Dear 1999: Ethan Fein
In December of 1999 I was playing “Cats” on Broadway, and it was going to close the next year. I’m not sure if I knew that in December. Probably not. I did know that New Year’s Eve of 1999 was supposed to be the biggest night in the club date business of all time, but it turned out to be a flop. Hardly anyone had parties and hired bands. Many jobs were canceled when participants did not show.
I knew that after “Cats” there was no guarantee that I would get more work. So at that time, if I knew better, I would have done a better job of saving money for the lack of work which indeed did follow. By 1999 it had become quite clear that the music business was shrinking at a precipitous rate, and that what had once been would no longer be. So in that regard, I was not surprised, and my behavior the whole time up to then was in preparation for what was in fact a depression in the music business from which we have never recovered.
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