Jazz Articles about Cole Porter

The Great American Songbook Goes To The Movies

by Joan Merrill
January 23, 2026

Broadway bombed. Hollywood boomed. Movies learned to talk. The stock market crashed in 1929 and burst the popularity bubble of Broadway. Going to see a play or a musical was common practice in the Roaring Twenties. There were hundreds of them playing on the Great White Way and millions of Americans of all classes bought tickets. Then came Black Tuesday and the Great Depression. People could not afford Broadway anymore. But out West in sunny California ...