Just thought it was worth mentioning that today, Jan 4, might be an unprecedented day in Broadway history in that nine shows will play their last performance:

13
Boeing-Boeing
Dividing the Estate
Grease
Hairspray
Liza at the Palace
Slava's Snowshow
White Christmas
Young Frankenstein

Of course four of these - Estate, Liza, Slava, and White Christmas - were limited runs.

"Estate" is probably the one I'm most sad to see go - it's excellent, rewarding theater, though it did have a healthy Off-Broadway run and will play Hartford next.

Also, though they did not report grosses, I'm sure Young Frankenstein did not recoup, though I'm curious about how much money they did lose...

And Spamalot, Gypsy and Spring Awakening all close this weekend -- VERY sad.

What is happening to our beloved Broadway? Do you guys think the industry can rebound from this devastating season of mass closures?

Nearly every show out there is trying to compensate for a drop in attendance by discounting. Even the Disney shows are doing this (buy an adult ticket, get a child one free).

Things are definitely going to get worse before they get better, which will probably mean producers and investors taking less risks. We'll probably see more proven properties like revivals, starting with the upcoming Guys and Dolls (if that's a big hit, combined with the continued success of South Pacific, expect more resurrections) and also then with Manny Azenberg's upcoming Neil Simon revivals.

But eventually things will turn around. It might be slow, and we might have to suffer through a few lean seasons in the meantime. 93-94 and 94-95 were two of the worst seasons in history, and out of that came the "Rent" renaissance.

But Broadway will always be there. All the theaters are protected landmarks.

One thing I truly don't understand is how shows can continue this "premium seating" nonsense and charge those exorbitant prices in this economy.

I had a very difficult time getting tickets in the center orchestra any closer than Row N for the 4 shows I've booked for my 2009 trip. Curiously, though, I managed to get center orchestra, Row E, for "9 to 5" even though they had premium seating. I wondered why they didn't consider Row E to be "premium". I can't figure out the pricing complexities of Broadway.