PITY THE POOR MUSICALS

Producing a Broadway musical has long been a serious financial gamble. They cost millions to stage, few are successful, and it can take years before a show starts to make money. So at a time when Broadway shows are falling like dominoes (nine have closed this month, and several more are getting ready for the big sleep), it can't be easy to drum up excitement for something new.

So I have to hand it to the folks promoting "The Story of My Life"--Broadway’s first new musical of 2009. In an industry that thrives on escapist glitz, the show's press materials are impressively earnest:

"It’s a universal story about friendship. It’s about the important things in our lives--relationships with people. This musical does not have a high-tech set. Instead it relies on two actors, great music and one hell of a show.”

“This is a play about family relationships, true friendship and reconnecting with the simplest and purest qualities in our lives,” says Will Chase. “Doing this production has really affected my life. It’s the first time in my career that I have done a production that inspires me to call my friends and family after the curtain call.”

We are certainly living in a post-hubris era when pr flaks for Broadway musicals start appealing to our better selves. I thought the whole point of a Broadway musical was a high-tech set? ~ EMILY BOBROW