[NEohioPAL] Arts article: What Were They Thinking: Broadway in the Rearview Mirror

[Bob Abelman via NEohioPAL]

What Were They Thinking:  Broadway in the Rearview Mirror

 

Bob Abelman

Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning Journal

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

"New York, New York.  It's a helluva town." 

 ~ Lyrics from "On The Town"

 

The most popular myth about Broadway is the one perpetuated by the 1933 musical "42nd Street," in which a chorus girl goes on in place of the leading lady and becomes a star. 

 

Few aspiring actors would confess to being naïve enough to believe this fantasy.  But none would deny that the prospect of instantaneous success on the New York stage had crossed their minds while taking endless voice lessons as a child, during auditions throughout high school, while training at a performing arts conservatory, and at every professional production that they do that is not taking place on Broadway.

 

Sure, they've seen the statistics.  

 

Only 38 percent of the 50,000 professional actors who make up the membership of the Actors' Equity Association (AEA) work at any given time.  And they typically work an average of only 17 weeks a year, earning $15,000 or less, and do so on stages far from the glamour of the New York City theater scene.  

 

But they've also heard the success stories.  

 

Just last year, Chagrin Falls' Corey Cott and Orange's Ben Fankhauser were the featured stars in the Broadway hit "Newsies."  This month, Aurora native Chris McCarrell steps into the role of Marius in the Broadway revival of "Les Misérables."  Recent Baldwin Wallace University graduate Ciara Renée has gone from Berea to one lead role on Broadway ("Big Fish!") to another ("Pippin") to another ("The Hunchback of Notre Dame").

 

And, of course, they've memorized the soundtrack to "42nd Street" and embraced the improbable dream of success that it summons.

 

But for many performers, the road to Broadway - the theater district that extends from West 40th to West 54th Streets, between 6th and 8th Avenues - is full of speed bumps, detours and unexpected delays.  What happens to the dream then?

 

Meet Max Joseph from Solon, who you may have seen playing Tobias in "Sweeney Todd" at Cain Park.  

 

Meet Jesse Markowitz from Orange.  You may have seen him performing in "Hello Dolly" at Porthouse Theatre while a student in Kent State University's musical theater program.  

 

Meet Bonnie Black, who moved to NYC in the late-1970s but recently appeared in the Cleveland Play House production of "Yentl."  

 

For more of this article, go to:  http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/features/article_33f50a70-b854-11e4-a88c-9b90bce4277f.html

 
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