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is built up, and the talent is fine tuned. This can takes years, and many give up and follow other pursuits.

Also, good writers are hard to come by. Ask an average person, not affiliated with the arts, how many books they read. It goes down more and more. I feel a lot of that is due to the change that technology has made in life. This means the up and coming writers who would have created a great show and music are now playing with their Wii instead, so the talent remains dormant and untapped.

I have been involved with professional theater for over twenty years, and always people have lamented what they term "the death of live theater". In reality, there are cycles just like everything else. When times are economically harder, audiences will view revivals more often than an unknown piece. Producers are more likely to back a revival for guaranteed audiences and revenue. If they have heart, then they will do this so they can back more unknown works as a passion. When the economy picks up, shows change.

Also, when the economy is poor, people tend to flock towards the "feel good" shows like Gypsy, Cabaret, Oklahoma, 42nd Street, Grease and other fairly superficial plots. This means they navigate away from shows like Les Miserables and Rent (even if it's Remixed). And who can forget the countless dollars and pounds invested and lost in "blink-and-you-miss-it" shows like Bernadette and Carrie. The Broadway League estimates ticket sales generate more than $1.5 billion. A few too many blinks, and that number could easily drop to one third. Would you be willing to take that type of pay cut?

Learn more about this author, Claudia Tietze.
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