The Great White Way has played host to countless tragedies and comedies. Only a small minority ever appear on stage. You would think 70 years of that would automatically make for exciting reading.
Think again.
Brooks Atkinson was not only a veteran of many decades when he wrote this thick history about the Manhattan midtown mecca for theatrical entertainment. He was himself a Broadway institution, having given his name to a theater on West 47th Street. That he knew and loved so many of those he wrote about is part of the problem.
