The music industry has run out of ways to make money, television is faltering under DVRs and ad-skipping, magazines and newspapers are on their way out the door, Hollywood is on the verge of another strike and the book industry isn't doing so hot, either. Amidst all the doom and gloom, we can't help but ask: Will Broadway be shuttering its doors as well in the upcoming year?

Broadway's Depression

Historically, theater has existed wherever there have been people and a mound of dirt to act as a stage. But that doesn't mean the business is always lucrative: During the Depression, producers couldn't pony up the cash to keep Broadway spectacles in the Ziegfeld Follies-excessiveness that theater-goers were accustomed to. By 1939 there were only 98 shows on Broadway, whereas a decade before there had been 233. For the first time in a century, Broadway had under 100 shows.

Warner Bros.' Golddiggers of 1933 offers up an ironic take of this scenario: the opening scene of the lavish Follies production "We're In the Money" gets cut in the middle of a song because the producers can no longer afford to keep the show running. Not to mention that the film represented another Broadway Depression-era trend: It's been estimated that Hollywood absorbed nearly 75% of the talent that could no longer find a sustainable living in NYC theaters.

Logic supposes, then, that it was up to the 30s version of Off-Broadway, vaudeville, to pick up the slack during the famine years. Not so: What was once 1,500 traveling circuits of slapstick turned into less than 300 over the course of a decade. The industry had always relied on the kindness of middle-class patrons and sponsors, and with no middle-class income left, vaudeville truly became the sad tattered clown in had always mockingly portrayed.

Are We Doomed to Repeat the Future?

So far, Broadway ticket sales have remained strong during the recession. Gross income still hovers around the billion dollar mark, though the 2007-2008 season made $1 million less than 2007-2006. New productions have also decreased from 39 to 36 productions since 2005, according to statistics from the Broadway League. Two shows by David Mamet — generally considered hot ticket sales — have either been closed quickly or are limping along.(Although to be fair, Jeremy Piven's mercury-quick departure from Speed-the-Plow could have something to do with the slumping sales.)

Can Broadway take pains to become recession-proof? Sure: Getting rid of expensive box-office clunkers like Young Frankenstein, with its $400 tickets, Spamalot and Hairspray (which started out well but have been tapering off these last years) will help trim the fat from 42nd Street's golden goose. Shrek the Musical also needs to go, though Disney's plan of offering a "Kids Go Free" promotion may help pack the house.

All in all, Broadway has plans to close 16 shows next month, including the recent hit Spring Awakening (and this is despite Weeds' Hunter Parish joining the cast!). And if you're Off-Off-Broadway, even the low overhead might not be enough to keep you solvent, though cheaper tickets might draw in an audience no longer able to afford Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Is there a bright side to the economic downturn's toll on theaters? Not for Americans, but China is reaping the benefits of our dark stages by opening up new theaters and taking our productions overseas. Already, Fame is being tweaked by U.S. producers into a Chinese adaptation, and as many as nine Broadway-style shows are slated in the country for 2009. Unfortunately, M. Butterfly is not slated to reopen in China.