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Evidence of these hard financial times can be found on Broadway. Last month alone three Tony-winning musicals, "Hairspray," "Spamalot" and "Spring Awakening" posted closing notices.

Since Labor Day, a few others have also folded while some highly-anticipated revivals were pulled before they even made it into town.

What does all this mean? Veteran producer Liz McCann, who is currently represented on the boards with "Equus" and the upcoming revival of "Hair", put the situation into perspective.

"Both 'Spamalot' and 'Hairspray' were very big hits. And like everything after while it just run out of steam," she says. "Would they run a little longer if it wasn't for present situation? And what is the present situation? I mean, I remember [famed Broadway theater owner, operator, and producer] Jimmy Nederlander telling me, and I've never seen it to fail, that an election year is very bad for business. And I think that's what you're seeing now."

Longtime theatrical publicist Michael Hartman says that the community is moving ahead with well-advised caution.

"I think there's been a lot of sound decision making going on by Broadway producers who have either chosen to close their shows imminently or forecasting into January because at this point, there's really absolutely no way for any of us to predict with any amount of certainty what's going to happen," says Hartman. "We do our best based on historical data, which, by the way, right now shows that we're slightly ahead of where we were this time last year."

"So nobody can claim 'calamity' right now. We're not in need of a Broadway bail-out," continues Hartman. "But, most of what's going on right now is forecasting into the future."

The news is not all bad. Some shows are still selling out, and hits like "Wicked," "Jersey Boys," "The Lion King" and "Mamma Mia" often rake in around a million dollars a week.

And the season rolls on. Buzz continues to swirl around big new musicals like "Billy Elliott" and
"Shrek," which both open soon.

Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of the Broadway League, cautious optimism is key.

"So far we're still ahead of where we were this time last year," she says. "It would be foolhardy of us to not consider that what has happened with the economy may have an impact. The winter is always slow, the holidays are always great. So we really won't know until the spring whether this is going to be a down year or not."

Those in the theater business are keeping their fingers crossed that this will be an up year.