ABSTRACT
Theeconomicengine,geographicalsite,theatricalcommunityandlarger socialimaginaryknownasBroadwayisbeingtransformed.Thecorrespondingmatrixofsocial,materialandidealconstellationswecalltheWest Endisalsoundergoingasimilartransfiguration.Ineachinstance,these transformationsareindicativeoflivetheatre'sveryownindustrialrevolutionwhich,inthelatetwentiethcentury,isnecessarilytransnationalinboth scopeandstructure.Thoughitissomewhatoverdueinhistoricalterms,the mostprofitableportionofcommercialtheatresectorsnotonlyintheUnited StatesandBritain,butalsoinCanada,Australiaandmanynon-Englishspeakingcountriesisplayingafranticgameofcatch-up,deployingmassproductionmodelsthat,thoughlongtypicaloftheglobalculturalindustries ofcinema,televisionandpopularmusic,arevirtuallyunprecedentedinthe historyofthetheatre.Wearewitnessingaphenomenonthatcanonlybe describedastheglobal-industrialisationoflive-theatricalproduction.
