A Word On Behalf of Composers


This is also an era, sadly, where the young cats are either not seeking out their older counterparts or - even worse - are being turned away by them. I know of no students studying under Stephen Sondheim the way he studied under Oscar Hammerstein II. To be fair, perhaps the plethora of new would-be composers who, in fact, have little to say and extremely ineffective means of saying it, the "old guard" cannot be asked (or depended upon) to pick and choose who among the masses can be taught and encouraged to take the proverbial mantle. Or maybe they think there's still plenty of time in their careers. I need only mention Larry Hart, Adler/Ross, and others who have tragically ended their careers far too early to prove how bad of a philosophy this can be. This additude, of course, is understandable, though regrettable.

However divided the two schools of musical theatre may be (Webber and his pander-to-the-masses clique on one hand and Sondheim and his alienate-the-masses clique on the other), I'm sure all can see what a unique and disparaging time this is for the Broadway stage (and I do refer here only to the commercial "Broadway" theatres, not to off-Broadway and its kin. Imagine if Lerner and Loewe had had to cut their teeth in 100-seat houses!) It has been said that the current generation of Broadway writers has been the first to shun its predecessors. If this is true, then the next one will be the first to have virtually had no predecessors! Though the majority of shows (and virtually all of the "important" shows) in the past quarter century have been written by foreigners (reminiscent of the pre-O'Neill operetta days), even they depend on the health of Broadway, without which their revenue would decrease sharply.

So, then, wherein lies the solution? Shows today have high costs for good reasons. There is no getting around it; no one to point the fingers at (not the unions, not the producers, not television and movies, not the general public, not the lack of stars - whatever that means, not the writers), though many have tried. This is all too easy a practice to begin with. But the first step, in my opinion, should be made by the producers. America needs a new breed of "old school" producer who will step forward, put his wallet and what's behind it on

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