Extreme Makeover: Broadway Edition (Part 2)

So I had a conversation with my husband a few months ago that went a little something like this:

Me: You know what would be a really cool idea for a musical?

Chad: <rolling eyes> Here we go again…

Me: What if there was some kind of show that changed every time you saw it?
Chad: What do you mean?
Me: Like the ending changed or certain things in the show changed. So someone who saw the show one night would have a completely different experience than someone who saw it a different night.

Chad: Ok, that’s actually a decent idea.

Me: I mean, can you imagine the buzz this would generate? Not only would people want to know what happened in the show when others saw it, but some people would probably go to see the show a second (or even third or fourth) time.

And then I think he tuned me out while I rambled for another hour or so about the possibilities this idea could lead to and how it could actually work.

In my introductory Extreme Makeover: Broadway Edition post, I talked about the trend of Broadway shows closing, and how I feel like Broadway needs to make some changes to prevent this from happening. This trend has continued over the past weeks with the closing announcements of quality shows like Once and Pippin. And I think the conversation I had with my husband is a perfect example of one of the changes Broadway could make to keep shows around a little bit longer.

Once will play its last show on Broadway on January 4, 2015.

Sadly, good quality just isn’t enough to keep a show running anymore. Sure there are exceptions, like Wicked or The Lion King, but for the most part, a Broadway show is lucky if it makes it past a year or two on Broadway. This year's Tony-hopeful Holler if Ya Hear Me only lasted six weeks on Broadway before closing. SIX WEEKS! I realize that there are a limited number of theatres on Broadway, and one show needs to close in order for another to open. But six weeks (or even 1-2 years) is just too short of a run.

I've always felt like theatre should be more than a show. It should be an experience. The better the experience, the more successful the show. Shows like Cats and Les Misérables provided enough of an experience to keep the last generation of theatre-goers going to see them year after year, but today’s generation of theatre-goers want more. Maybe "more" isn't the right word to use; maybe "different" would be better. Either way, Broadway just isn't catching on to this. Flawless voices, moving music, a hot celebrity leading the opening cast for a month or two, and a few martinis with the right people will get a show to Broadway, but keeping it there now takes a more modern approach.

I’ve seen a few theatres testing out more modern approaches, and I like what I'm seeing. For example, London-based Punchdrunk's Sleep No More has been around for a while now. In this immersive theatre experience, audience members freely move through different rooms, going on a unique journey based on Shakespeare's Macbeth. And a new production called Blank! The Musical recently opened off-Broadway, where the audience chooses the plot by voting on their smartphones.

Now Broadway just needs to catch on to this trend. Call it what you want: immersive theatre, interactive theatre, modern theatre. Whatever you decide to call it, I think it's a huge -- and necessary -- step in the theatre world. In order to succeed, a show still needs a solid base of talent, of course. But adding some kind of interactive element to a show really brings it to a new level...a level that Broadway needs to find.