Three big shows are hitting Broadway this summer; The Great Gatsby, The Outsiders, and The Notebook. With these shows hitting the stage, there is discourse on whether or not a show can make it on Broadway without having a book or movie to stand behind.
In August, it was announced that The Notebook would have a stage adaptation hitting Broadway in March. Previews have started and reviews are mixed. Regular theater goers are saying that the music is forgettable, and the show is sort of boring. With a movie that made millions in the box office, why isn’t this doing well?
People think this is because Broadway is getting stuck in a loop of only making movies and books into musicals. Producers think that when you put a new show up against a show that has something that people are familiar with, the familiarity will win every time.
A good example of this is how Back to the Future: The Musical is doing so well. People are familiar with this movie and the people who are visiting New York for the most part, are in the age demographic for this show to be appealing to them because they grew up with it, so it’s blown up with massive success.
The Great Gatsby, had a limited time run at The Paper Mill Playhouse. People were coming from all over to see this show not only because of its popularity, but because of its stacked cast with Jermey Jordan and Eva Noblezada co-starring. When people saw the show, they said it held little of the charm of the original, because most of the characters were talking as if they were all from the present day, with the exception of Daisy, when it’s set in the 1920’s.
The show never released a cast album on streaming so all people got was a few clips of some of the songs on Instagram. The people who did go to the show said one or two songs stood out but the rest were flat. So then why is it moving to Broadway this month?
When The Great Gatsby announced it was moving to Broadway people started to suspect that producers were trying to have another Back to the Future on their hands. People’s familiarity will bring them to the theaters, not their genuine interest in the show and how it was made.
One show we have seen very little of is The Outsiders. Previews begin March 16th, and all we have from the show is one song called Great Expectations released on streaming. The show has already gained a lot of traction with articles being released on Entertainment Weekly and more. Because of its popular book and movie, people with very little info are already lining up to see it.
No matter what the content is on Broadway, New York is still the most visited spot in the world. Broadway will continue to stay alive and grow no matter what. We just might see more remakes compared to original shows, but only time will tell.
