SMASH HIT AND STINKERS.

One of the best streaming services on radio is Sirius XM. And one of the best streaming services on Sirius XM is On Broadway. At least most of the time. But I am astounded at how many shows have been produced on Broadway that just plain suck. There was a time when most shows on The Great White Way promised a good story, wonderful lyrics, and memorable music. No more. So many shows are just rehashed movies or TV shows with mediocre lyrics and discordant music in songs that go on too long and are sceamed more than sung. In the past even good shows like On the Twentieth Century and The Boys from Syracuse had that rare horrid teeth-gritting song like "Veronique" and "Let Antipholus In" but most of the numbers were well worth the cost of admission. But most of the songs I hear on On Broadway are tuneless, tedious, and inconsequential. I can't imagine why anyone would pay $100 or more to see newly created second-rate shows that are nowhere near as entertaining as high school productions of Broadway classics like Damn Yankees, Guys and Dolls, or Pajama Game, I would love to list the shows in the past ten years that I think are absolute dreck and why. But I'd rather mention how thrilling Broadway used to be, like the matinee when  I saw the original production of Ragtime whose opening number was so brilliantly written and fantastically staged that it still plays in my mind twenty-six years later.