Broadway Closings!!

I am not a big fan of shows on Broadway, however I was a bit surprise at the huge varieties they had and the choices. Shows like Wicked, The Lion King, Spider-Man; Turn of the Dark, and Chicago, are all the Broadway musicals that I am familiar with and heard good things about. However doing research on the 2011 Broadway shows I became more interested in the shows that were closing. The numbers were unbelievable. From today’s date, shows are closing next week, some in a month, and others were giving two extra months. These shows consist of The Addams Family, Billy Elliot; The Musical, The Mountaintop, and there’s news that the play Bonnie & Clyde might be closing the day it makes its premiere. The list goes on, but listing them would take away the meaning of the blog.

Looking at the reviews of the play’s that were due to close, the prices of the tickets, and the declining interest in theater life is why most shows are being closed.

Reading some of the reviews posted by the New York Times and the actual viewers I saw that the likes and dislikes where kind of around the same numbers. There were some that was fascinated with the show and others were disappointed. But that’s how things like that go. However what I found interesting and the reason that might cause the show to close is critics and reviews. Many people take heed to reviews, if someone sees a show getting bad publicity or reviews they probably feel less obligated to go .Critics use their opinion to persuade others judgment. So the question then would be does criticism actual mean anything to the outcome of a show? I say yes, bad reviews can lead up to bad numbers of box tickets being sold.

Now another factor we can add to the reason shows close is ticket prices. Good seats to a Broadway play would average to about $100-$150. They are not cheap! The way the economy is the $100 ticket could be used for much more. But the people involved in promoting the play knows these things, this is why they sometimes lower the price to make them appeal to more people. They go as low as $50 that’s half price for the original ticket. However, like many people in America the crew putting together the play has bills as well so the cheaper they make the tickets, the less money they are actually making back. This causes them to not be able to hold the space where they are doing the performances, cast has to be laid off, and eventually they must shut down.

With so much technology coming out these days, social networks, and television, the art of theater is just not as interesting to this generation as it was to prior generations. If there is no appreciation for an art and the new millennium kids do not find going to a play something “fun” of course the ticket sales will decline, attendance will decline, and with no tickets being sold and no people coming out to support, this would lead to of course the closing of shows.

I wrote this blog in hopes to inform, but instead I feel like I should close this with a little persuasion. There are cheap tickets online that fit in many people budgets, look some up, get off the computer or off the couch and go visit a show and remember don’t let critics influence your choice.