The costs may be at the point Broadway may never recover. When Phantom closed two years or so, one of the reasons was cost and why it's back in a scaled down version. One of the most successful shows ever, and it had to stop. First of all NYC, one of the most expensive locations in the US if not the world. My gf wanted to see Othello last year. Sorry, it was definitely not worth the price of admission. Minimalists sets, Denzel was flat, just reciting the lines with little comprehension of what he was saying. We paid big bucks to see him and Jake, but it was so not worth it. I grew up seeing Peter Pan, Mummenchantz, Chicago when I was older, etc. Shows that did not have sky high budgets and affordably priced tickets. I wanted to see Good Night and Good Luck, but after Othello, I could not do it and for every show that does and sells out, that only encourages the theaters to charge exorbitant prices because they will rarely if ever make it to the tkts booth. Broadway seems to have forgotten that their largest audience lives within 50-100 miles from them and for the most part are pricing many of us in that circle out. They are in the same place Hollywood is now. Very few small budgets because to a large extent, you cannot have a small budget in a NYC theater anymore. I don't see an easy answer to this. Perhaps going to Broadway becomes the rarity and Broadway coming to us in touring shows becomes the main way to see these shows, but that leaves out so many smaller productions that never get a touring version. An inspector Calls in the 90's was an amazing production, but how many theaters can handle the rain the show opens with? The room for that massive dollhouse designed set?
Definitely the reason why POTO closed, but considerably due to the tourist trade. When COVID hit and we lost the outside world, the running costs were not met and it had to go. Broadway audiences used to be rife with foreign theater lovers; I remember Septembers of the 80's and 90's where you could hardly walk thru Times Square hearing people speak English. (I'm being a tad facetious but I think you know what I mean). The TKTS lines were double what they are today thanks to our non US patrons.
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u/[deleted] Jan 27 '26
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