Review - Letting Broadway's Freak Flag Fly

What was that song they sang at last year's Tony Awards? Something about letting your freak flag fly? Something about never hesitating to yell out, "Hey world, I'm different and here I am?"

Broadway fans know what that song's all about. We're the ones who get confused looks from others as they examine our iPod lists. They're dumbfounded when we excitedly talk about the all-star lineup of theatre performers at a charity concert and they've never heard of any of them. They don't understand why we'd pay so much to see some seventy-five year old guy with a name that sounds like chocolate syrup in an eighty-five year old play. They think it's bizarre when we firmly correct them for calling a cast album a soundtrack or get upset over imperfect rhyming.

Of course, we're the first ones they run to when they need to know how to get tickets to see (fill in the name of famous person with little or no professional stage credits) starring as (fill in the name of role said famous person proves to be not prepared to adequately play) in (fill in title of play or musical that many claim would never be revived on Broadway without that famous person who gives that less than adequate performance).

It wasn't always like that. In the early decades of the previous century, it was Broadway that gave the rest of the country the bulk of its popular music; unlike this past season where popular music gave Broadway the bulk of its scores. Broadway gave Hollywood the plays and musicals that would be adapted for the first big wave of talking pictures; another trend that has been significantly reversed. But what truly made the goings-on of that comparatively tiny patch of Times Square real estate an everyday part of the national culture was the post-war popularity of television. With many variety programs, game shows and talk shows broadcasting out of New York, Broadway personalities were showing up regularly in America's living rooms. And most importantly, they were being presented to the country as people who work on Broadway. On Sunday nights Ed Sullivan would not only give the latest musicals a chance to do a number or two, he'd often provide time to include the book scenes leading up to the songs, allowing people to really identify them as theatre pieces. Stage personalities would spend late nights talking theatre with Jack Paar or Steve Allen and stars of upcoming Broadway entries would promote their shows by appearing as the mystery guest on What's My Line? Americans who never set foot in New York were being entertained by the likes of Noel Coward, Rodgers and Hammerstein and the entire original cast of Peter Pan. Those who did venture forth were excited to see live performances by their favorites that they saw on their television screens.

People still come to Broadway excited to see performances by their favorites they saw on their television screens. Movie screens, too. But more and more, with television having eventually gone the way of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Broadway has become known for importing its talent. Of course, I'm sure nobody objects to having a trained and experienced stage actor, who just happened to have become nationally famous through television, film or the music industry, come to town now and then, causing traffic jams and mobs of autograph seekers while giving a finely realized performance. Yes, that's pretty great for Broadway.

But what's also pretty great for Broadway is the dazzling array of talent that constitutes the current crop of singers, dancers and actors that are not only frequent faces on the street, but who can regularly be seen Off-Broadway, at special theatre-related concerts, free outdoor Broadway events and on our cabaret stages. I don't want this column to be about specific people, so I'm not going to name names, but I'm sure that anyone who attends New York theatre with any regularity can name plenty of performers who are complete unknowns to the rest of the country, but in their minds are major Broadway stars.

I will name one name, though; Hunter Foster, who certainly has the talent, experience and (among New York's theatre-goers) enough of a recognizable name to be considered one of today's Broadway stars. And yet I'm sure Hunter Foster can ride the subway to his job at Million Dollar Quartet without anyone else on the train knowing who he is, for the simple fact that nobody becomes famous entertaining only one or two thousand people a day. I think I'd be safe in assuming that, after taking their bows in front of wildly cheering crowds and spending time afterwards signing autographs at the stage door, the large majority of people currently playing leading roles on Broadway can go about the rest of their evenings anonymously blending in with the rest of the city while obsessed fans spend the late hours discussing their performances on theatre chat boards. I'm sure it's wonderful to have the talent and training necessary to make a living on the stage, but an actor's name doesn't sell enough tickets to turn a profit without some kind of national exposure.

These days Broadway's national exposure is pretty much limited to the annual telecast of the Tony Awards, presented by The Broadway League, the national trade association for the commercial theatre industry, and the American Theatre Wing, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting live theatre around the country. Both organizations are filled with people who are passionate about theatre and who want what's best for Broadway.

But a few days after this year's ceremony, Hunter Foster created a Facebook page titled, GIVE THE TONYS BACK TO BROADWAY!!, which, as of Sunday afternoon, is closing in on 7,000 members; many of them stage professionals who feel that the television broadcast pushes aside the artists who regularly contribute to the theatre's success in favor of appearances by celebrities whose connection to Broadway may not be firmly rooted. The issue is not who gets nominated or who wins, but who gets selected to appear as presenters and performer, which faces in the audience attract the camera's attention, how much time is devoted to promoting straight plays and which awards are presented during the telecast. Already that Facebook page, as well as the message board here on BroadwayWorld, is loaded with heated debate over the matter.

Nobody's the bad guy here. Sure, I would love to see someone like Edward Albee selected to present the Best Play award or Harold Prince giving the prize for Best Director of a Musical. What fun it would be for us showtune lovers if the broadcast gave Jerry Herman, Stephen Sondheim and John Kander a few minutes to improvise with each other at triplet pianos. Let the camera pan for reaction shots from Carol Channing, Tommy Tune and James Earl Jones enjoying special performances by Broadway's younger talents. Show us at least a minute or two from each nominated play and, my personal pet peeve, give the awards for Best Book and Best Score the same prominence as the award for Best Play. But then, I don't have a nickel invested in the theatre and it's not my business to tell anyone how they should promote their own product. Each year the Broadway League's statistics show that New York theatre's big money comes from tickets bought by those who attend as an occasional special event or as a tourist attraction while visiting Gotham and when you're spending upwards of a hundred dollars a ticket, the safety net of familiarity can seem... well, very safe.

Maybe each of you dear readers is looking at the solution right now. Remember a few years ago when [title of show] concluded its Off-Broadway engagement and, by any normal circumstances, it seemed the show had run its course? But instead of just going on to other projects, the cast and creators turned to the Internet and produced a series of YouTube videos promoting the possibility of a Broadway transfer. I couldn't tell you for sure how much that series of videos actually contributed to the fact that they did move to Broadway, but certainly it helped build a significant fan base of young theatre-goers who attended multiple times and made the Lyceum Theatre's stage door one of the hottest post-performance spots in town. BroadwayWorld certainly does its share to publicize stage stars who are unknown outside of Times Square and as the century moves forward we may find that the Internet's power to create temporary celebrities from everyday people with goofy videos may in fact become the best messenger with which to spread the word of the remarkably talented people who devote their careers to performing on Broadway.

So keep spreading the word, fellow theatre geeks. Let your freak flag wave and make them hear you. Maybe someday, having the Tony Awards broadcast dominated by theatre stars will be the commercial thing to do.

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