ABSTRACT
When The Lion King made its successful debut at New York's New Amsterdam Theatre in 1997, some commentators regarded this new megamusical as yet another nail in the coffin of musical theater, muttering darkly about an imminent "Disney domination" of Broadway. While contractors worked on restoring the theater, New York worked on restoring the neighborhood itself. Merchants formed the Times Square Business District and hired crews to paint over graffiti, clean the filthy sidewalks, and provide security patrols. A nearby theater, the New Victory, had been built by Oscar Hammerstein I in 1900, but had gradually lost its respectability; it housed burlesque shows in the 1930s, and it became 42nd Street's first porn theater in 1972. In 2009 Tony Awards show employs rock music. However, the music, lyrics, and book conveyed a powerful, poignant drama about a suburban woman whose treatment-resistant mental illness had profound repercussions on her family.
