Broadway, to its peril, has increasingly gone the way of the movies: it has become a business of megahits and instant flops, of shows that either stake a claim on immortality ("Now and forever" the Cats slogan boasts) or die within days. It costs so much to keep a play running--from $80,000 to $150,000 a week, not counting TV advertising--that unless the reviews are raves or a large advance sale provides a cushion, skittish investors often decide to cut their losses by closing worthy shows right away rather than struggling to survive and recoup. One sad measure of that impulse came...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
