Broadway In Chicago Throughout the Years
BY: AIMEE GASPARI
INTRO TO ARCHIVE & BIC
Have you ever wondered what one of your favorite websites looks like from the first year it was created? Thanks to the Internet Archive’s WayBack Machine, it is possible to do just that. In doing so, we are taken on a wild ride that allows us to see many of the interesting aesthetic and content changes of websites throughout the years. For example, let’s take the main website for Broadway In Chicago. Being an Advertising/Public Relations and Theatre double major, I personally found it extremely intriguing to track the changes in the company’s website among all of the changes in technology and development of new media since the early 2000's.
Broadway In Chicago (also abbreviated as BIC) is a theatrical production company located in Chicago, Illinois, that was formed in July 2000. Its main purpose is to present touring Broadway plays and musicals at its five various venues: PrivateBank Theatre, Oriental Theatre, Cadillac Palace Theatre, the Auditorium Theatre, and the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place. Since its early inception, BIC has prided itself on being “the easiest way to see the best of Broadway” — a phrase whose layout and design you will see evolve throughout the years on BIC’s website (“Theatre In Chicago” Broadway In Chicago Official Website). After researching BIC using the WayBack Machine, I discovered that its major changes in design and content occurred both during a popular run of its shows as well as during the social media frenzy that occurred worldwide. Throughout the years, the Broadway In Chicago website gradually became more interactive, colorful, and included better images/graphics with easy to find content and helpful hyperlinks.
2001–2016 ON BIC
In order to see how we ended up in 2016, we need to go all the way back to 2001 when the WayBack machine had its first recordings of the BIC website.
As you can see, the website had a clear header, footer, and main page information, but it lacked some structure. The layout is not bad by any means, but it was all pushed into the far left corner and lacks exciting imagery (in this case, it could have included more images of current shows on its homepage).
It wasn’t until 2003 that the BIC website added more dividers and boxes with more shows to click on and options for viewers.
The website also added more ads in the header and footer and color to the navigation buttons. It was also at this time that we saw BIC going away from the red and yellow color scheme and going more towards an orange hue. From 2003–2004, the website stayed pretty consistent with this format, adding in new shows as the seasons changed. It was in 2004–2007 that BIC saw more exciting changes in their website style and content.
Finally, BIC’s website became center aligned and ditched the full black background for a dark red one with shades of black and darker orange at the top. The website decreased the number of navigation tabs in the header and added more to the footer. In addition, they also added links to each of their theatres so you could search shows by which theatre it was playing it. During this span of time was also when BIC held the long standing run of Wicked the musical at the Oriental Theatre (Side note: I saw it twice. It is a truly magical production). In an article for Vanity in 2007, Steven Oxman discussed this time as one in which “[t]he growing commercial theater boom is bringing big bucks to the Windy City” (Oxman np). Indeed, the run of both Wicked and Spelling Bee saw great boosts in the economy, making this a crucial time for BIC’s web design/marketing team to be on their best as well. Looking at the below two screenshots, you can see a massive difference in the links to Wicked tickets from 2004 versus 2007.
From the additional tabs “Order Merchandise” and “View a preview” to the inclusion of more context on the show and links to behind the scenes features, the 2007 BIC website clearly became a more interactive, fan-friendly site. Broadway In Chicago wanted to fill those seats and make sure its customers were happy, informed, entertained and had all the knowledge needed to purchase tickets. Around 2007, it was also brought to the attention of BIC that it may be time to add more theaters. In response to this, BIC’s President Lou Raizin claimed, “Lacking capacity is not always a bad thing” (Oxman np).
Moving forward, the next big shift in the website was seen from 2008–2013 when the inclusion of social media handles and hyperlinks became crucial for viewers. The below screenshot from 2010 displayed the “Facebook” square which also changed to a “Myspace” and “BIC blog” squares. This update arouse straight from fact that Facebook had become the most popular social networking site in 2008, surpassing Myspace which had been in first place since June 2006; According to Wood’s timeline of events, social media platforms such as Twitter and Wordpress also gained new popularity in 2009–10 (Wood np).
Furthermore, it was also in 2010, BIC’s 10-year anniversary, that the company created another branding change in their color scheme, ditching the darker orange and simply using white and red for their title and headers. Not only was this most likely a smart step for them in order to simplify their logos, they also had a good rationale to make this change during such a pivotal time in the company’s history.
As social media usage increased, the year of 2013 saw even more inclusion of the social media handles on the BIC website as you can see below.
Then, in 2014 we saw another background change in which BIC added a picture of a theatre in the background within the same color pallet of their older brand (red and bringing back the darker orange). In the below screenshot you will also see an updated version of ticket sales on the website, now allowing group sales and a calendar for easy date selection.
Not much has changed from then until 2016 except the playful ways in which Broadway In Chicago has played with their logo. They still maintain the same strong color scheme, but use more advanced designs to create additional flare to the “In Chicago” portion of their name. After the 2015 Paris Terror Attacks, Broadway In Chicago joined so many others in paying tribute and wishing for peace in Paris. As you can see below, they updated their logo to include the Eiffel Tower in the “I” of Chicago. When BIC released the new logo, they posted it on their Tumblr on November 15, 2015 along with a comment saying, “Our thoughts are with the citizens of Paris following the attacks earlier this week #prayforparis #jesuisparis.”
Currently, Broadway In Chicago’s website displays photos of their productions on a continuous scroll on their homepage. Social media sites and links for tickets are still very easy to access and there are also several video ads throughout the website, allowing much more interactivity for the viewer. It has clearly seen many changes since 2001, and I am sure there are plenty more to come as the years go on and technological advances continues to arise.
WHAT HAS THIS SHOWN US?
As you can see, the Broadway In Chicago website is just one example of how much a website can grow through the development and improvements of new media such as social media and blogging. The “Internet Archive Frequently Asked Questions” highlights one of the the Archive’s goals to give people “universal access to all knowledge” (np). Indeed, this notion has been common throughout the evolution of new media. Just having researched the style changes and evolution of the Broadway In Chicago website, I have seen first hand just how important societal and technological advances have affected the web. I hope that this article has not only given you some insight on this, but also pushes you to go back to the Archives and research some of your favorite websites, thinking to yourself “Why did it change then? What happened in that year? How has their branding evolved or stayed the same?” After doing so, we as the primary consumers of new media can go forward in 2016 in awe of the design, content, layout, and technological changes, knowing that we would not be where we are today if it was not for the knowledge of creators and researches from so many years before us.
Works Cited:
“Internet Archive Frequently Asked Questions”. Internet Archive. Web. <https://archive.org/about/faqs.php#296>.
Oxman, Steven. “Touring Shows stay in the look: Broadway in Chicago boosts economy.” Variety. January 21, 2007. Web. <http://variety.com/2007/legit/news/touring-shows-stay-in-the-loop-1117957779/>.
“Theatre In Chicago.” Broadway In Chicago Official Website. Last revised 2015. Web. <http://broadwayinchicago.com/about/theatre-in-chicago/>.
Wood, Jennie. “Timeline: Social Media.” Info Please. Web. <http://www.infoplease.com/science/computers/social-media-timeline.html>.
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For further research on the WayBack Machine and its creators, here is an interesting article from Mother Jones magazine: “Meet the People Behind the Wayback Machine, One of Our Favorite Things About the Internet.”
More on the Author:
Aimee Gaspari is a Junior Advertising/Public Relations and Theatre double major at Loyola University Chicago. Her collection of posts to Medium this spring are inspired by her readings and research done in Loyola’s Communications and New Media class. This class is designed to research and understand the workings of the web, how it came to be, and the impact it can have on our lives today.
