Andrew Lloyd Webber warns of Broadway crisis
The legendary composer says soaring production costs are making new musicals financially unsustainable and fears more Broadway theatres could go dark.
Daily TribuneThe legendary composer says soaring production costs are making new musicals financially unsustainable and fears more Broadway theatres could go dark.
Andrew Lloyd Webber/Facebook
Andrew Lloyd Webber, one of the most influential figures in musical theatre and the creator of global hits such as The Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar and Sunset Boulevard, has issued a stark warning that Broadway is facing a crisis that could jeopardize its future.
In a statement posted on Facebook on 15 July, the legendary British composer said he had dreamed of writing musicals since childhood and recalled that “Broadway meant musicals” to him even as a young boy in Britain.
“The first of my musicals to be staged was on Broadway, Jesus Christ Superstar in 1971. I premiered School of Rock on Broadway. In short, I love Broadway,” he wrote.
Webber said watching the current state of Broadway “breaks my heart,” echoing the late producer and director Hal Prince, who once told him it had become “impossible for new or daring work to be originated on Broadway anymore.”
“The truth is that, for any show, it makes practically no financial sense to come to Broadway with things as they are,” Webber said.
He questioned whether a groundbreaking musical like West Side Story could even debut on Broadway today, arguing that its large cast, orchestra and production costs would make it financially unviable.
According to Webber, creators, writers and directors are increasingly forced to accept minimal royalties or fixed weekly fees, making it “impossible for young creatives to make a living from theatre alone.” He added that even investors are fortunate if they recover only part of their investment.
While acknowledging that long-running blockbuster productions remain profitable, Webber warned that “Broadway can’t survive because of three old shows.”
“As someone who is still as in love with Broadway as I was when I was a teenager, I beg the theatre owners, unions and producers to come together urgently to address what is a crisis coming to a head,” he said.
He ended with his strongest warning yet: “Broadway is in dire danger of rivalling Hollywood’s empty soundstages with increasingly dark theatres.”
