As the stock market continues its long, thumping swan dive into the terrible abyss, sometimes we just need lights! and costumes! and songs! and gay people! to cheer us up. Well, you'll be hard pressed to find such spectacle on the old Broadway come January, as three popular musicals will be shuttering in the next few months. Duncan Sheik's sex 'n pop rock ode Spring Awakening just announced their January 19th closing today, coming pretty quickly after bebop drag show Hairspray and Monty Python mug fest Spamalot made similar announcements. It's just sad proof that this looming recession reaches into even the silliest parts of the American experience. I guess you'll just have to watch TV now or something. I know. I know.

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