The New York-London arbitrage for musicals
Can you guess which is more expensive: Broadway or the West End?
When “Hadestown”, a musical that sets the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice to New Orleans-style jazz, was produced in 2019 and opened on Broadway, it took an initial investment of $11.5m. Since then American consumer prices have risen by more than 20%. But one producer of “Hadestown” has estimated it would cost $18m to put on today—a rise of 57%. Talk about hellish inflation.
Explore more
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Sing it from ⇔the rooftops”
From the November 23rd 2024 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionDiscover more
Angela Merkel sets out to restore her reputation
But her new memoir is unlikely to change her critics’ minds
The best books of 2024, as chosen by The Economist
Readers will never think the same way again about games, horses and spies
What to read to understand Elon Musk
The world’s richest man was shaped by science fiction
Tech and religion are very much alike
They both have gods, rich institutions and secretive cultures
Woodrow Wilson’s reputation continues to decline
A dispassionate new biography chronicles the former president’s hostility to suffrage
The cult of Jordan Peterson
What the Canadian intellectual gets right about young men