Broadway in Free Fall: January Delivers 13 Shows to Oblivion

The slated closing of thirteen shows along the Great White Way in the month of January has even New York Times theatre critic Charles Isherwood breathlessly astonished -- "incredible." Reports he, erroring away in disaster story mode, the staggering number amounts to "almost half" of the current lineup. In fact, 13 is not a half of 42.

Still, it marks a dramatic drop. Fans without agendas will rue. The envious will cheer. Tough town. Tough stages to tackle.

This has not been a good season. Included among the departing are a pair of longer-term survivals, Hairspray and Spamalot. The others are: All My Sons, Boeing-Boeing, Dividing the Estate, Grease, Gypsy, Irving Berlin's White Christmas, Liza's at the Palace, The Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein, Slava's Snowshow, Spring Awakening, and 13.

This surprised even me, for I did not see quite such wide-spread failure among the active productions on the boards.

I note with vicarious pride and pleasure that South Pacific, in revival, continues to thrive among the top three shows in ticket sales.