Word: broadwayize
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First, drivers might consciously take a moment to look in the immediate path of their cars. Syndrome sufferers often find it irresistible to talk on their cell phones, munch on a sandwich from Whole Foods, or read the Communist Manifesto while tearing up Broadway at 40 miles per hour. I beg of you—fight the urge, lest you end up sending the next Karl Marx to University Health Services. Yes, it may be expected that we walkers look both ways before we cross, but the maddening preponderance of one-way streets in this city has lulled us into...
...girl appeal, however, is something of a sore subject for the producers of Wicked. They commissioned an audience survey that found the demographic breakdown of people who see Wicked is in line with that of most Broadway shows: more of its audience is over 35 than under 35. "Yes, girls come. They're enthusiastic. They're at the stage door," says David Stone, one of the show's producers. "But they're not all that's coming...
...have a point--and not just because she's my niece. Wicked has tapped into a theme that seems to crop up in a lot of Broadway shows these days: stories of misfits or underdogs who prove their worth in spite of the odds. Hairspray revolves around a zaftig high school dance whiz who fights for racial integration and fat-girl power in 1962 Baltimore. The Color Purple, the Oprah-produced musicalization of Alice Walker's novel, is the uplifting story of an African-American girl's journey from abused teen to empowered adult. The action hero...
...Broadway is getting shrewder about courting all kids, but particularly girls. Stars from American Idol have turned up in Broadway musicals--Frenchie Davis in Rent, Diana DeGarmo in Hairspray and Fantasia Barrino in The Color Purple (since she joined the cast, the show has set a house attendance record). Disney--which introduced a new family audience to the theater with shows like The Lion King--will soon bring The Little Mermaid to the stage. And coming next season to London: a musical version of Desperately Seeking Susan, the 1985 movie about a housewife who's sucked into the punk underworld...
...course, Broadway musicals, from The King and I to Annie, have long been partial to girl-centered stories. More than 62% of the Broadway audience is made up of women, and they tend to make the decisions about what the whole family sees. And while shows like The Lion King may be fine for the littlest theatergoers, older girls tend to prefer hipper role models--like Elle and Elphaba...