Broadway: the great American musical

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Sept, 2004 by Michael Kantor

At one point in the series, Hal Prince pro vided very personal insight into a subject that could not be left out of any discussion on the state of musical theater today: the "business" end of "show business." Contemporary big shows are a multimillion dollar gamble. Considering how much is at stake, the art and the business of Broadway is wholly unique. A painting may languish for years in a collection or museum before its full value is appreciated. Even a film that does not do well at the box office can go on to new life via the video rental shelf. For a Broadway show, though, it all comes down to opening night. If the critics and the public love it, it's a hit. If they do not, it goes away fast, investment be damned. Look at the phenomenon of "Cats." which became the longest-running show in Broadway history, with a hit song recorded in dozens of languages. Yet, at the time, everyone thought the producers were crazy. A musical about cats? From a bunch of poems? A "catastrophe" was predicted. Instead, Cats grossed more than $2,000,000,000 worldwide.

That enticing, expensive game of "will it or won't it?" is why, early on, I decided to end the series with a segment on the making of a musical. The show I selected was "Wicked," which was the biggest production of the current season. We followed the cast during rehearsals in New York and out-of-town tryouts in San Francisco, all leading up to the make-or-break opening night. Our job was to take a look at the process of making a show, so if it flopped, it would have been just as interesting, at least from a documentary standpoint. rib everyone's relief, it was a huge success. That portion of the series, I drink, provides a judicious understanding of how art and commerce intersect on Broadway.

There is a small sign tacked to the wall in my office that says: "Some people sit on their butts, Got the dream, yeah, but not the guts." It is a line from "Gypsy," and, for nearly 10 years, it has reminded me that I would need Mama Rose-like ambition to complete this series. I thought this project would take tour years, at most. When I started, I had no children. Now, my wife and I have three. When we filmed "Wicked," the kids saw the show and got to meet the stars backstage. For about a day, I was the greatest dad on the planet. Now, all my wife's relatives have heard about this series, and they call me, figuring I can get tickets to the hottest shows in town. So, if you will excuse me, I have to catch a cab.

Michael Kantor is a writer/director whose credits include the documentaries "The West," "Lindbergh," "Coney Island," and Ric Burns' "New York" series. He wrote and directed "Quincy Jones: In the Pocket" for the American Masters series on PBS, and has created profiles of Arthur Millet and David Mamet for WNET's "Egg: The Arts Show." He is co-author of the companion book for "Broadway: The American Musical" and has written an introduction to the five-CD "Broadway" companion box set.