Since its beginnings, theatre has provided proof that romance is an essential element in creating a hit. To get people to come out of their houses, go all the way to the theatre and pay high tickets prices, producers must give the public what they want. The past dictates that people want romance.
The "oldies, but goodies" have romance... Showboat (1932), Anythng Goes (1934), Oklahoma (1943), Annie Get Your Gun (1957), A Streetcar Names Desire, Bye Bye Birdie, Hair (1968), A Little Night Music, A Raisen in the Sun, Brigadoon, Come Blow Your Horn, Diary of Anne Frank, Dream Girls, Guys and Dolls, Camelot, Carousel, Hello Dolly, Porgy and Bess, Richard III, Macbeth, My Fair Lady, On A Clear Day You Can See Forever, Paint Your Wagon, South Pacific, Taming of the Shrew, The Fantasticks, The King and I, The Pajama Game, West Side Story, and Fiddler on the Roof.
More recent examples of how romance still thrives are Annie, Barnum, Evita, Fuddy Meers, Funny Girl, Fences, Grease, Ragtime, I Love You You're Perfect Now Change, High Society, Into the Woods, Italian American Reconciliation, Jesus Christ Superstar, Little Shop of Horrors, M Butterfly, Once Upon A Mattress, Sound of Music, Sunset Boulevard, The Civil War, Titanic, Tommy and Whistle Down the Wind to name a few.
Even Broadway productions for children include romance. Look at the Lion King (Nala and Simba) and Beauty and the Beast (Belle and Beast). Disney's Aida features a romance between a Prime Minister's son, Radames, and a black slave, Aida.
Other current Broadway productions in which love features prominently include: Cabaret, Chicago, Footloose, Jane Eyre, Jekyll and Hyde, Kiss Me Kate, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, Phantom of the Opera, Rent, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Saturday Night Fever, The Music Man and The Scarlet Pimpernel.
In the case of Rent and Rocky Horror Picture Show and former Broadway hit Bent, love has been demonstrated in ways reflective of more modern times.
Regardless of how and when it is portrayed, love is love, and it makes the world go round, especially on Broadway.
NOTE: For those of you who are not near enough to Broadway to get a taste of the romance, many of the plays/musicials listed are available in film version.
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