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I used to be very taken with the idea of moving to New York City at some point in my life. As someone interested in theatre, it just seemed to make sense. With all I have heard about current Broadway shows, though, Broadway no longer has the same pull to me that it once had, not quite the same draw. It’s something that everyone talks to you about when you’re younger and you are discussing a future in theatre with people who really know very little about it – your parents, for example. “Oh, so you’re going to move to New York someday and become a Broadway star?” So it takes on this mythical sort of identity to you, and you start to think that is what you should be aiming for in the future.

But truth be told, more and more Broadway seems to be about making money. Broadway tickets aren’t getting any cheaper, and the lengths that Broadway ticket brokers go to in order to advertise shows are extreme. Producers only want recognizable names at the heads of musicals. Casting one of the Spice Girls in Rent? Really? Putting pop culture icons from reality shows like American Idol in major roles in Broadway musicals? It’s all a ploy to enlarge theatre audiences, and it’s relatively sickening.

Still, this is mainly the current Broadway shows musical scene. Non-musicals tend to be treated with a little more respect, although they still make their fair attempt to star-stud the shows. If only I didn’t get the feeling that very little of Broadway casting is actually based on talent, I wouldn’t be so disgusted by it.

It just seems like there are much better cities, at least to start out in, as a theatre artist. A lot of friends of mine have been moving to Chicago, for example. They have a big theatre scene, lots of internship possibilities, they produce a lot of new work, they have nationally well-known theatre companies (like the Goodman, for example), but they have a lot less of that commercial feel. Just some things I’m thinking about as I near the end of my college career and begin to consider my future.