Billy Elliot, a musical version of the 2000 movie of the same name, has a marquee player with Elton John writing the music; a proven box office draw in London, where it's been running for more than two years; and major financial backing from Universal Studios.

But Stephen Daldry, the director of both the film and stage versions, isn't taking anything for granted.

"How [the economy] will affect Broadway, how it will affect all of the shows, it's a worrying time," Daldry said. "And by the look of things, things are only going to get worse."

He put the cost of the New York production at $18 million. "It's such an expensive show, mostly because of the amount of children in the show, the amount of training, the amount of schooling, the amount of tutoring," he said. "It's basically a logistical nightmare and therefore an expensive logistical nightmare."

So far, four productions that were due this season have been cancelled.
With their big budgets, large casts, and costly marketing campaigns, shows like A Tale of Two Cities and Billy Elliot have to fill most of their seats if they have any hope of breaking even.

At least one show recently opened on Broadway has none of those things. The simply named [Title of Show] has just four performers and one musician, all of whom are playing themselves. The autobiographical tale, which started at the New York Theater Festival and ran off-Broadway, relies on word-of-mouth and a YouTube series (The [Title of Show] Show) to build buzz.
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Michael Berresse, the director, said that even though [Title of Show] has a smaller operating budget and doesn't face the same kind of ticket-selling pressure as the competition, it faces a different challenge: convincing ticket buyers who may have spent more than $100 a ticket that they made a wise choice.

"When you have something that's that exposed and that simple, it has to be done exceptionally well in order for it to really hold its weight and to hold the audience's focus," Berresse said.

During the 2007-2008 season, Broadway brought in $938 million and sold 12.27 million tickets. The numbers were slightly less than the record-setting 2006-2007 season, but St. Martin says the dip is attributed to the stagehand strike that left Broadway dark for 19 days last year.

"With the big blockbusters we have going in the fall and in the spring, I have a feeling we're not going to quite feel [the economic downturn hitting Wall Street]," she said. "Tourism is still great in New York and it's possible that with all the domestic visitors who are maybe having troubles economically, they may not go out of the country but come to New York."