How Hollywood glamour is reviving the endangered Broadway play

NEW YORK – Robert Downey Jr is deep in rehearsals for his Broadway debut in September as an artificial intelligence-obsessed novelist in McNeal.

Next spring, George Clooney arrives for his own Broadway debut in Good Night, And Good Luck; and Denzel Washington returns, after a seven-year absence, to star in Othello with Jake Gyllenhaal.

Then, comes an even more surprising debut. Keanu Reeves plans to begin his Broadway career in the autumn of 2025, opposite his long-time slacker-buddy Alex Winter from the Bill & Ted movies (1989 to 2020) in the tragicomedy Waiting For Godot.

Broadway, still adapting to sharply higher production costs and audiences that have not fully rebounded since the coronavirus pandemic, is betting big on star power, hoping that a helping of Hollywood glamour will hasten its rejuvenation.

Even for an industry long accustomed to stopovers by screen and pop stars, the current abundance is striking.

It reflects a new economic calculus by many producers, who have concluded that short-run plays with celebrity-led casts are more likely to earn a profit than the expensive razzle-dazzle musicals that have long been Broadway’s bread and butter.

For the actors, there is another factor. As TV networks and streaming companies cut back on scripted series, and as Hollywood focuses on franchise films, the stage offers a chance to tell more challenging stories.

“Look, certainly the pay cheques are incredible when you’re wearing a rubber suit, but the payoff you feel inside when you’re doing theatre is an even greater reward,” said Christian Slater, who will be performing off-Broadway this winter in a Sam Shepard play, Curse Of The Starving Class, opposite Calista Flockhart.

The result is an outcome that few would have predicted a decade ago, when industry insiders were wringing their hands about the plight of plays on Broadway, where most tickets are purchased by tourists drawn to song and dance.

For a time, it seemed like plays might almost disappear from the Broadway menu. Instead, they are proliferating.

“Almost our entire model is limited-run star engagements,” said producer Greg Nobile, whose company, Seaview, had a hit last season with a 17-week revival of An Enemy Of The People, starring Jeremy Strong.

This season, it is doubling down, starting in September with a revival of Romeo And Juliet featuring Kit Connor, a star of the popular Netflix teen show Heartstopper, and Rachel Zegler, who played Maria in the musical film West Side Story (2021), followed by the Clooney play.

“I believe right now, to get anybody’s attention in any sector, things need to be an event.”

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, film and television stars have brought buzz and audiences to a number of Broadway plays, including Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick in Plaza Suite, Samuel L. Jackson in The Piano Lesson, Jessica Chastain in A Doll’s House and Jodie Comer in Prima Facie.

Producers took note, and among the screen stars headlining plays on New York stages in the coming months, both on Broadway and off, are Kenneth Branagh, Kieran Culkin, Adam Driver, Mia Farrow, Daniel Dae Kim, Julianna Margulies, Bob Odenkirk, Jim Parsons and Marisa Tomei.

As with everything on Broadway, finances play a role. The money risked by investors on plays is much lower than on musicals, which tend to have bigger casts, more elaborate sets and, of course, musicians, and which have become increasingly expensive to produce.

A new musical these days often costs more than US$20 million (S$26 million) to bring to Broadway. Boop!, a new musical based on Betty Boop that is opening next spring, is being capitalised for up to US$26 million.

Plays generally cost less than half as much – the Romeo And Juliet revival is being capitalised for up to US$7 million, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Of course, the potential upside is also lower. A successful play might return 30 per cent to investors. The musical juggernauts – which are few and far between – can return many times that by sustaining long runs in large theatres and spinning off tours.

Of the 24 new Broadway musicals that opened over the past two seasons, only one, Romeo And Juliet, has become profitable thus far. Two others, Hell’s Kitchen and The Outsiders, have plausible paths to profitability, but it is too soon to know for sure.

The pay on Broadway is not Hollywood-high, but it is not bad. In commercial productions, stars are often given a negotiated base salary plus a percentage either of the box office or of any profit.

Generally, movie stars need to commit to at least four months if there is to be any hope of profitability, and producers have taken to sharing financial details with celebrities. “Every star wants to do six weeks on Broadway, but you can’t make that work, so you show them a recoupment chart,” said Sue Wagner, a producer and general manager.

The surge of stars shows no signs of slowing. There are indications that John Mulaney, Sarah Snook and Andrew Scott will also appear on New York stages this season. “A lot of actors are waiting for the right script,” said John Johnson, a producer and general manager.

Some of that seems to be attributable to a changing Hollywood. “There’s very little indie market, even for huge stars, and so they are looking for places to be able to tell more daring stories,” said Scott Elliott, founding artistic director of the New Group, which is marketing its current off-Broadway season as “the stars and shows you can’t miss” because it has Tomei, Flockhart and Slater.

For the film and television stars strutting their stuff onstage, Broadway appeals for a variety of reasons.

There is the prestige, the possibility of awards – some of this season’s stars already have Emmys, Grammys or Oscars, so there is always that hope for a Tony and an EGOT – and, they say, a particular pleasure of performing live. Many trained as theatre actors, and they often say they feel more control, more challenge and more community when onstage.

“There’s nothing like it,” said Margulies, who starting in late September will be starring opposite Peter Gallagher in Left On Tenth, adapted by American author Delia Ephron from her memoir.

Margulies has not worked onstage for 18 years, but said: “I have been looking for a play for a long time.” Why? “I started onstage, and that immediate connection with the audience, you don’t get in film or television. You just don’t get it.” NYTIMES