Broadway Sets Stage for a Comeback

A total of 40 new plays and musicals will open on the Great White Way during the 2008-09 season, the greatest number of productions to open since 1986-87.
Contrary to popular belief, the curtain is far from falling on Broadway.

In fact, if all scheduled shows open as planned over the next few months, the Great White Way will have more new productions than any season in the last two decades. A whopping 22 new shows are opening this spring, bringing the total of new plays and musicals to 40 for the 2008-09 season.

Though the number is just one more than last season, it still marks the most openings since 1986-87 when 43 shows opened, according to Bloomberg News.

“Despite the fact that like Chicken Little said, ‘the sky is falling,’ there are a lot of new productions,” said Daryl Roth, producer of the new Tovah Feldshuh play, Irena’s Vow, which opens March 29. “Of course everyone is a bit anxious to be sure that all the new plays and musicals find their audiences, but people are feeling optimistic.”