Broadway has been around for a long time now. Its brand is world known, and frankly, there’s a reason for it. I myself being musical fan, could not get any happier at the feel of a playbill and a couple of tickets to see the Phantom of the Opera in my hand. But then again, most musicals had had their lifespan only limited by the stage’s dimensions.
All right, so we have classic musicals as The Flying Nun with Julie Andrews that did indeed step out of a New York stage into the big screen. But then again, Hollywood is for motion pictures mostly. Musicals appeared here and there, with chick flicks and action movies on top of the billboard.
But lately, things have begun to shift a bit. More and more musicals are coming into the big screen: Chicago, Moulin Rouge (a couple of years old). But as if not enough, the public seemed to be hungrier for the genre. So Glee came along to satisfy the ongoing appetite of the customer. Of course is more complicated to film a movie every week about it, so why not film a series?
Now it seems that many other types of shows are imitating Glee’s style. Just this week’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy featured an entire hour of its medical characters to sing about a near double tragedy. Seriously? Yes. And you know what? They pulled it of. The feeling was much more profound. Being the drama series that it is, they pulled the right string to intensify the situation with a musical. What was found wanting though? A few pitches here and there.
Is Broadway permeating its way to other media? It seems so, and the public seems to love it. Give the people what they want, right?