It was the Tony Awards last night. A night where musical theatre gets to flaunt its peacock plumage on national television. An award ceremony where they wheel out Liza, rap their acceptance speeches (ok Lin-Manuel Miranda didn't rap, but he got as close as you're going to see on a Tony stage) and generally get to flaunt their 'same sex significant others' to the horror of gun owin' 'Mericans across the square states.
Camp as Christmas at Dollywood it was quite the show - but you have to ask... just who goes to Broadway these days. Sure the tourists whose pounds and Euros make $120 ticket prices seem reasonable; and young girls looking for a fix of glam' and something familiar (Legally Blonde anyone?) sent to Broadway by parents keen to keep them out of Bungalow 8 and off Page Six (parents don't know that Bungalow 8 is about as hip as LiLo these days)
I'm all for good theater - but what we have in New York is neither good nor affordable. It's expensive mediocrity peppered with celebrity names and / or pre-production recognition (revivals and movies) that seem to substitute energy for talent.
I sound like a dipped in vinegar theatre queen I know... but is it too much to ask for a Broadway show that's new, thoughtful, well acted and affordably priced? Or am I going to have to risk the freakshow tombola that is off-off-Broadway forever?
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