Last May, my senior class went on a trip to New York City to celebrate our graduation. I had been looking forward to this trip for months and went into an even greater shock when I discovered that we were going to being seeing a Broadway show. An actual Broadway show in New York City. Being the only Thespian in my class, I was excited to the point of annoyance, I'm sure. When the day finally came and I walked out of Laguardia airport onto the rainy streets of NYC, my ever-growing excitement swelled to a head. On the third night of our trip, our group, decked out in our finest attire, made the trek of about 5 blocks to the Gershwin Theater to see Wicked, the untold story of the Wicked Witch of the West. I sat there, completely and utterly amazed and enthralled at the greatness that was being played out before me. The show was so magical and the storyline seemed to pull you into the conflict that was happening of stage. During intermission, my friends joked with me saying, "Hey, Shelby. One day we'll see you up there." They all made plans to come see me and told me not to forget them when I "made it big". As a general opinion of the group, that night was the best part of the entire trip; even the "non-theatre lovers" of the group agreed with this statement. Of course, I could have left New York that night completely happy with my experience, even though I had three more days left of the trip. To be a part of the biggest money making industry in The Big Apple is the dream of any Thespian who strives to achieve in their craft.
New York City is known for it's glamorous city lights and lifestyles. Most people move there with the intent to do something significant with their lives. This is a popular idea because of it's reputation for high power industry; the "Go Big Or Go Home" mentality. With this in mind, one will notice that this applies to everything in New York City, from the towering skyscrapers of businesses, such as The Empire State Building and The Chrysler Building, to the gleaming lights of Times Square, which cuts right through the heart of the Theatre District. With 38 Broadway theaters located between 41st and 53rd Streets, about 50 smaller off-Broadway and 200 even smaller off-off-Broadway theaters all scattered throughout Manhattan, millions of dollars are pouring in weekly as the popularity of the shows go up. http://www.usatourist.com/english/destinations/newyork/newyorkcity/new-york-city-broadway.html For example, the show that I saw, Wicked, has been on Broadway since 2003 and is currently still running on. Each week, it grosses over 1 million dollars every week and has a 97.62% gross rate. According to 2broadwayworld.com, for the week of May 16, 2010, Wicked grossed $1,549,754 and has made a total of $82,893,687 since January 3, 2010. Now add this total to the weekly grosses of the 37 other Broadway theatres, the 50 off-Broadway theatres, and the 200 off-off-Broadway theatres who have shows going on at the same time and you have over $398.5 million. http://www2.broadwayworld.com/grossesshow.cfm?show=WICKED&year=2010 That is after just one week of shows. That should cover maybe a fourth of the combined light bill of all of the theaters.
What peaked my interest in Broadway and it's shows was the way that each theater advertises. To put their shows out into the public, to bring in revenue, they put posters on any and everything around the city. Times Square is a great example of this method of advertisement. Gigantic posters of the shows that are playing at the time are placed over the windows of the buildings lining the street, particularly the ones on the corners. One of the more amusing ways that is common is putting them on the double-decker buses that circle Manhattan. This way, the entire borough knows about the show. Although these ways are very effective advertising methods, the most effective way is the use of the media. To advertise an upcoming show, a company will put out what is called a preview. This can be a mini version of the show done by the cast in the actual theater that people can pay to see or a video of highlights and music from the show that is put out on the Internet for the entire world to see. Here is a video of the preview for the show The Addams Family that opened on April 8th, 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1CT4SR6cFM With all of these methods, Broadway brings in audiences from all over the world, making it one of the big money making industries in the States; blinding everyone with the light and splendor that radiates from the stars that it showcases to the world.
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