Spring Awakening’. Together they pushed boundaries of a ‘traditional’ musical theatre sound, and brought in something never before seen. Due to the influence of ‘Rent’, controversial issues and themes began to be explored more, such as Teen suicide, Murder, Ethnic barriers and everything else, which brought with them, a world of opportunities. It was clear that musical theatre was once again showing for a promising
When you associate anything with New York City it is usually the extraordinary buildings that pierce the sky or the congested sidewalks with people desperate to shop in the famous stores in which celebrities dwell. Even with my short visit there I found myself lost within the Big Apple. The voices of the never-ending attractions call out and envelop you in their awe. The streets are filled with an atmosphere that is like a young child on a shopping spree in a candy store. Although your feet swelter from the continuous walking, you find yourself pressing on with the yearning to discover the 'New York Experience'.
Throughout the late nineteen twenties and early nineteen thirties a significant development in the world of theater began. This movement was called The Workers' Theatre and it was partially shaped by the agitprop theatre of communist Russia. Agitprop theatre contained brief bits and were performed on transportable entities of theater. Agitprop Theater performers frequently performed songs which strained to enrage listeners to resist entrepreneurship and acknowledge the ways of communism. They wanted their audience to consent to the notion that the working-class would arise. The Russian Communist agitprop theatre correspondingly utilized presentations, presentational performing, lack of plot, and montages to promote their philosophies. Ultimately, The Worker’s Theatre weakened in significance during the mid-nineteen thirties and one of the developments assisting the deterioration of the Workers' Theatre Movement through use of various approaches and dramaturgical tools originated by The Worker’s Theatre was the establishment of the Federal Theatre Project. As soon as the government acquired the role of positioning individuals to produce theatre, the government had the capability to incorporate the advance. The Federal Theatre Project tried to give jobless theater personal work because trendy radio shows and films with sound had nearly substituted vaudeville as America's preferred practices of performing, and many of even the best vaudevillians lost their jobs. The Federal Theatre Project also attempted to perform theatre which was pertinent within society and politics, was local, and had an affordable price range. A majority of The Federal Theatre Project’s well known work was produced in New York City. The New York Branch containe...