Where I Watched It: Broadway HD

English Audio Description?: no

I actually reached out to Broadway HD and never heard back about their audio description. So, I guess the only way to keep pushing for it is to continue to talk about the content and why it needs it. 42nd Street is a great show to do that with.

Even though I was somewhat familiar with the show and many of the songs, this was my first time with any sort of start to finish production. So I was excited to see what was in store, and like some other shows, like Curtains as an example, there’s a show within a show. A production team is trying to put together a new Broadway production and needs financial backing. But with that backing comes a problematic lead actress and her drama, including the financing sugar daddy, and her secret side piece. Caught up in all this is a bright eyed bushy tailed girl from a small town looking to make her Broadway dreams come true. Anything can happen on42nd Street.

As a show, it’s longer than it needs to be. I know musicals typically run long, but like with movies, they have to adhere to pacing just like everyone else, as well as the structure of the plot and how that’s being furthered. honestly, while the songs I knew were predictably amazing, only some of the songs interested me. And of those songs, I have to mention, the cast recording I have through my music streaming service of choice does not even have all the songs. All of this, I consider in grading these musicals.

What Broadway HD is taking away from us by not offering accessibility are quite a few opportunities for real audio description, as there are many dance breaks. This is a very dance heavy show, which would really give the audio description a chance to flourish and flesh out the beauty of not just the dance routines, but costumes and set design that people work so hard on. if it wasn’t for the other question, i would say unwatchable, but there’s a flip side to this conversation.

When i think about do I grade a musical, I ask myself if the non-audio described version has any value beyond a cast recording we would already be able to just listen to. not only is there a substantial amount of dialogue in the show, and a lot of comedy, but it really helps shape the whole thing. I understand the show far better now than I did before, even if I still feel like I’m not all the way. Plus, with inadequate cast recordings that are missing songs, how can I tell you that the cast recording is sufficient? Depending on which version you have, it really might not be. Also, I assume that even though this is a revival, they didn’t reorder the songs. The songs on the album actually had two numbers flipped, and weren’t even in order.

Begrudgingly, even though this is an excellent example of why we need audio description, and a banner opportunity to give a Broadway HD production an Unwatchable grade, the cast recording lacks way too much, and dance breaks typically don’t hold important enough plot points for me to torpedo this. It’s still not my favorite musical, but I have a much better appreciation for it now.

Final Grade: B