Broadway Opened 12 Shows in 9 Days. Here’s What That Looked Like.
The New York Times
It’s a challenging time for the theater industry, but each new opening is another reason to pause for a moment and celebrate.
Broadway is in the midst of a rolling celebration — of artistic expression, of audience enthusiasm, of song and dance and storytelling itself.
The overlapping runs constitute a risky bet by producers and investors, who have staked tens of millions of dollars on their ability to sell seats. Even in the best of times, most Broadway shows fail, and these are not the best of times: Production costs have soared, and season-to-date attendance is 18 percent below prepandemic levels.
But the shakeout comes later. First: fanfare and flowers, ovations and optimism.
A revival of a 1975 musical that reimagines “The Wizard of Oz” for an all-Black cast.
Of course “The Wiz” was going to have a yellow carpet. The show’s recurring song is “Ease on Down the Road,” and that road is the yellow brick one — the path to Oz, but also, to self-discovery.
