Old-Style Broadway

By the 1990s the new Broadway had emerged in full force and it had a transforming effect on musical theater. Many in the theater community greeted the development with mixed feeling. Some chose not to greet it at all. Rather than facing the present situation, they found more appealing alternatives looking to the past, or to the future. Neither of these options was easily accessible. The past had already come and gone; the future was still up for grabs. But these appeared attractive precisely because they could be idealized. In the haze between memory and fantasy, both became fields of ideological construction. Looking backward, one might construct a usable past for lovers of the old-style Broadway musical and locate its commercial application in the revival of classic shows for a new mass audience.

In the 1800s, Broadway was New York's main street and therefore the most likely place for entrepreneurs to build their entertainment establishments. In 1866 Mr. William Wheatley, who was manager of the Niblo's Garden auditorium which seated 3,200, is credited with being the originator of the Broadway musical. Gilbert and Sullivan brought wide popularity to the modern stage throughout the twentieth century. Classic productions followed, such as The Wizard of Oz, No Business Like Show Business and George M. Cohan in Little Johnny Jones.