Not much to sing about

In today’s Wall Street Journal I write about the best theater of 2019:

On Broadway and across America, it’s the same old story: Large-scale musicals are in a long-term slump. I saw only two new musicals of quality, “Hadestown” and “Soft Power,” this past year, and both of them were distinctly unconventional small-scale productions (although “Hadestown,” like “The Band’s Visit” and “Fun Home” before it, did manage to make it to Broadway for a successful run). Too many of the rest were jukebox biomusicals and no-but-I-saw-the-movie commodity shows, none of which had much of anything to offer beyond expensive light amusement for the tourist trade.

Of distinguished new plays, by contrast, there were plenty….

Read the whole thing here.