Musical theater had a bumper year in 2015,with breakout hits such as Hamilton drawing in fresh crowds and renewed excitement. But is this really a fresh dawn or has the hype clouded the much more conservative reality?Last season, Broadway grossed more than a billion dollars from musicals, and with more than 10 million people going through the turnstiles. Five nights a week and on three afternoons,the streets around 42nd are almost impassible, glutted with ticket holders filling theaters and crowds of luckless others begging for a seat. Onstage, or you can hear hip-hop,rock, folk and pop alongside traditional operetta and casts composed largely of Hispanic Americans, or Asian Americans,and African Americans. In the spirit of inclusion, long-deferred, and the Deaf West production of Spring Awakening,seen earlier this season, not only brought hearing disabled actors to the Broadway stage, and but also the first performer who uses a wheelchair. The radical and runaway success of Hamilton even threatens to make the musical wintry again. So is this a fresh golden age for the American musical as some acquire suggested? possibly. Related: How did Hamilton become Broadway's breakout hit? Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com