Can you predict Broadway’s future?

I got one of those mass emails the other day that thankfully slipped through my spam filters and got me thinking.  The subject?  “Life 100 Years Ago . . .”

The email included fun facts from exactly 100 years ago like:

  • The average life expectancy for men was 47 years.
  • The average US wage was 10 cents per hour.
  • Only 6% of the American population graduated from high school.
  • The maximum speed limit was 10 MPH.
  • The population of Las Vegas, Nevada was 30.

The end of the email left you with this to ponder . . . “Imagine what life will be like in another 100 years!”

I mean, can you even?  Really?  Hovercrafts and your thoughts moving objects and so forth come to mind, right?

Well what about Broadway?  What will it be like?  Will it even still be here?

At our first TEDx, I tried to imagine 20 years in the future with this talk.

But now I’m asking you . . . but let’s not go 100, because frankly, we’ll all be long gone by then (yes, even you youngins out there).  Let’s go fifty years out.  How’s that?  I’ve already been working in the biz for 20 years myself and I have seen a slew of changes, from Times Square to “Teletron” to online eclipsing box office sales.

So what will happen in two and a half times that span?

You tell me.  What will Broadway be like in 50 years?  Will the theaters still be here?  Will there be more bathrooms?  Or will human beings not even have to go to the bathroom anymore so we won’t even need it.  We’ll just think pee and . . . bam.  Done.

Ok, I’ve gone off the rails a bit here, but you get what I’m saying.  The people who lived 100 years ago probably couldn’t imagine what life would be like today.

But I’m taking a moment and asking you.

What will Broadway be like in 50 years?  Comment below.  And then, fifty years from now, we’ll unearth this blog (if the Internet still exists – what, what???) and see who’s right.  Whover gets a prediction correct, I’ll pay $10,000.  Of course, that’ll be the equivalent of .00284 cents.  And I’ll have gone to the Broadway in the sky, so . . .

Predict the future below!  I’ll post the best and coolest comments in a follow up blog in a week!

 

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Ken created one of the first Broadway podcasts, recording over 250 episodes over 7 years. It features interviews with A-listers in the theater about how they “made it”, including 2 Pulitzer Prize Winners, 7 Academy Award Winners and 76 Tony Award winners. Notable guests include Pasek & Paul, Kenny Leon, Lynn Ahrens and more.

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