They follow, in no particular order of importance.

I SEE STARS
Stars sell tickets. That's been conventional wisdom along Broadway since the days of Eva Tanguay. This year, however, it seems that only stars could sell tickets. Film stars, specifically. To recession-battered ticketbuyers, only the name about the title was a trustable quantity. Reviews of Blithe Spirit were mixed; but it had Rupert Everett and Angela Lansbury and recouped. Reviewers were unimpressed with A Steady Rain, but, thanks to stars Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig, the box office was minting money. (Cash seemed to follow the duo like baby ducklings. They even proved to be the top fundraising team in the history of the annual Gypsy of the Year competition.) Critics liked but not loved Jude Law in Hamlet; theatregoers just loved him. And the combo of James Gandolfini and great notices made God of Carnage unbeatable. Meanwhile, critically adored shows like Fela!, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, The Norman Conquests and Superior Donuts struggled and/or closed. What's in a name? Until the economy improves, everything!

NO CRITICS ALLOWED
The Tony Awards, which depends heavily on press coverage to keep the annual event vital and visible, hit upon an interesting stratagem in 2009 to curry favor within the Fourth Estate. They kicked the ink-stained rotters out of the Tony voters pool! Members of the First Night Press List have enjoyed the privilege of voting on the awards since the 1963-64 season. The move reduces the 800-strong pool of Tony voters by about 100, or down by 12.5 percent. The decision was accompanied by a press release which read, "the Management Committee took into consideration the fact that certain publications and individual critics have historically pursued a policy of abstaining from voting on entertainment awards in general, to avoid any possible conflicts of interest in fulfilling their primary responsibilities as journalists." This line of argument was the source of much hilarity and merriment, as observers rightly wondered how critics could have a greater conflict of interest than the actual producers of Tony-eligible shows, who are also voters. There's long been a running debate between those who think the Tonys honor artistic excellence and those who believe its merely a commercial tool. This year, the latter seem to have more weight behind their argument.

	Jordan Roth
	photo by Jim Cox

THE SON ALSO RISES
Shake-ups in the Broadway real estate game don't happen very often. After all, there are only three major landholding bodies — The Shubert Organization, The Nederlander Orgnanization and Jujamcyn Theatres — and their leaders tend to grip the wheel until the very end, resulting in lengthy presidencies and chairmanships. So the sea change over at Jujamcyn was big news this years. When The Shuberts' Gerald Schoenfeld died last year, many expected Jujamcyn president Rocco Landesman to step up as Broadway's elder statesman. But Rocco, a gambling man, had other plans. He tossed his Stetson into the ring for the post of President Obama's new N.E.A. head and got the job! That left a vacancy at Jujamcyn, allowing longtime heir apparent Jordan Roth — son of producer Daryl Roth — to ascend to the throne. It couldn't have hurt his chances that Roth backed up his promotion with a good deal of money. Simultaneously with becoming president, he has also acquired a 50 percent ownership interest in the privately held company. Roth was 33 at the time his promotion, making his the youngest theatre-owner on Broadway by a mile. Continued...