Every quarter, my Assistant prepares a new chart of what’s in all the Broadway theaters, and what we expect is coming next.

At a glance it tells me what theaters are available, or as I like to say, “in play.”  (Get it?  In “play!”  Alright, alright, it’s not that funny, I know.  I’m practicing my soon-to-be-Dad humor.)

And every quarter the number of those “in play” theaters get smaller and smaller, as shows run longer and longer.

This theatrical traffic jam is preventing a lot of new shows from getting on the road to Broadway.

And now, just like any traffic jam that doesn’t get cleared up quick, it’s causing a problem on the other end of the jam.

See the regional theater market, the summer stock market, the community theater market, etc., all depend on new shows coming down the pike to fill their seasons.  These theaters like to do the “new” stuff too (when it eventually trickles down to them).  After all, how many times can they do Oklahoma?

Well, if there are fewer theaters on Broadway for new shows, then that means fewer new shows for the subsidiary market.

So what’s a non-Broadway theater to do?

Look elsewhere!

And that’s the good news for writers out there.

If the subsidiary market isn’t getting an adequate supply of shows for their markets, they’ll have to get their product elsewhere.  And that means these theaters might start taking shows without a Broadway pedigree.

So if you’re a writer, don’t pin all your hopes and dreams on Broadway . . . because I’m predicting that there is going to be a whole bunch more opportunities coming your way.

All thanks to the Broadway traffic jam.

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