Andrew Lloyd Webber speaks out against the unaffordable costs of Broadway after the Broadway theater’s early closure Cats: Jellicle Ball.
“The painful truth is that, as things stand, bringing almost any new show to Broadway just doesn’t make any financial sense.” Cats The composer wrote on X Tuesday. “The costs are enormous. Creators, writers and directors are often forced to accept minimal royalties just to stage the work.”
“Without action,” he warned, “Broadway risks competing with Hollywood’s empty theaters: the increasingly dark theaters where bold new works once lived.”
Cats: Jellicle Ball“Broadway,” a revival of Lloyd Webber’s classic 1980s play in dance competition style, announced Monday that it will perform its final run on Aug. 8, after only about five months on Broadway. The news caused a sensation among the cast, company members and throughout the industry, as the show was well reviewed and looked good on paper, with high attendance and a weekly gross of around $1 million. But that can’t compete with the high weekly operating costs of Broadway musicals, which have been increasing in recent years.
“One of the last things the great Hal Prince said to me was that it had broken his heart to see what Broadway had become,” Lloyd Webber wrote of the late “Phantom of the Opera” and “Evita” director. “Hal thought it had become almost impossible for a truly bold new work to arise on Broadway. And I’m afraid he was right.”
In his social media posts, Lloyd Webber said Broadway’s current financial landscape “breaks my heart.” He said that many creators rely on a fixed weekly fee, rather than sharing in profits, which he believes will harm the next generation of writers and composers.
“How can the next generation build a life in theater under these conditions? Young creatives cannot live on goodwill alone,” he wrote.
“The situation is no better for investors. Many consider themselves lucky to get even part of their money back. Without investors willing to take risks, and artists able to make a living, where will the next generation of Broadway shows come from?” Continue.
Lloyd Webber brought many shows to Broadway, including the original CatsWhich opened in 1982 and continued for 18 years, as well ghost of the opera, Which ran for 35 years, after opening in 1988, and closed in 2023. It has continued its run on Broadway in recent years, in a re-imagined state. Cats: Jellicle Ball, Last season Sunset Blvd And the next Evitabesides denythe immersive version of the Phantom that runs Off-Broadway. He pointed to the continued success of “established hits,” such as: The lion king and eviltougher financials for new businesses.
“Of course, successful Broadway productions remain profitable,” he wrote, “but Broadway cannot survive creatively or commercially on three old shows. New, bold work must have a future—either on Broadway itself or in new forms like the Masquerade, which is now approaching its year in New York.”
Lloyd Webber, who was also a big part of the efforts to reopen the West End after the pandemic, called on the industry to find a solution.
He continued: “I still love Broadway as much as I did when I was a teenager. I want future generations to experience the same sense of possibility. Theater owners, unions and producers must urgently come together. Every part of the industry has a stake in finding a solution.”
