My Story

Before I get too deep into my discussion of the current economic crisis, you may be wondering how I came to be interested in this topic?  Well, I actually know someone personally who was directly affected by the economic recession when the shows started closing on Broadway.  I have a good friend, Brynn Williams, who, by the age of fifteen, had already acted in three Broadway shows.  She was constantly auditioning in New York, running back and forth from Maryland for the next audition, or the next round of callbacks.  I remember she once told me she had just been called back for the tenth round of auditions for a show.  She’s the kind of person who never gives up, and always takes whatever is thrown at her.  This is the life of a performer, and she has learned to deal with it. 

            Anyway, last summer I was performing in an adaption of Phantom of the Opera with Brynn, when she told me she was planning on auditioning for the newly written Broadway show, 13 The Musical, by Jason Robert Brown.  I had never heard of the show before, but it sounded interesting.  Of course, I found out a few months later that she got the part.  I kind of lost contact with her once the school year started, but I still heard from her every once in a while.  Her family is very supportive of her and even fits their lives around her theater schedule.  It would be too hard to commute to New York for rehearsals and performances, so every time Brynn is cast in a show, her family moves to New York temporarily, and the kids are all home schooled. 

            Once the show opened, I promised Brynn I would make it to come see her show.  It was really hard to fit it into my schedule, but I was going to make time to go see it if I had too.  I mean, I couldn't miss it, especially because she had her own song (Brand New You).  
I decided that there was a weekend a few weeks after my winter break that I could take a weekend to drive down to New York and see 13.  But when the time came to start thinking about buying tickets, I went online and the first thing I saw was an announcement saying that the show would be closing in a few weeks!  Before I was able to see it!  As far as I knew, the show had received good reviews, so I couldn’t imagine why it would be closing after only a few months of running. 

            But it didn’t take long to find out why: the economy.  People just couldn’t afford the tickets anymore.  I personally would normally not have gone to see a Broadway show because of the costs, but I was willing to make the sacrifice to support my friend.  But most of the people going to see Broadway shows don’t have a personal connection to the show like that, and didn’t have the extra incentive to go. 

            So unfortunately I wasn’t able to go see her show.  But this is a good example of how badly the economy is affecting shows, especially new ones that don’t have name recognition.  It’s a risky time for any playwright to attempt a Broadway release, and Jason Robert Brown’s 13 was no exception.