Summer on Broadway: The Musical is King

Summer on Broadway: The Musical is King | reviews, news & interviews

Summer on Broadway: The Musical is King

Three Broadway musicals range from the inane to the intense

by Matt WolfSaturday, 05 September 2009

A funny thing happened to the Broadway theatre as the summer drew to a close: every single play except one (The 39 Steps) closed in relatively quick succession, as if to remind showgoers that in New York's main commercial thoroughfare, the musical is king.

Explore topics

Features

Share this article

The future of Arts Journalism

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

Help to give theartsdesk a future! Support our GoFundMe appeal

Festen, Royal Opera review - firing on every front No slack in Mark-Anthony Turnage's operatic treatment of the visceral first Dogme film

Northern Winter Beat 2025, Aalborg review - The Courettes, Dungen and Lubomyr Melnyk confront ideas of how to play Danish city hosts the festival imbued with a cool which doesn’t need expressing

Album: Manic Street Preachers - Critical Thinking Lots of words but not so many catchy songs

theartsdesk Q&A: Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof on 'The Seed of the Sacred Fig' - 'It became a question of self-respect' The exiled filmmaker on authoritarian minds, reluctant radicalism and Iran's future

Gilliver, Liverman, Rangwanasha, LSO, Pappano, Barbican review - a rainbow of British music Poetic Maconchy and Walton, surging Vaughan Williams bursting its confines

Bowling For Soup, Civic Hall, Wolverhampton review - nostalgic, celebratory fun Texan pop-punk legends filled the sold-out Civic Hall with pure joy

Philip Marsden: Under a Metal Sky review - rock and awe Myths, mines, and mankind combine in this wide-eyed reading of the earth beneath our feet

Blu-ray: High and Low Akira Kurosawa’s multi-layered Japanese noir, brilliantly plotted

The Years, Harold Pinter Theatre review - a bravura, joyous feat of storytelling The Almeida’s all-women hit transfers to the West End

Nina Conti: Whose Face Is It Anyway?, Brighton Dome review - a melee of jubilant spontaneity The ventriloquist-comedian's improvised hour-long outing is skilful and fabulously entertaining

Braimah Kanneh-Mason, Fernandes, Gent, 229 review - a beguiling trip around the world Engagingly humble and empathetic work from three talented musicians

Follow @theartsdesk