There’s been a lot of buzz about the number of shows featuring religious subject matter appearing on Broadway in the last 12-18 months.  With Sister Act, Mormon, Godspell, JCS, and Leap of Faith, you could definitely draw a conclusion that faith was certainly a theatrical “trending topic.”  (Although, IMHO, it was a scheduling fluke.)

However, there is another wave of similar material about to hit the shores of the Great White Way and this one is carrying a whole bunch of kiddies.

And IMHO, this is not a fluke.

The recent announcement that Newsies was converting their limited run to an open-ended one was about as surprising as . . . well as Newsies converting their limited run to an open-ended one.

Newsies joins the slate of family shows on Broadway which already include:

The Lion King
Mary Poppins
Spider-Man

That’s four shows (three from the Mouse) that heavily depend on the “families of four” market, or the under 12 set.  (And I might even toss in Peter and the Starcatcher for good measure.)

That seems manageable, right?

Well, surfs up, mateys, here comes the wave.

Next season we’ll add three, count ’em, three young ladies that are hoping to capture a lot of the young lady market, doubling the amount of family fare.

We’ve got Matilda.

And Annie.

And Cinderella.

Wowza.  I mean that’s a lot of pre-pubescent angst coming our way.

And I have a a feeling that angst is going to translate to some Producer angst as well, because I’m not sure there are that many families going to that many shows.

Especially on weeknights.

It’s going to be quite a kiddie-fight next season.  Lets hope it doesn’t send too many Producers home in tears.

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