Andrew Lloyd Webber responded to the early closure of “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” by arguing that Broadway musicals are in crisis. In a lengthy social media post on Tuesday, the composer warned that the high costs of mounting shows makes it hard for creators to earn a living and has investors worried about supporting original works.
“Without action, Broadway risks rivaling Hollywood’s empty soundstages: increasingly dark theatres where bold new work once lived,” Lloyd Webber wrote.
“Theatre owners, unions and producers must come together urgently,” he added. “Every part of the industry has a stake in finding a solution…Broadway is more than a street or a collection of buildings. It is an idea — and one of the greatest cultural ideas America has given us. That idea is now in dire danger. I beg everyone with the power to protect it: come together before it is too late.”
It’s a blunt message from Lloyd Webber, one of the most successful composers in theater history, and it comes as others have sounded the alarm about the health of musicals. Last season, six original musicals debuted on Broadway, a steep drop from the 14 or 15 that opened in the previous two seasons.
“Cats: The Jellicle Ball” had some of the best reviews of the year, with critics praising the decision to restage Lloyd Webber’s “Cats” as a ballroom competition pitting drag performers against each other on the runway. Initially, the show was earning between $900,000 to $1 million a week, a respectable figure. However, sales fell sharply after “The Jellicle Ball” lost the best revival of a musical Tony Award to “Ragtime.”
